Remakin' me crazy

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 1:03am

The chatter around the latest Carrie remake got me thinking. Actually, so did the Steel Magnolia remake. I feel like there is always a contingent of people, if not the majority, who seem to get really bent out of shape about the very notion of remaking a movie.

I'd like to argue that the remake is an esteemed tradition, a comforting constant in the ever-changing world of film.

Did you know that the first movie remake was 1903's The Great Train Robbery? I don't even know if that is true, but I read it when I Googled it. More than a hundred years ago, moviemakes were pilfering from films that came before them. When the silent era gave way to talkies, movies not ten years old were remade.

Sometimes a good movie gets turned into another good movie. 1939's Love Affair was nominated for six Oscar and is always cited when people gives evidence to the notion that 1939 was the best year ever for movies. 1957's An Affair to Remember was nominated for four, though they were all technical. That said, I'd say the remake is arguably the one that's most revered. The titles aside, these movies are not really vastly different at all. There are a few differences, but it's more or less the same movie.

Sometimes a good movie that was a remake of a good movie gets made into a crappy movie. 1994's Love Affair is also pretty much the same movie as the first two, and despite the fact that I saw it something like an embarrassing three times in the cinema, it's not a very good movie.

(Fun Fact - When I was younger I used dream of starring in a movie remake with two men in the leads. The best part is that I could play Terry McKay without changing the name at all, not even the spelling!)

Now there are terrible remakes as well. Again, from 1939, The Women still holds up and is very very funny. 2008's remake was just gross and horrible. There's even a 1956 musical version.

I tried to find some sources for the most remade movie, but I couldn't really find anything conclusive. If anyone has some trivia to share, please chime in.

There are remakes that are drastically different and there are remakes that hew pretty closely and then there's Gus Van Sant's Psycho.

I love remakes, especially when they compliment the original so perfectly, like 1998's remake of 1961's The Parent Trap.

What are everyone else's thoughts? What are your favorite remakes? Least favorite?








Updated On: 10/19/12 at 01:03 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 1:12am

The NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST remake was one of the most disgustingly unnecessary awfulest SH*Tfest examples of a remake I've ever encountered.

However the TEXAS CHAINSAW '03 remake is one of my favorite horror films in the past 20 years.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 1:58am

Often when remakes are announced when it is the filmmaker, a good filmmaker, mainly attached rather than the actor/actress, I get more interested. I also think when it is a genre film modern technology can either hurt it or help it. Carpenter's The Thing got to do what Hawks and Christian Nyby couldn't do with the source material at the time based on lack of technology while the current remake in the guise of reboot that came out last year had good performances and tension, but the worst part by far was the CGI.

Admittedly there are some remakes I refuse to see because of my strong attachment to the originals (Black Christmas, House of Wax, Total Recall).

Favorites:
Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Herzog's Nosferatu, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Cronenberg's The Fly, Sirk's Imitation of Life, Miike's 13 Assassins, Herzog's Nosferatu, The Magnificent Seven, A Fistful of Dollars, John Carpenter's The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Parent Trap, and The Little Princess.

If we are getting very specific: Some Like it Hot, Airplane!, and The Maltese Falcon (yep, they are remakes)

Least Favorites:
Psycho, The Haunting, Funny Games US (the original is well-made cinematic punishment enough and it is Haneke doing a Gus van Sant Psycho on himself), The Planet of the Apes, Poseidon, Roller Ball, Straw Dogs (see Funny Games US), Friday the 13th, Sleuth, Halloween, Godzilla, The Vanishing, The Wicker Man (its own category), The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Pink Panther, Flubber, The Ladykillers, The Stepfather, The Omen, Night of the Living Dead, Guess Who, The Stepford Wives, The Time Machine, Lost in Space, Bewitched, The Grinch, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Cape Fear (and I know plenty of people like it/love it).

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 2:59am

This is a great thread--I think it's a good point that remakes, unlike what people always say, are not a new phenomenon. It could be argued in the past there were technology reasons (colour's in! let's do a colour version of that film from ten years back), and there was a difference too, in that it was hard to see the originals, unless you stayed up for late night movies, and lived by a revival theatre.

I need to think on my own list (I agree with most listed here, particularly Strummer's), but there do seem to be different categories of remakes. Two come to mind, one is where they take a title and perhaps basic concept, and then just riff on that (a ton of the recent slasher film remakes do that--not that the 80s originals, despite my affection for many of them, are classics, but they seem to just hope they can bring in more audience than they might, due to name recognition).

The other are remakes that aren't really remakes--Strummer mentioned this--but instead of a new adaptation of the same source material. I mean nobody claimed that the live action Lord of the Rings was a remake of Bakshi's 1970s animated version (probably partly because that was a flop, granted). Coppola's Dracula doesn't really seem like a remake of Lugosi's, or of Nosferatu. Strummer listed Cuaron's A Little Princess, but it doesn't feel like a remake to me, either (though an amazing film).

[strummergirl]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 3:23am

Yeah, a different adaptation of the same material vs. remake is a bit tough. With literary classics, it is understandable, but then it is just used as a crutch doing adaptations of popular fiction. I remember a couple of times studios claiming the new versions are closer to the book and then I see shot for shot takes on the previous film and get a little angry.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 4:58am

Crutch, is a good word. There are definitely differences--and there are also issues like when a studio wants to remake a property and claim to be more faithful, yet hold on to the elements that fans have long loved. Besides various superheroes, Tarzan is an obvious example with Greystoke, or even Disney's version claiming to be more faithful--but kinda losing every pulpy aspect of the original novel (even ignoring the much more pulpy sequels).

(Strummer, can you PM me? my messed up account which won't let me edit, also won't let me PM people unless they PM me first, and I'd like to ask you something).

[tazber]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 6:35am

As Phyllis pointed out some remakes are classics. Ben Hur has been made several times, each time a success. And it always works because people respond to the story.

I don't consider the Tarzan movies to be remakes. They're generally all original story lines based on the iconic character. Tarzan is more of a franchise, like James Bond or Sherlock Holmes.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 9:28am

I know why people get upset over remakes...because it makes them feel old. Remakes of horror films from the 80s make me mad...even if they're good!

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 9:37am

favorite remakes: Henry V (1989), Gaslight (1944)

hon. mention: A Star is Born (1954). Based on A Star is Born (1937) which itself bears uncommon similarities to What Price Hollywood? (1932).

Worst remake: Swept Away (2002)

Second Least favorite remake: A Star if Born (1976).

dishonorable mentions: The Women (200, Vanilla Sky (2001)

selected fine remakes: Pride and Prejudice (2005), The Departed (2006), The Vanishing (1993), Richard III (1995), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999),

selected bad remakes: The Stepford Wives (2004), The Day the Earth Stood Still (200, Psycho (199, The Haunting (1999), Clash of the Titans (2010)

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:00am

Just last night I stumbled across a 1934 version of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," produced by former Disney artist Ub Iwerks--fifteen years before Disney's own "Legend of Ichabod and Mr. Toad."

I was amused to see that in both versions, Ichabod powders himself with chalk from the blackboard before his date with Katrina (who is surprisingly fat in the Iwerks version).



"The Headless Horseman"

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:11am

Agreed about remakes not necessarily being the work of the devil, but oftentimes simply a new adaptation of specific material. When it works, as in Huston's film of THE MALTESE FALCON or Wyler's BEN-HUR, it works amazingly well. When it doesn't, well...

It can be fun to compare the assorted versions. Try watching the earlier versions of Hammett's THE MALTESE FALCON sometime. I'm thinking particularly of the original version, with Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade. You'll find yourself with a lot to think about afterwards, especially the way that the original Cortez version uses a lot of the same dialogue, taken damn near word for word from the novel, that Huston's version uses, but to significantly lesser effect.

I'll mention another remake that in my opinion damn near eclipses the original -- Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:20am

Ooh, good one, Roscoe!

Not a remake, but on a similar topic: It's fascinating to compare the English- and Spanish-language versions of the 1931 "Dracula."

Talking of the undead, I love Herzog's "Nosferatu."

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:25am

Add "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to the naughty list. What a piece of candy-covered sh*t

[Wynbish]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:30am

Not remakes, but does it bug anyone else when they try to colorize black and white movies?

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:31am

The Winona Ryder/Susan Sarandon remake of Little Women is one of my very favorite movies, and easily my favorite remake.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:33am

Oh yes, me too.

I also pretty much love every version of "A Christmas Carol," though my favorite will always be the 1951 Alastair Sim.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:35am

Reginald, that Spanish language DRACULA is really interesting, isn't it? It really changed my mind about Lugosi's performance, which I'd come to see as being terribly phony and stagy, and after seeing that Spanish version my respect for Lugosi's Dracula just sky-rocketed. Lugosi's got a lot more dignity than the poor slob in the other version who you just know would be twirling his mustaches if he had any.

[romantico]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:37am

I HATE Remakes. Period. To me they are lazy. I know people who won't watch a movie if it is more than 10-15 years old. Very few have done well. In the case of THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR. I loved the Steve McQueen version. The Pierce Brosnan version was very good but so different than the original, I think they could have made a few more settle changes and given it a totally different name and it would have held on it's own just fine.

How come they never remake bad movies? TO me, that would be a challenge a filmmaker would enjoy tackling. HUDSON HAWK being remade and having it turn out to be better than the original. Now, that would be a challenge.

Remake is no longer the PC term they use in Hollywood. It's now called a 'reboot'. I hate remakes but Hollywood has got nothing left.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 10:41am

Romantico, as people have been pointing out, there were versions prior to the famous/classic ones of Wizard of Oz, Maltese Falcon, A Christmas Carol . . .

You really hate them? Period?



Updated On: 10/19/12 at 10:41 AM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 11:17am

Sorry, Reg, I like Burton's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. With some rather serious reservations, of course, that extended ending, for instance, where the hell did that come from? I'm not sure it is quite as good as the earlier film, though.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 11:20am

I confess I never made it to the ending.


Edit: I didn't meant that to sound snotty. I was watching on video and really didn't care for it, so I never finished it. Maybe I should give it another shot. Updated On: 10/19/12 at 11:20 AM

[romantico]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 11:21am

No. My problem is modern day remakes.I look at those films different. Film was still kind of new back in the 30's and 40's.Many silent films were remade and it worked.I'm talking about Carrie.Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.The Out of Towners and so on.The Last of Sheila is one of my all time favorites. It does not need to be improved.It's fine the way it is.However, they are remaking it for a new audience who might think the original is boring,too slow, too long,no good songs in the soundtrack,and needs to be done over with actors they actually know in the parts.It seems today that remakes is the trend that does not seem to be going away.Any film you hold close to your heart from back when you were a kid,chances are will be 'rebooted' for an audience who is just too damn lazy to see the original.That is what I hate.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 11:22am

Burton's Charlie was closer to the book, save for the subplot about his dentist father. But I do prefer the original movie. Gene over Johnny anytime, and the Oompa Loompas are better in the original.

Posted: 10/19/12 at 11:33am

I do like when a remake makes you look at something in a different way. Dangerous Liaisons and Valmont (while neither a remake per se) gave you much to consider- then Cruel Intentions comes along and imagines the whole thing. It wasn't a great film but it did look at it with new eyes.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 10/19/12 at 11:36am

I loved You've Got Mail, in the way that it modernized the story. The remake of Flight of the Phoenix was good, as well. The Ring introduced me to Japanese horror movies.

My favorite remake is Affair to Remember, even though I love the original (Irene!)

My least favorite remake is Rear Window, which I think exploited the fact that Christopher was already wheelchair-bound.