Good Evening Mingle2, I been in a posting mood lately, thanks to the great people of m2 my forums are hits, please keep responding. I want to give a treat to those who follow me the most soon. Okay, moving along, is remaking your favorite movies are the best way to introduce next-gen folks to yesterday classic films? Why I asked this because its seems like a lot of cult classics of my era like "Halloween(Rob Zombie remake)", " House On Haunted Hill trilogy", " The Honeymooners with Cedric The Entertainer & Mike Epps", & many others that once upon a time was great original titles until the remakes. My ? is do you think remakes make films better & more great or does it kills the franchise? Okay, let's talk, what's your view.

EyeAmYourHost39,

well I think movie remakes can be great if the right directors, cast, and writers consider what made the original great. See, you guys going hate what I'm about to say but anyone that follow my work knows I don't bite my tongue when it comes to truth. I think remakes sometimes embellish more craziness than creative. let me explain? remakes sometimes more sex, more perverted comedy, & gearing to appear to the college kids than authenticity.

Remakes as a thing to do, have varied over time. Basically, the thing to keep in mind, is that the movie business IS A BUSINESS. Lots of artists involved, but in the end, what 99% of the people are doing, is trying to make money.

That results in varying reasons for WHY remakes are made. Often, it's because the original made a bunch of money, and the new investors want to bet on a sure thing, and so they finance the remake.

Other times, remakes happen in a direct reaction to another more original film, making a bunch of money. The producers want to get in on the cash flowing in to something like a Star Wars franchise, or a Harry Potter series, and so they look for old films to remake, that resemble the winners somehow.

Then there are the people who were simply fans of the original film, have the ability to make their own version now, and so fund and even direct the new version. Part of that, was what led to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the like.

And then there are the films where some CONCEPT is the hot thing. Deciding to remake an old classic with an all Black, or all Female cast, for example. They hope to make money off the newly recognized subgroup of Americans who might go to see the new film, just BECAUSE it's all-whatever.

I've seen remakes too, where the producers got excited by another successful remake, where the point of the remake, was to retell the same story from another point of view. Lots of what used to be children's movies, made over from comedies or fairytales, into adult dramas or horror stories. Some of these come out great, because the new point of view is much more interesting. Others look as lame as a one-legged horse.

As you say, it depends on who does what and how well they do it.

IgorFrankensteen,

Good Evening, well that's a good point, movies are a business let me ask you this, Did you like the remake or " Halloween, the rob zombie version"? How about the remake of cult classic " Sleepaway Camp with Pamela Spiringsteen & not the cute Felicia Rose in the original version'>

One ignored aspect of a remake is how old is the original? Then what are the demographics as if thirty or more years have elapsed then the majority of viewers will not likely have seen the original and the movie may succeed on its current appeal and stars. People may not realize that the early Clint Eastwood movies were remakes of Japanese movies and did quite well but the public was not aware of the prior films so age of film and the audiences ages play a role in its initial appeal or not and then initial reception to its premiere. I am curious about the Magnificent 7 as it was made in 1960 and that means many younger viewers would not know of its prior release.. How it fared I am not yet aware but will investigate as box office is easy to peruse

Sybarticguy,

Hello welcome, you right some remakes makes old classic better, not all is flops. I give you an example a remake film I like was the batman movies. I think the best Bruce Wayne in the remake series was Val Kilmer & Michael Keaton as batmen. The best remake joker is always going to be Jack Nicholson, and Heath Ledger. I also like the remakes film " Flowers In The Attic" the original was better.

I think some of it is the lack of creativity in Hollywood or just laziness...........

Yeah. What he said.

Some remakes are not really remakes at all. They are instead, entirely new applications of very old folk tales.

One thing that I was lucky to have very good parents for, is that I learned a LOT of appreciation for ancient and long-standing folk tales, morality stories if you will. Everything from Aesop's fables to Shakespeare.

Some Shakespearean stories have been almost entirely remade, and by way of that remake, have become both new and classic at the same time. One small example, is a Heath ledger film, called "10 Things I Hate About You." It was a remake of Taming of the Shrew. By starting from the original story, and building an entirely new and more modern ideals into it, while still keeping in references back to the original play, they managed to tell a VERY entertaining and humorous love story.

Some of the new takes on Super Heroes have been a good idea, others have been rather obviously contrived efforts to scam the audience built up BY the good remakes, into paying to see some real dreck.

LPDon,

Hello, welcome to my cyber home. I read your response and I totally see your point. I used your thinking about current remakes its even in video games. I currently own a xbox 360 & xbox one. I thought The " Max Payne3" the remake was far better than the last 2 original in the series. "Grand Theft Auto 5" is a remake on the best seller GTA San Andreas on the original xbox & PlayStation 2. GTA5 is again far greater and superior fun over the PS1 Or xbox version. I brought these games up as a point that the gaming developers just like movie creators are on the same page. Movies that remakes cult classics can be a great ideal if its groomed by the right hands.

IgorFrankensteen,

Great point, great point, my only thing is okay, remake a hit film, introduce a product to the next-gen kids, make your money, but keep remakes fresh. Keep the storylines creative & entertaining. If its like a movie like "Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory" they did two versions of the movie. As a kid I love this movie, I love Gene Wilder and the musicals were easy to sing too. Then it was the remake with Johnny Depp. I like that one too. Johnny's version just broke down what lead his dramatic experience when his dad would deny him candy on Halloween because his father was a dentist in the story and didn't want young Wonka to have cavities. So later he creates a magical candy land factory as a candy factory owner. In the cast like that both versions were great. do you agree?

Doodo_David,

Yeah we do have a lazy industry sometimes. What helps the laziness is that movie makers are feel that now we have movie streaming & Piracy going on today, people feel like going to the movies are a relic of the past. When I was young I loved spending a few dollars going to the movies. Same with dvd industry, feeling the squeeze from streaming today. now don't get me wrong, I watch movies on You Tube everyday. Its free, fast, thousands of shows & movies to search for, & some cases you get full length movies by streaming. you right its dumbing down our kids today and not showing quality in good filming.

Let's see. Some remakes are done quite well and are sometimes better than the original film. Dawn of the Dead (2006) comes to mind as a great remake. But for those few that are really good, there are many remakes that just flat out suck.

However, Hollywood (well today's Hollywood) likes to take past films and redo them with a cast that will be more "diversity oriented". Look at this past Summer's Ghostbusters. The film basically had little to do with the original (which is a classic) and featured an all female cast. Nothing wrong with that but for those of us who truly love the original, the idea of doing this film with an all female cast simply felt stupid. Look at the movie "Guess Who". That movie was based off of the classic "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner", and starred Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac. Now, this was great simply because Kutcher was in the role that Sidney Poitier originally did, while Mac was in the Spencer Tracy role. Plus, it helped that Kutcher and Mac had great chemistry on screen. Still, the movie wasn't really a remake. Basically the studio took the original script, switched some key roles and repackaged the film for today's audience.

I do feel there is a lack of creativity in Hollywood. However, I also feel that Hollywood tries so hard not to offend people these days, and that also hurts the creativity thing. I don't mind remakes but I do mind when they are done and do not pay homage to the original.

GoofBall73,

Good titles, I thought " Dawn Of The Dead" was excellent! But then they came out with the cheesy " Shawn Of The Dead" OMG!, really!....I mean really!...lol. " Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" in the 70's with Bill Cosby & Sidney Poitier was far funnier in my book?
" Ghostbuster" series with Bill Murray is always be a loved title in my heart. The all women version, no, no, no I love women, you girls can act just as good as us men, but come on! that's like adding men version to "The Virginia Monologues".....lol.

Some times both the original and the remake are good in their own ways.

I love the George Pal version of Time Machine, from 1960, but the 2002 remake was also a good take, and looked at the REASON for the Time Machine being made in a different way. Ironically, both ignored the original book author's take on things, and opted for a more positive romantic story.

And of course, some of us prefer an older version, simply due to allegiances to personal concerns, or because it's what we grew up with. One of my sons, really likes the movie of the Lone Ranger. I didn't like it, because it was nothing like the TV show I watched as a kid. Of course, I don't think the TV show was all that brilliant, I just liked it because I WAS a kid, and ignoring it for the sake of a modernized story line annoyed me.

IgorFrankensteen,


I'm glad you mention those titles. I can tell you a remake that will always be great is BBC's " Dr. Who". the older and the new versions are great made shows.