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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:48 am 
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Hen Teaser

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The other night I was trying to bring to mind a remake of a movie or TV show that was better than the original.Couldn't think of one.Then I tried to think of one that was as good as the original.Drew a blank there too.
No puzzle why Hollywood keeps going back to the well...name recognition,brand loyalty,pre-tested material,you name it.But the odds of lighting striking again are so high----dozens of TV revivals fail;the revival of V vanished quickly,and there's plenty of others (Bionic Woman,Charlie's Angels,Knight Rider,et.al.) that fizzled even faster.
It doesn't seem to be much better in the movies.Even when a remake becomes a hit,it seems to fade from memory (mine,anyway).For instance,the 2005 King Kong was a big hit,but nowadays,TV screenings are few.
This proves two things---studio heads are gamblers,and they're often bad gamblers.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:56 am 
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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:22 am 
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The remake of "Battlestar Galactica" is a pretty obvious choice and almost universally considered better than the original. I also personally enjoy "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" way the hell more than "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:30 am 
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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:04 am 
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The remake of Manhunter, or Red Dragon, was much better than the first adaptation.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:10 am 
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I have heard many who say the opposite of that. I have seen neither, but I kind of hate Brett Ratner and tend to avoid movies he directs so for me I would be more inclined to want to watch Manhunter by default.

In fairness many feel about Tim Burton the way I do about Ratner and many have the the opposite of my views on the Charlie/Willy Wonka debate. It all comes down to personal taste.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:12 am 
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Agree with Battlestar Galactica.

True Grit

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:12 am 
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Interesting trivia: Manhunter was the first Hannibal Lecter movie and was named as such because the title "Red Dragon" seemed "too asian."

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:15 am 
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Monk wrote:
Agree with Battlestar Galactica.

True Grit

I have been meaning to watch True Grit. Heard some great things though.

Would Batman Begins count? If so I would definitely add that to the worthwhile remake list.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:10 am 
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The two versions of Cape Fear are great for different reasons,but I like the remake best.


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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:26 am 
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On the other hand, there's the Keanu Reeves version of The Day The Earth Stood still.... :)


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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:52 am 
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Huston's The Maltese Falcon was a remake, and Kurosawa's masterful Seven Samurai and Yojimbo were remade as the not too shabby The Magnificent Seven and For A Fistful of Dollars.

So, yeah, there are some good remakes out there. But I'd say the odds are against them being good.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:54 am 
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Bubbles wrote:
I have heard many who say the opposite of that. I have seen neither, but I kind of hate Brett Ratner and tend to avoid movies he directs so for me I would be more inclined to want to watch Manhunter by default


Manhunter is a great movie. Joe is definitely in the minority there.

And you're wise in avoiding Ratner. Red Dragon is, at most, a mediocre movie with an enormously talented cast. Hopkins, Norton, Hoffman, Fiennes can act circles around Petersen and company, but Mahn is just a much better director.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:18 am 
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Battlestar Galactica.


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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:52 am 
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If anyone ever remakes Battlefield Earth, it couldn't help but be better. Especially if they just ignore the original book entirely when making the movie (sort of like they did when making Starship Troopers).

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:37 am 
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Starship Troopers is one of those odd cases where the script was written before the license was acquired then rewritten to incorporate elements of the book. I, Robot was also like that.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:59 am 
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It's also crap that tarnishes RAH's legacy.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:04 am 
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Manhunter was pretty good.Although someone who hates the 80's might not like the look of it. Seems to me there were a lot of pastels. :)


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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:05 am 
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Steve Kipling wrote:
Manhunter was pretty good.Although someone who hates the 80's might not like the look of it. Seems to me there were a lot of pastels. :)


It is a Michael Mahn film, after all.

The guy practically created the 80's with Miami Vice.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:23 am 
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Rafael wrote:
Yojimbo


Best movie name evah!

The American version of Insomnia was much more entertaining than the original Swedish (or was it Norwegian?) movie.

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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:13 am 
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David Cronenberg's "The Fly" is a better movie than the original.


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 Post subject: Do Remakes Ever Work?
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:29 am 
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#NeverThor

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Every Shakespeare production ever.

Remakes are part of culture. If something is good, then it's natural that people will want to redo it... often putting their own spin on the material. Before recorded media, it was the only way to keep these things alive. The invention of recorded media only means that there's no longer a need to do note-for-note remakes (as you can always experience the original), but that still leaves plenty of room for reinterpretations.

The only thing that I think is out-of-whack today is that productions are so expensive that they often use existing properties to as a beard for original pitches. I just got through reading a Cracked article about them attempting to make a sequel to Se7en called Ei8ht with Morgan Freeman as a psychic detective... meaning he had completely failed to mention his psychic powers all through Se7evn. Most of the time, the properties being used don't have any more promotional weight than an original idea, but something to get the attention of the 40 and 50-something money men interested.

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