Movie remakes that were better left Unmade.

Feelslikefar

Feelslikefar

Senior Member
Location
Nashville, TN
In my opinion, very few remakes of Classic movies needed to be made.
There are tons of books and scripts that might deserve to be made, but it is easier for a
Studio to take the easy way out and just rehash a classic.

This is just my list of movies that missed the mark:

1. Flight of the Phoenix - (2004) The original (1965) starred James Stewart, Sir Richard Attenborough,
Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy.
The 2004 remake starred Dennis Quaid and seems they set out to make a bad movie.

2. Rollerball - (2002) is a very hard film to watch. None of the feeling about the 'One World' future
many think is happening as in the 1975 version. James Caan in his best role, searches for answers
while those who control things want to stamp out individualism.

2. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) For any person growing up with movies about Aliens from other Worlds,
This is a classic (1951). First movie to ask us to be open minded about these visitors.
Adding new special effects and CG can't take the place of a well written movie that make us think.

3. Get Carter - (2000) Another example of Hollywood running out of ideas so they pick a great movie
and remake it starring Sylvester Stallone, who pretty much just 'walks though' his scenes.
Michael Caine's performance in the original is just over the top and one of my picks for a movie you must see.

4. The Pink Panther (2006) I like Steve Martin's comedy and he's done some good movies, but he should have passed
on playing Inspector Clouseau. How to you go up against one of the funniest people Ever in Peter Sellers.

So, these are the ones I chose. I've left out some movie remakes where I think they made an effort to do justice
to the book or script.

Again, I think there are enough good books out there that could be made into outstanding movies.

Leave the Classics Alone...
 

The Razor's Edge : Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Catherine Hicks, Denholm Elliott, James Keach, John Byrum, Robert P. Marcucci...1984

For me it was not easy forgetting Murray's comedy style, but he did a decent job. The original The Razor's Edge is a 1946 American drama film based on W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel of the same name. It stars Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne,....It is one of my favorite movies ever. :)
 
I stand on record here not liking any remakes of old movies. The reason is because it is always the same story. The old films had great actors who acted with passion, clean stories and great directors.

The new remakes have almost nonstop swearing, gross violence and often a lot of nearly naked or totally naked babes to "wet the appetite" of love starved male audience who, for some reason, think that naked babes and swearing go together. Oh, yes and lots of guns and killing with graphic violence to make up for the very lousy film.

You can't beat the acting of Bette Davis, James Stewart, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable and Marlon Brando; just to name a few. I stand with the "old timers" and will do so until the day I die!
 

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Feelslikefar said:
In my opinion, very few remakes of Classic movies needed to be made.
There are tons of books and scripts that might deserve to be made, but it is easier for a
Studio to take the easy way out and just rehash a classic.

This is just my list of movies that missed the mark:
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Click to expand...
I liked that version, but that's because I'm basically starved for more 50's SciFi, I'll take what I can get! I would like to see that whole Atomic/Radioactive giant genre revived. Attack of the 50 ft. Woman, Them!, Beginning of the End,Tarantula.
 
Generally, I'm not a fan of remaking classic movies and I do hope Hollywood leaves Casablanca and The Wizard of Oz alone. But it did work with The Parent Trap, True Grit, and A Star Is Born, although the originals were good and really didn't need to be remade. I think the second Ben-Hur (with Charlton Heston) was much better, in comparison to the silent original.
 
@BlueVilla I left off some remakes I am glad they made.

Being a big Bogart fan, I'm glad they remade 'The Maltese Falcon' after the 1931 version.
Also, the remake of 'The Wizard of OZ' after the 1925 version.
I agree about 'Ben Hur'.
These are now considered Classics.

Sometimes a director sees a movie that needs to be remade, which is the case with Martin Scorsese's 'The Departed'.
A lot depends on choosing the right Actors that fit the movie and not just putting a movie out to make a quick buck.
 
The newer version of West Side Story. Can't beat the original, why bother? Should have just been re-released as itself. I can understand why Spielberg wanted a shot at it, he must have loved the original and wanted to put his own spin on it. Kind of how I feel about the movie Jesus Christ Superstar. I have ideas on how to change it, but original cast so perfect don't know how it can be beat, although the changes I have in mind would make it better, but I don't have the budget and...........

Steven did have the budget, but he flopped.
 
Pepper said:
The newer version of West Side Story. Can't beat the original, why bother? Should have just been re-released as itself. I can understand why Spielberg wanted a shot at it, he must have loved the original and wanted to put his own spin on it. Kind of how I feel about the movie Jesus Christ Superstar. I have ideas on how to change it, but original cast so perfect don't know how it can be beat, although the changes I have in mind would make it better, but I don't have the budget and...........

Steven did have the budget, but he flopped
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I haven't seen the new West Side Story, but I did see Jesus Christ, Superstar and was disappointed. Another disappointment was the movie version of A Chorus Line. I saw the stage production in Boston and loved it. However, as much as I like Michael Douglas as an actor, I think he was completely miscast as Zach. I found the movie boring. And how could they leave out Cassie's fantastic The Music and The Mirror?
 
BlueVilla said:
I haven't seen the new West Side Story, but I did see Jesus Christ, Superstar and was disappointed.
Click to expand...
You wouldn't be disappointed with my changes! I would have played it straight, like, i.e. No Israeli Airforce, how absurd!

Saw A Chorus Line several times on Broadway; Yes, I agree with your assessment of movie.
 
Ambivalent about retelling if a classic book ad nauseam…. Like the many versions of Little Women.

Seems like every time they remake it, they are trying to put a new spin on the story or inject more modern ideas into it

Don’t get me started on Netflix’s (fairly-recent) attempt on Jane Ausen’s “Persuasion” ! 🫢😳😞
 
None of these aforementioned films can compare with the one movie that has been remade a total of 23 times and counting. You might think that a film like this must have come out in the early years of the 20th century, but think again, the Italian movie Perfect Strangers was only released in 2016.

Written and directed by Paolo Genovese, Perfect Strangers is a pretty simple drama that tells the story of a group of middle-aged friends who get together for a dinner party and agree to play a new-age party game. Not involving a board or any pieces, the rules of the game are that you place your mobile phone in the middle of the dinner table and have to make every call, text or message that you get public.

The film was a hit, and Greek director Thodoris Atheridis saw the opportunity to remake the movie when it was still playing in theatres, releasing his reimagining mere months after the original. Atheridis’ film made less of a splash, but this didn’t stop the Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia from giving a go at the material in November 2017, around a year after the Greek version.

The Spanish remake did far better than the Greek one, popularising the movie to international markets as a result. Then, in 2018, the film was remade in Turkey, France, Mexico, China, Hungry and South Korea, with the simplicity of the film being the perfect package to be remade across the world.

In the years following 2018, Perfect Strangers has seen releases in Hungary, Mexico, China, Russia, Poland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Iceland and many more countries, making it one of the most lucrative concepts in cinema history.

The most remade movie of all time
 
Paladin1950 said:
Every remake of the Magnificent Seven. There is only one Magnificent Seven.
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Great cast! Wonderful music! This could never be beat by a remake with a lot of swearing and naked women.

One of my favourite Western TV show, of which I have watched all 635 episodes, is "Gunsmoke." If they remade Gunsmoke, they would probably have Chester scheming to take over as Sheriff of Dodge, Matt Dillon swearing at bad cowboys or even worse, Miss Kitty using the "F" word about 10 times in each episode. Good ole Doc would be snorting cocaine in each show. Oh, of course, Festus has to be gay and comes onto all the cowboys that drift into Dodge City. Sometimes I think "Hollywood" has gone mad or is it the drugs?
 

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I've never been a fan of remakes of old films.

Think it was at the w/end, they showed a remake of the Michael Caine film The Italian Job with Mark Wahlberg, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham and whoever else. I really enjoy it.

The Italian Job (2003 film)

 
Lost Horizon (1973) 👎👎

A remake of the timeless 1937 classic by director Frank Capra that stars Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett, and Sam Jaffe. A British diplomat, along with a group of fellow passengers, is on an airplane that's high-jacked and crashes in the Himalayas. They're rescued by lamas, who take them to their monastery called Shangri-La. Where nobody ever gets tired or grows old, and there's gold in the streams. The 1973 remake turned the classic story of Shangri-La into a cheezy, big-budget singing and dancing extravaganza. Good God. Starring Peter Finch, Liv Ullman, Sally Kellerman, Michael York, Olivia Hssey, and Charles Boyer. It's a stinker.



Watch the original film for free. > Lost Horizon (1937) : Frank Capra : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
 
I think the film rendering of "Murder on the Orient Express" starring David Suchet was high quality. And it was faithful to Agatha Christie's story. For me, it is far better than the more recent, flashier remake starring Kenneth Branagh.

(I even think the TV version of "Death on the Nile" (also a Christie mystery), starring Suchet, was better than the recent version starring Branaugh, though the latter was a grand, stylish, very expensive production.)
 
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Feelslikefar said:
1. Flight of the Phoenix - (2004) The original (1965) starred James Stewart, Sir Richard Attenborough,
Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy.
The 2004 remake starred Dennis Quaid and seems they set out to make a bad movie.
Click to expand...
I didn't dislike the re-make as much as you, but I do agree that the original was far superior; I love that movie and wish it would come out on blu-ray. My favorite character in the movie was played by Hardy Kruger who did such a fantastic job!
 
My Dad and I went to the Movieland of the Air Museum in the late 60's, my Dad being
a Pilot.
He told me about Paul Mantz and about the planes used in making movies.
Mantz flew the B-17 in the movie 'Twelve O'Clock High' that did the famous 'Belly landing'.

Paul Mantz was killed during filming of 'Flight of the Phoenix', flying the plane he built for
the movie.

phoenix.jpg
 
Bella said:
Lost Horizon (1973) 👎👎

A remake of the timeless 1937 classic by director Frank Capra that stars Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett, and Sam Jaffe. A British diplomat, along with a group of fellow passengers, is on an airplane that's high-jacked and crashes in the Himalayas. They're rescued by lamas, who take them to their monastery called Shangri-La. Where nobody ever gets tired or grows old, and there's gold in the streams.


Watch the original film for free. > Lost Horizon (1937) : Frank Capra : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Click to expand...
Gee, we sure don't see many pencil mustaches in my area. In fact, since I was maybe 20, I don't know if I've even noticed a guy with one in our province's big-city metro area of 2.5million.:unsure:
 
What I have noticed is the haircut Bogart had in 'High Sierra' 1941 on some men around town.
We called it a 'bowl cut' and thought it went out of fashion.
(not to be confused with a military 'High and Tight' cut)

bogart.jpg
 

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