Spyke
lemmy.world

They knew how to do this in the 80s. Little Shop of Horrors, The Fly, and The Thing for example. All remakes that far surpassed the cheesy originals.

122

And still holds up. Been showing classics to my horror-interested nieces and nephews and they loved 80s Blob most of all so far.

3

The best example is The Thing. The original film in the 1950s was awkward af. But the 1980s remake by John Carpenter was chef's kiss. Then they made a remake of a remake and it was meh.

62
cobysevreply
lemmy.world

The 2011 The Thing wasn't so much a remake as it was a prequel to the remake, telling the story from the Norwegian scientists' camp.

The 1982 John Carpenter remake opened with the last two remaining Norwegian scientists chasing "The Thing" until it reaches the Americans' camp. But they're misunderstood by the Americans. When trying to shoot at The Thing, which has taken the shape of a sled dog, the Americans instead return fire and kill them. Then the Americans explore the Norwegian camp and try to figure out what horrors killed everyone there, while slowly discovering why they were shooting at a dog in the first place.

The 2011 film shows what happened to the Norwegians before the 1982 remake. You're correct, it wasn't as great of a film (hard to compete with John Carpenter), but it wasn't exactly a remake.

35

The worst thing about the 2011 prequel is they had filmed the whole movie with practical effects, like the Carpenter movie, which is one of my favorites of all time. If you've seen it, you may remember very little of these and a lot of cgi.

The studio or production company or whatever didn't like the practical effects and we got cgi Thing instead. I'd love to see the original effects, and I feel so bad for the people who worked so hard on it just to get scrubbed from the final cut.

11

It was a weird combination of remake and prequel. It hit all the same story points and barely added anything new apart from Tetris aliens.

5

You scared me for a second, being only aware of the 80s one I thought you wanted a remake of that lol

10

Today we see it that way but in the 70s and 80s, the 1950s Thing was hailed as a classic prestige science fiction film. That's why Carpenter's version was trashed at the time. It was dismissed as a grotesque barf bag SFX spectacle that completely disregarded what made the original so good.

1
lemmy.world

On a vaguely related note, why aren't we making more movies that take a Shakespeare plot and just stuff it in a different setting without trying to hide it? Like 10 Things I Hate about you was Taming of the Shrew.

Tell me you wouldn't watch Mechbeth.

48
bambooreply
lemmy.blahaj.zone

There have been a bunch: Throne of Blood is Samurai Macbeth. Warm Bodies is Zombie Romeo & Juliette

16
cobysevreply
lemmy.world

The Lion King (1994) is Hamlet.

"O" (2001) is Othello.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) is based on two minor characters of Hamlet.

She's the Man (2006) is Twelfth Night.

Romeo + Juliet (1996) is a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) is Homer's Odyssey. Not Shakespeare, but a brilliant modern retelling of one of humanity's oldest surviving stories. In the same vein as the above mentioned films.

These are all I can think of off the top of my head. Not to mention dozens of modern Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth retellings over the years. Those three alone are the more popular Shakespeare stories for reinvention on the big screen.

22

Love Romeo + Juliet. The first gunfight and when Mercutio shows up are highlights.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, they use tons of the original dialogue, even down to calling their guns swords.

7
Drusasreply
fedia.io

Mercutio was one of the best parts of that movie. He and the soundtrack were so great.

4
starikreply
lemmy.zip

That “Love me, love me” song was on the radio constantly for months after that movie came out.

2

I came across a mariachi band playing that song just last week.

1

I would be so much more interested in Shakespeare if the cast were replaced with giant war robots.

5

It's been done a million times: 10 Things I Hate About You, She's the Man, West Side Story, The Lion King, Ran, Forbidden Planet, etc.

1
MimicJarreply
lemmy.world

One more.

  • T ron.
  • R eboot.
  • O h fuck, why did we cast Jared Leto
  • N ow we're talking.
51
cobysevreply
lemmy.world

I would love to see ReBoot (1994) with modern CG. And also a modernized plot, considering we know so much more about computers and the Internet now.

1994 was when the Internet started to spread publicly around the world and became a thing you could access from your very own home. It was this cool new technology that connected humanity across the globe, but most people didn't really understand it yet.

So shows like ReBoot captured our fascination with the "Information Superhighway" and built a fantasy/sci-fi story around it. Even if it was horribly inaccurate to how computers and the Internet actually worked.

11
AeronMelonreply
lemmy.world

A group is remastering ReBoot with the blessings of its creators from the original DAT tapes, so they are pixel-perfect HD transfers that one could not have seen on any TV at the time.

Look it up on YouTube. Reboot doesn’t need to be remade, the original masters still looks smoking hot. They recovered the widescreen versions, too.

They’re negotiating the rights to do the same thing to Transformers Beast Wars next.

8

It needs to be finished. Damn Cartoon Network for cliffhanger canceling them after reviving them from a hasty finale.

1
chunesreply
lemmy.world

I came out of the movie theater wowed and was confused when I went online and saw the reaction.

4

If they just stuck to the original premise it would have been better.

1
lemmus.org

This only works on like mid movies, maybe. You can't do it with a film like Plan 9 from Outer Space or The Room because the jank is part of the appeal. But maybe an actually good version of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? Sucker Punch, but with a better director?

38
hansoloreply
lemmy.today

Mid movies with an interesting premise. That's the point of OP's post.

Scarface, Omega Man, The Bird Cage, Thomas Crown Affair, Ocean's 11, Fist Full of Dollars, Vanilla Sky, Wizard of Oz, The Bourne Identity: all remakes. Arguably, the new Dune movies might be considered remakes of a relatively mid original movie, though the new ones are far more tied to the book.

So taking the 1993 mid kids' movie Rookie of the Year and adapting it to a modem take where the lead is 19 and plays soccer for Arsenal or whatever, would be what OP means. Or redo the 1993 racist POS movie Falling Down. Or Dave, JFC.

20
hansoloreply
lemmy.today

It's been a while for me as well, but IIRC it was a lot of POCs playing the microagression villains.

1
ChicoSuavereply
lemmy.world

There is no saving Sucker Punch. The fundamental premise of the movie is each rape is a fight scene showing a literal interpretation of a metaphorical struggle. It's not recoverable.

12

how about we gut the premise but keep the badass ninja schoolgirls and campy explosion-filled fight scenes and charmingly dated CGI, and let Angela Robinson direct it

7
ChicoSuavereply
lemmy.world

Can it be done? Maybe. But the problem with making a metaphorical struggle a physical fight is that the audience for both is drastically different. Many people affected by rape hold a feeling of helplessness about the event. A Zach Snyder 300 style fight scene is literally about exerting control and overcoming. For a person to make such a drastic emotional pivot begs the question were they were ever feeling at all?

0

Instead of the corporatization of storytelling, we should be letting artists tell the stories they want to tell. We should engage with our media more critically and stop chasing nostalgia.

25
lemmus.org

Nice idea, but you'd never get funding. So lean into it. Instead of remaking flops, demake them. Redo Battlefield Earth or Waterworld on a half million dollar budget. As the world watches your film with effects that would make Sharknado blush they will finally ask "what is art?"

19
sh.itjust.works

I don't think Waterworld needs improving, but I recognize that I'm in the minority.

8
Folstarreply
lemmus.org

Sharknado had a tornado filled with sharks with not much more special effects budget, and that was 13 years ago (how the time flies- like sharks in a tornado). We not trying to win Academy Awards for VFX with these demakes.

3

Waterworld is unfairly maligned and I won't stand for it. Yo you should watch it, seriously

Sharknado is pretty fun, competently made in my complete amateur opinion.

What I meant is in Waterworld they did that shit for real.

4

I have watched Waterworld. There is a lot to like (concept, practical effects, Hopper as the villain), but there is a lot lacking (writing, about something, also Hopper as the villain). They should have finished the script instead of barreling ahead. They needed someone in the room to manage Costner's ego. It's a very mid Mad Max "inspired" film, of which the 80s/90s had many. The Salute of the Jugger/The Blood of Heroes is about on par and it didn't cost the GDP of a small nation.

2
Echo Dotreply
feddit.uk

I'm conflicted about waterworld because the special effects were really good for the time but they have dated quite a bit since then.

2
feddit.org

Or maybe, just maybe do a new franchise or movie. I'm so tired of going to the cinema and watching the trailers for 9 ouf of the 10 comming up movies being sequals or reboots of old franchises.

18

If they can't even make a good sequal or reboot of an old successful franchise, how do you expect them to make a good movie/franchise from scratch?

3

Theyre all the same anyways. There hasnt been a unique story in hundreds/thousands of years. Its all the same plots with different characters in different environments.

2

Fuck that, just make more theaters and let drama kids re-enact them with their own creative vision

15
TeddEreply
lemmy.world

That's actually a fairly good take - they could make a bunch of old scripts and make them enticing to license, and couple that with a small fund to seed some ultra small-scale productions (by Hollywood standards). I like it.

Couple that with remakes on whatever gets traction and it could prove short term profitable as well as raise the overall long term value of their vault. (I hate that this analysis is needed, but unless we change copyright law, this buy-in would be a necessary step.)

7

Or shorten public domain back to a reasonable level.

4
lemmy.world

Let's have multiple reboots going at the same time. I think it would be great to have like three reboots of Jurassic Park going at the same time with different directors. I want to see a full length Wes Anderson take on the film, but also a Zach Snyder take and maybe a Danny Boyle take competing on the same weekend.

14

Doesn't that pretty much describe DC? At one point, they ha Juaquin Phoenix Joker, DCEU, and the Robert Pattinson Batman all kinda overlapping.

3

I think it's because the way the advertise movies now is terrible. Go look at trailers of the past and it's always "in a world gone mad only one man can stop the terrorists from blowing up New York" yeah I know it's cheesy but at least I know what the movies about. These days it's 300 cuts per minute and now it's anyone's guess what genre it is.

Downsizing is the quintessential example of the switch and bait of modern trailers. What an incredibly boring movie that was.

2

Movie mash-ups.

Back to the Future and Tron.

Blade Runner and Hawaii 5-0

Truman and Silo.

Mrs. Doubtfire and John Wick.

13
Agent641reply
lemmy.world

WALL-E and alien.

What I wouldn't give to see a swarm of Xenomorphs tear ass through that ship full of obese humans

14
lemmy.world

I kinda think Event Horizon had a phenomenal concept, but had a C+ execution. If there's a movie I think needs a remake, it's that.

13

I was actually going to say, give it some nods Warhammer and you'll have a dedicated fan base out of the gate.

2
Drusasreply
fedia.io

I love the movie, but it could definitely be done better with some modern touches to the effects and script.

2

as soon as they add modern politics, without any resolution or is so seperated from the actual plot the movie/show will be bad.

1

Whoah, whoah, whoah. That movie is a masterpiece. I say leave it alone and make another eldritch space horror.

1

Dear AI, please upscale this image, but also try to make tons of subtle changes that completely ruin the vibe. Do it in a way that makes it clear that you've been trained on lots of images from The Simpsons, but have no idea what the fuck is going on in any of them.

6
lemmy.world

I think I've made this comment elsewhere but Krull, Enemy Mine, and Last Starfighter are the top of my list for an effects refresh.

There's also no reason why a decent Eragon movie couldn't be made.

11

Krill, absolutely. The original was fun but not good.

Enemy Mine was a great movie and should be left untouched.

The Last Starfighter is an interesting one. I don't think it would benefit from a remake, but because the entire movie is split between the live action scenes and the cheese 80s CG scenes, you could easily replace the space battles with a new version and leave the rest alone.

1
lemmy.world

Because nobody will fund a huge production that's based on something that didn't do well. Are you nuts? Are you going to go up to people and ask for 50 million dollars or whatever and say we're going to take this thing sucked that nobody liked and we're going to redo it.

11
ttyybbreply
lemmy.world

I mean, they've made how many Percy Jackson movies? Pretty sure no one likes any of them.

13

I thought the black guy was funny if you look at his feet

3

Disney's new show is actually pretty good

In a similar vein, the Series of Unfortunate Events movie was a weird and ultimately disappointing adaptation but the Netflix series was incredible

2

Why does everything have to be a huge production? Paranormal Activity was an effective horror movie, on a budget of $55K. Most of that went to the main characters computer rig, and hardwood floors for the director's house, where they shot the film.

That's an extreme example, but there is no reason they can't shoot an original idea on a moderate budget, and in fact, they do it ALL the time. The idea that everything is a remake or a reboot is an exaggeration. Look at all the streaming platforms, filled with original material, and begging for more. Obviously, original screenplays are getting shot every day.

1
lemmy.world

Do you want Fantastic Four? That's how you get Fantastic Four

10
lemmy.world

[raises hand] which Fantastic Four... Last I counter there were like five... I think... I lost count.

6

Well, there was the "We want to keep the rights" movie from the... 90s, I think? Then the two with Jessica Alba, then Fantfourstick, then the MCU version. So, yeah, five by my count.

6

Disney's been trying. 'Once More With Feeling' is a whole podcast about the reboots. Did you know Disney remade Pete's Dragon and The Shaggy Dog? I didn't.

10

The repeated failure to use Brian Blessed as Ridcully is a constant source of rage to me

3
urandomreply
lemmy.world

The 2 color of magic movies were quite enjoyable

2

I think they are categorized as mini series actually. I kinda think of them as movies because of the length

1
lemmy.zip

Is it a flop? I thought it's good from recent viewing, no nostalgia involved because i never watched it back then. Wouldn't mind for another one in that setting though.

8
lemmy.world

It was the most expensive movie ever made at the time, which attracted a lot of criticism. It made a profit though.

12

For some reason some people thought "it's just Mad Max on water" would make other people not want to see it.

4

I think the movie is amazing, but it was generally panned as an expensive flop. I think the setting is really interesting and the practical effects were out of this world

11

Waterworld was a flop that got a reappraisal, and is now considered a pretty cool movie. It was really a victim of a critical wall that was against it from the start. That happens with some movies.

Babylon is another. That's going to get a reappraisal at some point, and become a cult classic.

Showgirls is going through a reappraisal, and people are starting to see it differently. It was a Paul Verhoeven movie, of course it was great.

3

Instead of making another high action time travel movie they could make something more adventurous. Also don't make it a silly family friendly movie. We need more serious adventure films that aren't reboots.

1

Sure, not a fascimile. Who Framed Roger Rabbit had characters from competing studios. Apparently Steven Spielberg had enough clout that he was able to get cross licensing deals made.

2

I kinda thought we were going to get a new Howard the Duck for a second. That would’ve been hilarious either way it panned out.

I think we should take something really underrated but improve it. Off the top of my head, The Rollerblade Seven.

9

I won't stand for this slander of David Lynch and Kyle McLachlan.

2
lemmy.dbzer0.com

I just want a good adaptation of Dragonlance. I had dreamed for decades over that.

The animation movie wasn't even that bad.

8
Tuxmanreply
sh.itjust.works

We had a great test run with Honor Among Thieves

So, we have Forgotten Realms… do a Dragonlance… then Planescape to complete the D&D Cinematic Universe 😜

7
jacksilverreply
lemmy.world

I'm upset that Honor Among Thieves wasn't considered a bigger success, it was a lot of fun.

3

I saw it in theaters and loved it. Made sure to buy the DVD just to show support/sales

2

Ocean’s 11 is usually the example of this concept done right. The original was pretty bad.

8
feddit.org

I want a remake of Tetsuo (edit: tetsuo the iron man)

The shaky cam of this movie makes me nauseous :(

7

That's a sequel, I want the first one, BUT do it worse!

1
lemmy.world

What about remaking foreign movies into domestic interpretations? La Pacte des loups could use an update.

7

As long as they follow OPs premise. There's been lame US remakes of good movies where they could have just watched the original with subtitles. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for example.

3

The problem with wheel of time is there is just so much in the books it's hard to pare that down to a 2 hr movie

1

I think the answer to the question she asks is that an unholy alliance of focus groups, market analysts, and accountants have calculated that the Path to Most Money (tm) goes over in the opposite direction, away from the fun stuff.

I'm sure there's usually good low budget feature-length stuff out there being made, but in today's media landscape it's up to the viewer to find interesting and unique content. It isn't going to be blasted into the faces of all the passive viewers like Avengers 37 will be.

6

I want something completely different... Pick up rejected movie ideas from the 1920s and 1930s and make them EXACTLY like they would have done back then.

6
discuss.online

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I would love to see a modern version and one that's got great effects.

6
Cortreply
lemmy.world

Tbf that is the modern version. The old one from the BBC definitely suffered from lackluster effects.

8
fooreply

That was part of its charm for me. Red Dwarf was the same; the lack of budget somehow made it funnier.

1
Echo Dotreply
feddit.uk

I do wish they would do one that follows the plot of the radio show. It would probably have to be a TV series though, it goes on a movie.

2

I think Douglas Adams thought it was funny that every iteration was a little different.

1

Well they DID make a TV series in 87 that is really fun and worth a watch that follows the radio show. I assume you knew this though and wanted an updated one.

1

depends how recent the movie/show is. but currently reboots of old movies are often terrible compared to the original.

5

Currently...?

There have been maybe maybe a dozen good remakes, ever.

2
addiereply
feddit.uk

Completely perfect as it was, no? Stallone and Snipes having a great time chewing the scenery and playing off each other, Bullock perfect as the ingénue that's down to cyber; lots of iconic ratburgers, sea shells and Taco Bell. Admittedly, the far off year of 2032 doesn't seem that far off any more.

If we're going to be remaking action movies from 1993, then I'm voting for Hard Target. JCVD is amazing at kicking things but terrible at anything that does not involve kicking things; don't mind some dumb stylish action but you don't have to be stupid.

14

Taco Bell

Pizza Hut if you saw the international version of the film. Taco Bell wasn't well known outside the US at the time, so they changed the restaurant to something more familiar for international audiences.

6

You're right.

I think a lot of people here are missing the point. It should not be, "I like this thing so remake it", it should be "this thing had a great idea but the execution was awful so remake it".

1
piefed.social

Manos The Hands of Fate. If somebody can take that and turn it into a passable movie, they deserve the world.

4
sh.itjust.works

I watched that fully knowing it was supposed to be terrible. I was unprepared. I can only imagine aneurysms are more pleasant to endure. It's only an hour-and-a-half or something, but it feels like five. Something to put on Sunday night when you know Monday is coming I suppose.

2
piefed.social

I took a screenwriting class in college. We had to write a paper on a horrible movie of our choice. I just searched worst movie ever made and Manos came up. Writing the paper was the easy part. It took me 4 tries to get through that movie in one go. I couldn't do it. That's how bad it is.

3

"The White Buffalo."

Crazy Horse and Wild Bill Hickock are in a race to kill the beast, but the3 moster has other ideas.

Great cast, but the buffalo looks like it was made out of old tin cans.

4

Am i having deja vu? I think I've seen not only this post but also a lot of the comments

4

Instead of remaking or rebooting successful movies memes. how about vou remake old movies memes that flopped or movies memes that suffered from bad effects and improved them?

9

It does to me. I expected it to be crap. Happy surprise it wasn't terrible.

2

Alien is an interesting case study.

Dan O'Bannon wrote the screenplay for the movie Dark Star. It was not a great movie. He took his core concept, wrote a new version with less comedy and more horror and that became Alien.

4
lemmy.nz

A Last Starfighter remake would rip if it was about how the erliens found a Fortnight kid and had ‘em tear up the intergalactic construction/dance/murder competition (wars are settled this way in space)

3

Would love some cheesy B movies' remakes, by people who understand the cult following and wouldn't take themselves too seriously. Like Mario Bava's Demons. I mean, riding a motorcycle down the stairs like Cloud Strife and chopping off demons' heads with a katana in the middle of a random demonic invasion in a movie theater sounds awesome. Why can't we have Fede Alvarez take a crack at that?

3

I only know about that in the case where the film was bad, but based on an great book. The Lord of the Rings and Dune both had bad films made of it.

3

We need a murder mystery that takes place at a Disney world resort or park, produced by Touchstone studios so it can get the R rating. Targeting Disney adults. Disney gets to have their park as a backdrop and set piece for the movie. No 'unmasking' any of the characters, none of the characters did it, and they might actually help out in some cheeseball fashion. The park appears to otherwise be operating around the movie events.

3

Hell yeah! Ocean eleven was a remake of an apparently not so good movie, and the movie is still one of my favourite heist movie, even the whole trilogy!

3

Rich movie producers don't want any risks. Won't someone think of their net worth??

2
feddit.uk

Airplane is a remake of Zero Hour, which itself is a remake of Flight Into Danger. I don’t think we could take another level of remakeception. It would probably turn out to be a musical.

15

Six freaking hours and nobody stepped up?! Fine, I'll do it.

Yes, it might be awful, but stop calling them Shirley.

4

It wasn't until I was 30 that I finally got one of the most obvious jokes of that film. At all times there's the constant drone of airplane propellers...on a jet

4

It definitely needs more special effects. And i heard he was planning to add vampires to the story. That would be interesting!

3

We need a full remake of the movie Brainscan. I loved that movie as a kid and always dreamed of the day when games became so real you couldn't quite distinguish virtual from reallity. Brainscan does a okay enough yet extremely 90's take on it and its just a fun, cheesy, and nerdy horror movie. It would be fun to see what an actual talented writing team and production crew could do with that same story adding what we know now.

2

Honestly anyone who figures out how to market that will be rich beyond their wildest dreams.

I wanna be a producerrrr….

2

A remake of Post Grad would hit super well right about now

2