There's a lot of complaining about the number of remakes and reboots coming out of the film and TV industries these days. Some are interesting new takes on the original premise, some seem to have little to do with the original premise, some are just cash grabs that rehash the original premise. It's fairly easy to find people complaining that this or that remake should not have happened or should not happen.
Still, there always seems to be a few properties around that didn't get it right the first time or that can be reworked to fit a new era (e.g. A Star is Born, which has been remade 4 times in 4 different eras).
What remakes/reboots/reimaginings would you LIKE to see done?
One of the things I find most irritating is when remakes are made of TV shows or movies which were particularly good because of the era in which they were produced and the actors who populated them and made those characters their own.
The recent Dad's Army movie was a case in point.
That said, a good remake of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea could be worthwhile.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana
I've always thought Forbidden Planet could be redone with modern fx and a good cast. It's basically Shakespeare's The Tempest re-skinned as s-f so one could revisit that source material as well as the movie itself.
What is your thought on this (Scott + Anna) A remake of the 1939 classic Drums Along the Mohawk?
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947.. Rex Harrison.. Gene Tierney)
Laura (1944.. Dana Andrews.. Gene Tierney)
Time Machine (1960.. Rod Taylor)
Sergeant York (1941.. Gary Cooper.. Walter Brennan)
There's been a couple swings at the Time Machine since the George Pal one starring Taylor. Most recent was 2002 starring Guy Pearce but it wasn't especially faithful to the novel. Still, a good adaptation with modern fx would be welcome.
Flash Gordon. Not that the campy and silly but entertaining 1980 version doesn't have its merits, but a good, straight version would be welcome.
I don’t know how to make the boxes that quote others so I’ll have to do it this way! The gentleman above (Dreamcatcher) mentioned four movies. Time Machine had already been remade over and over again. The other one that caught my attention was one of my top ten favorites, The Ghost and Mrs, Muir! It’s a classic and should never ever be remade. How can you improve on perfection? That would be like remaking Casablanca without Humphrey Bogart.
Dirtier Harry... A comedy parody of the Dirty Harry movies. Someone should seriously do this because there are so many things ( Harry not doing things by the book, the one liners and such) that would work perfectly for a comedy.
Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun... A completely different version of the original film about the discovery of an earth like planet that is in the same orbit as earth, but on the opposite side of the sun. My version wouldn't be about earth, but an alien planet which has only now mastered space travel. Water has become scarce, so they send an unmanned vessel to the other planets in their orbit in the hopes of finding one with water. The vessel sends back transmissions, both the planets it has passed by and the ones it is approaching.
A live feed is broadcast in a school classroom as one of the students asks the teacher to point out their planet. He locates it, but realizes the planet is not where it should be. (I should point out, the teacher is shown teaching the students earlier about how their planet was at war for several years until it was decided cooperation and conservation by everyone was better than fighting over water which actually caused the problem to become worse. There was no longer a need for weapons and it is agreed that all would be destroyed. It was this cooperation between nations that enabled them to start their space program.) After comparing transmissions, they realize that this was another planet orbiting on the opposite side of the sun. This excites everyone as they know there is a good chance of finding water on a planet that is similar to theirs. They program the vessel to return (it's the only one they have) which will take a few months.
Upon it's return, they program it to find this other planet and transmit video from every corner. What they find is disturbing. Beings just like themselves are at war (apparently also over water) with weapons far more advanced than anything they had ever dreamed of. What's worse is that the vessel malfunctions and crashes on the planet. The fear now is that the other planet may find out about their existence and with it, the possibility of an invasion and no way to defend themselves.
I noticed that Blacula is coming up for a remake. It was a vampire movie that came out of the blaxploitation scene in Hollywood in the seventies. Could be interesting if the update the plot (a black monarch from Africa is vampirized by Dracula centuries ago, then resurfaces in Harlem in the seventies). I can see it being for vampires what Black Panther was for superheroes if they do it right.
With the success of the Legendary Godzilla and Kong movies, perhaps someone should try to get Hollywood rights for Gamera. Gamera is not part of the "Godzilla-verse" but is a rival series from another Japanese studio. However, Legendary getting the rights to do a Hollywood remake of Gamera could open the door to Godzilla and Gamera finally meeting on screen (other than in fan-made videos on Youtube), assuming both Japanese rights holders were amenable.
