Every Hollywood generation seems to be possessed with the desire to outshine their predecessors. Or maybe it’s just the total lack of original ideas, or worse, producers’ obsession with cashing in on old favorites.
Whatever the reason, the film industry churns out retooled classics (or yet undiscovered foreign gems) every year. Is it really necessary to destroy myths like Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, or Halloween? To walk all over previous generations’ achievements and legacy? Apparently so.
A quick search on IMDb will result in tons of projects for remakes. Like Friday the 13th or A Nightmare On Elm Street. While I understand (or better said tolerate) such endeavours, I truly cannot fathom what was in Michael Bay’s head when he decided to remake Birds. Hitchcock must be turning in his grave. The one “good” thing about it is that Bay himself doesn’t direct it. Who know what we’d end up with (Transformers:Crow Wars comes to mind). Not that I don’t respect the man as far as entertaining action flicks go. But he’s not much more than that as Pearl Harbor proved.
Some other remakes planned: Robocop (I sure do hope they don’t go all CGI), Conan The Barbarian (penned by the Sahara writers – ughh), Escape From New York (Snake played by someone other than Russell? blasphemy!!! ) and The Dirty Dozen (for the love of god, why?!?; that movie can still entertain today’s generation).
I’m not saying remakes can’t be good (King Kong, Scarface – though this one was quite the reenvisioning) or even better than the original (His Girl Friday, Titanic, and yes Ocean’s 11), but most of the time these are the result of talented people. Others are just a plague that desecrate works of art.
Posted on August 9th, 2008 by MrWiseguy
Filed under: Movies
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
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[...] While I’m not exactly the type to cheer dusting off the old cape (some things should be left alone), I’m not one to consider a downright awful sequel does anything to the original. So, besides tarnish the reputation of those involved, what harm can come of these movies? After all, isn’t it better to maintain some continuity in the land of the three Rs – reboot/remake/re-imagining? [...]