What Are Your Picks For Best & Worst Remakes Over The Years?

Peter Marlowe · 04-25-2009, 02:32 PM

This is a very interesting topic that makes for fascinating discussion; in thinking hard about it, I can break the list into two factions: Good and Bad in terms of remakes that have come and gone over the years. These are my opinions, undoubtedly subject to adjustment as I consider more titles -- share yours!

THE GOOD (or tolerable):
Dawn of the Dead
House of Wax (the remake with VINCENT PRICE based off of "Mystery of the Wax Museum")
The Hills Have Eyes
Man on Fire
Poseidon
The Fog
The Haunting
House on Haunted Hill
Friday the 13th
The Mummy
War of the Worlds
I Am Legend (a "remake" from "The Omega Man")
John Carpenter's The Thing
John Carpenter's Village of the Damned

THE BAD:
The Amityville Horror
The Hitcher
House of Wax (the version with Paris Hilton)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Halloween
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Miracle on 34th Street
The Italian Job (but better than the original!)
Assault on Precinct 13

That's all I can think of right now...I'm sure I'll have a ton to add as they hit me...

Chris Gerhard · 04-26-2009, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Marlowe

I Am Legend (a "remake" from "The Omega Man")

I like "I am Legend" as well and "The Omega Man" was a remake of "The Last Man on Earth" (1964). I like all three versions with the middle version my favorite. John Carpenter's "The Thing" is the only example I can think of right now of a remake that completely changed a very good film and bettered it.

Other remakes I like:

King Kong (2005)
Casino Royale (2006)
Cape Fear (1991)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
The Fly (1986)
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

I would need hours to list all of the bad remakes and I got tired after thinking of those few remakes I do like. There are many others I do like but the bad would outweigh the good for me when it comes to remakes. I recently purchased "The Day the Earth Stood Still", what a waste of $80,000,000 that was and I am sure glad it included the original film in HD on Blu-ray as well.

Chris

gossamer · 04-26-2009, 03:09 PM

Believe it or not these are some of my favs:
Scarface (1983)
Shaft (2000)
Poseidon (2006)
Godzilla (1998)

Steve Martins' Pink Panther was pretty embarrassing to watch.

Peter Marlowe · 04-26-2009, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Gerhard

I like "I am Legend" as well and "The Omega Man" was a remake of "The Last Man on Earth" (1964). I like all three versions with the middle version my favorite.

Yes, Chris, you are correct -- I almost forgot about The Last Man on Earth!

Quote:

John Carpenter's "The Thing" is the only example I can think of right now of a remake that completely changed a very good film and bettered it.

Indeed; why I have it on my list amongst a host of other reasons. His "Village of the Damned" was effective, too.

Quote:

Other remakes I like:

King Kong (2005)
Casino Royale (2006)
Cape Fear (1991)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
The Fly (1986)
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Yes -- many of these skipped my mind, too, and I have them in my own collection! I will agree with Casino Royale, Cape Fear and MAYBE The Fly, although Cronenberg's remake was a bit too gory and "body transformish" for me. I never was a Kong fan, but the Jack Black version was okay; I agree with Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- the "re-remake" with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig belongs on the "Bad" list -- and absolutely agree with you about Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead (in this case I feel the remake bettered the original, although I am in the minority on this one). I was never a Planet of the Apes fan, but the Whalberg version didn't do it for me, and I think the original Charlie/Willy Wonka with Gene Wilder was better than the Depp remake.

Quote:

I would need hours to list all of the bad remakes and I got tired after thinking of those few remakes I do like. There are many others I do like but the bad would outweigh the good for me when it comes to remakes. I recently purchased "The Day the Earth Stood Still", what a waste of $80,000,000 that was and I am sure glad it included the original film in HD on Blu-ray as well.

Chris

I know what you mean about needing hours to do this list -- my original list I came up with was all I could think of off the top of my head; why did you buy the new version of Earth Stood Still if you didn't like it? I'm sure you can get a copy of the original by itself.

Peter Marlowe · 04-26-2009, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gossamer

Believe it or not these are some of my favs:
Scarface (1983)
Shaft (2000)
Poseidon (2006)
Godzilla (1998)

Steve Martins' Pink Panther was pretty embarrassing to watch.

Yes, Goss -- indeed, I almost forgot DePalma's Scarface was a remake! That's definitely on the "Good" list...I have Poseidon on my "Good" remake list as well, although I can't agree with you on the Matthew Broderick Godzilla...I thought that was awful and really did nothing for the modern evolution of this iconic monster.

Chris Gerhard · 04-28-2009, 06:56 AM

One film with a bunch of remakes and at least several are good in my opinion is Dracula, or I guess the first version was called Nosferatu. The 1922 silent version is on the IMDb top 250 now. I like the Bela Lugosi 1931 version and I love the Hammer/Warner 1958 version. I also like the 1979 version and Copolla's 1993 version. There may not be another story with so many different versions I like.

Chris

Nevada_MO_Guy · 05-02-2009, 07:16 PM

I enjoyed both the remake of Walking Tall played by The Rock.

and the original Walking Tall played by Joe Baker.

Who was playing the real life character of Buford Pusser.

Peter Marlowe · 05-02-2009, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nevada_MO_Guy

I enjoyed both the remake of Walking Tall played by The Rock.

and the original Walking Tall played by Joe Baker.

Who was playing the real life character of Buford Pusser.

Wow...

Forgot about those too MO Guy...

Lee Stewart · 05-02-2009, 07:40 PM

The Good:

The Mummy

Dracula

The Maltese Falcon (with Bogy)

Ben Hur

The Bad:

Frankenstein

Any rendition of Robin Hood

Walking Tall

The Ugly:

The Day The Earth Stood Still

The Blob

The Wild Wild West

Peter Marlowe · 05-02-2009, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

The Good:

The Mummy

Dracula

The Maltese Falcon (with Bogy)

Ben Hur

The Bad:

Frankenstein

Any rendition of Robin Hood

Walking Tall

The Ugly:

The Day The Earth Stood Still

The Blob

The Wild Wild West

I forgot about The Blob as well, Lee! Thanks!

I thought the '98 remake with Dillon was pretty decent though...

Lee Stewart · 05-03-2009, 07:37 AM

Here is a list of film remakes - shows the original and the remake:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_remakes_A-M

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_remakes_N-Z

Peter Marlowe · 05-03-2009, 07:15 PM

While that's probably a very interesting read, I was hoping to have members here share their opinions on bad and good remakes over the years, as I supplied with my first list.

Nevada_MO_Guy · 05-04-2009, 12:16 AM

I liked the original Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds playing Crewe and how he was added in the remake as a coach to the new Crewe played by Adam Sandler.

1HDMI · 05-13-2009, 07:29 AM

Original: The Amityville Horror '79(BAD) Remake: The Amityville Horror '05(BADDER), neither film depicted actual events and both were a waste of good film. IMO ... What ...?

Peter Marlowe · 05-13-2009, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1HDMI

Original: The Amityville Horror '79(BAD) Remake: The Amityville Horror '05(BADDER), neither film depicted actual events and both were a waste of good film. IMO ... What ...?

That's absolutely not true, in terms of the ORIGINAL not being perceived correctly...I grew up 10 minutes from Amityville, and have been fascinated by the case ever since I was a kid...I did a paper on De Feo's case for a pre-law class at New York's Hofstra University, and did a TON of research on the subject. Jay Anson's novel was taken from transcripts and audio recordings the Lutzes made over a bottle of wine with Mr. Weber, De Feo's attorney...over that wine, the Lutzes described what "happened" to them which eventually became the book, which eventually became the screenplay source for Samuel Arkoff's production version. The REMAKE, on the other hand, was ABSOLUTELY and utterly incorrect telling of fabricated incidents -- the Lutzes had a BLACK LAB, not whatever dog was in the remake...the house looked NOTHING like the one in the remake...Long Island looked NOTHING like the one in the remake...the daughter didn't try to kill herself on the roof of the house as the remake proclaimed...George Lutz looked NOTHING like Ryan Reynolds...the list goes on and on.

04-25-2009, 02:32 PM	#1
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,298	What Are Your Picks For Best & Worst Remakes Over The Years? This is a very interesting topic that makes for fascinating discussion; in thinking hard about it, I can break the list into two factions: Good and Bad in terms of remakes that have come and gone over the years. These are my opinions, undoubtedly subject to adjustment as I consider more titles -- share yours! *THE GOOD (or tolerable):* Dawn of the Dead House of Wax (the remake with VINCENT PRICE based off of "Mystery of the Wax Museum") The Hills Have Eyes Man on Fire Poseidon The Fog The Haunting House on Haunted Hill Friday the 13th The Mummy War of the Worlds I Am Legend (a "remake" from "The Omega Man") John Carpenter's The Thing John Carpenter's Village of the Damned *THE BAD:* The Amityville Horror The Hitcher House of Wax (the version with Paris Hilton) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Halloween The Day the Earth Stood Still Miracle on 34th Street The Italian Job (but better than the original!) Assault on Precinct 13 That's all I can think of right now...I'm sure I'll have a ton to add as they hit me... __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY 1080p KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 - *NEW!* Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System INTERCONNECTS & SPEAKER CABLING BY MONSTER *2-CHANNEL (IN PROGRESS):* ONKYO A-9555 (coming soon) polkaudio R20 (possibly) Stands by Sanus Systems (possibly) marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL Professional Technics SL-1200 (coming soon) Numark CD MIX-1 Last edited by Peter Marlowe; 04-25-2009 at 10:43 PM.

04-26-2009, 03:09 PM	#3
gossamer 50 is the new 42 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Da Boogie-down Bronx Posts: 563	Believe it or not these are some of my favs: Scarface (1983) Shaft (2000) Poseidon (2006) Godzilla (1998) Steve Martins' Pink Panther was pretty embarrassing to watch. __________________ Living Room: Panasonic TH-50PZ700U Plasma Scientific-Atlanta SA8300HD DVR Sony PlayStation 3 80GB Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Toshiba SD-4700 SD DVD Apple Mac mini, 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo Onkyo TX-SR706 Receiver Paradigm Cinema 110 Speaker System Pioneer CLD-3070 LaserDisc Player Quasar VHQ760 VCR Bedroom: Panasonic TC26LX50 26-inch LCD Scientific-Atlanta SA8300HD DVR Panasonic DMP-BD30K Blu-ray Panasonic DMRES15 DVD Recorder JVC HR-S8000U S-VHS

05-02-2009, 07:16 PM	#7
Nevada_MO_Guy Missouri_HD_Guy Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Missouri Age: 42 Posts: 975	I enjoyed both the remake of Walking Tall played by The Rock. and the original Walking Tall played by Joe Baker. Who was playing the real life character of Buford Pusser. __________________ Sony KDS-60A2000 bulb hours ..... Yamaha RX-V1800 ..... Dish ViP 622 DuoDVR temps .... Toshiba HD-D1 ..... Philips BDP7200 ..... Mirage OMNISAT v2 FS .... Mirage OMNISAT v2 CC ..... Mirage OMNISAT v2 .... Mirage OMNI S12 (19Hz) ..... (2) Sony SA-W3000 (20Hz) ....Home Depot

05-03-2009, 07:15 PM	#12
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,298	While that's probably a very interesting read, I was hoping to have members here share their opinions on bad and good remakes over the years, as I supplied with my first list. __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605B OPPO BDP-83 SONY 1080p KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 - *NEW!* Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System INTERCONNECTS & SPEAKER CABLING BY MONSTER *2-CHANNEL (IN PROGRESS):* ONKYO A-9555 (coming soon) polkaudio R20 (possibly) Stands by Sanus Systems (possibly) marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL Professional Technics SL-1200 (coming soon) Numark CD MIX-1

05-04-2009, 12:16 AM	#13
Nevada_MO_Guy Missouri_HD_Guy Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Missouri Age: 42 Posts: 975	I liked the original Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds playing Crewe and how he was added in the remake as a coach to the new Crewe played by Adam Sandler. __________________ Sony KDS-60A2000 bulb hours ..... Yamaha RX-V1800 ..... Dish ViP 622 DuoDVR temps .... Toshiba HD-D1 ..... Philips BDP7200 ..... Mirage OMNISAT v2 FS .... Mirage OMNISAT v2 CC ..... Mirage OMNISAT v2 .... Mirage OMNI S12 (19Hz) ..... (2) Sony SA-W3000 (20Hz) ....Home Depot

04-28-2009, 06:56 AM	#6
Chris Gerhard High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 8,986	One film with a bunch of remakes and at least several are good in my opinion is Dracula, or I guess the first version was called Nosferatu. The 1922 silent version is on the IMDb top 250 now. I like the Bela Lugosi 1931 version and I love the Hammer/Warner 1958 version. I also like the 1979 version and Copolla's 1993 version. There may not be another story with so many different versions I like. Chris

05-02-2009, 07:40 PM	#9
Lee Stewart Behold - the future! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Albuquerque, NM Age: 58 Posts: 26,406	The Good: The Mummy Dracula The Maltese Falcon (with Bogy) Ben Hur The Bad: Frankenstein Any rendition of Robin Hood Walking Tall The Ugly: The Day The Earth Stood Still The Blob The Wild Wild West

05-03-2009, 07:37 AM	#11
Lee Stewart Behold - the future! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Albuquerque, NM Age: 58 Posts: 26,406	Here is a list of film remakes - shows the original and the remake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_remakes_A-M http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_remakes_N-Z

05-13-2009, 07:29 AM	#14
1HDMI What ...? Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 181	Original: The Amityville Horror '79(BAD) Remake: The Amityville Horror '05(BADDER), neither film depicted actual events and both were a waste of good film. IMO ... What ...?

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