# Films that should be remade. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157 "2013-07-10T18:27:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/21 "2013-07-11T03:54:29Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=553555), the OP is dissatisfied with the 1966 film _Fahrenheit 451_ and argues that it should be remade. I haven’t seen the film, so I can’t comment. But I _have_ seen the 1949 film _The Fountainhead_. I loved the novel, but IMO the film adaptation **sucked**. I think it’s a great story, and would love it if a competent & talented filmmaker would remake it. > > What film(s) do you think should be remade? Bonus points given for older films based on well-known novels. I actually liked The Fountainhead- I think it was the bestit could have been done in 1949, but I’d like a remake. I’d also loved Fahrenheit 451 & would love to see a remake. I think Frankenstein has been done as well as it can be, but Bram Stoker’s Dracula still has unrealized potential. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/22 "2013-07-11T04:03:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > "“The Great Race”(with Pierce Brosnan in the lead). You misspelled Nathan Fillion 🙂 /Pierce Brosnan is 60. /good movie suggestion! ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/23 "2013-07-11T04:07:02Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > rumours lately of a remake of Slaughterhouse Five, written by Kaufman and directed by Guillermo del Toro… [I think it’s beyond the rumor stage.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jul/09/charlie-kaufman-slaughterhouse-five-film) Can they remake “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” and make it a comedy? I’d like that. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/24 "2013-07-11T04:18:17Z")
The Matrix Sequels. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/25 "2013-07-11T04:28:53Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > [I think it’s beyond the rumor stage.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jul/09/charlie-kaufman-slaughterhouse-five-film) > > Can they remake “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” and make it a comedy? I’d like that. They already remade it. But they called it Rat Race. I think Highlander is perfect for a remake/reboot. As much as I liked the original, there really is a lot of room for improvement. And it would make it possible to make sequels that don’t suck. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/26 "2013-07-11T04:36:13Z")
**Contact** , with the last 10 minutes being redone to follow what happened in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/27 "2013-07-11T04:48:26Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > DUNE - give it the Peter Jackson 3 movie treatment so we can get some depth without silliness. Current effects would be fun to see. A proper treatment of several of the supporting characters would be appreciated. This How about a version of I Am Legend that doesn’t fuck up the ending for a change. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/28 "2013-07-11T05:13:35Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > [I think it’s beyond the rumor stage.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jul/09/charlie-kaufman-slaughterhouse-five-film) That must be a candidate for the most missing-the-pointiest plot summary of all time: [Slaughterhouse Five] “is set during the bombing of Dresden in the second world war and follows an American prisoner of war who is held in a slaughterhouse”. Yeah, it follows him alright - through the 90% of the story that \*\*isn’t \*\*set in the bloody slaughterhouse! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/29 "2013-07-11T05:39:52Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Some Like It Hot, Seven Year Itch, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, etc… > > Yeah, redo some classic Marilyn flicks, make them hotter, update to current social mores, add a couple of time traveling robots. > > DUNE - give it the Peter Jackson 3 movie treatment so we can get some depth without silliness. Current effects would be fun to see. A proper treatment of several of the supporting characters would be appreciated. Add a couple of time traveling robots. > > They LIVE! - NSA spying on us? No, it’s them! OBEY! Eat at Joe’s! Add a couple of time traveling robots and BAM! There ya go. > > The Pit and the Pendulum - as cool as he was, Vincent Price’s version wasn’t that true to the story. Add a couple of… you get the point… I suddenly want to see a movie where a couple of robots use a time machine to visit the future. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/30 "2013-07-11T05:51:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A remake of _M_ - but set in the immigrant communities of Manhattan around 1900. This is an interesting and perhaps brilliant idea. I recently saw the old classic [Kings Row](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034946/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (often regarded as Ronald Reagan’s best movie). It’s not half bad, but in reading up on it afterwards it sounds like a ton of source material was excised because of Hays Code standards - incest, nymphomania, homosexuality, etc. Sounded like a good candidate for a modern, uncensored remake. The premise of [Flatliners](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099582/) is terrific, but Joel Schumacher - as he so often does - ruins the movie. It should be remade with a decent director. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/31 "2013-07-11T09:01:16Z")
I think we are about due for another round of _Beau Geste_ and _The Prisoner of Zenda_. How about a Busby Berkely musical, filmed in IMAX 3-D? _The Maltese Falcon._ Tommy “Tiny” Lister as Kasper Gutmann. (I would have preferred Michael Clark Duncan, but, alas, he is no longer with us.) Denzel Washington as Joel Cairo. Billy Dee Williams as Miles Archer. Samuel Jackson as Sam [del]Spade[/del] Cracker. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/32 "2013-07-11T11:17:02Z")
Watership Down - the worst animated adaptation I can think of. I wish the peeps who made “Babe” would tackle a 2 hour or longer version of it. Dune - Obviously, we need Peter Jackson or Guillermo de Toro to do this in parts and not rush it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/33 "2013-07-11T11:50:20Z")
> [@](#): > > I heard some buzz that **Top Gun** was being considered for a remake, with (negative) fan speculation that China was going to get plugged in for the nebulous “the enemy.” I opined that if you really wanted to make things interesting, you’d make it _about_ Chinese fighter pilots, competing for the top slots in China’s stealth fighter/naval aviation program. Maybe have Maverick be the “bad guy” who’d shot down one of the Chinese fighter jock’s father in the 80s, or something. The real question is, can you film a homoerotic-subtext version of beach badminton? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/34 "2013-07-11T12:05:59Z")
> [@Agnostic\_Pagan](#): > > I would love to see Chris Nolan do an update of the Shadow. Alec Baldwin’s version is fine, but it a bit too campy and is not aging well. I’m not wild about seeing superhero movies with 200 million dollar budgets, but **The Shadow** and **Daredevil** erred too far in the other direction. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/35 "2013-07-11T12:09:44Z")
I’d like to see _The French Lt.'s Woman_ redone either as a straight period piece, or perhaps with a modern guide/narrator standing in for Fowles (who did make an appearance or two in his own novel). ---
**Author:** ![Swamp\_Adder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Swamp\_Adder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swamp_Adder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/36 "2013-07-11T12:22:18Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > **Contact** , with the last 10 minutes being redone to follow what happened in the book. This. Also _The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes_. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I found it a brilliant script whose execution was kind of ruined by a couple of really irritating lead performances (though perhaps my opinion is slanted by the fact that I read the script before seeing the movie). It would also be nice to see some of the cut sequences restored. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/37 "2013-07-11T13:00:59Z")
1.) **A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court** – there have been an awful lot of movies that were "suggested by this book, and several nominal adaptations. Not one of them is at all close to Twain’s story, and not one captures his wit, style, or mood. The two biggest adaptations were simply Star Vehicles (for Will Rogers and Bing Crosby, each portraying hero Hank Morgan essentially as themselves). I suspect too many filmmakers were scared off by the idea that they’d be offending the Catholics. But I maintain that you can make a film of this that captures much of the book without doing so. Not one version has shown us The Destruction of Merlin’s Tower, or The Fountain of Holiness, or Hank Morgan’s Quest. There were moments of real emotion in the book, as well – such as the King’s encounter in the smallpox hut. And nobody tries to show Hank Morgan’s own limitations. Worst of all, no one ever seems to treat what’s actually funny in Twain’s book. 2.) **From the Earth to the Moon** – the only real adaptation of this book was a joke, not at all faithful to verne’s novel. This would make an interesting “steampunk” sorta thing, as Disney’s _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_ arguably gave a push toward steampunk in the first place. 3.) **i, Robot** – the Will Smith film started out as a story completely independent of Asimov’s book, aside from being based on the Three Laws. Changing the names of a few characters in a story and then saying that you’ve filmed “I, Robot” is like making a couple of characters in _The Red Badge of Courage_ female and saying that you’ve filmed _Gone With the Wind_. I’d like to see this redone with CGI and Harlan Ellison’s script – that had the blessing of Asimov himself, and a good _Citizen Kane_-derived structure. 4.) **The Time Machine** – maybe one of these days they’ll get it right. George Pal loved the book, but he wasn’t really committed to putting Wells on the screen – how many viewers really understood what the Morlocks were, or understood the implications? The remake a few years ago threw out the book almost completely. With modern CGI some of the scenes could be awesome – the decaying Museum, the giant crabs at The End of the World. 5.) **Doc Savage** – I think I heard that they were doing this, in fact. One hopes they’re doing it right. Properly handled, it could be great adventure. Certainly, badly handled it could be, well, as bad as the first film version. 6.) **The Case of Charles Dexter Ward** – this has been filmed at least twice. It’s arguably one of Lovecraft’s more accessible stories (alongside _The Shadow over Innsmouth_\*, see below), but hasn’t been done justice. This could be Great. 7.) **the Shadow over Innsmouth** – filmed more than once, but the recent **Dagon** was a bloody disappointment. This is a film that really needs CGI. And it’s Lovecraft at his most action-oriented. , ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/38 "2013-07-11T14:05:31Z")
“Forever Amber” (book written in 1944, movie made in 1947). I love the book, never saw the movie, so I’d like a remake, please. A mini-series on HBO or PBS will do. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/39 "2013-07-11T15:05:08Z")
_Any_ attempt to put RAH on the screen has been abysmal. \*\*Puppet Masters \*\*could be a great film. Surprised no one has tried \*\*Orphans of the Sky \*\*or **Glory Road** , either, but I’m they could be royally screwed up, as well. . ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157/40 "2013-07-11T15:24:07Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > _Any_ attempt to put RAH on the screen has been abysmal. \*\*Puppet Masters \*\*could be a great film. Surprised no one has tried \*\*Orphans of the Sky \*\*or **Glory Road** , either, but I’m they could be royally screwed up, as well. . I agree that they could easily be screwed up. They showed that the last time they tried to film **puppet Masters**. It had a lot of good points (good, surprisingly convincing non-CGI effects, casting perpetualy conspiracy monger Richard Belzer as an agent), but some terribly points as well (re-setting it in the modern day; making the female lead NOT an agent --which makes her actions ridiculous). The screenwriters wrote a piece on the internet about how it was continually getting away fom them, and they had to work to get it back, so that it’s lucky that the film resembles the story as much as it does (the piece reads a lot like Heinlein’s own account of how _Destination Moon_ was filmed), but that simply shows how we need it to be done properly from scratch. The story was filmed – without heinlein’s permission – as the low-budget _the Brain Eaters_. The film is terrible, but features Leonard Nimoy, unrecognizable under a ton of makeup. Heinlein hasn’t been adapted properly yet – Puppet Masters, Starship Troopers, Jerry was a Man. None of them at all capture his spirit or feel. Robert Sheckley hasn’t fared any better. Not one adaptation of his has been at all faithful. I’d like to see the following remade: **immortality, Inc.** / **immortality Delivered** – Supposedly the film _Freejack_ was based on this. Right. Even if you get Anthony Hopkins and Mick Jagger (!) to star in your film, if you throw out 90% of the reason you bought the property, it’ll stink. **Watchbird** – in an age where we’ve become very conscious of the problems of unmanned drones, Sheckley’s 1950s-era story about autonomous flying enforcement droids sudden;ly seems extremely relevant. Too bad they completely changed the story when they filmed it for _Masters of Science Fiction_. Then didn’t release it in the US. If you couldn’t get hold of the fairly rare DVD, you missed paret of the series. Another short story writer who hasn’t been treated well by the flicks is Fredric Brown, who wrote some of the cleverest pieces committed to print in SF, fantasy, and mystery. **Martians, Go Home** – a clever piece of satire turned into an abysmal film by the guys who later made **Godzilla** and **Independence Day** , but before they had money. **The Screaming Mimi** – I haven’t seen the film, but, from all accounts, it wasn’t all that great. And the opening scene – where a woman gets stabbed (nonfatally) behind a glass door and stripped by her dog\* – couldn’t have been filmed in the 1950s. But it would be a killer today. It’s a vert=y strange mystery with an offbeat hero and a really twisted ending. \*The woman is a stripper, and the dog is part of the act – her clothes are breakaway. The dog was responding to signals and circumstances, but the woman wasn’t intentionally stripping – she hadn’t expected getting attacked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-should-be-remade/663157.md?page=3)