# Great films that deserve great remakes... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815 "2010-05-26T13:58:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/1 "2010-05-26T13:58:23Z")
I have been thinking a lot about some classic movies that I have always loved which have never been remade. Sure, some are so amazing that no one dares touch them. Still, there are some that are almost line for line as timely today as when they were made. The one movie that been on my mind lately is the classic “The Best Years of Our Lives”. It deals with the aftermath of war, alcoholism, disability, a poor economy, parenting, marriages with & w/o fidelity, love and friendships that rise above it all. Oddly enough, every single one of these topics is current given GW2, the Depression, Tea-baggers, and entitled/arrogant customers who are pandered to by micro-managing bosses. Yes, I know, no one will ever dare try to touch a film that won 7 academy awards and starred legends like Myrna Loy and Frederick March. But, dammit, I’d love to see them try… ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/2 "2010-05-26T14:08:21Z")
Why bother? You can’t improve on perfection. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/3 "2010-05-26T14:08:31Z")
It’s the “Great Remakes” part that’s the stumbling block. Usually when they remake a Great Film the remake is awful. Case in point – the recent **Day the Earth Stood Still**. That said, and in full knowledge of what I’m asking, I wouldn’t mind a well-done remake of **Forbidden Planet**. The original had superb effects, many of which still stand up. But it would be interesting to see how it would look with modern effects (some of the Krell Power Plant scenes look _way_ too cartoony) and without the 1950s restrictions on language and sexual content. The problem, of course, is that it would be extremely easy to screw this up. It’s easier to ask for a remake of a film that’s _not_ great, for obvious reasons. I’d like to see **This Island Earth** redone for this reason – they dumbed down Jones’ novel where they didn’t outright jettison it completely, and I’d like to see it done intelligently. I’d actually like to see them keep the mutants in, but only if they can manage the almost impossible task of incorporating them intelligently and believably into the story. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/4 "2010-05-26T15:07:01Z")
You run into 2 problems with remakes With Psycho, they did a scene for scene reshoot. About the best commentary I seem to remember was that people thought it was unnecessary. With any other remake, people complain that they changed the movie - plot or characters, or updated it from WW2 to Afghanistan, or whatever. So, if it is shot for shot, it was not necessary, and if it is updated it sucks. What are the other options, really? My personal take is that I would love to see some of the old SF/fantasy classics remade shot for shot, but with modern SFX. _BUT_ without screwing up the actual plot and dialog. I really hate it when they decide to take a piece of fiction and change it from the original just to update it for modern taste. If you like it well enough as it was, then leave it. Many of Heinleins books do not make sense updated, they are relics of cold war sensibilities and if you change it to modernize it, it screws up the plot and characters. I would also love to see a remake of Forbidden Planet,I think it would be quite good. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/5 "2010-05-26T15:19:19Z")
A great film does not deserve a remake, IMHO. Would you remake The Godfather? Citizen Kane? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/6 "2010-05-26T17:19:06Z")
My idea of a remake: _M_, the 1931 Fritz Lang thriller with Peter Lorre. And the update would be to set in the immigrant communities of Manhattan around 1905. So instead of the “invisible” community being the criminal underworld it would be immigrants. And I know there was an American remake of _M_ made in 1951. I’ve never seen it but I haven’t heard anyone recommending it. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/7 "2010-05-26T17:45:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Many of Heinleins books do not make sense updated, they are relics of cold war sensibilities and if you change it to modernize it, it screws up the plot and characters. You could do them as period pieces. Having listened to an audiobooks version of **Rocket Ship Galileo** many times recently, and having seen the film ostensibly based on it, **Destination Moon** , I wouldn’t mind seeing it done over, closer to the book, despite it’s age. The DM script feels hokey and, i suspect, felt pretty hokey even at the time. And some of the effects are pretty cheesy-looking. Aside from updating effects and allowing freer expression of Hayes-code era restrictions, i can’t see any point in remaking a "great’ film. One film that would definitely benefit, for both reasons, is Richard Matheson’s _The Shrinking Man_, filmed famously as a low-budget B-movie by Jack Arnold in 1957. The budget precluded a lot of effects work, and some of it looks disappointing even considering the time it was made. But the book also has a lot of sexual content that was glossed over or outright neglected in the original film. A remake would be a distinct improvement, despite the fact that the original version is considered a “classic”. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/8 "2010-05-27T00:29:42Z")
_They Live_ needs remade with a real actor in the lead. Loved the premise. Execution was weak. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/9 "2010-05-27T01:01:36Z")
Yep, i think it’s far more likely to be a _better_ product if they start with a stinker instead of a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/10 "2010-05-27T02:29:14Z")
> [@](#): > > You could do them as period pieces. Movies that are commenting on the issues of their day rarely get remade well. Two recent examples were the remake of _The Stepford Wives_ and _Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner_. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/11 "2010-05-27T03:47:46Z")
And who can forget that fantastic remake of _The Manchurian Candidate_, starring Denzel Washington? Fail. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/12 "2010-05-27T04:45:44Z")
The problem with remaking great films? **Monsters in the Id**. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/13 "2010-05-27T05:22:21Z")
Well any Hayes-era film that deals with nudity or sex might benefit from a remake. Frex “Gypsy” the movie about Gypsy Rose Lee. Imagine how much more sense it would make if the strippers actually, you know … Stripped. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/14 "2010-05-27T11:53:26Z")
Also, remakes can have added meaning in different times. Frex, a remake of “The Children’s Hour” might have some interesting resonances as we seem to be on the verge of allowing gays to serve freely in the military, and gay marriage remains an issue. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/15 "2010-05-27T12:04:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Movies that are commenting on the issues of their day rarely get remade well. Two recent examples were the remake of The Stepford Wives and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. **Destination Moon** was primarily about “how to do space travel”, not commenting on the issues of the day (If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that they don’t even mention “Russia”). You can’t really say that it “comments on the issues of the day”. And God only knows what “The Stepford Wives” remake was supposed to be – I think frank Oz made it up scene by scene, without reference to previous scenes. It’s certainly not supposed to be a “comment on the issues” of _any_ day ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/16 "2010-05-27T12:12:44Z")
It can be done, but that’s rare. I can think of things like **His Girl Friday** as a remake of **The Front Page** – the original play and film were very good, but changing Hildy to a woman was inspired. Filmed plays are remade all the time; Shakespeare is often done in different versions. Both versions of **Henry V** are great films. You have to be able to add something that makes the film more relevant. Some of the suggestions above certainly have potential ( **M** and **The Best Years of Our Lives** , for instance) because they’re adding something new to the mix. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/17 "2010-05-27T13:02:27Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s certainly not supposed to be a “comment on the issues” of any day You don’t think the original was commenting on the feminist movement of the mid-seventies? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/18 "2010-05-27T13:47:14Z")
Not a remake by a good stretch, but if _Pale Rider_ draws on _Shane_ as a reference for some character and plot ingredients and does its own thing with them, I could tolerate a “remake” by those standards for great oldies like: Night of the Hunter On the Waterfront Jim Thorpe All American In each case, and in others like these, the power of the acting could not be bettered, but the datedness of the production might stand some modernizing. It would be tough. There’s no better statement of the main issue than > [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s the “Great Remakes” part that’s the stumbling block. Usually when they remake a Great Film the remake is awful. Case in point – the recent Day the Earth Stood Still. _ **Everything** _ about that movie sucks! ---
**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:** [May 27, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/19 "2010-05-27T13:48:09Z")
> [@](#): > > ou don’t think the original was commenting on the feminist movement of the mid-seventies? I was referring to Destination Moon. Stepford Wives certainly was making references to feminism and reactions to it. I certainly don’t think that’s played out – there are plenty of unresolved gender issues – but Frank Oz didn’t want to make that kind of movie. So Stepford Wives, in my mind, wasn’t a flop because it was a film about an irelevant issue, but because it dodn’t know what the hell it DID want to do. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4af34b/32.png) [@Umbriel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel2)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815/20 "2010-05-27T14:59:58Z")
Remakes of literary adaptations are often marketed as being more true to the original story (usually inaccurately). They’re also popular subjects because the rights can often be obtained more easily from the owner of the book rights than from the owner of the prior film. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Stepford Wives certainly was making references to feminism and reactions to it. I certainly don’t think that’s played out – there are plenty of unresolved gender issues – but Frank Oz didn’t want to make that kind of movie. So Stepford Wives, in my mind, wasn’t a flop because it was a film about an irelevant issue, but because it dodn’t know what the hell it DID want to do. I’d lay the blame for the Stepford Wives debacle less on Oz and more at the feet of screenwriter [Paul Rudnick](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748870/) and the producers, who apparently wanted some kind of comedy-suspense film, specifically playing to a certain gay/camp cult-following of the original. A more obvious back-to-the-source remake approach would be to make the wives less the Domestic Goddesses of the original film and more the Playboy-model/pornstar types apparently found in Levin’s original book – though that might be more appropriate to some kind of big budget porn adaptation (if they still make such things). One might even twist the original concept by making the real villain a more shadowy offscreen presence – the Stepford men being more controlled (by their own libidos) than controlling. I agree that the most justified remakes are those where interesting ideas in the original were hamstrung by limited budgets ([See this thread from last year](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=501026) for some examples), not that all low-budget genre films are bad, mind you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-that-deserve-great-remakes/540815.md?page=2)