# How do the really bad films like the remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" get made? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2011, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-really-bad-films-like-the-remake-of-the-day-the-earth-stood-still-get-made/593006 "2011-08-17T08:24:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-really-bad-films-like-the-remake-of-the-day-the-earth-stood-still-get-made/593006/41 "2011-08-21T10:10:44Z")
> [@FlyingDragonFan](#): > > I actually just bought it yesterday. Granted, it was bargain priced at Target, but it was also bundled with Will Smith’s _I, Robot_. Take THAT, movie snobs! Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-really-bad-films-like-the-remake-of-the-day-the-earth-stood-still-get-made/593006/42 "2011-08-21T20:48:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > No shit? Wow. That’s an amazingly sucky idea. Even by the standards of a _Red Dawn_ remake. I mean, I’m a lefty pinko socialist coward, and even I’m offended by the idea that North Korea could kick our ass. I can’t imagine how the film’s target audience would react to that. [QUOTE=Alka Seltzer] I think the North Korean is supposed to be backed by the chinese, making it a touch more plausable, but still pretty absurd [/QUOTE] I think this movie is going to be full of absurdities. For one thing, although it takes place in the Pacific Northwest (Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho to be exact), it was shot around Pontiac, Michigan. (I guess Spokane didn’t look economically depressed and blighted enough for the filmmakers.) Anybody who knows even the slightest bit of information about the terrain and geography of Eastern Washington and Michigan is going to get a laugh out that. Also, I’ve said this before but if they absolutely _had_ to remake Red Dawn, they should’ve done it as a dark comedy. China would still be the new invading country but the reason for the invasion is that the U.S. is so far in debt to them, the Chinese seize the Pacific Northwest as collateral. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-really-bad-films-like-the-remake-of-the-day-the-earth-stood-still-get-made/593006/43 "2011-08-22T04:12:54Z")
I didn’t think DtESS was a particularly terrible film. But the problem is that it is a remake of a classic film. A lot of classic films are classics because they strike a particular chord with audiences at the time they were released. Retelling the same story at a different time to a different audience often just results in a big dumb action flick. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-really-bad-films-like-the-remake-of-the-day-the-earth-stood-still-get-made/593006/44 "2011-08-22T15:01:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > No shit? Wow. That’s an amazingly sucky idea. Even by the standards of a _Red Dawn_ remake. I mean, I’m a lefty pinko socialist coward, and even I’m offended by the idea that North Korea could kick our ass. I can’t imagine how the film’s target audience would react to that. The funny thing is that earlier this year a video game called [Homefront](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homefront_%28video_game%29) was released. The script of the game was written by John Milius, the guy who wrote and directed the original Red Dawn. In the game North Korea has occupied the U.S. and you play as a member of the resistance. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-really-bad-films-like-the-remake-of-the-day-the-earth-stood-still-get-made/593006/45 "2011-08-22T15:08:24Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I didn’t think DtESS was a particularly terrible film. But the problem is that it is a remake of a classic film. A lot of classic films are classics because they strike a particular chord with audiences at the time they were released. Retelling the same story at a different time to a different audience often just results in a big dumb action flick. In all fairness, IIRC they switched it up from “you’re on the brink of destroying each other with your cold war of nuclear weapons” to “you’re destroying the ecosystem with your environmental short-sightedness”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-really-bad-films-like-the-remake-of-the-day-the-earth-stood-still-get-made/593006.md?page=2)