# Movies that COULD stand a rebooting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970 "2010-11-08T22:49:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/1 "2010-11-08T22:49:15Z")
As contract to the other thread: I think METROPOLIS could benefit from a rebooting; tell the story of a future dystopia with subterranean and scraper dwelling characters and modern special effects and screenwriting and include the silent on the DVD release of the remake and I think it would have the potential to be cool. While rebooting Fritz Lang, the Doctor Mabuse movies could also be rebooted with a more modern setting; he could remain German and somehow tie in the Nazis (set in the 1970s perhaps with him as a Spandau-like captive criminal and former SS occultist). I think either the Gidget and Tammy movies- one or the other- could be a cash-cow (I won’t say high quality) movie- a series centered on a teenager but with more modern sensibilities and realism but still a comedy. _Clueless_ got a huge audience and I was always surprised they didn’t follow Cher into sequeldom. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/2 "2010-11-08T23:00:55Z")
I’ve seen a couple versions of Metropolis, I liked the one with the Giorgio Moroder-Queen soundtrack! Did you watch Metropolis on TCM last night? It was a very good print, but OMG how very, very dated, even for a silent movie. I think Gidget is pretty much a period piece and should stay that way, but Tammy has real possibilities. I’d like to see Tammy rebooted. There are others I’ve thought of, can’t remember now, will be back… ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/3 "2010-11-08T23:16:10Z")
I’ve always thought “Wolf” with Jack Nicholson and (as I recall) Michelle Pfeiffer was a missed opportunity. The idea of a werewolf using his…condition…to climb the corporate ladder had all kinds of possibilities. Whatever the actual movie was about, it wasn’t about that. “Total Recall” had a generally good story but it got lost in the muck. Instead a Philip K. Dick-inspired paranoid fantasy/reality, we got a by-the-numbers Scharzenegger action flick. Every time the movie built up a little good will they’d squander it on some ill-advised special effects or yet another chase scene. It needed a different actor, too. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/4 "2010-11-08T23:37:49Z")
The **Blade** franchise. **Blade Trinity** killed it, but a solid 4th film could easily resurrect it again. Snipes might be too old now to pull it off, tho. Prolly need some new guy to fill the role. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/5 "2010-11-09T00:36:29Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > As contract to the other thread: > > I think METROPOLIS could benefit from a rebooting; tell the story of a future dystopia with subterranean and scraper dwelling characters and modern special effects and screenwriting and include the silent on the DVD release of the remake and I think it would have the potential to be cool. While rebooting Fritz Lang, the Doctor Mabuse movies could also be rebooted with a more modern setting; he could remain German and somehow tie in the Nazis (set in the 1970s perhaps with him as a Spandau-like captive criminal and former SS occultist). > > I think either the Gidget and Tammy movies- one or the other- could be a cash-cow (I won’t say high quality) movie- a series centered on a teenager but with more modern sensibilities and realism but still a comedy. _Clueless_ got a huge audience and I was always surprised they didn’t follow Cher into sequeldom. There is a current project with the title of Metropolis on IMDB, but I don’t have pro, so I cant see the details. Unfortunately they will fuck it up unbearably. They actually made Dr Mabuse all the way from silent through the early 70s … Please keep in mind the charm of many of the old movies is their innocence, Tammy fucking the football player on the beach is not going to be anywhere as charming as the gang having a cookout [with implied necking] I have seen no remakes of movies with the exception of Cabinet of Dr Caligari that was an exact shot for shot reproduction that I would spend any money to go see, and wouldn’t waste my time watching them on television. Modern idiot hollywierd seems to thing throwing blatant sex and obscenity into a movie is what ‘modernizes it’ and makes it a big box office draw. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/6 "2010-11-09T00:48:56Z")
Back when they were married, I thought a remake of _Father Goose_ would have been a good project for Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/7 "2010-11-09T00:50:16Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > _Clueless_ got a huge audience and I was always surprised they didn’t follow Cher into sequeldom. They did make a TV series based on the movie. That probably sidetracked any movie sequel plans. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/8 "2010-11-09T02:06:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > They did make a TV series based on the movie. That probably sidetracked any movie sequel plans. I always thought that TV Cher was a lot better than movie Cher, so I was glad for that development. Anyways, since they are making a video game that will be a canon sequel, I’d expect that any movie sequel would be CGI. And whoever is voicing Marty in the video games could probably voice him in the movie. And I believe Christopher Lloyd is voicing Doc Brown, as are many of the other original actors. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/9 "2010-11-09T02:20:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I always thought that TV Cher was a lot better than movie Cher, so I was glad for that development. > > Anyways, since they are making a video game that will be a canon sequel, I’d expect that any movie sequel would be CGI. And whoever is voicing Marty in the video games could probably voice him in the movie. > > And I believe Christopher Lloyd is voicing Doc Brown, as are many of the other original actors. Hm, I was slightly confused for a second. I suppose you mean a Back to the Future video game sequel, and not a Clueless video game sequel? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/10 "2010-11-09T02:43:18Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > “Total Recall” had a generally good story but it got lost in the muck. Instead a Philip K. Dick-inspired paranoid fantasy/reality, we got a by-the-numbers Scharzenegger action flick. Every time the movie built up a little good will they’d squander it on some ill-advised special effects or yet another chase scene. It needed a different actor, too. What do you think of Colin Farrell in the lead role? Because they _are_ working on a remake, and he’s the leading candidate. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/11 "2010-11-09T02:55:44Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > “Total Recall” had a generally good story but it got lost in the muck. Instead a Philip K. Dick-inspired paranoid fantasy/reality, we got a by-the-numbers Scharzenegger action flick. Every time the movie built up a little good will they’d squander it on some ill-advised special effects or yet another chase scene. It needed a different actor, too. IIRC, Schwarzenegger was second choice after Christopher Reeve. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/12 "2010-11-09T03:07:59Z")
Highlander, as mentioned in one of the threads for it, _needs_ a remake. Hire actors who want to be there (ie, no Connery). Write a script where there’s more ‘things happen and people talk’ and less ‘we drift along watching pretty images of the Scottish Highlands’. Get rid of the concept of The Gathering - the Game is ongoing, There Can Be Only One is a vague future goal of those who take the game seriously, not so much an immediate imperative. Play up the personal grudge between the Kurgan and Connor to drive the plot, instead of the Game. Spend a bit more time on flashbacks to their histories, both individual and as enemies. Stuff to keep, aside from the basic ideas and characters: Keep the Queen soundtrack. Hire Clancy Brown, if he’s willing - he looks too old to pull off the Kurgan, now, but he could make a good Ramirez. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/13 "2010-11-09T03:27:47Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > “Total Recall” had a generally good story but it got lost in the muck. Instead a Philip K. Dick-inspired paranoid fantasy/reality, we got a by-the-numbers Scharzenegger action flick. Practically every Philip K. Dick adaptation could stand to be revisited, IMO. (Except _A Scanner Darkly_, which is perfect.) _Blade Runner_ is an excellent film on its own merits, but I’d love to see someone make _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/14 "2010-11-09T03:52:49Z")
I’d like to see _The Running Man_ done as a faithful adaptation of King’s/Bachman’s novel. Yes, including the lefty-Boomer political messages. Yes, including the final scene, fuck 'em. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/15 "2010-11-09T03:56:18Z")
**The Last Starfighter** could easily be updated, especially now that video games are more elaborate. **The Rocketeer** got a short shrift last time, and needs to be restarted and given a proper franchise potential. Actually, it’s probably adaptable into an affordable 13 episode cable TV series. And here’s one I’d love to write/make myself: **Condorman** , the story of a comic book artist who gets a chance to be the superspy he draws. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/16 "2010-11-09T05:06:48Z")
I wouldn’t mind seeing some classic horror characters rebooted. There hasn’t been a good Dracula or Frankenstein movie made in years. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/17 "2010-11-09T07:40:48Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Practically every Philip K. Dick adaptation could stand to be revisited, IMO. Yes, but, I got the impression that the only reason so many Dick stories are greenlighted for film in the first place are because they are accidently prematurely in the public domain… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/18 "2010-11-09T09:00:34Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Yes, but, I got the impression that the only reason so many Dick stories are greenlighted for film in the first place are because they are accidently prematurely in the public domain… Not true. Only 11 of Dick’s novels are public domain. [ol]Beyond Lies the Wub [li]Beyond the Door[/li][li]The Crystal Crypt[/li][li]The Defenders[/li][li]The Eyes Have It[/li][li]The Gun[/li][li]Mr. Spaceship[/li][li]Piper in the Woods[/li][li]Second Variety[/li][li]The Skull[/li][li]The Variable Man[/ol][/li] They are all available for e-readers at [Project Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/d#a33399). This is approximately 1/4 of his novels, although to date none of these has been made into a film. Only 3 of his novels have been adapted for film ( **Blade Runner** , **A Scanner Darkly** , and **Confessions of a Crap Artist** ). It’s Dick’s short stories that have provided the basis for quite a few films. 9 of approximately 121 short stories have been turned into films. Someday, I hope to see **Ubik** on screen. But not directed by Richard Linklater. In fact, I’d prefer if he just stayed away from directing altogether. Perhaps he and Tim Burton could be persuaded to retire to some tropical island paradise, preferably just before monsoon season. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/19 "2010-11-09T09:23:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I’d like to see _The Running Man_ done as a faithful adaptation of King’s/Bachman’s novel. Yes, including the lefty-Boomer political messages. Yes, including the final scene, fuck 'em. Agreed. The King story is much better than the movie, which seemed to be more an exhibition of tough guys’ skills than an adaptation of the story. In the story, Ben Richards is a poor man trying to provide for his family using the Games; why did the filmmakers transform Richards into a cop unjustly accused of firing on a crowd? And what is with the chute into an ice rink, etc? Do this one again, and do it right this time. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970/20 "2010-11-09T13:28:22Z")
[Salon.com](http://Salon.com) had an analytical article on “They Live”. There is a rumour it’s going to be remade. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-stand-a-rebooting/559970.md?page=2)