# Movies that should never be rebooted **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852 "2010-11-08T01:35:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/21 "2010-11-08T06:04:06Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > **The Matrix**. > > For one thing, what would they call it? We’ll call it “The Grid” and we film is as a comedy set in Santa Monica. Will Ferrell will play Neo and we’ll have Chris Tuciker give Morpheus the Ruby Rhod treatment ala The Fifth Element. Film it in 2D and convert it to 3D later, if you turn the sound up really loud no one will notice. It’s golden I tell you! I’m going to make a few phone calls… ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/22 "2010-11-08T06:10:46Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Note to producers: > > Do not consider remaking a movie where the original succeeds on the strength of _performance,_ in spite of an unremarkable script. > > _The Pink Panther_ minus Peter Sellers will not go well. > > _Arthur_ minus Dudley Moore will not go well. > > This is a universal formula, but by way of an example: I wouldn’t want to see _Young Frankenstein_ revisited. I agree with that formula. I nominate Stand By Me as thus being inappropriate for a remake. The Carry On Series was wrong for a reboot; they tried it and it flopped like an octagenarian’s boobs. However, I would’ve thought the St Trinian’s series wouldn’t work, and apparently it did - according to kids I know who’ve seen it, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/23 "2010-11-08T06:26:57Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > _Casablanca_ > > /end thread They should never remake _the Maltese Falcon_. Luckily they only made it once, and it was perfected from the get-go. ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/24 "2010-11-08T06:36:15Z")
I suppose this is a bit too obvious, but any Monty Python movie. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/25 "2010-11-08T07:38:09Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > _The Terminator_. It needs Arnold. That’s the first one I thought of too. I don’t even think it would work as well conceptually in a modern setting, a terminator who relentlessly googles his victims and tracks them via GPS just seems geeky. ---
**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, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/26 "2010-11-08T07:45:13Z")
**Planet of the Apes** ---
**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 8, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/27 "2010-11-08T08:13:53Z")
Another vote for _Casablanca_ and _The Planet of the Apes_. I’ll add _Guys and Dolls_. I doubt that anybody can match the energy and chemistry of Sinatra and Brando, as well as the rest of the cast, in a remake. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/28 "2010-11-08T12:50:50Z")
_Raiders of the Lost Ark_ and anyone who thinks otherwise will be bull whipped. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/29 "2010-11-08T12:51:56Z")
If we’re talking franchise-types, I’d say _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ would qualify as “don’t even try it” material. If we’re including remakes in general, well pop culture history is chock full of examples of bad remakes of course: _Psycho, The Haunting, Clash of the Titans, The Longest Yard_, etc. Sometimes remakes work pretty well; (_Father of the Bride_ was pretty decent, and _A Perfect Murder_ wasn’t nearly as bad a remake of _Dial M for Murder_ as I thought it would be…hell, I even found myself warming up to the “reimagining” of _Charlie/Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_. But there’s no reason whatsoever to try to remake something like _The Outlaw Josey Wales_ or _Ghostbusters_ or _The Princess Bride_. Inconceivable! ETA: I am glad to avoid being bullwhipped. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/30 "2010-11-08T13:24:20Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > They should never remake _the Maltese Falcon_. Luckily they only made it once, and it was perfected from the get-go. Risking a whoosh, I just thought I’d point out that the perfect version of _The Maltese Falcon_ (1941) was actually a remake of a remake (_Satan met a Lady_ [1936]) of the original _Maltese Falcon_, which was released in 1931. ETA: Modern Hollywood has nothing on that remake frenzy. ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/31 "2010-11-08T13:30:20Z")
**2001** and **2010** ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/32 "2010-11-08T13:37:54Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Just had a thought. If I were the movie exec in the OP, I’d have a change of heart and tell my staff: > > "Hey, what if, instead of remaking a movie (because we like it and think it has potential with the public)… > > …we just RE-RELEASE IT, and market the heck out of it, and introduce a new generation to Hitchcock or Lean or Kubrick on the big screen?" Because even if you “market the heck out of it,” only so many people are going to pay to leave the house and see a movie they already own on DVD and can watch at home, possibly on a hi-def flatscreen with surround sound. By definition rereleases are a niche thing even if you really enjoy the experience of seeing a movie in the theater. I hate most remakes, but a release is not going to make as much money as a financially successful remake. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/33 "2010-11-08T13:42:18Z")
In general, period pieces are a bad idea even beyond the normal badness of remaking good movies. Beyond those already mentioned, I’d nominate _Lawrence of Arabia_ as a really bad idea to remake. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/34 "2010-11-08T14:08:16Z")
How about a movie set on a German sub in WWII? Das ReBoot. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/35 "2010-11-08T14:42:55Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Forget _Chinatown_. It’s jake. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > How about a movie set on a German sub in WWII? Das ReBoot. Thread winners. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/36 "2010-11-08T15:17:32Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > _Casablanca_ > > /end thread Remake it, but come at it from a different point of view, say, Laslo’s or Strasser’s or Renault’s. That might be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/37 "2010-11-08T16:07:16Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ and anyone who thinks otherwise will be bull whipped. Totally disagree here. Rebooting the Indies is precisely what they should have done, instead of waking up the original actors from their slumber in retirement home. Who wasnt embarassed when Marion and Indy reunite in South America ? Man, I could barely watch the screen. They should have restarted the franchise with a new Indy. IMHO, Viggo Mortensen would have made a very good one (they could also have switched the recurring baddies from Germans to Japanese). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/38 "2010-11-08T17:20:12Z")
Movies like “The Wizard of Oz” or “Lord of the Rings” or “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” are perfect material for remakes, because the source material is timeless. And the remakes wouldn’t be remakes of the movie, they’re simply using the same source material. That said, remaking an iconic movie is silly, because you’re just going to embarrass yourself. Instead you should remake middle of the road movies. And as was said, movies that depended on a particular actor’s performance are doubly silly to remake, because you can’t recapture the really interesting thing about the movie. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/39 "2010-11-08T17:35:45Z")
_Harvey_ The performances of Jimmy Stewart and Josephine Hull timeless. The thing that makes the film work for me isn’t so much Elwood’s genial eccentricities but that as the film goes on, I develop a grudging sympathy for Veta, and her sense of having Harvey invading her life, as well as her brother’s. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852/40 "2010-11-08T18:40:54Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > _Harvey_ > > The performances of Jimmy Stewart and Josephine Hull timeless. The thing that makes the film work for me isn’t so much Elwood’s genial eccentricities but that as the film goes on, I develop a grudging sympathy for Veta, and her sense of having Harvey invading her life, as well as her brother’s. They actually did remake Harvey back in the 1970s. Jimmy Stewart reprised his role as Elwood P. Dowd (could there ever be another?), and Helen Hayes played Veta Louise. It actually worked quite well. John McGiver played Dr. Chumley, and I think they brought back Jesse White as Wilson the orderly. Looking at IMDB, they did it again in the eighties, with Harry Anderson as Dowd. I never saw that one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-should-never-be-rebooted/559852.md?page=3)