# Real Bad Remakes of Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666 "2020-08-09T20:23:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/41 "2020-08-11T18:18:11Z")
They both have moments, neither is perfect and by no means is either a “really bad” film. I prefer the Wilder one myself. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/42 "2020-08-11T18:20:32Z")
Meh. You should see it. Mind you, the original is better, cleaner, but the remake is quite decent, and of course appealed to young people who hadnt even heard of the original. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/43 "2020-08-11T18:43:09Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > Val Kilmer’s remake of _The day of the jackal_ . Moving the venue from France to the USA destroyed the whole rationale of the film I think you mean the Bruce Willis/Richard Gere remake, “The Jackal”. (or is there a Val Kilmer one, too ?) Is that yet another remake? I saw the one starring Val Kilmer as the jackal, or approximation thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/44 "2020-08-11T18:45:07Z")
So many to list here. Agree with most of the posted ones except I liked the Peter Jackson “King Kong” too. If I were going for recent duds from the last 20 years, I’d list Jim Carrey’s “Fun With Dick and Jane”, the remake of “Fame”, and the Denzel Washington/Meryl Streep “The Manchurian Candidate”. In my heart, I would also add the Michael Caine trifecta of “Alfie”, “Get Carter” and “The Italian Job”. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/45 "2020-08-11T19:14:44Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Oh, Frank Langella’s, “Dracula,” was a steaming turd. **burpo** , _my darling_, shut yo mouth! At 13, Frank L was one of my first sweet babies, _because_ of his sexy Count. Ok, I don’t really rememer the movie itself, You could be right. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/46 "2020-08-11T19:25:37Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > Is that yet another remake? I saw the one starring Val Kilmer as the jackal, or approximation thereof. As far as I know, Val Kilmer was never in a version of “The Jackal”. He was in “The Saint”, which was released around the same time as the Bruce Willis version of “The Jackal”, and a quick Google search reveals that for whatever reason a lot of contemporary reviews compared their performances in those two films. Possibly you’re getting them confused? ---
**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:** [August 11, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/47 "2020-08-11T19:35:31Z")
The John Badham/frank Langella 1979 **Dracula** wasn’t really a remake of the 1931 Tod Browning/Bela Lugosi film, but it’s close – both are movie adaptations of the original Hamilton Dean.John Balderston stage play. In other words, they’re both based on the same source material (the play – not the original novel, which is what all the other film versions of Dracula took as their starting point. except, arguably, for the 1931 Spanish version.) You might think I’m splitting hairs, but there is a difference. And, for what it’s worth, I think there’s a lot to like in the 1979 film. But not really enough – they made too many changes just for the sake of changes (such as Dracula being “dissolved” by sunlight – something that wasn’t part of the generally accepted Hollywood Vampire Legend at that point.) ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/48 "2020-08-11T20:17:20Z")
[gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)[Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/g/Registered) [1h](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/46) > [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > Is that yet another remake? I saw the one starring Val Kilmer as the jackal, or approximation thereof. As far as I know, Val Kilmer was never in a version of “The Jackal”. He was in “The Saint”, which was released around the same time as the Bruce Willis version of “The Jackal”, and a quick Google search reveals that for whatever reason a lot of contemporary reviews compared their performances in those two films. Possibly you’re getting them confused? You are right, I confused them.Yes, their performance were somewhat similar, from what I remember of both. I never saw the TV series of the Saint, nor read the original books, so I cannot compare them (but Val Kilmer was very different from Roger Moore. And the movie disappointed, even though I had no expectations of it. I read _The Day of the Jackal_ and thought the movie version with Edward Fox did a good job, but the Bruce Willis version did not. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/49 "2020-08-14T21:36:56Z")
Two come to mind: The Steve Martin “Pink Panther” movie (or movies ? I think they made more than one). I had more respect for Martin before he opted to make that. The “Point Break” remake. Despite Keanu in the original (in a role that was actually kind of fitting for him), the original is still entertaining. The remake is just a showcase for extreme (as in you could easily die from any mishap) “sports”. ---
**Author:** ![Acerbic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acerbic/32/3695_2.png) [@Acerbic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acerbic)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/50 "2020-08-14T22:00:16Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > There have been recent remakes of The Karate Kid, Footloose, Fright Night and Overboard. None managed to match what worked in the originals. Fright Night was a pointless remake but it wasn’t bad. It didn’t live up to the original though. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/51 "2020-08-17T13:02:11Z")
I still don’t understand the point of remaking two Veerhoeven films of the 1980s – **RoboCop** and **Total Recall**. The remakes had better special effects, now that CGI was available, but they completely lacked the wit and dark humor (especially in the case of RoboCop). The switch between setting Total Recall on Mars and having it set on Earth – with a Super-Elevator that ran through the center of the earth – is far more ludicrous than having interplanetary travel. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/52 "2020-08-17T13:06:58Z")
I’ll nominate the US movie “The Vanishing,” a remake of the Dutch “The Vanishing” or “Spoorloos.” The US version replaces subtlety and intrigue with the subtlety of a 2x4 to the side of the head. The reason that it gets huge points off for me is that both movies are directed by the same person, George Sluizer. I’m guessing that there could be an entire separate thread for horrible US remakes of foreign films. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/53 "2020-08-17T15:55:10Z")
Nostalgia (and the wrong name) aside, Karate Kid was a solid, well-received movie. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/54 "2020-08-17T17:58:00Z")
The German film **[Mostly Martha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostly_Martha_(film))** was remade as the American **No Reservations**. The first is a drama with wry humor about a female chef coping with grief, depression, and unexpected new responsibilities for which she is completely unequipped, eventually finding her way to happiness, in a mise en scène of a high end restaurant and its staff. I watch this movie at least once a year. The second is a by the book rom-com set in a Manhattan restaurant with the usual meet cute, love-hate, misunderstandings, and final reconciliation. Oh, and by the way, the female (who is also a chef, which you can only tell by the fact that she wears a white apron and orders restaurant staff around) love interest’s sister dies and leaves her in charge of her niece, but that’s just an opportunity for cute kid shenanigans. I have watched this movie exactly once. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666/55 "2020-08-18T09:58:34Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I’m guessing that there could be an entire separate thread for horrible US remakes of foreign films. _Wings of Desire_ is one of the greatest films ever made. _City of Angels_ is … not even close. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-bad-remakes-of-movies/917666.md?page=2)