# Remakes: Best, worst and WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042 "2007-08-09T17:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/81 "2007-08-14T18:18:39Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] _Yojimbo_ was based on a Dashiel Hammett story (which I haven’t tracked down); so _Last Man Standing_ may actually be closer to the original. In any case, along with _A Fistful of Dollars_ we have three entertaining movies based on the same story. Well, it was also redone as, no kidding, a low-budget sword-and-sorcery picture with David Carradine, called _The Sword and the Sorceror_. All I remember is a woman with four breasts. [/QUOTE] [**The Warrior and the Sorceress**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088379/) , starring the delicious Maria Socas. Topless. Through the entire film. Beats **Fistful of Dollars** all hollow. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/82 "2007-08-14T18:46:55Z")
[QUOTE=Rocketeer] [**The Warrior and the Sorceress**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088379/) , starring the delicious Maria Socas. Topless. Through the entire film. Beats **Fistful of Dollars** all hollow. [/QUOTE] Boy does that ever look bad … I’ve just added it to my netflix queue. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/83 "2007-08-14T19:02:29Z")
[QUOTE=AtomicDog] Nomination for All Time best remake: Battle-_Frakkin’_-Star Galactica. [/QUOTE] So say we all! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/84 "2007-08-14T19:16:40Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit? I seem to strongly disagree with you. I think the Tom Cruise led “lack of acting ability” team remake of WotW was a horrible film. One of the worst I have ever sat through. It was pure dreck and the ending really brought the film down another 8 notches. Jim[/QUOTE] The movie certainly had a lot of weak moments, and the ending was much too Hollywood-happy, but “pure dreck”? Nah. Consider: The scene when Cruise, his daughter, and the crazy dude are hiding in Crazy Dude’s basement, and Cruise has to kill the crazy guy for no other reason than that he _won’t be quiet_, and is going to give them all away to the aliens. That scene does a fantastic job of showing just how desperate the characters are, how grim the situation is, and the mental toll its taking. That’s a bit of brilliance, right there, and it shows how much better the WOW remake could have been if the writers could have taken it as dark as I suspect they wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/85 "2007-08-21T01:33:47Z")
[QUOTE=scotandrsn] Whereas I nominate it for the ‘Bad’ AND ‘WTF’ categories. [/QUOTE] And speaking of Bad and WTF [remakes of ‘A Christmas Carol’](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067106/), this one’s slated for a 2009 release. > [@](#): > > Jim Carrey … Ebenezer Scrooge/Ghost of Christmas Past/Ghost of Christmas Present/Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come > > ``` > Tom Hanks ... Bob Cratchit (rumored) > > Michael J. Fox ... Tiny Tim (rumored) > > Christopher Lloyd ... Marley's Ghost (rumored) > > Bob Hoskins ... Mr. Fezziwig (rumored) > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/86 "2007-08-21T02:08:29Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] A Christmas Carol - Kelsey Grammar–WTF? 😕 [/QUOTE] I’ll tell you [WTF.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005105/) Absolutely the only reason to watch this movie. Smokin’ hot! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/87 "2007-08-21T16:15:49Z")
I just want to add a good remake, since all the bad ones I thought of have been mentioned. **Outland** , starring **Connery** , is not better than **High Noon** , but it’s still a good flick. ---
**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 21, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/88 "2007-08-21T18:10:57Z")
> [@](#): > > I just want to add a good remake, since all the bad ones I thought of have been mentioned. Outland, starring Connery, is not better than High Noon, but it’s still a good flick. Oh, I gotta disagree with you there. **Outland** was not a good thing to do to that Fred Zinneman film. If you get a chance, find and read Harlan Ellison’s spot-on disemboweling of Hyams’ film. ---
**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 21, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/89 "2007-08-21T18:15:28Z")
I’ll get dinged for this myself, but 1.) I’ve liked every version of **The Front Page** I’ve seen. Everyone loves the **His Girl Friday** version, but I liked the original with Adolphe Menjou, and the 1974 Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau version. (I haven’t seen “Switching Channels”) 2.) I actually prefer the Mel Brookks version of **to Be or Not to Be** to the Jack Benny/Ernest Lubitsch original. ---
**Author:** ![Wonderwall6129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Wonderwall6129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonderwall6129)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/90 "2007-08-21T18:37:47Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] The Good- I saw the updated **Ocean’s 11** which was very entertaining before I saw the original rat-pack version which was okay. [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen the original but I LOVE all the **Ocean’s** movies. [QUOTE=Hampshire] The Bad- Gus Van Sant’s shot-by-shot remake of **Psycho** was a pointless exercise and I’m not even sure why they bothered to make it. [/QUOTE] Agreed wholeheartedly. Psycho was a terrific movie. Anne Heche is just weird as Marion, Vince Vaughn is laughable and equally bizarre as Norman, and I felt that Susan Sarandon was pretty decent as Lila but seemed out of place as a good actress in such a heap of a movie. [QUOTE=Hampshire] The WTF- **Stepford Wives**. Not even really sure what this movie was attempting to be. Comedy? Horror? Sci-Fi? Drama? It fell way short of any of these. [/QUOTE] Oh Lordy Lord…YES. That movie sucked. SUCKED, SUCKED, Sucked. Faith Hil should never act again and I have hated Matthew Broderick for a long time. (I think it was since he appeared in The Music Man.) I thought his only good movie was the iconic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which I watch pretty much once a week. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/91 "2007-08-21T18:46:54Z")
[QUOTE=Wonderwall6129] …I have hated Matthew Broderick for a long time. (I think it was since he appeared in The Music Man.) I thought his only good movie was the iconic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which I watch pretty much once a week. [/QUOTE] Just to defend Matthew a little, but what about Wargames, Lady Hawk, Biloxi Blues & The Freshman? I realize these are all from 1990 or before, but he was one of my favorite young actors in the 80s. I even liked Project X at the time. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/92 "2007-08-21T20:18:57Z")
[QUOTE=dotchan] …and does _Star Wars: A New Hope_ count as a remake of _The Hidden Fortress_? 😃 (Why is it that I keep remembering more movies?) [/QUOTE] Lucas says no in an interview on the DVD. In that I believe him. Took stuff from it yes, a remake no. How about Tarzan remakes? Good: Greystoke, for being accurate, if a bit boring. Bad and WTF - The Bo Derek version. I prefer the Elmo Lincoln version to the aJohnny Weissmuller version, since Tarzan as ERB wrote him was not mentally deficient. And the Disney version was good, so far as Disney versions go. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/93 "2007-08-21T20:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Excellent] The movie certainly had a lot of weak moments, and the ending was much too Hollywood-happy, but “pure dreck”? Nah. Consider: The scene when Cruise, his daughter, and the crazy dude are hiding in Crazy Dude’s basement, and Cruise has to kill the crazy guy for no other reason than that he _won’t be quiet_, and is going to give them all away to the aliens. That scene does a fantastic job of showing just how desperate the characters are, how grim the situation is, and the mental toll its taking. That’s a bit of brilliance, right there, and it shows how much better the WOW remake could have been if the writers could have taken it as dark as I suspect they wanted to. [/QUOTE] I agree completely. Steven Spiellberg is perhaps the best director alive. His technical control of the medium is unparalelled; nobody can - or ever could - craft an action sequence like his. However… … his abilities as a producer are pretty much hit-or-miss, especially when it comes to picking scripts. The man is a living repudation of the Auteur Theory. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/94 "2007-08-21T20:39:43Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Oh, I gotta disagree with you there. **Outland** was not a good thing to do to that Fred Zinneman film. If you get a chance, find and read Harlan Ellison’s spot-on disemboweling of Hyams’ film. [/QUOTE] This thread is polarizing, to say the least. Sorry, but the opinion of HE wouldn’t sway me. A good remake works by itself. For people who’ve never seen the original or iconic, the remake should work. And I think Outland does. ---
**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 22, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042/95 "2007-08-22T00:15:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Sorry, but the opinion of HE wouldn’t sway me. It’s not because it’s Ellison’s opinion. I happen to agree with it. Yes, this is a Personal Taste kinda thing, but there were just too many stupid things in that film for my taste. YMMV [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-best-worst-and-wtf/415042.md?page=4)