# Remakes- good or not so good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 26, 2026, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563 "2026-08-26T04:19:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/21 "2026-08-26T16:16:16Z")
Strongly agree. In fact it couldn’t even hold a spark to the 1974 original. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/22 "2026-08-26T16:25:16Z")
The original low-budget indie version of **Meet the Parents** from 1992 is a mixed bag screenplay- and acting-wise, but it does have some inspired dark comedy, ranging from accidental pet drowning to wrongly attributed suicide . Sadly, it’s been pulled from all distribution, to the point that most people don’t even know the 2000 big-budget film of that title is a remake. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/23 "2026-08-26T16:30:20Z")
I didn’t know. Just about every version of **Dracula** is better than the Frank Langella version. I will let y’all argue as to remake status of any Dracula movie. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/24 "2026-08-26T16:57:26Z")
_The Running Man_ 2024 is leaps and bounds better than the Arnold movie. I watched it out of desperation for something new and ended up loving it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/25 "2026-08-26T17:08:26Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > For some reason there is a [shot for shot remake of Psycho](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1084964-psycho). And that 1998 remake did not do horrible in the ratings and it made some money. 🙀 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/26 "2026-08-26T21:43:31Z")
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a great movie. I only recently learned it was a remake. I’ve never seen [the original](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedtime_Story_(1964_film)). Got a great cast, though. And _Airplane!_ is much better than the original. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/27 "2026-08-26T21:53:35Z")
_Father of the Bride_, I liked both, also their sequels. _The Prisoner of Zenda_. About the only difference between the Colman and the Granger version was one was in black and white, the other in color. They used the same script. ---
**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 26, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/28 "2026-08-26T22:07:31Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The 1976 version of King Kong was better than the original 1933 Fay Wray, if only for the better special effects. I haven’t seen Peter Jackson’s remake. You’re kidding, right? The 1976 version had that awful full-sized audioanimatronic Kong that was much heralded but appeared in only a couple of scenes because it was so bad.Carlo Rambaldi’s mechanical arms were much better than the rapidly-rigged one used in 1933, but the 1933 hand wasn’t expercted to do much. But the worst was that Kong was played by a guy in a gorilla suit. Mind you, it was Rick Baker in one of his own suits (supplemented by an uncredited William Shepard), which is as good as you’re going to get in a gorilla suit, but even with the five separate face masks they made for expression, Willis O’Brien’s dimensionally animated model was superior at showing expression. And if you try to compare the similar scenes of Kong vs. the giant snake in 1976 to Kong vs. the plesiosaur in 1933, there really is no comparison – the 1976 scenes have no drama or believability at all – it looks like Baker trying to wrao himself up in a hose. On top of which there was no reeal attempt to combine acion with background. KOng vs, the snake and Kong atop the World Trade Center vs. the helicopters were both shot at night against complete black, because they couldn’t or wouldn’t take the time and money to convince you the scenes were takin place in the Real World. The 1933 fight with the plesiosaur had at least five overlapping layers of effects – background painting to foreword glass painting to two layers of Miniature Rear Projection to miniature figures to superimposed vapor. It’s impressive as hell. The 1933 shots atop the Empre State Building have extensive and accurate background paintings of the countryside surrounding the building with recognizable landmarks, miniature animated planes in the background, Kong atop a miniature model to rhe Empire State building with minature-rear-projected Ann Darrow, and foreground of animated airplane or even a point-of-view shot as seen from the diving airplane. 1976 has a guy in a gorilla suit atop a miniature World Trade CEnter puncjing a miniture helicopter on a wire, all gainst a black background. It’s like they gave up before they even started. The Peter Jackson 2005 version used state of the art CGI and is gorgeous. They even paid homage to the 1933 original (tin the last KOng vs. T Rex battle, both Konbg and the T rex use the same moves they did in the 1933 film, for instance). Plus they got Rick Baker to sit in the biplane cockpit and shoot Kong. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/29 "2026-08-26T22:13:40Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Peter Jackson 2005 version used state of the art CGI and is gorgeous. They even paid homage to the 1933 original (tin the last KOng vs. T Rex battle, both Konbg and the T rex use the same moves they did in the 1933 film, for instance). Plus they got Rick Baker to sit in the biplane cockpit and shoot Kong. And Fay Wray was slated to deliver the “beauty killed the beast” final line, but she died before filming her one scene. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/30 "2026-08-26T22:19:21Z")
I believe PJ wanted Fay Wray to say the final line, but she was too ill. My favorite bit was a video of the original armature of Kong vs the original pterosaur armature stop motion ideology. It isnt in the movie, I saw it in an update during production— may be a dvd extra. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/31 "2026-08-26T22:44:10Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > The 1997 remake of **12 Angry Men** Yeah; the original didn’t _need_ to be remade, but the remake is a good one. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/32 "2026-08-26T23:14:05Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a great movie. I only recently learned it was a remake. I’ve never seen [the original](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedtime_Story_(1964_film)). Got a great cast, though. There was another version of that from 2019 - [The Hustle](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298644/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_accord_2_cdt_t_11). I have no idea how it actually did at the box-office. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/33 "2026-08-26T23:56:17Z")
All the '76 version of _Kong_ had going for it is that I was 13 when I saw it. At that age anything with a monster and boobies was gold. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/34 "2026-08-27T00:36:32Z")
It’s so good that every TV version has 45 minutes chopped out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/35 "2026-08-27T01:02:41Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Is there a remake of a _good_ movie that is also at least _good_? I’ll go one better, a remake of a _great_ film that is _also_ great: **West Side Story**. The 1961 film is an all-time Hollywood classic. And the 2021 Spielberg remake is excellent as well and one of the best films of the 2020s! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/36 "2026-08-27T01:51:32Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@BrickBat](#): > > > > The 1997 remake of **12 Angry Men** > > Yeah; the original didn’t _need_ to be remade, but the remake is a good one. And note that the original 1957 film was itself a remake of a 1954 TV movie. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/37 "2026-08-27T02:04:41Z")
SFAIK, this is the original movie: [Bedtime Story (1964) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057878/?ref_=fn_t_1) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/38 "2026-08-27T02:26:38Z")
Back in the '80s, a local TV station in Minneapolis (KITN, I think) got halfway through _ **Bedtime Story** _ before they realized it wasn’t _ **Dirty Rotten Scoundrels** _ and switched the promos during the station breaks. They probably would never have caught on if I hadn’t phoned in and told them they were showing the wrong movie. 😏 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/39 "2026-08-27T02:34:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > SFAIK, this is the original movie: > > [Bedtime Story (1964) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057878/?ref_=fn_t_1) Parts of it are, BTW, virtually identical to others in the remake. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563/40 "2026-08-27T15:50:50Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > > [@BrickBat](#): > > > > > > The 1997 remake of **12 Angry Men** > > > > Yeah; the original didn’t _need_ to be remade, but the remake is a good one. > > And note that the original 1957 film was itself a remake of a 1954 TV movie. I did not know that! Funny how the circle completes then, in that the 1997 remake is a TV ( well, HBO ) movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-good-or-not-so-good/1032563.md?page=3)