# The worst movie remake of all time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556 "2010-02-18T23:22:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/41 "2010-02-19T14:21:38Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Another one that looked bad is the remake of Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers’ “The Ladykillers”, but I didn’t see that either. That is, I’ve seen the original half a dozen times, but not the remake. I saw it, and I wish I hadn’t. There were the elements of a half-decent comedy buried in there somewhere, but to set themselves up as a comparison with the original was just crazy. The one starring Alec Guiness and Katie Johnson (with Peter Sellers in a relatively minor role) is comedy perfection – a jewel that should not be touched. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/42 "2010-02-19T14:27:53Z")
The miniseries remake of **The Andromeda Strain** was terrible. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/43 "2010-02-19T15:11:53Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > None of the Halloween movies were remade. The franchise was rebooted with a completely different first movie that didn’t even resemble the plot of the original. Then the rebooted franchise spawned its own unique sequel. Did we watch the same movie? Because the underlying story (Michael Myers torments his sister Laurie Strode and her promiscuous friends in Haddonfield) is unchanged. Rob Zombie just added the ridiculous backstory portion in the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/44 "2010-02-19T15:21:42Z")
Some real good nominations here! I have to echo **Psycho** , **The Wicker Man** , Steve Martins’s **The Pink Panther** , and **The Day the Earth Stood Still**. Anyone see the TV miniseries remake of **The Shining**? Now that peice of crap was an abomination and seriously uncalled for! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/45 "2010-02-19T15:32:18Z")
Does anybody else see Eastwood’s Pale Rider as a remake of Shane? If so, it’s almost a better remake than the original which is going a long way in the way of praise. I rank Shane near the top of the movies I ever saw. And I rank Pale Rider among Eastwood’s best as well. This just seemed to be a place to mention it in spite of its being antithetical to the thread’s theme. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/46 "2010-02-19T15:43:47Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Hey remakes can sometimes be better than the original - as Maholoth mentioned above, the '39 “Wizard of Oz” was a remake; so was the John Huston version of the Maltese Falcon. People will argue this, but the 70’s remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was better than the original. Remakes can indeed be good. In some cases, the original had a great concept but the execution was poor. In other cases, the original concept and execution was good, but setting it in a different context and/or time period puts a whole new spin on it. Ideally, the result is to say “well, you can’t really even compare the two.” Actually, \*Invasion of the Body Snatchers \*provides a great example of a good and a bad remake. The 1956 one was awesome and is a very effective cold war allegory. The 1978 version took a different approach–it was more of a psychological thriller than a horror movie. It worked. I think part of the reason that many people like the 1978 version better is that the 1956 version was such a product of its time period, and it must be viewed in historical context. As far as the 2007 version, titled _The Invasion_–I haven’t seen it, but everyone says it’s awful. The front page review on the IMDB says “They screwed up one of the scariest concepts ever thought up.” Heh. > [@Sitnam](#): > > _The Flight of the Phoenix_ (2004) took the plot of the original then made it much less believable, threw in terrible performances and sucked all the drama out of it. I consider that a great remake because it is so far into “so bad it’s good” territory. I love it! I’ve seen it a million times. You ain’t kidding about the terrible performances. If Giovanni Ribisi ever gets an Oscar, he should be immediately stripped of it based on this movie. I would very much like to see the original. ---
**Author:** ![StoutHearted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@StoutHearted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StoutHearted)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/47 "2010-02-19T16:00:26Z")
The most recent **King Kong**. I never saw the 70’s version. But I caught the one with Jack Black and Naomi Watts and it was ri-freakin-diculous. Absolutley awful, with the worst directing I’ve ever seen. That scene where they swoop in and out on the map of Skull Island made me want to slap everyone involved in the film. I also agree that the '96 **The Scarlet Letter** was terrible and completly missed the point of the book. But we did get to see Gary Oldman’s penis, so that’s a plus. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/48 "2010-02-19T18:21:25Z")
The made-for-TV remake of “The Shining” was pretty awful. Other than the moving topiaries, it was an utter failure. It was more faithful to the book than Kubrick’s version, but then, I thought the book sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/49 "2010-02-19T18:35:15Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Another one that looked bad is the remake of Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers’ “The Ladykillers”, but I didn’t see that either. That is, I’ve seen the original half a dozen times, but not the remake. It was terrible. It did have one saving grace: JK Simmons, who’s fantastic in everything he’s in. Other than him, it was dreck. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/50 "2010-02-19T18:54:41Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > In any case, the worst I can think of is the David Hartman made for TV remake of **Miracle on 34th Street**. Deadly dull, and they made a fatal mistake. In the original, a centerpiece is the courtroom scene, and what makes that work so well is showing the reaction from the courtroom audience; some of the funniest moments involve people worrying about how the press and gallery will react. In the remake, someone realized that a hearing like that would take place behind closed doors, so it was about as funny as watching a sanity hearing. The other thing about this that’s even worse is that in the original, all the mail arrives at the courthouse as an act of providence–one mailroom supervisor comes up with the idea just to clear out all the stored Santa letters, so Kris (through no action of his own or his allies) gets his miracle. In the TV remake, the mail thing is all David Hartman’s idea–he goes to the USPS and asks that the mail be routed there, so maybe it’s better “lawyering”, but there’s no miracle. For a movie allegedly about faith and belief, this movie demonstrates that neither is as helpful as a savvy attorney. Blech. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/51 "2010-02-19T19:10:33Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > > [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > > > Another one that looked bad is the remake of Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers’ “The Ladykillers”, but I didn’t see that either. That is, I’ve seen the original half a dozen times, but not the remake. > > I saw it, and I wish I hadn’t. There were the elements of a half-decent comedy buried in there somewhere, but to set themselves up as a comparison with the original was just crazy. The one starring Alec Guiness and Katie Johnson (with Peter Sellers in a relatively minor role) is comedy perfection – a jewel that should not be touched. The sad thing is that the remake of The Ladykillers was produced and directed by the Coen brothers and starred Tom Hanks. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/52 "2010-02-19T19:14:00Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Actually, \*Invasion of the Body Snatchers \*provides a great example of a good and a bad remake. The 1956 one was awesome and is a very effective cold war allegory. The 1978 version took a different approach–it was more of a psychological thriller than a horror movie. It worked. I think part of the reason that many people like the 1978 version better is that the 1956 version was such a product of its time period, and it must be viewed in historical context. I thought it was because it had Brooke Adams walking around naked. ---
**Author:** ![daveg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@daveg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daveg)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/53 "2010-02-19T19:56:16Z")
The Day the Earth Stood Still and War of the Worlds remakes. Both terrible imo. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/54 "2010-02-19T20:05:11Z")
The Remake of “Sahara” with Jim Belushi in the Humphrey Bogart role. Now, Sahara is no epic classic, but it is a charming Desert War yarn directed and photograph very effectively. The remake not only lacked the acting talent, but the director and his crew seemed to think "I have color film…or color videotape! I don’t need anything else 'cause the original was in Black and White and everyone know Color is BETTER…so don’t bother to move the camera or position it in any way that might make a shot interesting. " And another vote for Rollerball. Failed on so many levels. I have never seen it all the way through but the bits I have seen are laughable and poorly shot. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/55 "2010-02-19T20:27:11Z")
Whoops! Meant to start a thread! Carry on …although this almost fits here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/56 "2010-02-19T20:27:26Z")
Spartacus. Remade a few years back for no good reason. And with a huge historical mistake (the strange idea that there was only 1 consul). ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/57 "2010-02-19T21:11:57Z")
[quote=“koufax, post:24, topic:529556”] [QUOTE] The Pink Panther with Steve Martin? [/QUOTE Sargeant Bilko with Steve Martin The Out of Towners with Steve Martin[/QUOTE] > [@Manduck](#): > > Father of the Bride with Steve Martin > (actually I haven’t seen it - maybe it’s good. I just wanted to participate) and Cheaper by the Dozen, also with Steve Martin ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/58 "2010-02-19T23:20:43Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > The remake of **Charade** - **The Truth About Charlie**. > > Replacing the Cary Grant role with…Mark Wahlberg. 'Nuff said. I rented the DVD just so I could see what the fuck he bought in the store in the middle of the movie. It was for birthday party seen only on the DVD. Don’t ASK what it was.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/59 "2010-02-19T23:24:49Z")
All signs point to “Clash of the Titans” being better than the original. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556/60 "2010-02-19T23:40:07Z")
**Hairspray** was a disappointment the second time around, which is kinda weird when you think about it. Don’t bother explaining that it adapted the stage show not the original; the original was every bit as much a musical as the remake. Disney’s **Three Musketeers** was inferior in every way to the Richard Lester **Three Musketeers** movies from the 70s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movie-remake-of-all-time/529556.md?page=4)