# What movie would you like to see remade, but better? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 12, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072 "2020-07-12T00:03:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/41 "2020-07-13T20:57:47Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > It was a good movie, but I think they could have developed the world geopolitical stage a lot better, to develop this into a **full series** like the books evolve into. I don’t know that there would be a market for a series of Aubrey/Maturin feature films in theaters. I’d argue that they’d do MUCH better to adapt the books as a series of 3-4 hour miniseries (whether as 3-4 one hour shows, or 1-2 films, I don’t know), and show them on a streaming service. Maybe semi-intermittently as well- British style. Like we’d get “Master and Commander” and then maybe a year later, we’d get “Post Captain”, etc… And roll up some of the stories that are more or less conjoined into one series- like “Fortune of War” and “The Surgeon’s Mate”, for example. I’d argue that CGI is probably near to the point where they wouldn’t actually need an actual sailing ship for exterior shots or battle scenes, and is cheap enough for a series as well. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/42 "2020-07-13T22:27:34Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’d argue that they’d do MUCH better to adapt the books as a series of 3-4 hour miniseries (whether as 3-4 one hour shows, or 1-2 films, I don’t know), and show them on a streaming service ‘A capital idea, my good man!’ You’re right, this is a far better idea. The whole late-18th century era was so rich in story-telling ideas, a miniseries might just work! Tripler I’d drop a couple of shillings for it. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/43 "2020-07-13T22:45:19Z")
> [@bump](#): > > ’d argue that they’d do MUCH better to adapt the books as a series of 3-4 hour miniseries (whether as 3-4 one hour shows, or 1-2 films, I don’t know), and show them on a streaming service. The Richard Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell were adapted in the form of a series of TV movies, of about 90-100 minutes in length. Similarly, the Horatio Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester were also made into a series of TV movies. So yes, this sort of thing is feasible. (I’m not a big fan of this sort of thing, but the Master and Commander movie was really well-done and enjoyable.) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/44 "2020-07-13T22:49:43Z")
The Last Unicorn live action - the WETA studios CGI could easily do the unicorns and Red Bull in the surf. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/45 "2020-07-14T00:50:28Z")
“The Incredible Shrinking Man”. The effects of the original pale with what’s available today. As long as it has a good script it could be awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/46 "2020-07-14T02:09:40Z")
Titanic. But more of an aggressive editing rather than a full remake. Eliminate 90% of anything with Brock or that doofus assistant, keep old Rose. A little tweaking here and there, eliminate all of Cameron’s cameos, and voila a very good 2 1/2 hour movie, ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/47 "2020-07-14T12:33:23Z")
Titanic again - It would be interesting to search for stories and perspectives that haven’t been told. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/48 "2020-07-14T14:31:49Z")
Wikipedia says Stroker Ace was the turning point where Reynolds lost fans. I was never a fan of his necessarily but I would submit “Cannonball Run” missed the mark completely and put me off—so as in the NBA, the ref always sees the second foul? “Cannonball” was inspired by a very interesting article from Car and Drive (or maybe Motor Trend) magazine, as I recall. A clandestine race across country? Which car would you pick, how would you avoid the police, etc.? Great premise. IIRC one of them had to run the heater to keep the Ferrari (?) engine from overheating, so they were miserable. There were tradeoffs and it was imaginative. But boy did they drop the ball when they made the movie. > **[The Cannonball Run | Critical response](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cannonball_Run#Critical_response)** > > Despite its box office success, most critics reviewed the film negatively. It has received an approval rating of 29% on Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "Cannonball Run casts a bevy of famous faces as its wacky racers but forgets to give them characters to play, resulting in 90 dull minutes that feel like a marathon". Roger Ebert gave the film a half-star out of four, calling it "an abdication of artistic responsibility at the lowes I can’t say Stroker was worse because based on Cannonball Run’s (lack of) merits, I didn’t even consider wasting time or money to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/49 "2020-07-14T14:47:45Z")
While I enjoy Cannonball Run, I really can’t defend it as a good movie. This is what happens when you let stunt men screenwrite. The movie is rife with logic holes. But I love most of the characters. If you never have seen them, check out Gumball Rally or Cannonball, two different takes on the same race. They both have problems, but they’re OK. And for something similar, try the original Death Race 2000. 🙂 ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/50 "2020-07-14T14:50:28Z")
The Hobbit (especially 2nd & 3rd), Puppet Masters & Starship Troopers. Just to cover books by my favorite authors where the movies underwhelmed, sucked or had little to do with the book and lacked the power armor. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/51 "2020-07-14T15:19:24Z")
I wouldn’t mind seeing a version of _Mortal Engines_ which leaves in all the stuff Peter Jackson took out - namely, everything that made the book interesting. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/52 "2020-07-14T16:12:19Z")
**The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.** I remember reading the article, so it was in Car & Driver. Yeah, really stupid movie. Especially since the whole ending involved a footrace to the check-in table for “Shortest Elapsed Time.” But they all checked out back at the beginning of the movie _every 10 minutes_! So the winner would be the drivers that left last, and they could just stroll to the table. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/53 "2020-07-14T16:17:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.** I remember reading the article, so it was in Car & Driver. That was my go-to rag, back in the day, though I sometimes read others. They had some great writers. There was this exchange (more or less) in “Letters to the Editor” around the time of the Civil Disobedience, radar detectors. Editors: Is it true that if you put wadded balls of aluminum foil in your hubcaps, they will bounce around and confuse police radar so they can’t get a reading? Reader: Be sure to include several wadded up twenty dollar bills as well. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/54 "2020-07-14T17:24:02Z")
Kinda off topic, sorta. I just watched The Old Guard on Netflix on the recommendation from a podcast. They described it as “Highlander done right.” And… yup, nailed it. Don’t get me wrong; I love Highlander, but Old Guard took some of the premises and ran with them. I would love to see a Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers done in a cool [Atompunk](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS900US901&sxsrf=ALeKk02gbpO7Og6RT1M1ibW1UXVfy76EVQ:1594747406673&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=atompunk&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAl7mFoc3qAhWGjp4KHaR2AnYQsAR6BAgKEAE&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25) style, not “modern day”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/55 "2020-07-14T19:04:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > … Similarly, the Horatio Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester were also made into a series of TV movies. > , Yes, but they stopped rather early into the series. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/56 "2020-07-14T19:05:18Z")
I take heat for this all the time, but Dario Argento’s _Cemetery Man_ is my top pick. I’d love to see it in English, with better effects, and a bit more cohesive story. My second pick? The Matrix. I’d just like an update, and we could now put back in some elements that the Wachovskis had to take out in the original, like Switch being different genders inside the Matrix and out. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/57 "2020-07-14T20:37:21Z")
My go-to answer of **The Running Man** has already been posted. I’d like to see another attempt at the Percy Jackson books, that actually, you know, follow the books. The first movie got so much wrong I didn’t bother with the second (and last). ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/58 "2020-07-14T20:46:55Z")
I enjoy the Running Man but I agree on the Percy Jackson books. They were written in a way where making a movie of them shouldn’t have been that hard. Disney just totally bungled it. The movies don’t work well and don’t follow the book. On that note, I would love to see the The Chronicles of Prydain done well. Black Cauldron is OK but this could be a good series of movies instead of one OK and largely forgotten movie. I understand Disney reacquired the rights to the books and might try it again. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/59 "2020-07-14T22:55:38Z")
I’d like to see a remake of **The Hunger Games** directed by someone that’s heard of a tripod and a crane. Heck, keep the same cast and script, maybe pony up some extra money to improve the cheap-looking CGI monsters at the end, and reshoot it shot-for-shot, but keep the damn camera stable. The whole damn movie, even the quiet dialog scenes, was annoying shaky cam. I understand the whole gotta-keep-the-camera-moving-because-we-can’t-actually-show-the-book’s-level-of-violence-and-still-get-a-PG-13-rating, but surely there could have been some other way to imply the violence besides shaking the camera for two and a half hours. ---
**Author:** ![roloha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roloha/32/3909_2.png) [@roloha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roloha)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072/60 "2020-07-15T00:33:58Z")
Battlefield Earth, Clan of The Cave Bear and mists of Avalon. Great books made in to awful movies, [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-would-you-like-to-see-remade-but-better/915072.md?page=4)