# What Movies SHOULD Be Remade? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571 "2009-01-09T19:49:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/21 "2009-01-09T21:19:06Z")
I’d like to see a Michael Bay-less _Transformers_, with robots that looked familar, no she-plastic, and less tip-toeing around the suburban lawn. But, I’d really like the world to forget the recent monstrosity called _The Seeker_, so that they could actually make a good _The Dark is Rising_. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/22 "2009-01-09T21:21:06Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I know this is total blasphemy but I would be happy if every old movie was colorized. It’s only blasphemy if you would force all of the rest of us to view them that way. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/23 "2009-01-09T21:23:17Z")
> [@Nom\_de\_Plume](#): > > I would love to see a version of “Fletch” with a lead character that was ANYTHING like the one from the books. I mean, Chevy Chase was funny, but the character he played was NOT Fletch. No kidding. I liked the movies, and tried to read the books, and didn’t even recognize him. And **KtK** , I’d never force anyone to watch them. I just like color! ---
**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:** [January 9, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/24 "2009-01-09T21:25:19Z")
**Reality Chuck** writes: > [@](#): > > The Day of the Triffids I’ve said several times on this Board that the BBC adaptation (which has run on American PBS) seems to be quite faithful to the book. Unfortunately, AFAIK, it’s not commercially available (but I might be wrong. My copy is taped from TV) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081850/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081850/) )The site shows a “BBC Video” box cover, but I don’t know how available it is. Agree with **Starship Troopers** and **The Puppet Masters** (which wasn’t completely awful, but was worse than it should have been) **I, Robot**. I think it should’ve been done with Harlan Ellison’s script, which had Asimov’s blessing, althgough others on the Board don’t like that. But it needs to be redone, in any case. **From the Earth to the Moon** – the film version of this is atrocious. **War of the Worlds** – for God’s sake, do it right, as a period piece. **A Connecticut Yankeee in King Arthur’s Court** – not one filmed version, out of half a dozen, resembles in any way Twain’s story. Not even Will Rogers’ version. **Rocket Ship Galileo** – it’s the least of the Heinlein juveniles, but it’s still livelier than the vfilm ostensibly made from it, **Destination Moon**. (Even though that had a screnplay by Heinlein) Jules Verne’s **In Search of the Castaways** – the Disney version, sadly, isn’t all that faithful. Two Russian versions are said to be much better. The music from the older one is still very popular in Russia. If we can’t reshoot this, can we at least dub the Russian versions and release them here? Anything by John Varley – you’d never guess he was an acclaimed science fiction writer from the filmed versions of **Millenium** , **Nightflyers** , and **Sandkings**. **Nightfall** – after two versions, Asimov deserves a film that actually bears some resemblance to his story. **Immortality, Inc.** (AKA **Immortality Delivered** by Robert Sheckley. The filmed version with Mick Jagger and Anthony Hopkins (!!!) bears no resemblance to his book. For that matter, they ought to do his **The Status Civilization** as a film. I still maintain they ripped off big gobs of this for **Total Recall**. Oh, yeah. Not that the original ABC TV-movie was bad (I haven’t seen the British TV adaptations), but I’d love to see a big buidget movie treatment of Robert H. Van Gulik’s **Judge Dee** series. There was a rumor at one point that Paul Veerhoeven was doing a Judge Dee film, but it was mistaken, or he changed his mind. I’d still like to see it. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/25 "2009-01-09T21:33:04Z")
I’d like to another film about the Hindenburg, but it doesn’t have to be a remake of **The Hindenburg** (the 70s fim w/ Anne Bancroft). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/26 "2009-01-09T21:38:43Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Ooo! My turn! > > Anything that Michael Bay has touched. Except that pretty much every Michael Bay movie would not work as anything other than a Michael Bay movie. You either like big, loud action flicks like Transformers, The Rock or Armegeddon or you don’t. By the way, he’s remaking Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Which just reitterates some earlier points: DON’T remake movies that are classics. The remake will always suck. Was there a need to do a remake of Psycho? Or The Omen? OR Planet of the Apes? Or a TV version of The Shining? No. It’s just the same fucking movie with different characters. Or it’s just plain worse when you try to outdo the “YOU MANIACS!! YOU BLEW IT UP!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!” ending with a crash landing in front of the Ape Lincoln Memorial. DON’T remake movies with iconic characters made famous by a particular actor. ie Robert England IS Freddy Krueger. Why not remake Rocky? Or Scarface? DON’T remake movies that are less than 30 years old (ideally at least 40 years old). Gene Wilder is Willy Wonky in my childhood memories. Not Johnny Depp. DON’T keep remaking the same freaking superhero movies. Batman got a pass because between two directors making the same movie, Tim Burton looses. We don’t need another crappy Punisher film. Hulk is not a compelling character people can identify with (and he never says “Hulk SMASH!!” anyway). We’ve already seen Superman vs Lex Luthor. Fortunately for Captain America, no one remembers the 1990 film (just as they won’t remember the 2011 film). Basically, just remake old, crappy movies that no one remembers. Movies like Oceans Eleven, The Italian Job or The Thomas Crown Affair. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/27 "2009-01-09T21:39:57Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > “The Blair Witch Project”. Seriously. > > I liked the first person style and the basic plot (young students get lost in woods, weird shit happens), but the jiggly hand-held camera gimmick was nauseating, the lack of any visual hint at what might be going on (drunk rednecks messing with 'em, something supernatural, etc.) ruined it for me. It was an interesting concept, just badly executed. Ooo, good idea. And give them an actual script this time rather than making them improvise their dialogue based on situations they run into out in the woods. **Good** improv is hard, and these newbie actors fell back on saying “f\*ck” a whole lot as their way of showing they were stressed/scared. You also won’t (hopefully) get problems like a plane showing up in the sky during a shot without them even reacting to it and debating about whether that could point them the way out of the forest. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/28 "2009-01-09T21:50:58Z")
I think if they remade **The Hulk** but this time they…nah, can’t even type it with a straight face. 🙂 I would like to see a remake of **Tron** , but with current technology. (And no “Bit” or “Byte” or whatever that stupid thing was). I’m picturing the MCP being a WoW server or something. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/29 "2009-01-09T21:52:36Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Or it’s just plain worse when you try to outdo the “YOU MANIACS!! YOU BLEW IT UP!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!” ending with a crash landing in front of the Ape Lincoln Memorial. The amusing thing about this is, Pierre Boulle may agree with you. His original ending to the book the 1968 film was based on is much more along the “Ape Lincoln Memorial” lines than Sterling’s “You maniacs” ending, but according to what IMDb’s trivia page calls a “rumor,” Boulle preferred Sterling’s ending. > [@Morbo](#): > > I would like to see a remake of **Tron** , but with current technology. (And no “Bit” or “Byte” or whatever that stupid thing was). I’m picturing the MCP being a WoW server or something. [Look not much further](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/). ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/30 "2009-01-09T22:11:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Reality Chuck** writes: > > I’ve said several times on this Board that the BBC adaptation (which has run on American PBS) seems to be quite faithful to the book. Unfortunately, AFAIK, it’s not commercially available (but I might be wrong. My copy is taped from TV) > > [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081850/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081850/) > > )The site shows a “BBC Video” box cover, but I don’t know how available it is. [Day of the Triffids to be remade by BBC](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/27/day-of-the-triffids-bbc) (Again!). [Day of the Triffids (BBC DVD)](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Day-Triffids-John-Duttine/dp/B0006GVKE8) region 2 though. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/31 "2009-01-09T22:28:15Z")
How about _The Getaway_, with Jim Thompson’s original ending? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/32 "2009-01-09T22:33:48Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > [Look not much further](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/). :eek: ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/33 "2009-01-09T22:40:37Z")
Judge Dredd! And it appears that [they are](http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=51465). ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/34 "2009-01-09T22:41:37Z")
I adored the 70s movie [Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067983/) with Shelley Winters, but it doesn’t seem to have been a very big hit. Or at least, I don’t know too many people who have heard of it. Anyway, I think a remade version with someone stellar in the lead (like say Toni Collette) and any director but Tim Burton, this could be really dark and winnow its way up everyone’s new favorite horror movie list. And make us ask the question of why there aren’t more films made about Hansel and Gretel. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/35 "2009-01-09T22:46:01Z")
I’d like to see what the Coen brothers or maybe the Nolans would do with _The Last of Sheila_ or _The Conversation_. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/36 "2009-01-09T22:50:46Z")
[The Incident](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061814/) ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/37 "2009-01-09T22:56:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \ **Sandkings** \ Sorry **Cal** , but it is a George R.R. Martin story. [Obligatory Wikipedia Link (OWL)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandkings_(novelette)) BTW, you know that [The Incredible Shrinking Man](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm345150976/tt0050539) and [Robinson Crusoe on Mars](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1584239360/tt0058530) are both now available on DVD ? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/38 "2009-01-10T00:10:38Z")
_ **The Lord of the Rings** _ What?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/39 "2009-01-10T00:19:57Z")
**Tom Scud** , did you _intentionally_ change my capital letters? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > … **War of the Worlds** – for God’s sake, do it right, as a period piece. Yes, but it has to have a [budget](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449040/). > [@](#): > > _ **A Connecticut Yankeee in King Arthur’s Court** – not one filmed version, out of half a dozen, resembles in any way Twain’s story. Not even Will Rogers’ version…_ I haven’t seen any, but a good one would be special. I love this book. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571/40 "2009-01-10T00:54:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **Starship Troopers** - with power armor and Heinlein’s philosophy this time That wouldn’t be a remake, that would be a movie based on the novel. _North by Northwest_. The original movie was great: it had excellent pacing and a good plot. But I would’ve enjoyed it more if it was set in the present day. I think the original story would adapt well to the present day, plus, special effects have improved since then. The entire time I watched that movie I was thinking to myself “I want to know what happens next (and a modern version of this would make bank)!”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-should-be-remade/480571.md?page=3)