Great Originals of Bad Remakes ('nother movie thread)

[DrBB]

The thread about the remake of Manchurian Candidate (gacck, choke, sputter) reminded me of a long-time desire of mine: to organize a film festival on the theme of Great Originals of Bad Remakes.

So many hideously awful remakes out there that have obliterated their vastly superior originals. I propose a film festival resurrecting all those originals. For instance

The Haunting. Originally one of the most genuinely terrifying films of all time, with only the most minimal of special effects. Turned into a completely stupid and boring special-effects extravaganza. Oh I hated them for that. SImply hated 'em.

Psycho. The idiotic scene-for-scene remake--why? I mean, why???

I could cite many others, but what's your favorite remake to hate?

[supernova]

1. Rumors about

an upcoming Casablanca remake, if such a travesty can be imagined. :crazy:

[BigMcLargehuge]

4. Casablanca was already remade once

as a TV movie... With David Soul as Rick Blane... It was gag inducing.

info here

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0084994

on edit: spelling... what is wrong with my brain today???

[DrBB]

16. Now THAT is almost a whole order of awfulness all to itself

A veritable landmark, nay, a monument to the fathomless idiocy of hollywood.

David Soul--the most inaptly named actor in history--stepping into the shoes of Bogart??? The mind boggles and reels. Surely such a (made for tee vee) film will have earned itself a permanent place in the first rank of the Pantheon of Bad Taste.

[Bridget Burke]

31. Casting Rumor?

I heard the new Ilsa & Rick would be played by Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck.

It may just have been some Datalounge bitchiness. The mind reels.

[qb]

2. Night of the Living Dead

Saw the original at age 6 at an Iowa film festival. Apparently my dad had NO IDEA what the movie was about. Needless to say, it made a big impression on me. I've been addicted to GOOD horror movies ever since.

I don't remember much about the remake, I think I had to keep drinking just to get through it.

[tjdee]

3. Charade/Truth about Charlie-- MARK WAHLBERG for CARY GRANT??

God, and it was made by the same guy who's doing the Manchurian Candidate. Be very afraid, LOL.

While I adore Thandie Newton and she was good as usual (and a worthy successor to Audrey Hepburn), Mark Wahlberg is not and never will be the same as Cary Grant. Wahlberg is devoid of any style or class, and I wouldn't buy Newton falling for him in this universe or any other.

I heard the film was originally floated to Will Smith, which would have been equally as gross.

The original is perfect, just perfect--though, done correctly, a remake shouldn't have been too terrible. But it was! What a disappointment.

[smirkymonkey]

17. Charade was one of my all-time favorite films!!

I didn't even bother to watch the remake, as I think that trying to compete w/ Stanley Donen, Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn is an exercise in futility. Some things are just better left in their original state.

[displacedtexan]

5. Village Of The Damned

stupid remake.
george sanders was wonderful in the original!

Scared the shit out of me!

[BigMcLargehuge]

7. Great book too!!!

The Midwich Cuckoos and Day of the Triffids are two of the downright scariest science fiction titles ever and both by John Wyndham.

[DrBB]

20. I LOVED that movie! And the sequel wasn't bad either

The originals, of course. Do I recall there was a third sequel as well? I seem to remember having seen it and thought it was no good. But the first two--and yes, Sanders, god, what a great actor he was. He did a series of "The Saint" films back when as well, not to mention all his other great roles.

But the remake was a completely lifeless turd. I always end wanting to ask, look, if you not only didn't understand the original, but didn't even like it very much as far as I can tell, why the f*** did you feel compelled to remake the bloody thing?

[pnb]

6. The Shining

Never has an original been so good and a remake been such crap...I could barely believe they were the same movie.

And how the hell do you get off TRYING to replace Jack?!?

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. We loved that movie! The made for T.V. one?

Stephen King actually wrote the screenplay and it was more like the book. The only bad part was the commercial breaks, which killed the scariness somewhat. I have been looking for that on VHS. Funny how different peoples' tastes can be. :-)

[pnb]

14. I know what you mean...

I actually expected to like it more BECAUSE STephen King was writing it but I hated the TV version and didn't like the guy playing the lead at all.

As you might have guessed also, I'm biased because I'm a big Jack Nicholson fan and I didn't think anyone could match him in this role.

[DrBB]

18. Very few good King adaptations

Kubric tried to rationalize the whole thing, dropping out most of the supernatural stuff--why do King if you don't want that part? Still, Nicholson was great. But the TV version? Worst mistake ever is to let King have control--he's his own worst interpreter. "Closer to the story," yeah, I guess, but with no sense of dramatic build-up or chemistry, and made-for-TeeVee acting.

I have almost the exact problem with Lynch's Dune and the SciFi channel version. Lynch had the greatest design sense for the whole roccoco past-in-the-future universe Herbert had imagined, but he had NO IDEA what the book was really about, thematically, and COMPLETELY screwed it up. On t'other hand, the TeeVee version--why does the casting have to be done this way? Why does the actor playing the lead character have all the charisma of a male model in a J C Penny catalogue? And again, plodding through all the plot points is not the same as doing a good film adaptation. Look at Lord of the Rings--they are doing it superbly because they understand the SPIRIT of the novel, and that gives them license to change the plot where they need to in order to make a good film out of it. A very rare thing.

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. This was probably the scariest movie I have seen in my life....with

the exception of the commercials. I used to be somewhat frightened by the original Shining, but this one took the prize.

[qb]

29. Having read the novel first, I was disappointed with Kubrick's version.

However, I have since grown to like this masterpiece. I think Kubrick should have called it something else, however, since the only things it has in common with the novel are a big hotel, a crazy guy, and a psychic kid.

[ksc121]

8. Do made for TV movies count?

"Rear Window". We all admire Christopher Reeve, but........the movie was awful!

[sugarcookie]

9. Miracle on 34th Street

4 remakes and none as magical as the first.

[BigMcLargehuge]

10. Oh man... the most recent one

nearly caused renal failure... But then, it's Chris (I am a huge hack) Columbus behind the camera.

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. An affair to remember.

With Annette Benning and Warren Beatty?

:puke:

[Bridget Burke]

32. Did you know

That the "original" with Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr was actually a remake?

It was based on 1939's "Love Story" with Irene Dunn & Charles Boyer. Quite witty & perhaps less cloying...

Haven't seen the Beatty/Benning version & probably won't.

[ScreamingMeemie]

33. I wouldn't. It was hideously boring...

[Bob3]

13. King Kong, The American Godzilla, any number of Frankensteins

spring to mind along with The Lady Vanishes,and The Thoms Crown Affair.

[noonwitch]

15. The Parent Trap

I love the original, with Haley Mills. The remake sucks.

[mitchum]

21. "Cape Fear" DeNiro's scenery chewing bug-eyed psycho...

can't touch the the menace of Robert Mitchum in the original.

[BigMcLargehuge]

23. Mitchum was just pure panama hatted evil in the original

every line he spoke was evil... What a great thriller!

[mitchum]

24. "I saw your daughter, counselor. She's getting to be about...

as ripe as your wife" Incredible!

[MaineDem]

22. "The Lady Vanshes"

and also "The 39 Steps" while I'm in the Hitchcock genre.

The originals, I feel, were wonderful. The newer versions - Cybil Shephard PUHleeze - pale in comparison!

[DrBB]

26. You've ruined my day

Until now, I was entirely innocent of the awareness that those had been remade. Never seen either remake, but the mere fact that they exist already makes me feel a little duller, a little more infected by banality. Maybe this thread was a mistake--maybe there are some things we're just better off not knowing....

;)

[thermodynamic]

25. BEDAZZLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Great 1967 British movie with Peter what'shisname and Dudley Moore, who also did the soundtrack - which was quite good!

Then came the bad Americans who ruined it in 2001... yuck.

[BigMcLargehuge]

27. Cook, Peter Cook

Julie Andrews!!!!!!!!

[qb]

28. Frances

I fell in love with Jessica Lange in that role. All I can say about her counterpart in the T.V. remake is "shrill".

[Hell Hath No Fury]

30. The Thomas Crown Affair....

They turned a hot, playful movie into a very pale imitation.

The "Charade" remake was terrible, as was "Sabrina".

But truly, the absolutely worst remake has to be "The Haunting"-- what a piece of shit, no other way to call it. Just nasty.