Cliffhanger (the remake)

humanji

I guess the one good thing you can say about Hollywood is that it will continually surprise you at the depths it will sink to in order to not be original.

I was reading an interview with Sylvester Stallone in, I think, Empire where he mentioned this and I had to look it up to be sure. It's got a 2011 release date at the moment and the only person who seems to have signed up is Neal H. Moritz, to produce.

Now, you may not know who Moritz is, but you'll undoubtably be comforted knowing that he's also producing the remakes of Escape From New York, 21 Jump Street, Flash Gordon, Highlander, Sinbad, Battle Royale, and Total Recall.

"But," I hear you say, "we shouldn't judge him on that, we should judge him on the work he's done already." Well that doesn't count for much either. The Bounty Hunter, Made Of Honour, Stealth, and Not Another Teen Movie. OK, he's been involved in other films like Cruel Intentions (which I liked, anyway).

But what the hell? Cliffhanger? I watched last night and it's not like it's aged terribly or anything. It's still a great and pointless action flick, done a hell of a lot better than most modern action flicks. Plus, it's got John Lithgow as the villain!

No actors are signed on, so who would you like in it (considering God doesn't seem to be answering our prayers to put an end to the remakes)? I can only assume the story will be slightly tweaked, so the characters will remain mostly the same.

edit: It's probably worth noting that The Dam, a sequel to Cliffhanger is also in the works and Stallone is in negotiations to take part in it, but it's not definitely going ahead yet.

Dear Hollywood

Leave good movie alone. They don't need remakes. If you want to get the movie back into the public eye, re-release them.

humanji

Just because I'm trying to kill some time, I logged onto IMDB pro and got a list of upcoming remakes. It's insane the amount that's being made:

The Six Million Dollar Man
The Never Ending Story
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Barbarella
Yellow Submarine (I **** you not!)
A Star Is Born (I think Beyoncé is rumoured to be in it)
The Birds
Fantastic Voyage
Robocop
Forbidden Planet
The Orphanage
Fantastic Four
Carousel (with Hugh Jackman)
Frankenstein (but Guillermo del Toro is said to be directing, so it may be pretty good)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I thought they remade this last year?)
Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill
Dune
The Shadow
Hellraiser
Pet Semetary
Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes
Romancing The Stone
They Live
Missing In Action (now set in Iraq)
Videodrome (WTF?)
Drop Dead Fred (with that c*nt Russell Brand playing the title role)
Bride Of Frankenstein
An American Werewolf In Paris
Dirty Dancing
The Blob (Rob Zombie wants to direct)
Commando (This is a sin against humanity!)
Knightrider (because the 1st remake wasn't enough)
Logan's Run
I Dream Of Jeanie
Westworld
The Dirty Dozen
True Grit (but it's the Coen Brothers so, like Frankenstein, I'll let this one slide!)
Suspiria
Meatballs
Childsplay
Electric Dreams
Straw Dogs
Footloose
Fright Night (Colin Farrell and David Tennant are in this)
Porky's
The Warriors
Magnum PI
The Seven Samurai (I think this one is set in the present and is pretty much a less expensive version of The Expendables)
Short Circuit
Scanners
The Lives Of Others

And it goes on.

Richard Dower

^ Stealth wasn't that bad, the CGI was fantastic.

Richard Dower

I fear for The Never Ending Story....another childhood great ruined.

MiloYossarian

Fu ck off hollywood

mike65

The Six Million Dollar Man worth doing
Logan's Run worth doing
I Dream Of Jeanie worth doing
Magnum PI worth doing


The rest it makes no obvious sense at all. The likes of Scanners, Vidoedrome and Suspiria have visuals that stand up well ditto the likes of Forbidden Planet and Westworld. I can see a case for Logans Run, it hard to believe it had a budget nearly as large as Star Wars or Alien. They could do something good with that story (they won't of course but the potential is there at least) American Werewolf in Paris is apparently cack, so that might be a goer too! A Star is Born has to be remade every 20 years or so meaning the next version is already 15 years late!

Hank_Jones

humanji wrote: »

The Never Ending Story
The Birds
Robocop
Fantastic Four
Dune
Hellraiser
Romancing The Stone
Drop Dead Fred (with that c*nt Russell Brand playing the title role)
Commando (This is a sin against humanity!)
Westworld
The Dirty Dozen
Meatballs
The Warriors
Short Circuit

Some of them don't really bother me, to be honest Hitchcock's original the Birds isn't exactly the most amazing film ever made and I would be interested in seeing somebody else's take on that plot. I mean come on, it's birds....not exactly scary.

A lot of these films are basically films that children born in the 80's (ie me) would have grown up with and watched over and over again. The Never Ending Story, Robocop, Meatballs, Short Circuit etc, etc. They are going to ruin the good memories that I have of these films.

I loved the original Dune. It may have gone wrong in the film makers eyes, but I think it is a fantastic film. It's a film that I keep returning to, such is my love for it. I know there could be an argument made that the film was based on the books, so it will just be another adaptation, but I just don't think they could make a film any better on the subject.

Westworld? Westworld? Why anyone would want to remake this is beyond me. I didn't think much of the original. Seemed like a bit of a stupid plot to begin with, or maybe it was just the execution of the idea. Might be interesting to see how they work it.

Fantastic Four? What like the 2005 one with Jessica Alba?
That's confusing.

The Dirty Dozen should just be left alone. There is no way they could ever cast a remake anywhere near as well as the original. Plus, can't see anyone ever being able to take on the John Cassavetes role. Another pointless remake.

Commando is a sacred film, as are most of Arnie's great ones.
Arnie is the reason those films worked.
Without him, they will never work, can't see anyone else ever being able to say ''Remember, Sully, when I promised to kill you last? I lied.''
Just won't work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3gC-ghKBHU

Same thing for Romancing the Stone really, those films worked because there was chemistry between the cast.
Plus, they had a really good cast, Douglas owned that role.
Couldn't see anyone ever taking that role.

Russell Brand should die. You can't act man, get out of my films.
Drop Dead Fred is another of my childhood favourites, can't believe they would allow Brand to butcher it.

robby^5

I'd like to see a Warriors remake, given that gang's became a major problem in America over the course of the 80's to the present day. It'd be nice to see it take on a gritty realistic feel with skinheads/neo nazis, crips, bloods, latin kings etc. as the opponent gangs.

Remakes dont really bother me because they cant take away from the original, it still exists and will more than likely receive renewed attention and interest. Not only that but terrible remakes enhance your appreciation of the original.

genericguy

Hank_Jones wrote: »

Some of them don't really bother me, to be honest Hitchcock's original the Birds isn't exactly the most amazing film ever made and I would be interested in seeing somebody else's take on that plot. I mean come on, it's birds....not exactly scary.

why would you need a remake of the birds, when you already have....BIRDEMIC!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgAbVfh6WYg

Short Circuits might work but only if they still use a similar robot to the original and not some CGI abomination.

Why remake Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Since the TV show spawned from the movie, why not have a movie spawned from the TV show? As in a continuation from where the TV show left off.

krudler

Richard Dower wrote: »

^ Stealth wasn't that bad, the CGI was fantastic.

your taste in bad cgi is, frankly, staggering..

Richard Dower

^ you can't seriously suggest the CGI in Stealth was crap???????....come on man, look again.

DrumSteve

humanji wrote: »

I guess the one good thing you can say about Hollywood is that it will continually surprise you at the depths it will sink to in order to not be original.

I was reading an interview with Sylvester Stallone in, I think, Empire where he mentioned this and I had to look it up to be sure. It's got a 2011 release date at the moment and the only person who seems to have signed up is Neal H. Moritz, to produce.

Now, you may not know who Moritz is, but you'll undoubtably be comforted knowing that he's also producing the remakes of Escape From New York, 21 Jump Street, Flash Gordon, Highlander, Sinbad, Battle Royale, and Total Recall.

"But," I hear you say, "we shouldn't judge him on that, we should judge him on the work he's done already." Well that doesn't count for much either. The Bounty Hunter, Made Of Honour, Stealth, and Not Another Teen Movie. OK, he's been involved in other films like Cruel Intentions (which I liked, anyway).

But what the hell? Cliffhanger? I watched last night and it's not like it's aged terribly or anything. It's still a great and pointless action flick, done a hell of a lot better than most modern action flicks. Plus, it's got John Lithgow as the villain!

No actors are signed on, so who would you like in it (considering God doesn't seem to be answering our prayers to put an end to the remakes)? I can only assume the story will be slightly tweaked, so the characters will remain mostly the same.

edit: It's probably worth noting that The Dam, a sequel to Cliffhanger is also in the works and Stallone is in negotiations to take part in it, but it's not definitely going ahead yet.

plissken

My dear sir may I suggest you visit your local general practitioner post haste as you're obviously suffering from a severe form of cataracts.

About Transformers 2 you say:

Richard Dower wrote: »

^ and i say again....i thought the CGI was poor and rushed, i think ILM have been churning out crap for years, when i see CGI from Rythm & Hues or stuff from Canada and New Zealand i know where the eye candy is!

And yet you hold up Stealth as the pinnacle of CGI:

Richard Dower wrote: »

^ you can't seriously suggest the CGI in Stealth was crap???????....come on man, look again.

Handsome Bob

I don't care what anyone says, Cliffhanger ruled! :cool:

Richard Dower

^ no i agree...it was a very good movie.

I'll watch it, what people seem to forget is that no matter how good or bad a remake is the original is always there to comfort us.

I don't think it's fair to label films such as Frankenstein,Pet Semetary, Dune, etc as remakes as they're not, theyre adaptations.

Detour

At the moment it looks like they are casting for a Hollywood version of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.

I really don't get this. The Swedish version is only a couple of years old, and is great! Like really really good. Now David Fincher is signed onto direct - why would he want to remake something that is all ready top notch. How can he improve on it?

I understand modernising an old movie for young generations (something like the Karate Kid - cause some kids nowadays wont watch old movies), but presumably the audience for the Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo will be older, and therefore more than capable of watching the Swedish version.

Suppose it's all about the $$$.

genericguy

Richard Dower wrote: »

^ you can't seriously suggest the CGI in Stealth was crap???????....come on man, look again.

it wasn't crap, but it wasn't fantastic.

for crap cgi though, check out that birdemic trailer, i swear the guy must've used a commodore 64 for the effects.

nyarlothothep

remakes keep getting made because people keep paying to go see them, they are the problem, and hollywood, but not hollywood alone. Basically if you don't want remakes boycott them and get everyone you know to do likewise.

nyarlothothep

Detour wrote: »

At the moment it looks like they are casting for a Hollywood version of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.

I really don't get this. The Swedish version is only a couple of years old, and is great! Like really really good. Now David Fincher is signed onto direct - why would he want to remake something that is all ready top notch. How can he improve on it?

I understand modernising an old movie for young generations (something like the Karate Kid - cause some kids nowadays wont watch old movies), but presumably the audience for the Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo will be older, and therefore more than capable of watching the Swedish version.

Suppose it's all about the $$$.

I saw girl with the dragon tatoo and tbh I don't see how its so culturally different that it necessitates a hollywood version, its also in english

El Horseboxo

humanji wrote: »

The Orphanage

As in El Orfanato? They can fúck right off with that one.

I don't mind remakes such as short circuit where they can use modern technology to improve special effects as long as they don't mess up the script. But i hate English language remakes of foreign films. Especially recent ones. Very few of them work.

TheDoc

Just a sign of the industry along with the music industry.

Was watching a fantastic interview with some guy i genuinely dont remember which is wrecking my head, I'll try find out the name of the guy and the programme.

but he was just talking about the rapid decline of the music and film industry and how in house entertainment like handheld devices and video gaming etc is just sky rocketing. Loads of interesting stuff.

But he particularly pin pointed the severe lack of creativity in hollywood. How he feels there will never be a new cohort of quality actors to watch in 10 years time say.

The great directors, script writers and actors are fading away, and there is really nobody to replace them. I cant say I can remember leaving the cinema in recent memory feeling i watched a real cinema flick since probably dark knight and before that, just cannot remember.

JP Liz V1

A Cliffhanger remake might work depending on the cast imo I liked the original also

prinz

Detour wrote: »

I really don't get this. Suppose it's all about the $$$.

People won't watch it. It's fairly sad. When it comes to film for most people there is nothing outside of Hollywood. Many can't be bothered with watching a movie, no matter how good it is, if it isn't in English. Pretty sad.

I especially love people coming along and saying x movie is brilliant, when in reality the foreign language original was much, much better. Especially when the remake is butchered to change the sense of humour/style nuances etc, stick in some pointless sex scene/explosion.

podgemonster

prinz wrote: »

People won't watch it. It's fairly sad. When it comes to film for most people there is nothing outside of Hollywood. Many can't be bothered with watching a movie, no matter how good it is, if it isn't in English. Pretty sad.

I especially love people coming along and saying x movie is brilliant, when in reality the foreign language original was much, much better. Especially when the remake is butchered to change the sense of humour/style nuances etc, stick in some pointless sex scene/explosion.

I went on my own to the girl with the dragon tatoo as my mates cringed with disgust when they heard it was in Swedish. No doubt the queues will be huge when the Americanised version comes out even tho it will be less gritty and have some picute perfect hollywood hunk and hottie in the lead roles.

Also Cliffhanger, an awesome movie with one of the most expensive stunts in cinema! It still looks great!

I don't think I'd welcome a remake of Pet Semetary either.

A V A

Richard Dower wrote: »

I fear for The Never Ending Story....another childhood great ruined.

i dont think they would ruin that i say it would be great



i think cliff hanger is a great film but i would love to see it remade just for the "crack"

niallon

Detour wrote: »

I understand modernising an old movie for young generations (something like the Karate Kid - cause some kids nowadays wont watch old movies)

Spot on but my solution is better, make the little s**ts watch the originals!

My father had me watching Jaws and the Lethal Weapons and the Eastwood westerns when I was a kid and I was only born at the end of the eighties so I was already watching "old" films. It's what gave me a varied taste in film and the respect for the original works I have today.

I understand how this makes sense to make a slicker and glossier product that kids can lap up but on the other hand, is this not on a small scale similar to why we still have art galleries and such? If all Hollywood does is churn out remakes of the same films then in 20 or 30 years time are the originals going to disappear and the remakes take their place? By not trying to show the younger generations the original films, we are essentially getting rid of the film world's "galleries"