Films that you feel DO deserve to be remade

Adamantium

I loved 1984 with John Hurt and rewatching Inception, I had an idea. Usually get remakes (I'd rather re-releases tbh usually )

Cillian Murphy as Winston Smith (he would be ****ing amazing) and Ellen Page as Julia. Its had a few adaptations, but I'd love to see it again, and if there's one story that is timeless to human society and needs to be told over and over, it's this one. Hell it's even in Nolan's style of dark and heavy exposition (not saying he'd be necessarily the best)

It's way too close to reality these days, so we'd never see it beyond a teen boppy bastardised version

What's yours?

Kylo Ren

Back to the Future.

Adamantium

Keno wrote: »

Back to the Future

Kurt it's me Marvin..... Your cousin Marvin Cobain...... Remember that new sound you were looking for? Well listen to this!!!!!!











cue sound of gunshot in the background

charlie_says

Even though I love David Lynch's version (many do not, I know) I think Dune would make for an excellent remake.

Harry Palmr

Damnation Alley - a great pulp page turner turned into a terrible film which in no way shape or form resembles the source material beyond the basic coast to coast post apocalypse journey.

I'd like the climax of Dam Busters to be remade - just to make the dams actually blow up. The intended remake seems as far away as ever.

Damien360

charlie_says wrote: »

Even though I love David Lynch's version (many do not, I know) I think Dune would make for an excellent remake.

I love it also. "Muad dib" (spelling) and the story of the spice still sticks with me. Story is good, effects could be brought to life and hopefully better acting. Some of the family/kingdoms has a game of thrones ring to it.

Tipsy McSwagger

Return of the Jedi

An awful end to the trilogy. Make it as an animated film with the original casts voices and cut out all the ewok crap, kill Han Solo and ditch the bongo drum happy ending.

Squeedily Spooch

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Return of the Jedi

An awful end to the trilogy. Make it as an animated film with the original casts voices and cut out all the ewok crap, kill Han Solo and ditch the bongo drum happy ending.

Ewoks aside Jedi is fantastic, it has a great opening hour and the showdown between Luke and Vader is one of the high points of the saga.

Conall Cernach

Squeedily Spooch wrote: »

Ewoks aside Jedi is fantastic, it has a great opening hour and the showdown between Luke and Vader is one of the high points of the saga.

I don't know why when Lucas was "tweaking" the movie that he didn't include a shot of some of the rebel commandos grabbing a heavy blaster cannon and taking out loads of the so called crack troops. It would have explained their defeat a bit better than "a bunch of teddy bears with pointy sticks did it".

Squeedily Spooch

Transformers, there's plenty of room for a good version.

I Am Legend, and do it properly this time.

Ageyev

The Exorcist III with a proper ending.

Liam McPoyle

Probably going to raise the ire of many but for me American Psycho is a prime candidate for a remake.

Reason being, it strayed too far from the source material imo.

While Bales performance of course is stand out, its an incredibly sanitised version of a deeply unsettling novel.

I will say however that I wouldn't consider it a remake in the general sense as the movie isnt the source material.

Tipsy McSwagger

Squeedily Spooch wrote: »

Ewoks aside Jedi is fantastic, it has a great opening hour and the showdown between Luke and Vader is one of the high points of the saga.

I like the opening hour a lot and the Luke/Vader fight is brilliant. An alternative last hour including the fight would give the trilogy a fitting finish.

Frankie5Angels

Business Cat wrote: »

Probably going to raise the ire of many but for me American Psycho is a prime candidate for a remake.

Reason being, it strayed too far from the source material imo.

While Bales performance of course is stand out, its an incredibly sanitised version of a deeply unsettling novel.

I will say however that I wouldn't consider it a remake in the general sense as the movie isnt the source material.

Have never read the book, is it completely different? If it is, I'd consider buying it.

Liam McPoyle

Frankie5Angels wrote: »

Have never read the book, is it completely different? If it is, I'd consider buying it.

Not Completly different but there were a couple of scenes that were totally left out of the film.

IMO they were key to showing Batemans descent into absolute psychopath territory as in the movie he appears almost cartoonish by times.

As an aside, I'd highly recommend the novel, it's one of the finest American novels of the last century IMO.

obriendj

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

I like the opening hour a lot and the Luke/Vader fight is brilliant. An alternative last hour including the fight would give the trilogy a fitting finish.

I also think the attack in space is excellent too, Lando and the crew. "its a trap" & "here goes nothin" great lines

going back on topic I would like to see In the Line of Fire remade I always thought Eastwood was too old for the role.

pixelburp

charlie_says wrote: »

Even though I love David Lynch's version (many do not, I know) I think Dune would make for an excellent remake.

I think Dune is much better suited to a high-budget TV serial than a film: there's simply too much going on above and below to the surface for a single feature-film to properly capture. There was a TV adaptation undertaken by the then Sci-Fi channel, but it was a pretty leaden, micro-budgeted affair.

And all things being equal it'd be too easy for the hand of Hollywood to downplay the pretty overt middle-eastern, anti-colonial themes of the novel and mutate the film into a generic action blockbuster with a dodgy 'white American becomes messiah' message. Mind you, that's kind of what David Lynch's version was, even if I have a soft-spot for the pure baroque madness of that production. There was a brief attempt to get a Peter Berg directed version off the ground but it got canned in 2011.

Peace

The Stand. Great book. Movie was so bad it made me laugh at points.

Sad Professor

obriendj wrote: »

I also think the attack in space is excellent too, Lando and the crew. "its a trap" & "here goes nothin" great lines

going back on topic I would like to see In the Line of Fire remade I always thought Eastwood was too old for the role.

He was protecting Kennedy when he was shot. How old should he have been?

In the Line of Fire is one of the few Hollywood films staring aging leading men were their age is actually written into story rather than just ignored. I love the chase scene - he looks like he's about to have a heart attack.

leeroybrown

charlie_says wrote: »

Even though I love David Lynch's version (many do not, I know) I think Dune would make for an excellent remake.

Anyone who's read the book will likely loathe the Lynch version. He did just about enough to make it watchable but the end result was a hugely rushed attempt to reflect any of the book's plot that loses all the character and intrigue of the original. The book is a lengthy blend of sci-fi and fantasy that's more about politics and religion than anything that Lynch's version portrayed. I think it'd make a brilliant TV series if a really good screenwriter and director were given the money to do it. As a feature film I think it'll always struggle time wise unless the screenwriter significantly rewrites some of it.

Squeedily Spooch

Frankie5Angels wrote: »

Have never read the book, is it completely different? If it is, I'd consider buying it.

It's much, much more graphically violent than the movie. Which is actually pretty tame and most of it is suggested aside from a few scenes. There was no way they could have put some of the stuff in the novel into the film. There's an infamous chapter involving a hungry rat, some plastic tubing and a womans insides that would never make it to the screen.

I love the movie though, it's a pitch black comedy and it's one of those films that just gets funnier with every watch.

Telecaster58

There's an old horror movie which was made in the 50's which deserves to be revisited. It is Night of the Demon. The "special" effects were not that special but the story was a cracker. I'm sure with today's technology, and a competent director, this could be excellent.

charlie_says

leeroybrown wrote: »

Anyone who's read the book will likely loathe the Lynch version. He did just about enough to make it watchable but the end result was a hugely rushed attempt to reflect any of the book's plot that loses all the character and intrigue of the original. The book is a lengthy blend of sci-fi and fantasy that's more about politics and religion than anything that Lynch's version portrayed. I think it'd make a brilliant TV series if a really good screenwriter and director were given the money to do it. As a feature film I think it'll always struggle time wise unless the screenwriter significantly rewrites some of it.

I have read the book, it's a cracker.

You guys are probably right about a TV series instead. Saying that I could watch a 3.5 hour epic film version if it was possible.

Jodorowsky tried and failed as the studios thought it was too risky for the US market.

e_e

I think a live action Ghost in the Shell could be amazing if put in the right hands, not just turning it into an empty PG-13 blockbuster.

Adamantium

Terminator 2 but only to include the extended future war opening/prolouge that shows how the resistance won the war on the final night

It would have given the fans a substantial look at what they wanted for years and might have closed the franchise/story off rather than the constant mickey tease we've been getting for years in other related spin off media. In hindsight, they might as well have gone through and done it.

Van Ling (Creative Supervisor), in T2, THE BOOK of the Film, An Illustrated Screenplay:
The original 5/10/90 draft contained an extended future war scene that not only addressed the defeat of Skynet and the backstory of how Reese and the Terminator went back through time as mentioned in the first film, but also the backstory of the second film on how the second TERMINATOR was sent through. Cut from the script after the first draft, the scene -- although rich in action and resonance to the first film and its concepts -- was a narrative tangent to the main story of the film and would have cost an inordinate amount of time, MONEY, and effort to produce. This future scene also had the adult John Connor as its narrator.
The final Future War sequence was substantially reduced in both narrative and scope from the version in the original 5/10/90 draftt --which included Skynet's defeat by the human Resistance and the time-displacement scene with Reese-- for a variety of reasons, not only due to the enormous cost of designing, BUILDING, and shooting the battle sequences, but also because the original longer version delayed the process of getting into the main plot, which begins with the arrival of the two Terminators. Through the course of production, the sequence was scaled down and simplified into a short DOCUMENTARY-style prologue, which actually enhanced its narrative value, for although it was not strictly necessary to the plot to show the war, its inclusion of the film serves as both a visceral illustration of what the characters in the film are fighting to prevent, and a narrative reminder to the audience of the world postulated by the first film.

Here's the script for the never produced scenes:

http://www.hopeofthefuture.net/deletedscenes/t2omit04.html

charlie_says

e_e wrote: »

I think a live action Ghost in the Shell could be amazing if put in the right hands, not just turning it into an empty PG-13 blockbuster.

That could be amazing if done with skill!

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I'd like the climax of Dam Busters to be remade - just to make the dams actually blow up. The intended remake seems as far away as ever.

Telecaster58 wrote: »

There's an old horror movie which was made in the 50's which deserves to be revisited. It is Night of the Demon. The "special" effects were not that special but the story was a cracker. I'm sure with today's technology, and a competent director, this could be excellent.

As with Dam Busters climax I'd just like to see the climax tweaked, with modern digital stitching it should be pretty straightforward to restage the effects shots and integrate them with the original footage. No need to remake fine films - only bits of them!

Birneybau

Squeedily Spooch wrote: »

It's much, much more graphically violent than the movie. Which is actually pretty tame and most of it is suggested aside from a few scenes. There was no way they could have put some of the stuff in the novel into the film. There's an infamous chapter involving a hungry rat, some plastic tubing and a womans insides that would never make it to the screen.

I love the movie though, it's a pitch black comedy and it's one of those films that just gets funnier with every watch.

Also contains chapter called 'Killing 5 year old child at Zoo'.

'The Golden Compass' for me, wonderful trilogy of books, mess of a first film so other 2 were put on the scrapheap.

Skerries

e_e wrote: »

I think a live action Ghost in the Shell could be amazing if put in the right hands, not just turning it into an empty PG-13 blockbuster.

I'm not sure if you were aware of this but they are making it with ScarJo

Tilikum

Flash Gordon

jimmii

Robot Jox. Awesome.

Everlong1

The original Exorcist was brilliant and the special effects still stand up except for one bit: the 360 degree head turn. They should replace that. I would imagine with CGI these days it'd be easy enough?

Harry Palmr

Tilikum wrote: »

Flash Gordon

No way! Mike Hodges version is the perfect representation of a 1930s comic book - gaudy painted skies, lush sets, jazzy lingo, kinky subtexts, Brian Blessed and Queen!

McChubbin

I was just thinking about this tonight whilst idly half-watching The Alan Titchmark Show.
The show was played out by the West End cast of the musical version of "Matilda" and it was just GOD AWFUL. I like musicals from time to time but this one did not set my world on fire, so to speak.
That said, Matilda was one of my favorite Roald Dahl stories and remains so to this day. I loved the original movie version made by Danny DeVito starring Mara Wilson but personally, I always felt there was something terribly English about it.
I'd love to see a remake set in Britain with a stellar cast, though Pam Ferris was fantastic as Madam Trunchbull.
I can easily see an actress such as Sophie Thompson play the role of Miss Honey.
Maybe it's just me but as much as I liked the movie, I felt it was unnecessarily "Amercianised".

ambro25

Peace wrote: »

the stand World War Z. Great book. Movie was so bad it made me laugh at points.

FYP (but/& fully agree with your original post btw, I must have read The Stand at least 4 times over the years, to date).

gandalf

The Keep while I like the original Michael Mann version I think a good remake could really produce a damn fine film.

With my luck Uwe Boll will make it and it will show on SyFy every night for months with a IMDB rating of 3!!!!

Sleepy

World War Z was the first to come to mind but, honestly, Brad Pitt's effort was so far removed from the novel that it wouldn't even count as a re-make!

Like Dune, however, it's one that would be best done for TV by HBO (no one else has the budget!). Frankly, it amazes me that anyone involved in optioning the novel couldn't see that it was more suited to a 20 part tv-series than a by-the-numbers action vehicle for Brad Pitt (I know he optioned it but he could have been the interviewer if he really wanted to "star").

Chip Whitley

Peace wrote: »

The Stand. Great book. Movie was so bad it made me laugh at points.

Completely agree.

I also feel I Am Legend could be a hell of a lot better. I read the original book a long time ago, but I haven't seen the Charlton Heston movie Omega Man (1971), so I can't comment on that but the Will Smith movie (2007) had so much potential and was badly executed for the most part.

MfMan

gandalf wrote: »

The Keep while I like the original Michael Mann version I think a good remake could really produce a damn fine film.

With my luck Uwe Boll will make it and it will show on SyFy every night for months with a IMDB rating of 3!!!!

Ya, some bits of that were really good (the start in particular), but the finished version (heavily edited and recut I think) was a bit all over the place.

Guns Of Navarone was the original 'men on a mission' book and was tense, spare and exciting. The film was a bloated Hollywoodisation, introducing non-existent characters, plot devices, love story, pointless action sequences and was overlong and over-philosophical. A mess largely.

McChubbin

Another vote for World War Z to be remade.
I loved every bit of the book and was so disappointed by the film. I like Brad Pitt as an actor but he was woefully miscast and working from shoddy material in this so called "adaptation" if you can call it that.
To get a true glimpse of what a proper World War Z movie could be, I strongly recommend you guys check out the audiobook version. Mark Hamill features in it and it's quite faithful to the book.

Squeedily Spooch

What I couldn't figure out about WWZ was why exactly Brad Pitt's character was so important? He was brought on board as the "only" man for the job when all he did was go around looking into flimsy evidence, going by whatever scientists or soldiers he met said then randomly winding up in the CDC in Wales by pure chance.

As a straight zombie movie it was grand, but the source material lends itself much better to a miniseries than a movie. The book is superb.

yipeeeee

Adamantium wrote: »

Terminator 2 but only to include the extended future war opening/prolouge that shows how the resistance won the war on the final night

It would have given the fans a substantial look at what they wanted for years and might have closed the franchise/story off rather than the constant mickey tease we've been getting for years in other related spin off media. In hindsight, they might as well have gone through and done it.

Van Ling (Creative Supervisor), in T2, THE BOOK of the Film, An Illustrated Screenplay:
The original 5/10/90 draft contained an extended future war scene that not only addressed the defeat of Skynet and the backstory of how Reese and the Terminator went back through time as mentioned in the first film, but also the backstory of the second film on how the second TERMINATOR was sent through. Cut from the script after the first draft, the scene -- although rich in action and resonance to the first film and its concepts -- was a narrative tangent to the main story of the film and would have cost an inordinate amount of time, MONEY, and effort to produce. This future scene also had the adult John Connor as its narrator.
The final Future War sequence was substantially reduced in both narrative and scope from the version in the original 5/10/90 draftt --which included Skynet's defeat by the human Resistance and the time-displacement scene with Reese-- for a variety of reasons, not only due to the enormous cost of designing, BUILDING, and shooting the battle sequences, but also because the original longer version delayed the process of getting into the main plot, which begins with the arrival of the two Terminators. Through the course of production, the sequence was scaled down and simplified into a short DOCUMENTARY-style prologue, which actually enhanced its narrative value, for although it was not strictly necessary to the plot to show the war, its inclusion of the film serves as both a visceral illustration of what the characters in the film are fighting to prevent, and a narrative reminder to the audience of the world postulated by the first film.

Here's the script for the never produced scenes:

http://www.hopeofthefuture.net/deletedscenes/t2omit04.html

Totally agree, its all the fans want instead of this ridiculous 1950s plot were getting in the next one.

Just give us csmetons future war!

A Neurotic

Birneybau wrote: »

Also contains chapter called 'Killing 5 year old child at Zoo'.

'The Golden Compass' for me, wonderful trilogy of books, mess of a first film so other 2 were put on the scrapheap.

His Dark Materials films, if made with respect, could be incredible. The Golden Compass was a big fat **** all over the franchise.

sheroman01

Definitely 'A Clockwork Orange' for me. Only recently read the book and absolutely loved it. The movie, I thought, was pretty dreadful. It almost felt like a piss-take, the acting was so bad. I think a remake is much needed (movie was first released in 1971), it'd be fantastic

leeroybrown

sheroman01 wrote: »

Definitely 'A Clockwork Orange' for me. Only recently read the book and absolutely loved it. The movie, I thought, was pretty dreadful. It almost felt like a piss-take, the acting was so bad. I think a remake is much needed (movie was first released in 1971), it'd be fantastic

I disagree about the movie. I think it's a brilliant piece of cinema but it has definitely aged quite badly. Someone watching it for the first time in 2014 might view it completely differently to me.

It would however be an interesting project for the right director to film for the current era.

SameDiff

"The Birds".

The technology they had at their disposal looks horrendous now. I would like to see a remake of the original film, including the closing shot that was too expensive for Hitchcock to include.

I'm willing to direct it, if I can get the time off work.

Endaaaagh

I'd love to see a remake of The Running Man which is a more faithful adaption of the book. As good as the original is, it barely follows the original story.

Harry Palmr

SameDiff wrote: »

"The Birds".

The technology they had at their disposal looks horrendous now. I would like to see a remake of the original film, including the closing shot that was too expensive for Hitchcock to include.

I'm willing to direct it, if I can get the time off work.

That's another film which should be tweaked rather than remade, yes the bird attacks are optically challenged to say the least but otherwise its still very effective. I imagine the bird attack sequences could be digitally reworked.

check_six

Brendão wrote: »

Completely agree.

I also feel I Am Legend could be a hell of a lot better. I read the original book a long time ago, but I haven't seen the Charlton Heston movie Omega Man (1971), so I can't comment on that but the Will Smith movie (2007) had so much potential and was badly executed for the most part.

There is an earlier version with Vincent Price called The Last Man on Earth which is worth checking out. The story is terrific so it was disappointing that the Will Smith version missed the mark.

Bipolar Joe

leeroybrown wrote: »

I disagree about the movie. I think it's a brilliant piece of cinema but it has definitely aged quite badly. Someone watching it for the first time in 2014 might view it completely differently to me.

It would however be an interesting project for the right director to film for the current era.

Nicolas Winding Refn. But I do love the original.

Another one for the His Dark Materials trilogy. I love the books, and read them a whole bunch of times. I was legitimately upset when I finished them the first time, and knew the movie would be balls. It's the same reason I never watched the Narnia movies. I cried when I finished the last one.

SameDiff

Harry Palmr wrote: »

That's another film which should be tweaked rather than remade, yes the bird attacks are optically challenged to say the least but otherwise its still very effective. I imagine the bird attack sequences could be digitally reworked.

Not sure it would be that straight-forward, although I do prefer the enhanced version.

The footage is fairly plastered with the dodgy birds. Always thought it was Hitchcock's weakest film too, seems he loved the possibilities that technology opened up. He would have loved films like "Inception" and "The Prestige".