'Remakes' (1 Viewer)

[walrusbear]

inspired by 'when a stranger calls'

it's common knowledge that remakes generally 'suck' (but there are exceptions)
so what're everyone's favourite and most hated remakes?


most hated:
Get Carter (I haven't seen all of this but the twenty minutes i saw were contemptible. apparently the sweet ending of the michael caine original was changed too. fuckwits)

best:
The Maltese Falcon
- i haven't seen the original, and i'm not sure if it's completely a 'remake' as such since it's just another adaptation of the book, but the Bogart film is sweet.

 

[icecreamdisco]

john carpenter's the thing is hands down the best, and one of my favorite films of all time.

recently, the french film the beat that my heart skipped is a great example of a remake that builds upon the themes of it's predecessor (james toback's fingers), and becomes a better film.

as for worst, there's too many to mention. i will say that gus van sant's psycho remake, whilst far from being a good or even above-average film, is woefully misunderstood. it's an artistic statement that audaciously suggests the only completely faithful remakes are the ones that copy their original scene for scene/shot for shot; the irony being that it's a film as cynically marketed and utterly devoid of directorial imagination as it is boldly subersive. the fact that van sant would go completely avant-garde with his 'death' trilogy in a few years makes it especially worth reading into.

 

[Benny_]

I had no idea that Bogie's Sam Spade wasn't the first, but yes, great film.

Other good ones off the top of my head.. Cape Fear and King Kong.

Most hated remakes, well thankfully most of my favourites haven't been remade. I wasn't impressed at all by the remake of Breathless though.

 

[AlleyCat]

i think insomnia is brilliant, but maybe that's because i 'get' it more than the original, being in my native tongue...