Undeserved remakes

stagga4wrd · Apr 7, 2008

I've recently seen promotional goods for a remake of Michael Haneke's 1997 Funny Games. Now, I'm no purist, but I have a feeling that an American remake with Naomi Watts may indeed miss the mark (a tad)...plus, the original was the final in a (loose) trilogy on screen violence. The fools!

Has anyone seen this bastard yet?

Although most remakes are totally unwarranted/unjustified, what are some of your most disliked?

STN · Apr 7, 2008

I'm seeing this tonight so will report back. Remember quite liking the original but fear it may actually have been quite childish and somewhat irrelevant (the corrupting influence of Hollywoo....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz).

Recently stumbled upon a remake of 12 Angry Men (does this count? I think it was originally a play) with James Gandolfini, I mean why on earth would you bother?

The US version of The Ring was acceptable, though the girl in the well was nowhere near as creepy. That remake of the Italian Job was rather crap but the original's not that good either.

stelfox · Apr 7, 2008

get carter

IdleRich · Apr 7, 2008

"That remake of the Italian Job was rather crap but the original's not that good either."

I've never been able to stand that film, never understood what everyone loves so much about it. Staying with Michael Caine has anyone seen the remake of Get Carter? I bet that's really good.
Funny Games though, I reckon the remake could be worth seeing, apparently it's virtually shot for shot the same in an attempt to bring it to an American audience. Maybe there is no point in doing that but I think that viewed simply as a film it will be good. My point is that questions over the Haneke remake are of a quite different kind to most other remakes.

crackerjack · Apr 7, 2008

assault on precinct 13. haven't seen it, just hate it on principle

funny games is at least the same director and is supposedly a shot-by-shot remake

Payback was a really really crap remake of Point Blank which rewrote the ending so Mel Gibson could win. Way to miss the point.

Perhaps a better question would be, name the good remakes. (Maltese Falcon and His Girl Friday are both better than the orignals and there are great western adaptations of Kurosawa films, like Fistful Of Dollars).

dHarry · Apr 7, 2008

At least Haneke is remaking his own Funny Games, and insisted that Watts star, being his favourite female actor, so it has a chance of being valid.

Watts is also starring in an upcoming The Birds remake (sounds much more dubious), having also starred in the dire The Ring remake... remake queen? :slanted:

crackerjack · Apr 7, 2008

stagga4wrd said:
I've recently seen promotional goods for a remake of Michael Haneke's 1997 Funny Games. Now, I'm no purist, but I have a feeling that an American remake with Naomi Watts may indeed miss the mark (a tad)...plus, the original was the final in a (loose) trilogy on screen violence. The fools

Haneke says that since the original was an attack on screen iolence it only makes sense if those most culpable - Americans - see it. That's his excuse anyway.

STN · Apr 7, 2008

sounds like chumbawumba signing up to EMI to me.

stagga4wrd · Apr 7, 2008

Look at my poor researching skills....!

Didn't know it was Haneke's own doing...

Let us know what it's like STN...intrigued now...

Too many Asian horror remakes for my like...saw The Eye on the weekend (didn't really do it for me, have to say)...made some throwaway remark about it's lack of American redoing with whatever bland commercial star they could rig to squeal through it...

Then BAM! I've seen an ad for it on the box....

The formula for what's to be remade is always kind of obvious; Hanake's redoing of FG is interesting however...commercial success or non-European mind-blitzkrieg?

What did everyone make of Van Sant's shot-by-shot Psycho?

Mr. Tea · Apr 7, 2008

Didn't the remake of The Wicker Man feature a plot involving REAL supernatural goings-on, as opposed to the (much more creepy, when you think about) 'mere' neo-pagan cult in the original? Plus it 'starred' Nicholas Cage, who must have one of the most punchable faces in Hollywood.

crackerjack · Apr 7, 2008

Mr. Tea said:
Didn't the remake of The Wicker Man feature a plot involving REAL supernatural goings-on, as opposed to the (much more creepy, when you think about) 'mere' neo-pagan cult in the original? Plus it 'starred' Nicholas Cage, who must have one of the most punchable faces in Hollywood.

I like Cage. He's Coppola's most talented relative.

Just remembered: I paid cinema money to go and see Tim Burton's 'reimagining of' Planet Of The Apes. What a waste of an evening that was.

IdleRich · Apr 7, 2008

I'm especially not a fan of all those remakes of tv series. That was a big thing for a while although thankfully it seems to have died down a little recently.

Mr. Tea · Apr 7, 2008

I quite enjoyed Tim Burton's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, although that was an independent adaptation of the book, rather than a remake of the earlier film, which (Wiki tells me) was actually called Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.

crackerjack · Apr 7, 2008

IdleRich said:
I'm especially not a fan of all those remakes of tv series. That was a big thing for a while although thankfully it seems to have died down a little recently.

Since the confessions thread has been deleted, can i use this space to admit i really liked Starsky & Hutch

stagga4wrd · Apr 7, 2008

crackerjack said:
Since the confessions thread has been deleted, can i use this space to admit i really liked Starsky & Hutch

I concur!

That actually saved me once when I was taking an interstate bus trip...

A cringe-worthy "folk-funk" musician I kind of knew happened to take seat across the aisle from me and proceeded to bash me around the head with wankery of the highest calibre.

So, I got stoned on a toilet break (the halcyon days of youth, ey?) and the driver screened that after the stop...

Goddarn bliss!

noel emits · Apr 7, 2008

Oh glad to hear it. I had a feeling it would be OK at least. Saw it in skag-converters for a couple of quid the other day so will go back and pick it up if it's still there. Starsky & Hutch that is.

Folk funk?

That actually reminds me of someone and if your acquaintance is anything like the one I know I can empathise, but I'd rather not.

Not seen it but I can't imagine the remake of Lolita being a worthwhile enterprise at all?

bassnation · Apr 7, 2008

i wouldn't say i detest it, but the dawn of the dead remake fell a bit flat. its like a re-edit for people with short attention spans - much more action, but kind of lost the dread, alienation and wry social commentary of the original. people can't deal with mega long slow films these days can they? ok theres lord of the rings, but those films are action-packed edits rather than the luxurious slowness of most 70's epics.

IdleRich · Apr 7, 2008

"Not seen it but I can't imagine the remake of Lolita being a worthwhile enterprise at all?"

But, like someone said with Wonka, I think you can have several takes on a book without them being an actual remake of the original. For some strange reason I think that that is acceptable.

noel emits · Apr 7, 2008

Acceptable, of course - why not. I didn't think it would be very good is all - people on IMDB seem to rate it quite highly, not that that's any guarantee.

zhao · Apr 7, 2008

oh my gosh.

last week saw the 1983 remake of Godard's Breathless with Richard Gere.

it's actually surprisingly NOT horrible beyond belief. probably because the original was pretty silly in its own right...

that ending though... where he starts dancing to an imaginary chuck berry song as bullets fly (above right):

Undeserved remakes

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