How do you feel about movie remakes?

There is no doubt that a lot of movies are getting remaked (ghostbusters). Movie remakes can be a good thing if you stick to the root of the movie and create your own spin on it. Having watched the new Ben-Hur remake, I think it accomplished none of the things it should have. It felt like they prettied up the tape and just rolled with it hoping to make a few bucks. However movie remakes like The Seven Samurai being remade into The Magnificent Seven is really good. They stuck to the root of the story and created their spin on it. I am eager to hear your thoughts?

 

I don't like how people remake movies. It simply shows that they can't think of anymore ideas. Very lazy way to earn a lot of cash.

 

It is very difficult for a remake to retain the essence of the original, but if it is maintained it may result in a new and very good version. The big problem is when the producers only take advantage of a franchise, do not respect the fans and the essence.

 

I am a film major and I have done a lot of looking around for why they do these? - None of which are satisfying to me.

What exactly is a re-make? IMO it is just the studio saying, well don't need an actual writer, maybe just someone to spruce it up. Then they kind of add a few familiar tropes / popular faces, and there you have it. Stories are not really important the second time around.

It's the same as when a movie like Friends with Benefits - comes out, and then the other 5 studios all strangely similar films as fast as possible.

STUDIOS ARE NO LONGER INVOLVED. - They are just people from the top of unrelated fields. The thing about it is say Warner Bros. already owns the rights to a movie that they did in the 60s. They are saving tons of dollars upfront to get the movie out there, and they sell it under the guise of you loved it last time, relive the magic! Many times the trailers are more dependent on faces, then story, because that parts not important anymore...

 

I think it depends on pretty much everything, really. Like who they cast, special effects, and all that jazz. One such example is The Karate Kid. Normally, I love the originals more so than the remakes, but I actually liked the 2010 remake of the 1984 movie. It is a bit weird to see a story you know so well change so much and yet still remains the same but sometimes, the change is good. Other times, however, they don't do as well a job with the remakes as one would hope...

 

A movie remake will always be in one way or another a change of what we are used to. For this reason the movie companies most do a great effort to make a good version and not just another simple movie to watch. In most of the movies that I've watched they do their best but sometimes it is not enough specially becasuse they focus on the special effects and not in the plot.

 

Very well said and I have to agree with that as well.

 

I find that movie remakes are not bad and that sometimes, the remake is better than the original. I find it very interesting to see the movie from a totally different perspective and it really is nice to keep an open mind when watching a different interpretation of the original.

 

Some movies are so nice, they'hv got to make twice, or three times, or more.. The best remakes offer new filmmakers to present some unique ideas with a new vision just as audiance discovers new appreciations for classic stories.

 

I am not a big fan of movie remakes. The only way I will watch a movie remake is if I have never seen the original. If I have never seen the original, I may love the remake.

However, if I have seen the original movie, I refuse to watch the remake. Watching a remake of a movie that I have watched many times before completely ruins that movie for me. In my opinion, when people like a movie and watch it over and over again, they get a very clear image of how they see the characters in that movie. Therefore, when we watch a remake of that movie, we no longer feel as much for the characters, because they are not the same actors that we are use to associating that character with. It completely changes things.

 

Movie remakes don't always turn out as good as I expect them to, but I'm open to watching them. At times It seems too forced. I prefer the original films with an exception to a few remakes. I feel that if the remake did top the original I will give credit for it, but there's nothing like the original version.