I'm not a huge fan of movie remakes, but there are some good ones.
And definately a lot of bad ones.

What are some good ones to check out and compare?

1.) War of the Worlds (1953) -good

War of the Worlds (2005 remake) really good

the imagery and coloring used really helped set this movie, images of clothing raining from the sky, skies turning black like midnight as a result of the smoke, the bright light reflecting off everything even at night. The combinations of muted colors and very bright colors. The intensity was non stop. I think it totally captured the essence of the original and took it to another level.

2.) Halloween (1978)-very good

Halloween (2007)-very bad

One of the biggest things for me in these movies is the 'motives' of Michael. His origins.
The thing that turned the frear level up for me in the original is Michael was a young kid from what appeared to be a good nuclear family. He lived in the suburbs, had both parents, who seemed to be doing well for themselves. And their son was a sociopath.
In the remake they went to extremes to show why Michael was a sociopath using all kinds of real and exaggerated stereotypes. "White trash family" single mother, no good live in boyfriend, bullied at school, slutty sister etc.
In the original Michael was a stalker dark and mysterious. No blood splatters and gore. I think he killed most people with his hands. Only 2 killed with a knife. The 70's 'innocence implied' the scenes that reveal him: when his white mask appears behind the actress in the dark, when he comes into the door of the room with the white sheet on, when Jamie Lees' back is too him and he sits up etc
the remake was just sensless hacking and stabbing and beating. It was just hard to watch

3.) King Kong (1933)-good

King Kong (1976)-very good

King Kong (2005)-great

The Thing from Another World (1951) - ok outdated

The Thing (1982) - fantastic, the effects still hold up till this day

The Thing (2011) - pointless prequel. you could say its a remake because so many classic scenes were copied from Carpenter's version.

.

Scarface (1932) - kind of dull, but it was ahead of its time for on screen voilence

Scarface (1983) - there is a reason why hip hop homages this, so many quotables and an over the top avant-garde perfomance from Al Pacino, (not his best, but most memorable at least)

.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977) - creepy and scary

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) - extreme cerebral and shocking

.

12 Angry Men (1957) - fantastic, good cast. a must see.

12 Angry Men (1997) - if you want it in colour and like Tony Danza . then this versions for you. still fun to watch with a fine cast again.

[Edited 9/29/15 23:39pm]

Didn't Like War of the Worlds 2005 movie (Liked the tv series back in the late 80's)

More bad remakes

The Fog (2005)

Prom night (2008)

My Bloody Valentine (2009)

and sorry hate the JJ Abrams Star Trek movies

I thought the new Mad Max was great.

Poltergeist - why?

Carrie - No, didnt do it for me.

The Fly - great remake

Oceans 11 - Great remake

Nightmare on Elm St - Nooooo!

Planet of the Apes - I liked Tim Burtons one and like the new origins/reboot ones too. But the original kicks ass.

Here are some to look out for in the future:

War Games - Could be interesting and kind of makes sense to remake it with our advances/obsession with AI.

Point Break - Why?

Bill And Teds Excellent Adventure - Oh dear... With Keanu too... oh dear.
The Birds - Michael Bay produced... Oh fuck.


I have to mention, even though they are not remakes as such, the Star Wars prequels fucked up the Star Wars universe for me. I wonder how this new one will turn out?

I thought the RoboCop remake was gonna be 2hrs worth of Garbage, but it was action-packed and really good...and Michael Keaton is Bad but good...I'm NOT gonna see the Poltergeist remake becuz the original Triology is not to be Fucked with (although part 3 was watered down)...

remakes, not reboots:

-the thing

-scarface

-the fly

[Edited 10/2/15 12:42pm]

Rebeljuice said:

I thought the new Mad Max was great.

not a remake

Chancellor said:

I thought the RoboCop remake was gonna be 2hrs worth of Garbage, but it was action-packed and really good...and Michael Keaton is Bad but good...I'm NOT gonna see the Poltergeist remake becuz the original Triology is not to be Fucked with (although part 3 was watered down)...

Yeah I liked it too.

OldFriends4Sale said:

I'm not a huge fan of movie remakes, but there are some good ones.
And definately a lot of bad ones.

What are some good ones to check out and compare?

1.) War of the Worlds (1953) -good

War of the Worlds (2005 remake) really good

the imagery and coloring used really helped set this movie, images of clothing raining from the sky, skies turning black like midnight as a result of the smoke, the bright light reflecting off everything even at night. The combinations of muted colors and very bright colors. The intensity was non stop. I think it totally captured the essence of the original and took it to another level.

2.) Halloween (1978)-very good

Halloween (2007)-very bad

One of the biggest things for me in these movies is the 'motives' of Michael. His origins.
The thing that turned the frear level up for me in the original is Michael was a young kid from what appeared to be a good nuclear family. He lived in the suburbs, had both parents, who seemed to be doing well for themselves. And their son was a sociopath.
In the remake they went to extremes to show why Michael was a sociopath using all kinds of real and exaggerated stereotypes. "White trash family" single mother, no good live in boyfriend, bullied at school, slutty sister etc.
In the original Michael was a stalker dark and mysterious. No blood splatters and gore. I think he killed most people with his hands. Only 2 killed with a knife. The 70's 'innocence implied' the scenes that reveal him: when his white mask appears behind the actress in the dark, when he comes into the door of the room with the white sheet on, when Jamie Lees' back is too him and he sits up etc
the remake was just sensless hacking and stabbing and beating. It was just hard to watch

3.) King Kong (1933)-good

King Kong (1976)-very good

King Kong (2005)-great

I hate the newest King Kong with a passion.

The action is so overdone and none of the characters were likeable.

-

Worst offender to me is the remake of Planet of the Apes.

And besides the special effects I hated the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, also.

Tom Cruise making a peanut butter sandwich then chucking it against the window instead of trying to check the tv for news and in light of what they just witnessed was absurdity.

Remakes I do enjoy are The Mummy, Pride & Prejudice, and Let Me In.

The original Let the Right One In wasn't bad but I liked the remake better.

[Edited 10/2/15 15:31pm]

EmmaMcG said:

Best remake ever, in my own humble opinion, is Cape Fear. I was 5 when I saw that for the first time and Robert de niro frightened the bejesus out of me. I'd say most remakes I've seen though are awful. Total Recall, Robocop, Godzilla etc. It's an almost endless list.

While Godzilla 2014 isn't as great as the original 1954 Japanese version, it's still a very good movie. It's shits on that piece of crap Sony/Tri-Star released in 1998.

EroticDreamer said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I'm not a huge fan of movie remakes, but there are some good ones.
And definately a lot of bad ones.

What are some good ones to check out and compare?

1.) War of the Worlds (1953) -good

War of the Worlds (2005 remake) really good

the imagery and coloring used really helped set this movie, images of clothing raining from the sky, skies turning black like midnight as a result of the smoke, the bright light reflecting off everything even at night. The combinations of muted colors and very bright colors. The intensity was non stop. I think it totally captured the essence of the original and took it to another level.

2.) Halloween (1978)-very good

Halloween (2007)-very bad

One of the biggest things for me in these movies is the 'motives' of Michael. His origins.
The thing that turned the frear level up for me in the original is Michael was a young kid from what appeared to be a good nuclear family. He lived in the suburbs, had both parents, who seemed to be doing well for themselves. And their son was a sociopath.
In the remake they went to extremes to show why Michael was a sociopath using all kinds of real and exaggerated stereotypes. "White trash family" single mother, no good live in boyfriend, bullied at school, slutty sister etc.
In the original Michael was a stalker dark and mysterious. No blood splatters and gore. I think he killed most people with his hands. Only 2 killed with a knife. The 70's 'innocence implied' the scenes that reveal him: when his white mask appears behind the actress in the dark, when he comes into the door of the room with the white sheet on, when Jamie Lees' back is too him and he sits up etc
the remake was just sensless hacking and stabbing and beating. It was just hard to watch

3.) King Kong (1933)-good

King Kong (1976)-very good

King Kong (2005)-great

I hate the newest King Kong with a passion.

The action is so overdone and none of the characters were likeable.

-

Worst offender to me is the remake of Planet of the Apes.

And besides the special effects I hated the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, also.

Tom Cruise making a peanut butter sandwich then chucking it against the window instead of trying to check the tv for news and in light of what they just witnessed was absurdity.

Remakes I do enjoy are The Mummy, Pride & Prejudice, and Let Me In.

The original Let the Right One In wasn't bad but I liked the remake better.

[Edited 10/2/15 15:31pm]

Which remake ? the Mark Wahlberg or the other one?

WOTW Tom Cruise already knew the power to the TV would be out.

OldFriends4Sale said:

EroticDreamer said:

I hate the newest King Kong with a passion.

The action is so overdone and none of the characters were likeable.

-

Worst offender to me is the remake of Planet of the Apes.

And besides the special effects I hated the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, also.

Tom Cruise making a peanut butter sandwich then chucking it against the window instead of trying to check the tv for news and in light of what they just witnessed was absurdity.

Remakes I do enjoy are The Mummy, Pride & Prejudice, and Let Me In.

The original Let the Right One In wasn't bad but I liked the remake better.

[Edited 10/2/15 15:31pm]

Which remake ? the Mark Wahlberg or the other one?

WOTW Tom Cruise already knew the power to the TV would be out.

Both, even though the Walberg one has a few funny/interesting moments and it's watchable to me.

The newest 2 Apes films score 1/2 a banana each, yuk.

WOtW 2005 took 3 years off my life since I had been looking forward to it so much and then was so disappointed.

The power wasn't out at the ex-wife's place and the lights are on throughout the house and the fridge works too.

There's no destruction anywhere in that area, just abandoned.

Any other fool would have checked the tv for an emergency broadcast alert...

-

I agree the look of the film is spectacular but the script had so many bozo moments that... I still cry.

uPtoWnNY said:

EroticDreamer said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Which remake ? the Mark Wahlberg or the other one?

WOTW Tom Cruise already knew the power to the TV would be out.

Both, even though the Walberg one has a few funny/interesting moments and it's watchable to me.

The newest 2 Apes films score 1/2 a banana each, yuk.

WOtW 2005 took 3 years off my life since I had been looking forward to it so much and then was so disappointed.

The power wasn't out at the ex-wife's place and the lights are on throughout the house and the fridge works too.

There's no destruction anywhere in that area, just abandoned.

Any other fool would have checked the tv for an emergency broadcast alert...

-

I agree the look of the film is spectacular but the script had so many bozo moments that... I still cry.

omg LOL

What I liked about Walbergs version was how they present Ape culture that was pretty cool
The ending, I'm suprised they did not pick up from that

.

overall I like Tom Cruises WOTW, I can forgive those little mishaps

Maybe he was just in shock

I would generally think the kids would go for the tv
but the sounds and the danger of what was happening was really good.

OldFriends4Sale said:

EroticDreamer said:

Both, even though the Walberg one has a few funny/interesting moments and it's watchable to me.

The newest 2 Apes films score 1/2 a banana each, yuk.

WOtW 2005 took 3 years off my life since I had been looking forward to it so much and then was so disappointed.

The power wasn't out at the ex-wife's place and the lights are on throughout the house and the fridge works too.

There's no destruction anywhere in that area, just abandoned.

Any other fool would have checked the tv for an emergency broadcast alert...

-

I agree the look of the film is spectacular but the script had so many bozo moments that... I still cry.

omg LOL

What I liked about Walbergs version was how they present Ape culture that was pretty cool
The ending, I'm suprised they did not pick up from that

.

overall I like Tom Cruises WOTW, I can forgive those little mishaps

Maybe he was just in shock

I would generally think the kids would go for the tv
but the sounds and the danger of what was happening was really good.

Those molehills are mountains, to me.

It would be like going to a Prince concert and instead of 1999 he kept singing different years each verse and When Doves Cry one verse was pigeons and the next Crows.

-

The first emergence scene has everyone looking in awe but the cops are still saying 'stand back, please'.... never mind that something the size of a ten story building is crawling out of the ground you must step back a few steps and maintain order! I knew from that scene it was not going to go well.

-

Then the aliens start vaporizing everyone..... ok, we're in trouble and those ray guns turning us to dust.

But then later it's implied that the aliens want to use our blood to reconfigure the planet surface and even go around during the ferry scene scooping up every scattering human as if they were lost gold coins and putting us in baskets as if we were so precious. But then a few minutes later they're vaporizing us again.... sigh... aren't they going to get in trouble from their commander for wasting 10 pints of blood each?!

-

The whole 'father/son' redemption thing was (insert scream and cuss words) and where was the son hiding his protective suit when he charged up the hill?

I just saw armored tanks melt but the kid’s jacket must have had protective pixie dust on it...

-

The Tim Robbins character/scene should be axed/rewritten... I can't believe the man who brought us Jaws delivered WotW 2005.

-

ok rant over.

Glad you like it more than me.

Arthur was bad as well

[Edited 10/3/15 12:22pm]

kpowers said:

Arthur was bad as well

[Edited 10/3/15 12:22pm]

Funnily enough I've just added adn article to my website on the ten best horror remakes: http://filmsfilmsfilms.co...s/1-1-0-35

JoeTyler said:

Rebeljuice said:

I thought the new Mad Max was great.

not a remake

Same thing, dressed up. If it isnt a continuation of the story, a sequel, then its a retelling of it. Remake, reboot whatever you want to call it. Reboot is just another label the studios started using to avoid the remake label.

They are going to remake kindergarten Cop.....................why?? Is there a demand for it????

kpowers said:

They are going to remake kindergarten Cop.....................why?? Is there a demand for it????

Oh lawd...save us.

^didn't Vin Diesel make a mid-'00s ripoff of Kindergarten Cop? (which tanked)

jeez, hollywood and their new ideas...

Rebeljuice said:

JoeTyler said:

not a remake

Same thing, dressed up. If it isnt a continuation of the story, a sequel, then its a retelling of it. Remake, reboot whatever you want to call it. Reboot is just another label the studios started using to avoid the remake label.

i partially agree, but I consider a remake to be an update of the SAME STORY-SCRIPT, same characters, same plot, etc, perhaps not a carbon copy of the original script, but close

example: Postman Always Rings Twice, King Kong...

[Edited 10/5/15 11:58am]

LOTHR cartoon 1978 bad.

Lord Of The Rings Trilogy 2001-2003 very good.

Pocahontas cartoon 1995 okay.

Avatar (Not the same , but very similar plot.) not good. Don't get sucked in by the good visuals.

JoeTyler said:

^didn't Vin Diesel make a mid-'00s ripoff of Kindergarten Cop? (which tanked)

jeez, hollywood and their new ideas...

Never saw this but seems more like a remake of Mr. Mom

I did not know, Escape From New York was a 'remake' of a Cary Grant film