Should classic movies be 'updated?'

How do you feel about classic films being 'updated?' Are you for/against it?

Mostly against. The only movie that I can say I really enjoyed as a re-make was Titanic. Look at the re-makes of King Kong what a disaster they were. With all the books that have been written by world famous authors and not so famous authors you would think Producers would have mega material to work with but instead they choose to keep recycling old movies to fit the current generation.

For the most part I think it's a mistake. Does anybody want to see Steve martin in Topper? I sure as hell don't, but from what I've heard, it's been in the works for a few years now. And I didn't want to see him in Father of the Bride either, that's a role that Spencer Tracy made work and a movie that worked for its era.

And how gory is a redoing of The Birds going to be?

A lot of people who saw the new Day the Earth Stood Still were all in agreement they wanted somebody to kill the bratty kid so the movie could be tolerable.

And the remake of Psycho from '98? They updated it, and it was pure crap even with their added sex and violence.

Mr. Deeds, now, I was not biased against this remake because it was years before I saw the original, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Gary Cooper beats Adam Sandler's ass in this regard.

I don't even want to think about what it would be like if somebody got the bright idea they should remake Mr. Smith Goes to Washington because good guys are not in anymore, now the in thing is everybody's bad, just some people are bad to lesser degrees to do bad things that aren't as bad as the bad guys.

And people saying there should be a remake of Rebel Without a Cause...are they nuts? In the 50s it was groundbreaking work because tame though it is today, it was very violent back then, and back then the whole 'teen angst' thing was still new and each character had legitimate reasons to be upset. Today teenagers acting out because they don't fit in is as old as dirt where people are concerned, teenagers are all overly emotional, all drama queens, all just looking for attention, exactly what could they do that the movie could be taken a fraction seriously?

Doesn't matter to me. I see nothing wrong with people wanting to put a new spin on an existing movie.....whether or not it would be trash or not. I find it hilarious at the huffing people do because a movie is or is planning to be remade. They act like somebody is going to fucking burn the original into oblivion or something.

Chris wrote:How do you feel about classic films being 'updated?' Are you for/against it?

Occasionally a remake is better, but not often. However, what is considered a classic? Are they films made during the studio era, such as the 1930's and 1940's. Personally, a current film may be good enough to be considered a classic (or masterpiece) in it's own time. There are a few films from the 1990's that fall into that arena.

That said, I feel "True Grit" remake is much better. The original, which is questionable in being referred to as a classic, just because John Wayne was considered an icon. There are a number of really good 2010 films as indicated by the Top 10 films nominated.


Jack

I'm against it! Way back when, film was an art, now it's a business - don't mess with the art and try remake it!

MandyPerfumeGirl wrote:I'm against it! Way back when, film was an art, now it's a business - don't mess with the art and try remake it!

Indeeeeeeeeeed, did anybody here see TCM's Moguls and Movie Stars special that was back in October and November? I saw every episode and it was amazing to see how far movies had come from Edison's first experiments, and in hindsight, I can't say that today we've come so far. In previous times they had very little to work with, compared to today, shoestring budgets, a fraction of the crew members, very limited special effects, and the movies turned out great because they knew they had to make the most of what they had to work with. What is it today? $150 million budgets, films that could take 10 years to shoot and add in all the effects, and the stories are all the same and none of them good.


Now there are a lot of movies that deal with presidential assassination, but can anybody (who's familiar with the movie) imagine what it would be like if they remade Suddenly today? Who would they put in Frank Sinatra's role? Would he be as charming? No, would he be as charismatic? Doubtful...would he be likeable at all which is odd given in the 50s bad guys and good guys were still mainly black and white and you weren't supposed to root for the villains? And as annoying as they made the boy in the updated Day the Earth Stood Still, who the hell would they have for Pidge who everybody wouldn't be rooting for Baron to kill him?