Old Classic movies that should stay Classic's and NOT be remade/rebooted

So i was having a long discussion with friends tonight about those classic movies that in our minds are untouchable.....

TILL THEY ARE TOUCHED (bad touch)

We are talking 80's, 90's classics that just dont need a remake and simply thinking about them spoils the classics a little, the classics can remain your favorate but forever tainted by hollwood with a terrible remake that just didnt need to be done.

We have ghost busters, theres a thread about this so i wont go into it - just to say that the original had the 4 with such incredible chemistry that couldnt be remade by ANYONE but them and more so should be a daring equal not a remake of the same thing.

Theese remakes had been seen a many times, three that stick in my mind are Total recall - an Arnie classic, Judge Dredd - Stallone ALONE and Robocop. These classics to the fans should be considered like wanting to remake back to the future or conan again - only worse acted and CGI plastered all over the place to a grim and OTT level.


I just wanted to get other peoples opinions down here, should these precious films remain untouchable? Or do they deserve a modern remake with new visuals etc?

Theres one on my mind right now that is rather small compared, the BFG by Roald Dahl and made for cartoon movie with David Jason as the BFG voice - a classic children's cartoon that was brilliant for me as a kid - now Steven Spielberg is remaking it and it makes me nervous - Could he improve a childhood classic or taint the original? Maybe i should just not see it.

What say you guys?

a reply to: Biigs

Blade Runner

And going back a bit,

Anyone who even THINKS about remaking "Casablanca" should be flogged with a strip of 35MM film until they've forgotten how to whistle!

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington!

a reply to: Biigs

Any movie considered an "epic" Lawrence of Arabia, ten commandments, Ben hurr, etc.
Unfortunately, two of those have been "remade" Ben hurr is next and will most likely be a flop.
Another one is 'To Kill a Mocking bird'. Leave it be.

It really depends on who is doing it. I thought that remaking True Grit would be a complete disaster but they actually did justice to the story.

a reply to: intrepid
Without "The Duke" playing the lead , it was lacking.
"Thats pretty big talk for a one-eyed fat man"
"Fill your hands , you son of a ******"
No one could use that line but Wayne

You already mentioned Ghostbusters. They might have been able to revive the franchise if it was done smartly but a reboot was going too far.

Lethal Weapon. Something about Gibson and Glover would be very hard to replicate I think.

Indiana Jones.

Big Trouble in Little China.

Irwin Allen disaster movies like The Poseidon Adventure (tried it) and The Towering Inferno. Something about the fine drama mix of spectacle, drama, and camp.

The Princess Bride. Dear lord, don't you dare touch this!

Die Hard (the original). Try spinning off the franchise OK, but don't reboot this ... Yippee Kiyay!



Vacation (tried it, in spin off format) and Christmas Vacation

a reply to: strongfp

They should learn their lesson from Go Set a Watchman, the "sequel" that was really a rough first draft of the published novel.

a reply to: Biigs

" Big Trouble In Little China"
The Rock or DWayne Johnson if you will. Is doing the remake slated for the near future, as the beloved Jack Burton.
What isn't broken does not need fixed. It's a classic that everyone loves still. But the plot is unknown at this time. So we will see. New script? Or remake?😊

a reply to: Biigs

I liked the Judge Dredd remake. As for the others I could do without, Total Recall remake was OK I guess.

originally posted by: intrepid
It really depends on who is doing it. I thought that remaking True Grit would be a complete disaster but they actually did justice to the story.

I agree with this one the most - wasnt bad.

But should we not making NEW movies, go raid the bookstore theres PLENTLY i havnt read or even heard of to abuse for the first time - take lord of the rings. NOW imagine remaking that in 20 years with ten times the visual chaos.

Theres just been too many failures that makes me want to sign some petition to protect films and their copyrights to make sure its never tainted - but... it seems too far in a way - why inhibit new creative ingenuity.


Somthing we are all used to thats not done so bad is the movies-of-comics, supernam, batman, spiderman - reimagined and remade. Some are FULLY worth doing. Do you think Michael Keaton was terrible in batman - i think he was good!!! But would i now rule out the Nolan remakes? HELL NO - sooooo gooooood. Im torn.

What makes an untouchable classic THAT and not somthing with room for improvment!

Argugh its driving me crazy!

a reply to: Biigs

I think Naomi Novik's Temeraire series would be awesome done correctly. Imagine the Napoleonic Wars, but in a world with dragons where they are used as part of the armies. They're intelligent, but considered subservient, sort of like large, smart beasts of burden or warships.

So scenes of the battles of that era which is largely undone in cinema currently ... but with dragons!

The Goonies
Jaws

Just leave those two alone.

originally posted by: slowisfast
The Goonies
Jaws

Just leave those two alone.

I'll second Jaws.

I don't care how good the shark effects could be. Part of the awesomeness of Jaws was that they didn't show the shark most of the time. Sometimes, less is way more and Jaws was an excellent example of that. CGI makes today's filmmakers way too lazy.

2 more to add:
"The Great Escape" which I don't see on the remake list.
www.imdb.com...

"A Bridge to Far".... also not on a remake list.
www.imdb.com...

Leave these movies the heck alone!😠

Edit: my reasoning is simple. Great cast and crew. You'll never get a cast as good together for such films. Most had the personal experience for the part. And the production was steller.

i always wondered what would happen to the internet if someone tried to remake the goonies...

The Dirty Dozen ... just ... no.

Because you know what would happen. It would either look like The Expendables or it would become totally melodramatic with a bunch of super sensitive girly men in the main roles.

originally posted by: Rikku
i always wondered what would happen to the internet if someone tried to remake the goonies...

This!

It's inevitable. You can't stop it, and you need to get over it. The ancients said there were only thirty plots to stories ever. All stories are variations on these themes. If you don't want to partake of remakes, you don't need to. It's not required. And sometimes, things improve. Example: Pride and Prejudice.

1940 Aldous Huxley, Laurence Olivier
1980 Elizabeth Garvie
1995 Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth
2003 Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen
Plus a lot of spinoffs like P&P Zombies, etc.

I'm too young for the 1940 film, but it certainly had an exquisite cast. I first saw the 1980 version and frankly, it was a bit boring. But when the Colin Firth version came out people were absolutely smitten with Colin Firth! No one could possibly be a better Mr. Darcy!

Until Matthew Macfayden when women of the world said, "Move over, Colin!" And Keira Knightly was just fabulous with the added bonus of Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennet.

I still watch the last two and I still read the book quite regularly. If after Laurence Olivier's performance everyone had said it should never be remade, it would have been a serious mistake. The same can be said with the Colin Firth version. But because someone had the vision to remake this film, and even to put the book into film, we have been rewarded.

If your sentiment had prevailed, we would have missed these new treasures. It may not always work, but when it does it is a true gift.

Any movie that was great on its own..classic on its own..no.
Anything that was mediocre, a miss, or arguably a "cult classic" but never gained proper success, perhaps
Otherwise, do TNG.


For instance:

The Crow..should not be redone. the original was great, you wont be able to beat it, or even equal it..only insult it.

They realized this, so they made the crow 2, 3, 4, 8, 100, etc and all of them were crap by comparison..but it didn't take away from the first. I seen em all, and all made me cringe, but I was always hopeful that it would be good

I hear they are now remaking the original crow..someone needs their business center set on fire!

Now, something that was a good remake:
Battlestar Galactica. It was a "cult classic" for a fairly small amount of people. it started out a serious space saga back in the day, and turned into a zaney near comedy as audiences dwindled to nothing. It was such a missed opportunity given a fairly strong start, but nope..they screwed it up.

So decades later, they redid it all, the entire look and feel, and it turned out to be amazing (most would agree). That was a great reboot because it took a forgettable experience and transformed it into a serious space saga the original perhaps intended it to be.