Categorized | Carousel, Entertainment

Entertainment: Why Remakes?

By Paul W. Wang—

On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon – nothing to do but watch some TV. Switching Channels and fell upon the Godzilla Remake of 1998. This started me to think – Why does Hollywood have to do remakes? To do a remake of a film implies that there is something wrong with the original.

Let’s take some examples of films that should never have remakes but Hollywood made them for some reason (probably money). Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is an example of a film that should never have been remade. Don’t get me wrong – Christopher Reeve was good in the remake but that is not enough to justify remaking the film.

1960 Original Psycho Movie Poster

One of the worst remakes in my opinion was Psycho (1998) staring Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche. What was extremely annoying was the shot for shot, scene for scene photography. The actors and actresses seemed as if they were reading off of cue cards.

1998 Psycho Remake Movie Poster

What I can’t understand was back in the 1960’s it was possible to purchase a car without a credit check and drive it off the lot. And buy a house with $140,000 cash?! – who walks around with that amount of money in their pocket? It is feasible to believe that someone would buy a house for $40,000 cash in 1960 but no one buys a house with cash in 1998.

There were some remakes that were done half way decent. I believe that if Hollywood is going to do a remake – do it right such as John Carpenter’s The Thing, which is in my opinion closer to the short story, “Who Goes There?” by John Campbell of which the movie is based on.

There was a decent remake of Halloween by Rob Zombie. The remake gave Michael Meyers a face which he never had and a reason for being a homicidal maniac.

The remake of Conan made no sense. Conan didn’t even have any muscles.

The Fly was another remake that should not have been made. The remake concentrated on being disgusting and was more graphic than the original. If anyone read the short story, he had the head of a fly and a body of a human – not a DNA mixed hybrid.

The new Godzilla is another example of a remake that should not have been done. Godzilla is a Japanese import – not an American monster. Godzilla’s longevity and popularity is due to the craftsmanship of TOHO Productions.

1954 Original Godzilla Movie Poster

Hollywood – wake up! Smell the coffee! We don’t need all these remakes! Some of us like the campiness of the original old movies. Listen to your fans and the public. And if you do make a remake – do it right!

1998 Godzilla American Remake Movie Poster

 

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