Remakes, Remakes, and More Remakes

I'm a big movie fan. Not necessarily of one particular genre, either. Horror movies, action, comedies, adventure. Generally anything except for your sappy love story, although I find myself watching more of those lately thanks to my wonderful girlfriend, Jen. I have to be honest, sometimes those can be a decent watch as well. I find it fascinating the creativity that writers and directors exhibit through the big screen. It is amazing the ideas that are displayed, which started as an idea in someone's head. However, I've been finding more and more lately, that creativity has been put on hold for remakes of someone else's idea.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily against the idea of a remake. There have been some remakes that have stayed somewhat true to the original, while the writer/director puts their own unique spin on the final product. I'm talking about those movies that were put together in a cheap fashion, too fast, and with the sole purpose of trying to make a cheap buck.

A good remake that come to mind are The Fly starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. This one came out in 1986, and was a remake of a black and white classic that came out in 1958. The Fly has two characteristics that I like in a remake. For one, almost 30 years had passed since the original, meaning that enough time had passed for the memory to fade for those who were alive for the original, as well as the film being able to reach an entirely new audience. Second, it has its own unique spin that separates it from the original. The version that came out in 1958 had primitive special effects, but an original story. The version that came out in 1986 went all out on special effects, and was remarkable for its time. It also took the original story and added its own unique spin, creating an entirely new film based on the idea of the original movie.

Most remakes do not follow this pattern, and are cheaply made with a TERRIBLE spin put on the movie in an attempt to add a unique touch, but it just ends up as a terrible movie, with little attraction, and they are generally busts at the box office. Movies that fit this bill are the Fright Night remake, Rob Zombie's Halloween and Halloween II remakes, The Parent Trap, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (a remake of Guess Who), House on Haunted Hill, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Fat Albert, The Omen, and I'm sure there are several more that I'm not thinking of at the moment. Total Recall is currently being remade with Colin Farrell as the titular character, replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original. Now, I won't judge a film that hasn't come out yet, but I'm not expecting much.

In summation, I just wish that Hollywood would go back to the days when original ideas were favored over cheap remakes of old films. I didn't mention it in this blog entry, but for me this includes books being made into films. While the Harry Potter films, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo were successful in this effort, several films like the Twilight series have proven to be terrible films, and box office busts to boot.