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View Full Version : What Makes a Good Remake?



Yuui
11-23-2005, 05:13 AM
Chase the link (http://chasing.*********51.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=enthub&thread=1132745377)
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Bibidi, babadi
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What Makes a Good Remake? (http://www.themovieblog.com/archives/2005/11/what_makes_a_good_remake.html)
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/2700/258b9zc.jpg
Boo
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Perhaps it takes a little magic... and a lot of cocaine?...

You know we've been talking about remakes, sequels, prequels and re-visualisations for sometime now, and the general view is that it's a lazy practice resulting in some really poor and often totally crappy movies.

Yet we're not giving a lot of credit here, because look at Batman Begins (http://www.uk.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/combined), Harry Potter, or Lord of the RIngs. These are some of the success stories. Then you have the contrast of the Matrix trilogy, Predator, Exorcist...the list could go on, and there's the huge raft of movies that are in development that fall into these categories (Wicker Man anyone?), particularly Asian remakes (Infernal Affairs?), none of which look promising at all.

So we've all moaned and argued about it, but what actually makes a good remake, prequel, or sequel? What rules should film makers follow to be true to the original movie or franchise and make a successful movie? Is it "more of the same", go back to the source material, keep the original characters? What?

If you examine the movies you've actually seen that fit in the realm of "successful coming from a remake, prequel or sequel", then what can you see in them that makes them work? If you were to look at Batman Begins, what were the reasons that was successful and the previous movies weren't? Okay, that's a slightly obvious one, let's take another couple of examples that are a bit more cloudy. The Godfather series where there is much contention, Indiana Jones, Lethal Weapon, all these series had stronger and weaker sequels...why were the good ones good and the bad ones bad? What are the rules to make a good one?
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What features makes an acceptable remake, prequel, and/or sequel? Why have there been more laughable remakes, prequels, and sequels, than good lot of revised movies?

I believe that the first step in assuring a good sequel or prequel is by having a well-developed story that is not subject of dead end within the first movie (i.e., killing off all primary characters, etc.). Additionally, in consideration of remakes, I believe that they are doomed to failure from the beginning because the concept and story is already known. Thusly, those who work on the remake resort of plot twists that deviate from the original, and may not please fans of the original. It's almost a no win situation unless the people working on the film do an exceptional job. Which is rare (i.e., Scarface, The Magnificent Seven, etc.).

j03superbat
11-23-2005, 10:57 AM
All I know is that I know a good remake when I see one: i.e. Ocean's Eleven.

LexLuthorMetropolis
11-23-2005, 11:37 AM
Has to stay true to the original, but it has to be all new all at once.

Rafael122
11-23-2005, 01:42 PM
X-2 is probably one of the best examples of that. Usually, more often than not the sequels are better.

VersesBatman
11-23-2005, 02:39 PM
Good example would be: Pride and Prejudice

Bad example would be: Yours, mine and ours

Zungas
11-23-2005, 03:31 PM
There just too many remakes and sequels...strong reason why the industry/box office continues to suffer.

David Ford, RPD
11-23-2005, 05:12 PM
King Kong is a good example. You don't make any extreme changes from the original film (like setting the film in space) but you can mix up the plotline, most of the dialouge, camera angles, etc. Stay true to what made the original great and expand on it in every way imaginable.

People need to stop remaking flicks from 20 years ago. Far too early.

Yuui
11-24-2005, 05:18 PM
Originally posted by Zungas
There just too many remakes and sequels...strong reason why the industry/box office continues to suffer.

I concur in that they all seem to be released within the same period of time, which does appear to have angered a lot of moviegoers.

axisoftime
11-24-2005, 05:29 PM
They need to expand on the original-while staying true to the story.Like 'Back to the Future 2'-going into the future,an alternate present and then back to the past.I wouldnt say the sequels are usually better then the original-of course its a matter of opinon;
Godfather was better then Godfather 2
Superman was better then Superman 2
X-Men was better then X2
Batman was better then Batman 2

Rafael122
11-24-2005, 06:37 PM
I disagree with X-Men being better than X-2. X-Men, while a good movie, didn't have enough action or the storyline development that X-2 had.

X-Men was a movie to set up X-2, while X-2 was not a movie that followed X-Men...get that? I think I'm confused, but anyway...

VersesBatman
11-25-2005, 03:22 PM
Spiderman 2 was better than Spiderman 1
Toy Story 2 was better than Toy Story 1.

cayayofm
11-28-2005, 06:38 PM
What about the James Bond movies?

Rafael122
11-28-2005, 06:39 PM
The Bronsan ones were all pretty good, except Die Another Day. Don't think highly much of Connery et al.

cayayofm
11-29-2005, 03:43 PM
I think the hardest thing in this series is find the right actor to fill the previous Bond. Bronsan was good, probably the best was Roger Moore.