5 completely unnecessary movie remakes
Remakes and reboots are nothing new in Hollywood. It seems that’s the majority of what we get these days.
In 2014 alone we’ve seen remakes of “Endless Love,” “About Last Night,” “Robocop,” and “Brick Mansions” with a remakes of “Annie” still on its way. With all of that said, we thought it appropriate to take a look at five unnecessary remakes. Keep in mind this is not a comprehensive list. I’m afraid I don’t have that kind of time, but these five stick out.
Psycho” was in need of a remake and what we got was a nightmare. Not the kind of nightmare Hitchcock gave us with the original “Psycho” and its brilliant pacing and story, but rather the kind of nightmare that keeps movie lovers up at night as they fret over the state of Van Sant remade “Psycho” shot for shot and it was horrible. It had none of the charm or mystery of the original and was the epitome of unnecessary remakes.
Let me start by saying I love Steve Martin. I think he’s a brilliant comedian who has brought us some great films, but “The Pink Panther” was not In 2006 Martin starred in the remake of “The Pink Panther.”
The original was funny, original and quirky. The remake was none of the above. Granted, the 2006 “Pink Panther” had its moments, but as a whole it was a disaster. Don’t fault Martin, however; he made a reported $28 million for the film. I’m guessing you would have taken that payday as well.
“Red Dawn” wasn’t a great film, but it had a couple of things going for it. When it was released, the Berlin wall was still intact and most Americans were still wary of the USSR. The film became a cult classic thanks to nostalgia and childhood. Fast-forward 28 years and Russia is no longer seen as a threat, no one’s terribly worried about North Korea and most kids have no idea what “Red Dawn” is. Taking all of those facts into consideration, it seemed the new “Red Dawn” was doomed to fail even if it was a great film. Well, it wasn’t a great film and it pretty much doomed itself. The film also didn’t do itself any favors by casting Josh Peck in the lead role. That was
In 1976 the world was introduced to “The Bad News Bears,” the toughest and most unruly Little League team of all time. And who coached this ragtag group? Walter Matthau, of course.
“The Bad News Bears” was a fun and, at times, touching comedy that had Matthau to thank for all of that. Hollywood felt it was time to revisit the famous baseball team in 2005, and when you can’t get Walter Matthau, what do you do? Get Billy Bob Thornton, of course.
Wait, what?
The 2005 remake “Bad News Bears” managed to lose all the charm and relatable nature of the original and made for one more mistake in the movie world.
1984 gave us some great films, like “Ghostbusters,” the aforementioned “Red Dawn,” the original “Footloose” (another remake that could be on this list), “Gremlins” (a movie I hope they don’t remake) and “The Karate Kid.”
In an attempt to modernize the franchise, writers renamed Daniel Dre, changed the locale from California to China and replaced Ralph Macchio with Will Smith’s son.
Honestly, just writing this makes me angry.
I know a lot of this one’s place on the list has to do with someone messing with a film I adored growing up, but at the same time this redo was not very good. Kids still find the original “Karate Kid” entertaining today, and those who knew the original just kept shaking their heads at all the “updates.”
I’ll admit, Jackie Chan was a nice little addition, but it still couldn’t convince anyone the remake was necessary.
What do you think of the list? Do you agree, or did you like some of these remakes better than the originals? What else would you put on the list?
