Enough with the remakes!!!

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

I'm mostly OK with remakes as I feel that some films often had plenty of room for improvement(like with Oldboy, loved the remake of that one)

Just saw the preview to the new RoboCop, and my immediate thought was the thread title! The original was such a product of the 80s (even the name!) that I'm not sure it will work today. After watching the preview, the remake just feels unnecessary.

Sutekh wrote:

Just saw the preview to the new RoboCop, and my immediate thought was the thread title! The original was such a product of the 80s (even the name!) that I'm not sure it will work today. After watching the preview, the remake just feels unnecessary.

Watching the original I find that a lot of the social commentary in that film applies today just as much today as back when it was released if not moreso, so i'm sure the remake could be a good film in it's own right.

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

yep. What is the chance that the next person to play Frank Dreblin will actually be as funny? They may pull it off but I have serious doubts.

exact33 wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

yep. What is the chance that the next person to play Frank Dreblin will actually be as funny? They may pull it off but I have serious doubts.

I cant fathom any of the current "popular" funny leading men coming remotely close to pulling off what was done before.

martinsane wrote:

exact33 wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

yep. What is the chance that the next person to play Frank Dreblin will actually be as funny? They may pull it off but I have serious doubts.

I cant fathom any of the current "popular" funny leading men coming remotely close to pulling off what was done before.

i dont know - I think there are some pretty funny people out there and we have had a ton of years to watch and re-watch some of these movies. I was surprised by how good some of the re-makes were (Star trek) but those are among the minority. I just dont see a new Naked Gun being even half of funny as the original - even the sequels could not live up.

The reason Leslie Nielsen was so funny was because he was making fun of his previous career as a "serious" actor, seeing someone that straight-laced do the silly stuff that Drebin did was why it was funny. To duplicate that now you would have to cast a formerly-serious actor (who never does comedy).

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

What? Tim Conway isn't funny? He does annoy me in McHale's Navy but on the Carol Burnett Show, he cracks me up! He would have made a great Drebin!


Speaking of McHale's Navy, I believe that Squidward is based upon Joe Flynn's Captain Binghamton character. Check out the voice and facial expressions....

S.D. wrote:

The reason Leslie Nielsen was so funny was because he was making fun of his previous career as a "serious" actor, seeing someone that straight-laced do the silly stuff that Drebin did was why it was funny.  To duplicate that now you would have to cast a formerly-serious actor (who never does comedy).  

Was going to post the same thing and I agree, would need a serious actor that never did comedy. The current round of "funny men" would not be funny... i.e. Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell as Frank Drebin (God forbid that really happen....)

chewie wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

What? Tim Conway isn't funny? He does annoy me in McHale's Navy but on the Carol Burnett Show, he cracks me up! He would have made a great Drebin!


Speaking of McHale's Navy, I believe that Squidward is based upon Joe Flynn's Captain Binghamton character. Check out the voice and facial expressions....

I always found it painful to watch him..... My dad used to watch Carol Burnett all the time when I was growing up - never found it funny....

thejokeriv wrote:

S.D. wrote:

The reason Leslie Nielsen was so funny was because he was making fun of his previous career as a "serious" actor, seeing someone that straight-laced do the silly stuff that Drebin did was why it was funny.  To duplicate that now you would have to cast a formerly-serious actor (who never does comedy).  

Was going to post the same thing and I agree, would need a serious actor that never did comedy. The current round of "funny men" would not be funny... i.e. Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell as Frank Drebin (God forbid that really happen....)

I would totally be OK with both of them doing something like that.

thejokeriv wrote:

chewie wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

What? Tim Conway isn't funny? He does annoy me in McHale's Navy but on the Carol Burnett Show, he cracks me up! He would have made a great Drebin!


Speaking of McHale's Navy, I believe that Squidward is based upon Joe Flynn's Captain Binghamton character. Check out the voice and facial expressions....

I always found it painful to watch him..... My dad used to watch Carol Burnett all the time when I was growing up - never found it funny....

I think you might be confused. As far as I know, Joe Flynn was never on Carol Burnett. Tim Conway was the regular. And a very funny man, but could not be Frank Drebin.

007 wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

chewie wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

What? Tim Conway isn't funny? He does annoy me in McHale's Navy but on the Carol Burnett Show, he cracks me up! He would have made a great Drebin!


Speaking of McHale's Navy, I believe that Squidward is based upon Joe Flynn's Captain Binghamton character. Check out the voice and facial expressions....

I always found it painful to watch him..... My dad used to watch Carol Burnett all the time when I was growing up - never found it funny....

I think you might be confused. As far as I know, Joe Flynn was never on Carol Burnett. Tim Conway was the regular. And a very funny man, but could not be Frank Drebin.

Oh no, the Joe Flynn comment was just a separate observation. I now realize that I did not transition that very well, that's all!

chewie wrote:

007 wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

chewie wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I love some of the comments in this thread. I get that remakes get frowned upon as they mess with our memroies of our favorite movies.

But when I see things like "Only Jack Nicholson can play The Joker" or "Only Leslie Nielsen can play Frank Drebin" it makes me laugh because we only say those things because it's what we know.

If Jack Palance had played The Joker in the '89 Batman movie, or if Tim Conway had played Frank Drebin in all the NG movies, we'd be saying only THEY could play those roles.

"stating the obvious rant" over.

Or the movies would have bombed and it wouldn't be an issue because Tim Conway isn't funny and Jack Palance would have been a terrible Joker

What? Tim Conway isn't funny? He does annoy me in McHale's Navy but on the Carol Burnett Show, he cracks me up! He would have made a great Drebin!


Speaking of McHale's Navy, I believe that Squidward is based upon Joe Flynn's Captain Binghamton character. Check out the voice and facial expressions....

I always found it painful to watch him..... My dad used to watch Carol Burnett all the time when I was growing up - never found it funny....

I think you might be confused. As far as I know, Joe Flynn was never on Carol Burnett. Tim Conway was the regular. And a very funny man, but could not be Frank Drebin.

Oh no, the Joe Flynn comment was just a separate observation. I now realize that I did not transition that very well, that's all!  

Oh, gotcha.

I may have to stand outside the theaters protesting this one.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/paramount-remake-explorers-688024

The original is very near and dear to me.  Just steal the concept and call it something else please.

jstate wrote:

I may have to stand outside the theaters protesting this one.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/paramount-remake-explorers-688024

The original is very near and dear to me.  Just steal the concept and call it something else please.

While I can think of better films to remake, i'm pretty much indifferent to this one, I found the film fairly average and thought it had room for improvement.

jstate wrote:

I may have to stand outside the theaters protesting this one.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/paramount-remake-explorers-688024

The original is very near and dear to me.  Just steal the concept and call it something else please.

I think a lot of people under the age of 35 have probably never seen that movie, although I know it has a loyal cult following (especially amongst Dante fans). I'm actually surprised a studio decided to remake it because it was a notorious flop when initially released (cost $20 million to make, only made $9 million theatrically).  

The thing about remakes is they really don't do any damage to the original film, if a remake completely sucks the original film remains intact.  The same theory as a bad film doesn't ruin a novel, the novel is unchanged.  So I don't get upset about it any longer.

Quote :

nly made $9 million theatrically

I did my part.  Saw it four times in the theater.  Even ponied up for the soundtrack too.  Good point about the originals not being hurt.  And if anything it enhances what worked about them.

What's funny about the remake glut is that I used to get really excited when a remake would come along.  How would they update it?  What little nods would they have to the original?  Damn did I ever love the Thomas Crown Affair remake.  Unfortunately the excitement wore off with the remakes of Psycho and Diabolique.