Speaking of movie remakes

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Have you ever seen a remake which was better than the original?
Conversely, have you ever seen a remake which should not have been remade?

I think the new version of “Father of the Bride” with Steve Martin was better than the original with Spencer Tracy. (Yes, I do. Please don’t holler at me.)

On the other hand, they should never have remade “The Music Man”, “Annie,” “Lost Horizon” (they made it a musical, yet), “Good-bye Mr. Chips”, “Miracle on 34th St.” to mention a few.
 
Tenebrae said:
Have you ever seen a remake which was better than the original?
Conversely, have you ever seen a remake which should not have been remade?

I think the new version of “Father of the Bride” with Steve Martin was better than the original with Spencer Tracy. (Yes, I do. Please don’t holler at me.)

On the other hand, they should never have remade “The Music Man”, “Annie,” “Lost Horizon” (they made it a musical, yet), “Good-bye Mr. Chips”, “Miracle on 34th St.” to mention a few.
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Hey, I really like Spencer Tracy, so don’t dis the original Father of the Bride! Not that I’m hollering at you, just politely agreeing to disagree.

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a remake that was BETTER than the original, though some are different but equally good. I at least got a good laugh out of the musical ‘Lost Horizon’. 😃

As for which shouldn’t have been remade - far too many to list. At least 90% of all of 'em. Particularly heinous for me was the movie of ‘Lost in Space’ (I am a fan of the original TV show).
 
much as I like the original Sabrina, I think the remake was even better, primarily because of the casting of the male parts (nobody can beat Audrey)

and I do like both versions of 34th st.

Annie remake was ridiculous, Annie does not even have curls. get a clue

the movie musical version of Mame was pathetic, true neither to the original movie, stage play, or broadway musical
 
Actually, there were 3 versions of Miracle on 34th. Street. The second was made-for-tv back in the '70’s and it starred a guy who was a newscaster-turned-actor, last name Hart. Can’t remember his first name or the other actors. It was pretty good, actually.
A Christmas Carol. Now how often can that be remade? I like the musical Scrooge (1971) and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (circa '60’s?) best…didn’t care for the George C. Scott version much.
 
Agree with these:

Father of the Bride
Sabrina (tied with original, love Bogey/Holden/Hepburn)

Parent trap (hey, I have kids)
Freaky Friday

Cape Fear (tied with original)

Oceans 11 (my daughter’s choice, not mine)
 
FickleFreckled said:
Actually, there were 3 versions of Miracle on 34th. Street. The second was made-for-tv back in the '70’s and it starred a guy who was a newscaster-turned-actor, last name Hart. Can’t remember his first name or the other actors. It was pretty good, actually.
A Christmas Carol. Now how often can that be remade? I like the musical Scrooge (1971) and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (circa '60’s?) best…didn’t care for the George C. Scott version much.
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5, actually.

The award winning original in '47

A TV condensed story in '55 which is apparently out on DVD.

A remake in '59 for TV with Ed Gwynn as Kris Kringle and Orson Bean as the doctor. I never saw that one. It was thought lost since it aired live the day after the US Thanksgiving, but the network had taped it to air on the west coast. It was found and the actress who played Susan saw herself in the role for the first time at a special showing in the Library of Congress in Dec. 2005. NBC had donated the film to the Library in 1986.

The best-known remake, 1973’s version starring Sebastian Cabot as Kris Kringle; Jane Alexander, David Hartman, Roddy McDowell as the doctor. It’s the first one I saw and loved Sebastian Cabot in the role of KK.

And then the latest remake which I declined to see. One can only take so much tampering with what was an excellent film the first time.
 
I loved the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Parent Trap and Freaky Friday.

As far as those remakes that I liked; I am Legend, and War of the Worlds.
 
st_lucy said:
I loved the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Parent Trap and Freaky Friday.

As far as those remakes that I liked; I am Legend, and War of the Worlds.
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Wow, **I am Legend **is a remake? I am hitting goggle on that one…
 
Simon_X said:
Wow, **I am Legend **is a remake? I am hitting goggle on that one…
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Actually there are many movies that have been made based on this book, the newest one with Will Smith is my favorite.
 
My favourite “Christmas Carol” was the 1951 version with Alistair Sim. The black & white one really captured the Dickensian bleakness.

My second favourite is “A Muppet Christmas Carol”. I actually loved the outtake at the end when the hinge on the Rizzo Rat puppet gets stuck open. Staying completely “in character”, Gonzo says something like “You have the next line”; Rizzo replies “Ny nouth ith thtuck.” Gonzo grabs Rizzo’s mouth and starts heaving on it, while Rizzo yells “Ow! Ow! Ow!”

Of the movies where I have seen more than one version:

“12 Angry Men” – can’t beat Lumet’s original.

I did like the 1986 musical “Little Shop of Horrors” better than the original movie.

“Miracle on 34th Street” – The original was the best. I loved Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle.

“Gulf War” — I think the 1990 version was better.
 
Tenebrae said:
Have you ever seen a remake which was better than the original?
Conversely, have you ever seen a remake which should not have been remade?

I think the new version of “Father of the Bride” with Steve Martin was better than the original with Spencer Tracy. (Yes, I do. Please don’t holler at me.)

On the other hand, they should never have remade “The Music Man”, “Annie,” “Lost Horizon” (they made it a musical, yet), “Good-bye Mr. Chips”, “Miracle on 34th St.” to mention a few.
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The Mr. Chips remake was better. I mean the 1969 version with Peter O’Toole was better than the 1939 original with Robert Donat.

Another remake that was better than the original: The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart(1941) – way better than the 1931 original with Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade.

I agree with you on principle though – I hate remakes, sequels and prequels. I find a lot of folks (esp. the ever-growing number who are younger than myself) don’t even know they are watching remakes. Two of my favorite movies of all time is The In-Laws with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin and Fun with **** and Jane with Jane Fonda & George Segal. Both have been remade and absolutely ruined.
 
MoBeck said:
The Mr. Chips remake was better. I mean the 1969 version with Peter O’Toole was better than the 1939 original with Robert Donat.
Two of my favorite movies of all time is The In-Laws with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin and Fun with **** and Jane with Jane Fonda & George Segal. Both have been remade and absolutely ruined.
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I forgot about “The In-Laws”–they sould not have remade it. The original was priceless. (“Serpentine, Shel! Serpentine!”)
 
Well, I am a stickler for books… I hate it when they change the story too much. Granted, they have to do enough changing to fit the story into 1 1/2 or 2 hours. So I love a good movie that sticks to the book.

“Pride and Prejudice” - the best one was the Masterpiece Theatre version from, was it the '70s? *NOT *the one with Colin Firth. I’ve never liked any of the movies of it, because there’s just too much that’s essential to the plot to fit into two hours. Also, that one gave me a good vision of Mrs. Bennett, a character I could never quite “see” before.

I love the original Annie,especially Geoffrey Holder as Punjab. I’m a major fan of the old Little Orphan Annie comix, as drawn by Harold Gray.

I Like both the Alistair Sim and George C. Scott versions of A Christmas Carol.

Something I have been looking for for a long time is a DVD of Jane Eyre, with Scott as Rochester and Susannah York as Jane. True to the book, and the only one that has Rochester being properly ugly, and Jane being properly plain. Scott also did a Beauty and the Beast that was good. Modeled after the, was it Jean Renoir? silent movie.

Because of both the miniseries about QE and the movie of Mary, Queen of Scots, I just can’t see any actress other than Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I.

Ruthie
 
MoBeck said:
I forgot one – the musical Chicago is a remake of a (non-musical) 1942 film, Roxy Hart starring Ginger Rogers and Adolph Menjou.
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Actually THAT was a great musical and turned into a great movie … not so hot on Richard Gere’s singing but even he wasn’t as dreadful as Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia or anything (now that was cringeworthy) …
 
Some remakes that were much better than the original:
Titanic
The Fly
The Little Shop of Horrors
 
PoliSciProf said:
Some remakes that were much better than the original:
Titanic
The Fly
The Little Shop of Horrors
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I have to say I actually really like both versions of Little Shop of Horrors, but for different reasons - as for Titanic I an not at all fond of the Leo/Kate version
 
Ruthie;4234173} said:
NOT
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the one with Colin Firth. I’ve never liked any of the movies of it, because there’s just too much that’s essential to the plot to fit into two hours. Also, that one gave me a good vision of Mrs. Bennett, a character I could never quite “see” before.

Ruthie

I love that version–I have the 2-part video tape set.
All the portrayals are excellent.
They really didn’t need to remake P&P with Keira Knightly. In that one they took a few unnecessary liberties with the plot. Then there’s the 1940’s version with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier which was way off from the original story, and the costuming was from the wrong era, too.
 
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