Ghostbusters remake?

fretmeister

Snap said:

I think film remakes are a really shite idea. Its such a crap thing to do. What's the point? Yes, I know its all about money, but a film is such a standalone work of art/piece of work, that I think its creatively very poor to reboot.

You don't see an author rewrite someone else's novel (well not routine), or someone rerecord someone else's entire album.

IMO remaking a film is piss poor plaigiaristic money making.

And they are generally total crap and not a patch on the original, which makes it even more shoddy a practise.

Battle Royale > The Hunger Games > Divergent.

Q.E.D.

digitalscream

fretmeister said:

Snap said:

I think film remakes are a really shite idea. Its such a crap thing to do. What's the point? Yes, I know its all about money, but a film is such a standalone work of art/piece of work, that I think its creatively very poor to reboot.

You don't see an author rewrite someone else's novel (well not routine), or someone rerecord someone else's entire album.

IMO remaking a film is piss poor plaigiaristic money making.

And they are generally total crap and not a patch on the original, which makes it even more shoddy a practise.

Battle Royale > The Hunger Games > Divergent.

Q.E.D.

Or:

Anything by Tolkien -> Anything by David Eddings

Ironically, Eddings' stuff is far better for kids than anything by Tolkien, who originally wrote The Hobbit for kids. That's about as far as it goes, though.

fretmeister

Rotten Tomatoes has Ghostbusters at 76% fresh at the moment.

stickyfiddle

fretmeister said:

Rotten Tomatoes has Ghostbusters at 76% fresh at the moment.

It was a lot lower earlier! 

I shall wait for a Kermode review

Myranda

Remakes can be good... If I were a film maker I'd remake Pandorum as a psychological thriller and cut out the mutant people... But... A list of good Remakes: Cape Fear (1991) Peter Pan (2003) Dawn of the Dead (2004) The good Thief (2003) The Departed (2006) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) War of the World's (2005) - might be very Tom Cruise... But still a good action film. The Thing (1982) - still holds up as brilliant Bram Stoker's Dracula (1982) Manchurian Candidate (2004) Ocean's Eleven (2001) Twelve Monkeys (1995) Scent of a Woman (1992) Scarface (1983) Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Pale Rider (1985) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 3:10 to Yuma (2007) The Fly (1986) Insomnia (2002) Fistfull if Dollars (1964) True Grit (2010) Man on Fire (2004) Evil Dead 2 (1987) - it's a remake of the first one... Apologies for any errors in the above I'm on a phone. If you were a filmmaker and you saw a film that had a good idea but executed badly would you not think "I could do that better"? That's the best reason for a remake... Or maybe the original was OK, but the effects are poor because of the technology of the day - a well done Hellraiser remake has been talked up for years now... As for the Nolan Batman films... I like them (got them on DVD and bluray and have the sound tracks on CD)... But they are the worst batman films... Less Batman than Adam West or even George Clooney. I know... Bat Nipples and all. Bruce Wayne becomes The Batman because his parents are killed so he swears vengeance on all crime... Ever. The Nolan Batman is only Batman for what is likely a year or two before someone dying puts him off the whole thing. The Batman should not give up being a vigilante for anything short of old age (and in the comics when this happens he has either young successors or a gang of vigilantes doing things in his name). Batman is a loner and his super power is being rich while mad enough to go around punching the mentally ill of Gotham he should never stop wanting to Shut up Crime because someone gets hurt he should shut up more crime. Also Bane in the Comics is a genius planner and is a Main baddy but in Nolan's vision he's nothing but a henchman. Raz Al Ghuul is no longer immortal... Ish. He assumed the League of Shadows was defeated because oneone boss was killed and a handful of Henchmen. Scarecrow turned goodie for no reason then turned baddy again with no apparent motivation. And in the 2nd and 3rd films Batman stopped being stealthy and his plans all became run-in-punching-everyone.

Myranda

That post had formatting... Paragraphs and everything... Screw phones

Sporky

I'm not sure you can count Twelve Monkeys as a remake of La Jetee. Heavily inspired by, certainly, but not really a remake.

Running Man vs Manhunt I'd allow (both good, but the latter is a better film).

Heat is pretty much a remake of LA Takedown.

stratosonic

Ditto most peoples comments on remakes, they rarely live up to the original with the few exceptions Myranda mentioned above? I see the Alien movies are being tapped again with a Prometheus sequel called "alien covenant" and talk of Alien 5?  What I'd really like is a proper all out war movie between Aliens and Predators, with maybe a few T1 Terminators thrown in for good measure

Myranda

I was working from a list... I agree that Twelve Monkeys is a stretch... But the so is (to a lesser amount) Firstful of Dollars. Point was lots of films that aren't terrible are direct or indirect remakes. And I should add that the trailer for the new Ghostbusters made me want to claw my own eyes out... With my own hands. And then stamp on them with my own feet! Not because it's a remake but because it looks fuck awful. And because as an obsessive type I'll end up seeing it... Because it's got Ghostbusters in the title.

stickyfiddle

stratosonic said:

Ditto most peoples comments on remakes, they rarely live up to the original with the few exceptions Myranda mentioned above? I see the Alien movies are being tapped again with a Prometheus sequel called "alien covenant" and talk of Alien 5?  What I'd really like is a proper all out war movie between Aliens and Predators, with maybe a few T1 Terminators thrown in for good measure

The current plan for Alien is a Prometheus sequel, and possible another after that, both done by Ridley Scott. Then Neil Blomkampf is separately planning "Aliens 2" which will include Newt and Hicks and basically retcon 3 and Resurrection. It's all getting a bit silly...

Sporky

Myranda said:

Point was lots of films that aren't terrible are direct or indirect remakes.

And that is indeed a fair point.

I'd like to add the American version of Ring. I thought it was much better than the original. Which was much better than the book.

Myranda

I liked the American version of The Ring...

But I'm never sure if it was environmental or the film... Was House sitting for a friend... Who has 4 black cats... One of whom jumped on be during one of the quiter tenser scenes. Damn near shat myself. So the film sticks in my mind as scary.  

fretmeister

stickyfiddle said:

stratosonic said:

Ditto most peoples comments on remakes, they rarely live up to the original with the few exceptions Myranda mentioned above? I see the Alien movies are being tapped again with a Prometheus sequel called "alien covenant" and talk of Alien 5?  What I'd really like is a proper all out war movie between Aliens and Predators, with maybe a few T1 Terminators thrown in for good measure

The current plan for Alien is a Prometheus sequel, and possible another after that, both done by Ridley Scott. Then Neil Blomkampf is separately planning "Aliens 2" which will include Newt and Hicks and basically retcon 3 and Resurrection. It's all getting a bit silly...

The Director's Cut of 3 is a great film.

Resurrection was not bad and I think if it had been a generic space monster film rather than having the Alien franchise baggage it would have been better received. Apart from the awful human birth alien bit at the end.

Still, no matter how bad the faults, it was still far better than Prometheus. That was awful. That is actually lower on my list than AvP: REQUIEM or the sequel to Starship Troopers.

Sporky

fretmeister said:

the sequel to Starship Troopers.

Which one?

I quite liked Alien 3. Resurrection reminded me too much of the French & Saunders sketch.

fretmeister

I've only seen the 1st sequel to Starship Troopers. I didn't have the strength to try the others.

Sporky

The second sequel is, I would venture to say, slightly less bad than the first sequel.

Myranda

stickyfiddle said:

stratosonic said:

Ditto most peoples comments on remakes, they rarely live up to the original with the few exceptions Myranda mentioned above? I see the Alien movies are being tapped again with a Prometheus sequel called "alien covenant" and talk of Alien 5?  What I'd really like is a proper all out war movie between Aliens and Predators, with maybe a few T1 Terminators thrown in for good measure

The current plan for Alien is a Prometheus sequel, and possible another after that, both done by Ridley Scott. Then Neil Blomkampf is separately planning "Aliens 2" which will include Newt and Hicks and basically retcon 3 and Resurrection. It's all getting a bit silly...

I was under the impression that what was billed as Alien 5 would follow on from Aliens so that 3 was retconned out leaving it open for an Aliens 2.

I dislike this because alien 3 gets a bum rap. It's a much better sequel to Alien than Aliens was (Alien is a horror that happened to be in space. Aliens was a sci-fi action film that happened to have the same type of monster. They're utterly different films.  Alien 3 was still a tense horror that happened to be on another world - in two films it's about the horror, and the setting / monster is hardly relevant, and the other film is about the sci-fi action and the monster is irrelevant). 

I like Blomkampf and his work, but I think it a shame to ignore a good story and delete it from the Canon because you liked a half dead soldier and a little girl.

stratosonic

Just trying to remember a few of the bad movie remakes of recent years...

The Wicker Man, Rollerball, Get Carter, Planet of the Apes, Italian Job, The Omen. Not seen the remake of I Spit on your Grave, but I remember the original being bad enough (watched as a teenager)! I predict a wave of banned horror movie remakes next, Cannibal Holocaust anyone?

fretmeister

Aliens is no better than AvP. It was fun, it was shouty and explosiony and it had the loader fight but that was it.

It's the one in the series that teenagers like. Nowt wrong with that of course but it ranks 3rd in the list behind Alien and Alien3. 

stickyfiddle

fretmeister said:

stickyfiddle said:

stratosonic said:

Ditto most peoples comments on remakes, they rarely live up to the original with the few exceptions Myranda mentioned above? I see the Alien movies are being tapped again with a Prometheus sequel called "alien covenant" and talk of Alien 5?  What I'd really like is a proper all out war movie between Aliens and Predators, with maybe a few T1 Terminators thrown in for good measure

The current plan for Alien is a Prometheus sequel, and possible another after that, both done by Ridley Scott. Then Neil Blomkampf is separately planning "Aliens 2" which will include Newt and Hicks and basically retcon 3 and Resurrection. It's all getting a bit silly...

The Director's Cut of 3 is a great film.

Resurrection was not bad and I think if it had been a generic space monster film rather than having the Alien franchise baggage it would have been better received. Apart from the awful human birth alien bit at the end.

Still, no matter how bad the faults, it was still far better than Prometheus. That was awful. That is actually lower on my list than AvP: REQUIEM or the sequel to Starship Troopers.

Can't argue with that. 

I also much prefer the Director's Cut of Aliens. It's paced much better imo.