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Fannish Friday: Remakes that SHOULD happen!
My continuing question: why why why do people do remakes of good movies? Why don't they do remakes of movies with good premises that didn't quite land?
Not that it's not a good thing when you have two good versions of a film--I, for one, think the original Parent Trap and the remake are both delightful and I am glad they both exist. But in general, it seems like it would be a better use of everyone's time and money to remake a didn't-quite-land film than one that is solid.
So! Today I would like to hear about films or TV shows you think should be remade. Not spinoffs or sequels, but a true remake. (And not something, like, Pride and Prejudice or A Christmas Carol, where various adaptations are part of the point--I'll ask about that another day. Films you think can be remade over and over.)
I'll start: Ella Enchanted. I adore that book so much and the movie is...well, I know some people enjoy it, but I think it's terrible in almost every single way. It doesn't retain anything I love about the book, which I think would make a fantastic movie if done right.
And here's one that I think works pretty well in its original form, but could be better: The Lady Vanishes. It has my favorite suspense premise of all time: While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train, reads the IMDB summary, but that's understating it. The train has not stopped--the woman cannot possibly have gotten off. And no one else believes our playgirl heroine! She's being gaslit by everyone around her!
I loooove this premise, and there are things I really like about the original Hitchcock film, but I think it gets bogged down by a beginning that's totally unnecessary. This could be the greatest thriller of all time if it was just done right!
Now, I do not think that if Hollywood made a remake of this film right now, it would be any good. But imagine if it had been made in the era of the 90s that gave us The Fugitive and Speed and action/suspense films of that caliber. Or if it were made as a labor of love by some indie team who made sure the script was perfect? I dream of such a film.
And now I want to hear from y'all!
Not that it's not a good thing when you have two good versions of a film--I, for one, think the original Parent Trap and the remake are both delightful and I am glad they both exist. But in general, it seems like it would be a better use of everyone's time and money to remake a didn't-quite-land film than one that is solid.
So! Today I would like to hear about films or TV shows you think should be remade. Not spinoffs or sequels, but a true remake. (And not something, like, Pride and Prejudice or A Christmas Carol, where various adaptations are part of the point--I'll ask about that another day. Films you think can be remade over and over.)
I'll start: Ella Enchanted. I adore that book so much and the movie is...well, I know some people enjoy it, but I think it's terrible in almost every single way. It doesn't retain anything I love about the book, which I think would make a fantastic movie if done right.
And here's one that I think works pretty well in its original form, but could be better: The Lady Vanishes. It has my favorite suspense premise of all time: While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train, reads the IMDB summary, but that's understating it. The train has not stopped--the woman cannot possibly have gotten off. And no one else believes our playgirl heroine! She's being gaslit by everyone around her!
I loooove this premise, and there are things I really like about the original Hitchcock film, but I think it gets bogged down by a beginning that's totally unnecessary. This could be the greatest thriller of all time if it was just done right!
Now, I do not think that if Hollywood made a remake of this film right now, it would be any good. But imagine if it had been made in the era of the 90s that gave us The Fugitive and Speed and action/suspense films of that caliber. Or if it were made as a labor of love by some indie team who made sure the script was perfect? I dream of such a film.
And now I want to hear from y'all!
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(I do like the Hitchcock version for incorporating these shadowy pre-WW2 elements that tell us something about what people knew about what was happening in Germany and how they responded to it before the war broke out. It's like Casablanca in that way.)
This is a hard question for me to answer because if a movie doesn't land for me, it often falls off to a blip in my memory - unless I *really* don't like it. I had to go through my movie review post for some ideas! But my answer is: Brigadoon! The 1954 version just doesn't use very many elements of Scottish culture and the ending for the guy who doesn't go back to the town is just so damn sad! I'd like to see more women as main characters, develop them beyond the romantic interests, and get more backstory on what was going on in the town before the spell was laid.
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(I do like the Hitchcock version for incorporating these shadowy pre-WW2 elements that tell us something about what people knew about what was happening in Germany and how they responded to it before the war broke out. It's like Casablanca in that way.)
AGREED! More of that, please!
Ooooh, Brigadoon is such an interesting answer! It's very...MGM musical in both a good way (so colorful!) and a bad way (shallow!). I agree that could make for a really interesting film with a different directorial vision. (The imp in me wants to suggest Guillermo del Torro direct it lol.)
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I just...have this thing about Scottish stories continually being told by non-Scottish folks and Scottish culture being co-opted by non-Scottish folks and Scottish folks being sexualized by non-Scottish folks such that I'm like "ONLY A SCOTTISH WOMAN CAN DIRECT THIS ACTUALLY!!!" even though Brigadoon isn't *strictly* a Scottish story in that it's not part of the heritage. It's *about* Scottish folks though, which I think means it should be put in the hand of a Scot and a woman (like, on principle).
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