How would you change certain movies?
 

If you could change certain writing, endings, casting, etc...

Most recently I had strong feelings about how a TV show ended..




So much better than the crap that we were given.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Something small but I'd add Spiderman into The Avengers.

Great topic...off the top of my head:

I would have cast Julie Andrews in the film version of My Fair Lady...of course, if she had done that film, she wouldn't have been able to do Mary Poppins, which is my favorite movie of all time.


I would have had Gil Shepherd come back for Celia at the end of The Purple Rose of Cairo...I hate that the second Tom Baxter went back into the movie that Gil blew off Celia.


I hate the way Clint Eastwood went out in Gran Torino...somehow I would have had his character come out of that movie alive.


I would have cast someone else, anyone else, in the role of Joey Drayton in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?...Katherine Houghton was absolutely dreadful in the role, a role she only got because she was Katharine Hepburn's niece.

I would have left out the Christopher Walken scene in Pulp Fiction...I understand why Tarantino included the scene and it was important the first time I watched it, but during re-watches, I found the scene just brings the film to a complete halt. The scene could have been summed up in a couple of lines given to Butch.


I would have cast Doris Day as Nellie in the 1958 film version of South Pacific


I would have had Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin end up together at the end of It's Complicated...hate the way that movie ended and I'm convinced that Meryl and Steve Martin's characters would have been miserable together.

I would have cast Zoey Deschanel as Russell Brand's leading lady in his remake of Arthur


I would have cut the song "Love is Only Love" out of the 1969 musical Hello Dolly!


I would have had Annie dump Alvy SInger in Annie Hall...he treated her like crap and didn't deserve her.


I would have kept the original ending from the play for the movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire...I understood why they changed the ending but it diluted the power of the piece.


I would have cast someone else in Max Von Sydow's role in Hannah and her SIsters...he gave me the creeps in that movie.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Woody put Max Van Sydow only because of he was Bergman's guy... It's like PTA putting the entire cast of every Altman movie. The funny thin is I just watched that movie a few months ago, and didn't notice him!

I have a newer VHS where they play ALL of Streetcar, taking nothing out.

And I think the Christopher Walken part was just to put him in there...

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I would leave this scene in The Phantom Menace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLACxMXBRhM
It wouldn't fix every problem but it would make it a much better movie. :D

It's such a shame that Julie Andrews wasn't in the movie version of My Fair Lady. I like Audrey Hepburn, but Julie Andrews would have been so much better. Julie Andrews could have done her own singing, rather than have the songs dubbed by Marni Nixon.

But Julie Andrews got her revenge when she won the Oscar for Best Actress for Mary Poppins, while My Fair Lady won just about everything else that year. She also won the Golden Globe award for Mary Poppins that year. She even closed her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes by saying, "And, finally, my thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie and who made all this possible in the first place, Mr. Jack Warner." :laugh:

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Ok, time to play Devil's Advocate.

Why are you "changing" works of art? When a woman messes up a centuries old painting everyone flips out but it's alright to tamper with people's films (in theory)? I know you're just throwing out ideas, but it's still pretty presumptuous to think you can somehow improve someone else's work. Right? Most films are the product of someone's artistic vision and, even if it's Uwe Boll, they've made the best representation of their work. That means it was as perfect as they could get it...but it's not perfect enough for you?

Do you think Badlands was unintentionally lighthearted? Do you really think Gran Torino would be better by changing and negating the entire point of the film?!?!

That said, I despise copyright laws. Yes, I said it and I'm the only person who sides with Shia Labeouf. I don't think a person can own an idea. Once an idea is out there it should be built upon, changed, and challenged; not owned. I'd love it if there was a very short limit on ownership. All properties should go into public domain much quicker than the 60 years or whatever nonsense it is right now.

Here's why.

I really, really want to see Darren Aronofsky's version of Batman. It would be easy as hell for him to make that film if the character was in public domain.

I'd love to see unauthorized sequels, even if they suck (I know this wasn't technically unauthorized, but it fits the idea I'm talking about).

I'd love to see various artists take on different properties. Look at all the Sherlock Holmes tales that have come out of the last couple decades. Wouldn't it be amazing if more properties could be mined by a wider pool of artists?

Yeah, sure, it's great that Disney can make money off Mickey Mouse until the end of time, but screw that. I say limit ownership of all properties and open the world to more creativity.

Also, there's this.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I don't really care why Woody cast him in the movie, he was just the only thing in the movie that didn't work for me...he was creepy. As for Streetcar, I'm assuming that you have never seen the play, because in the play, Stella does NOT leave Stanley the way she does in the movie. The people behind the '51 film believed that the only way to justify Stanley's behavior to movie audiences was to have him lose Stella and the baby. The original ending of the play is much more powerful IMO because it allows the audience to form their opinions about what Stanley did and Stella's reaction to it, which seems somewhat cold because this original ending implies that no one believes Stanley really raped Blanche, which makes the ending of the story so effectively disturbing.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Crank had such a good high-concept for an action movie, but it definitely could have used a few changes such as replacing Jason Statham and cutting that really rapey-looking sex scene (not like the more obviously consensual one in the sequel was any better, though).

I would add Hayden Christensen to the end of every movie ever made.

dude what the ****

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I would have recast Waterworld and replaced Kevin Costner with Brian Blessed.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

In the latest die hard I would have made jeremy renner to be john's son.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Even though I think Brando did a wonderful job directing "One-Eyed Jacks" I'm still curious how Kubrick would have done it.

I would have left the Judy Garland number, Mr Monotony, in Easter Parade. It was a great number and reportedly Irving Berlin's favorite number.

I would have detoxed, cleaned up and then cast Judy Garland as 'Helen Lawson' in Valley of the Dolls. The role that reportedly was based on Garland herself but played by Susan Hayward because Garland was too unreliable at the time to finish movie.

I would have recast Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina and Fred Astaire in Funny Face. Both were too old for a young Audrey Hepburn. Astaire was old enough to be her grandfather.

As much as I like B&W films. I would have shot Yankee Doodle Dandy in technicolor.

I would not have dubbed Audrey Hepburn's musical numbers in My Fair Lady. On the DVD extras you can hear many of Audrey's original recorded tracks and she had quite a nice voice.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I, too, would have left "Mr. Motonony" in Easter Parade as well. I also would have loved to have seen Judy Garland play Helen Lawson because Hayward's performance was unintentionally funny. I agree with you regarding Bogart in Sabrina, but I liked Astaire and Hepburn together in Funny Face. Regarding Hepburn in My Fair Lady, I might have used Audrey's voice on "Wouldn't it be Loverly?" but there's no way she could have handled "I Could Have Danced all Night" or "Without You", so I think the decision to bring in Marni Nixon was a good one, but a better solution would have been to give Julie Andrews the part.

I agree 100% about Bogart in Sabrina. I love the movie, but he was just too old for the part. I think that''s one of the reasons why I prefer the remake with Harrison Ford.

Yankee Doodle Dandy definitely would have looked better in color, but even though I'm not a big fan of James Cagney, the movie is still one of my favorites.

Instead of dubbing Audrey Hepburn's voice in My Fair Lady, they should have just cast Julie Andrews in the movie. As much as I love Mary Poppins, that role would have been easier to recast, or even better, waited until she was available.

Bogart would have been better cast as Sabrina's father, the limo driver. That could have been a plumb role for Bogart. James Darin would have been a good match for Audrey in Sabrina. Too bad he wasn't on the A list.

In the movie I seen last night, Dead Man (1995) with Johnny Depp, I would have changed the music score....a very loud electric guitar with the same notes played over and over and over. It really grated on my nerves, ruining a otherwise interesting film.

And on the same vain, I would have ditched the modern sound track used in Moulin Rouge (2001) blew!

I don't think there's ever been a movie that I've watched that I didn't have ideas on how to make it better. I always give my commentary on the film, to my wife. Then I say, 'oh well, that film was made decades ago....too late now.".....Like the director would have listened to me anyway;)

Another movie that needed different music was the recent remake of The Great Gatsby with Leonardo DiCaprio. The modern music ruined the whole movie for me.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I haven't seen the remake yet....but yup, the modern music score for a time period piece film, would bug me:mad:

Oh...I wish I could have told John Huston, he was making a mistake with Marilyn Monroe's hairdo in The Misfits. A great film!....But it would have been better if Marilyn's charter had been de-glamorfied some, so as to fit her characters role better.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I love Humphrey Bogart, but he seemed so uncomfortable in Sabrina. Since we're on Bogart, I would have replaced Katherine Hepburn in "The African Queen" - I know everyone loves her, but she seems so fake to me. I don't think it's that great of a movie, and Huston is one of my favorite directors as well. Ingrid Bergman is beautiful, and with the accent would sound more like a missionary, but I think it wouldn't escape the affair with Casablanca.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I suppose I understand all these revisions, but at the same time, I don't understand (agree with) them.

I'm a big fan of John Huston too. But I would have replaced him as the script writer.

The original script writer, James Agee, had a heart attack during the script development, forcing Huston to mainly write the script. The script for The African Queen needed more meat to it, it's not bad but it lacks some subtle nuances that allow the viewer to fill in the details between the two main characters.

The movie does work because of Bogart and Katherine Hepburn's acting skills.

I like Ingrid Bergman, I suppose she might have worked well in the film.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Yeah, for Huston the writing isn't up to his standard, and it could have been. It's more of Hepburn pouting about going down the river, and this argument continues for most of the film (well..)

Like you said, it sounds like Huston was rushed, which was too bad. It was too much sit and watch. You know they're not going to drown early on in the film, and so I think the script could have been a lot better. They are the only characters, so the script should have been almost everything.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

"Look at me! I'm some jackass with a computer and I know better than directors who made classic films!"

Sheesh.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Ahhh, but I asssure you I would make a great director;) Now go get me a danish and a cup of joe.

It's way easier to criticize something than to create it.
It's also nearly impossible to make a film turn out exactly as how you pictured it in your head.

Stanley kubrick spent FIFTEEN months filming eyes wide shut.
The matrix took four.

For 99.9% of people making a film is about working within the boundaries of a time table and a budget. It's not arrogant to think that a film isn't perfect. No director thinks their own film is perfect!! They just hope that no one else see's all the flaws that they know are there.

But they've done the absolutely best they could working under whatever constraints they had up to and including their own taste, vision, and ideals of perfection. Why are you under the assumption that you know what's better than their vision even if their vision was hindered? They still did the best they could do under whatever circumstances they worked under.

I still think this entire thread is terribly presumptuous.

Well so far I've only posted two improvements, IDK if I would call it an assumption so much as a theory.

I do think jeremy renner would have been better for john's son in the latest die hard. We're all allowed to have opinions, personally I did not enjoy Jai Courney in the role.

Hell maybe jeremy was offered the part and then he turned it down? IDK. Often times directors don't get their first choice of actors.

Sean Connery was originally offered the role of morpheus !

I don't think anyone is saying they would make a better director than some of the greats. But the reason we're here on this board, is that we care about the art of cinema. So it follows we're going to have our own individual takes on what might have been done better in a film.

I think it's interesting to hear what other cinephile's views are on this subject.

I would completely remake the fourth act of 2001. I actually probably will make a little fan edit pretty soon.

The grand finale to an epic space saga spanning millions of years, should not feature an old man walking over to a desk to eat some food as slow as he possibly can.

is that what really happened in the movie? if so, we have spoiler tags for a reason, and you just spoiled a movie i was looking forward to. hence "wtf"

You do understand there is a complete contradiction in that first paragraph, right?

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

It's not a contradiction to say you'd do some things differently but recognize you wouldn't make a better director overall.

I think you'd be really hard pressed to find a director that actually thinks this about their own work--that they did their "absolutely best" and wouldn't do a thing differently.

But let's assume they do. You say they did their best "under whatever constraints they had." But by definition, we're not under those constraints; we're under all different ones. Most importantly, we have the benefit of time and hindsight. The acknowledgement that directors work under constraints is simultaneously an acknowledgement that people not under those constraints have access to perspectives not available to them.

Besides, how is this different from any movie review? The entire field of movie criticism is predicated on the ability (and validity) of judging things we ourselves could never make. Criticizing any movie implicitly suggests it should have been otherwise. Is the entire field presumptuous?

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Though I didn't read the play, I know they made her leave Stanley to satisfy the production code, etc...

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

You don't think James Darren was a little young for Audrey Hepburn? Wasn't he chasing Sandra Dee a few years later in Gidget?

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

And on the same vain, I would have ditched the modern sound track used in Moulin Rouge (2001) blew!




I think a huge part of the appeal of Moulin Rouge is the use of contemporary music in a period setting.

I would take out all the dialogue and narration in The Thin Red Line. Actually a buddy of mine tried watching it with the sound off and some great theme music playing instead, but he said it didnt help. Ok, so I would change them hiring Terrence Malick, that's what I'd change about that movie! I didn't like it.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I know! I'd remove the ear splitting intro music that plays when you first pop in a DVD:mad:

I always rip DVDs and watch them through my digital library instead of directly. It's a lot more convenient, much better playback controls, and I don't have to be annoyed at any mandatory no-skip content.

I actually watched a DVD directly the other day for the first time in like a year, I forgot how annoying it is.

The main reason I started this is because I can crop out content, I now have a massive collection of falls, jumps, foot chases, car chases and fight scenes. For whenever I want to create one of those in my own films I have all the reference material a director could want.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I would have replaced Mos Def in The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy as well as the rest of the cast with the exception of the guy out of the original The Office. And the directors Hammer & Tongs (gotta be the stupidest name for a couple of directors ever) That would have made the absolute car wreck of the film better in my opinion.

I don't understand this paragraph...

I've never seen a critic say "I could have improved this film and here's how." Criticism does have an air of pomp to it, but I still think odd to retroactively change someone's work. The difference between this as criticism is critics judge the work as presented to them and this thread is about "I can do better." I don't know any critics who say "I can do better."

That said, I'm still in favor of fan edits and, yes, I know this is contradictory to my point, but no one read my first post in this thread... :(

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

There is nothing unreasonable about having this discussion in this context.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Siskel & Ebert always used to say on their show "It would have been better if they had... "

I'm saying that I agree with you that directors work under constraints, so there are things that may be more obvious to those outside of those constraints. This includes viewers, critics, and even the filmmakers once they're done with the film. It's not a knock on them, nor a compliment to us, really. It just means that we have the advantages of time and hindsight, and lack the disadvantages of schedule and budget. It's not saying any of us could do better in total, under those constraints. It's saying some of us might have a better idea in one specific area, without any constraints.

Suggestions certainly can be presumptuous, if they take the form of "Why didn't they just do X?!" rather than "I think, in retrospect, they should have done X." But so far it looks like most of the suggestions have appropriately taken the latter form.

Not in those words, but lots of reviews contain suggestions about what could be done differently. I guess I can try to find examples, but I feel like this is pretty common.

Anyway, I think there's a pretty minor difference between "I would do this to make it better" and the more general "this should have been done better."

I did see your post, but since you admitted it was a contradiction I didn't see the point in belaboring it. But I think the contradiction can be reconciled by drawing a distinction between suggesting changes after the fact, and pretending they were obvious, or that we could have done better under the same constraints.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

I would make all watered down PG-13 films like World War Z and Expendables 3 the R they should have been in the first place. There by giving the film they should have shown in the theater, and none of this "Unrated Cut" DVD double dip BS.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Bogart and Bergman in The African Queen might have come off as a way to cash in on their success in Casablanca, thinking that lightening would strike twice. The casting of Hepburn gave a little integrity to the piece and a little less exploitative than if Bergman had done the role. I think people would have spent the whole movie comparing it to Casablanca, which wouldn't have been fair to The African Queen.

This most recently cropped up with X-Men: Days of Future Past. Magneto claims that he didn't assassinate Kennedy, but tried to save him because he was a mutant. I personally find the alternative far more compelling: Magneto using the "Magic Bullet" to assassinate the man that tried to kill him and his team durig the Cuban Missile Crisis and who, by proxy, is a threat to the lives of mutants everywhere.

The Bent Bullet: JFK and the Mutant Conspiracy - X-Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByCY2UYLHG8

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

First thing that came to mind for this topic was recast Daredevil with Matt Damon. I know we were all thinking it when watching the film especially. Funny enough, I'm actually looking forward to Ben Affleck's portrayal of Batman.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

Something I always think about when watching the first X-Men movies... is their height.

Cyclops should be Wolverine's height. Wolverine should be Storm's height (if not shorter). Storm should be Jean's height. And Jean should be Cyclops' height.

I know, I'm weird, but it would be more faithful to the comics.

Yes that is very strange.
As a casting director your #1 priority should not be the height of an actor. Most people can't even tell how tall someone is on film anyway.

Two of the most common reactions on seeing a star in person
You're way shorter than I thought you were!
You're so much taller than I thought you would be!

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

If I remember correctly, Wolverine's supposed to be 5'2". Hugh Jackman is perfect for the role, however, so I don't really think his height is that much of an issue.

Also, gbgoodies, that video is awesome.

I would have jar jar binks die from the shock in his tongue from the podracer in the Phamtom Menance... if this actually happened in the film then I would have way less wrinkles on my face.

Re: How would you change certain movies?
 

The casting of Ben Affleck was just scratching the surface of the problems with Daredevil

Or better yet, have Quigon Jinn let the Trade Federation tank run him over in his first scene.