Originally Posted by Sedai
Of course they can, and sometimes, are:
The Thing (1982) - Great stuff, awesome atmospshere, great dialogue, and genuine paranoia
The Fly (1986) - This remake blows the original out of the water, IMO.
Cape Fear (1991) - I'll get **** for this, but I like the remake a lot more than the original. It's Scorsese affter all... He nailed this genre piece, even if he goes over thhe top a bit.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - Another film I will catch hell for listing, but, sorry, I like the '78 version the best.
The Thing (1982) - Great stuff, awesome atmospshere, great dialogue, and genuine paranoia
The Fly (1986) - This remake blows the original out of the water, IMO.
Cape Fear (1991) - I'll get **** for this, but I like the remake a lot more than the original. It's Scorsese affter all... He nailed this genre piece, even if he goes over thhe top a bit.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - Another film I will catch hell for listing, but, sorry, I like the '78 version the best.
My first response is revulsion at the idea of another unoriginal hack job by the latest "hot" director. Especially when the original film was so much a product of its time. Aja's "Hills" comes to mind. You can't replicate the original idea without adding something to it, and that makes it an entirely different film.
What Cronenberg did with "The Fly" was completely original. He took the "notion" of the original ....man somehow switches heads with a fly and took the concept a step further. He created possibly the most visceral meditation on disease and power that the screen has ever seen.
"The Thing" is probably my next favorite remake if not a tie with "The Fly." Carpenter again did something with the original concept and amplified the notion of paranoia and mistrust in the Reagan era. He took something and shaped it to make it relevant and fresh.
I don't like the idea of the slew of remakes, especially the recent J-Horror ones. Some things just don't translate well. I am definitely NOT looking forward to the American remake of Audition (Odishon) which I have heard is in the works. Why not just distribute the original and let people see the original vision of the writers, director and cast?
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"You have to believe in God before you can say there are things that man was not meant to know. I don't think there's anything man wasn't meant to know. There are just some stupid things that people shouldn't do." -David Cronenberg
"You have to believe in God before you can say there are things that man was not meant to know. I don't think there's anything man wasn't meant to know. There are just some stupid things that people shouldn't do." -David Cronenberg