Movie Remakes: yay or nay?

Well, it all depends. I see three kinds of remakes:

1. good remakes - an idea inserted and adjusted to different place and time, culture - The Magnificent Seven (1960), Let Me In (2010)

2. superfluous remakes - The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Thing (2011) - that are mediocre and waste of time

3. utterly useless remakes - Psycho (1998), Halloween (2007), Conan the Barbarian (2011)

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THE FLY is the only remake I actually enjoyed. And most of all because it's nothing like the original [in this case, that's a good thing]

Addenda:

forgot Carpenter's THE THING [also nothing like the original, miles better IMHO]

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I prefer the Howard Hawks version myself, but they are both excellent.

I have yet to watch or find an above average remake.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

Now, let's hope they never do a Citizen Kane reboot

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It will be the start of the new Orson Welles Cinematic Universe, followed by The Lady From Shanghai starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Ugh
At least cast Blake Lively instead.

i would have to favour a yes because some remakes can be a genuine improvement or give us a great alternative take on the original movie.

I'd go with Gemma Arterton.

Most re-makes have turned out disastrous, however.

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I'll drink to that, Samuel Adams! (Get it?)

HAL

Depends - if the remake takes a different path from the original film then I can consider it to be a good film, but as for remakes that add nothing new to the original then those are unnecessary cash grabs.

"Scarface" and "The Departed"
The only remakes that I enjoyed.

I totally agree...some are good and some are well, ehhh!

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Generally I say if the original is rubbish then yeah, try again.

If however it is a good film like Ghostbusters, Robocop, The Karate kid etc then nah unless you can really make it better. The three examples that I gave failed at improving on the original.

Talk of remaking 'Scarface' (again) is preposterous.

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Whoever thought that an Oldboy remake was a good idea needs a short sharp kick in the genitals.

Magnificent Seven is not the "original" movie, Seven Samurai is.

It is an original movie... when a movie gets a remake it is promoted to original as we need to differentiate beetwen it and the new version.
So it is kind of retroactivly original

Good Remakes....

3:10 to Yuma (2007)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Ben Hur (1959)
Magnificent Seven (1960)
Cape Fear (1991)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
The Departed (2006)
Dr. Jeykell and Mr Hyde (1941)
Heaven can Wait (1978)
Evil Dead (2013)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
The Fly (1986)
Heat (1995)
Outland (1981)
House on Haunted Hill (1999)
House of Wavx (1953)
The Omega Man (1971)
Insomnia (2002)
Body Snatchers (1990)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Knock Knock (2015)
Last House on the Left (1972)
Fistful of Dollars (1974)
Mad Love (1935)
The Man who knew Too Much (1956)
Night of the Living Dead (1990)
No Way Out (1987)
Orphans of the Storm (1921)
Point of No Return (1993)
The Ring (2002)
Solaris (1972)
His Girl Friday (1940)

and my avatar
The Thing

Some of these are good, some are not. I do think there is a great remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but it's Abel Ferrara's 1993 version just called Body Snatchers. Ferrara is such an underrated director.

I'd also add Edmund Goulding's 1939 remake of The Dawn Patrol which is far better than the 1930 Howard Hawks film, as much as I love Hawks.