Another britflick/hollywood copy

[william northcote]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054279/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrMybXvA-qw

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462519/

As a thought, when will Hollywood stop taking classic British films and ruining them?

The original School for scoundrels is a classic British film. It is recognised as one of the great films from Ealing studios. Not only do they remake this classic, but also The Ladykillers, The Italian Job and so on.

What is with Hollywood and the desire to remake classic films and basically ruin them? Are writers so sparse in Hollywood that no one can come up with a decent plot for a good film? Even the Magnificent Seven was a copy of Seven Samurai (but case in point, both of them films are good as stand alone originals). So can someone tell me why the remakes of films? Are actors so out of pocket that they have to ask for a movie remake just to be noticed again..... Or is it all money.

[Fred27]

What is with Hollywood and the desire to remake classic films and basically ruin them?

Well...maybe the prospect of cashing in on previous box-office hits?` :)

(yes I think it sucks too)

[Stéphan Thériault]

It's not just British films, the following are remakes of French films:

-Point of No Return (La Femme Nikita was much better.)
-The Man With One Red Shoe
-Three Men And a Little Baby
-True Lies
-Jungle to Jungle
-My Father the Heroe

Those are just the ones I can remember. I think just French films there are over two or three dozens, at the very least. Back in the early 90's a couple of canucks wrote a book listing all the American remaks of foreign movies. Unfortunatly I don't recall the title or the name of the authors.

[DDATFUS]

Even the Magnificent Seven was a copy of Seven Samurai (but case in point, both of them films are good as stand alone originals).
The fascinating thing is that apparently Kurosawa claimed that American westerns deeply influenced his work in The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, both of which were later re-made into westerns. The remake of Yojimbo was Fist Full of Dollars, the first spaghetti western.

So, while on the one hand I certainly agree that it's disappointing that writers today don't seem to be coming up with anything orignal, sometimes it is good to get some cross-pollination from other places. Yojimbo really changed the western genre, and that in turn influenced other genres. Maybe, if we're really lucky, dusting off the old classics will give modern filmmakers the inspiration to do something original for a change. Or maybe they'll just keep remaking every great classic until they run out, and then start making strained sequels of said remakes. Anyone up for Ocean's 15?

[william northcote]

Films like Missing In Action as a strange trilogy where 2 was the prequel to one and 3 was just placed there for the box set, somehow I do not think the making of classic St Trinian films into a movie without it being a porno would make a good film. :D

[Andrew S]

I've heard the reason behind Hollywood remakes of films is because:
1) The greater part of American viewers (and bascially most of the monolingual English speaking world) don't want to have to read subtitles.
2) American audiences have a hard time with non-American accents. (To point - apparently Mad Max was dubbed.)
3) American audiences would like to see Americans (or at least Hollywood-based actors with American accents - when was the last time you heard Nicole Kidman speak in her native accent in a movie?) play the heroes.
4) The previous three points have created a demographic for which the same points hold true. And the spiral continues...
5) If Hollywood makes a movie, Hollywood gets the money.

[Saburo]

You don't have to see it if you don't want to.

[fifthchamber]

You don't have to see it if you don't want to.
Agreed..Although the sad thing is that a vast majority of American audiences won't consider seeing it unless it is remade in American accent and with actors known to them...Or understood by them...With a plot hammered into easily understood themes and patterns..All politically inoffensive..
Regardless, I made no rush to see nearly all the recent remakes and won't for these either..
Although Alfie wasn't bad..

[Saburo]

They even remade "The Wickerman". I will probably ignore it when it comes on cable and just watch my limited edition dvd of the original. Remake the Wickerman pffft.

[MikeWilliams]

By far the worst Hollywood remake so far was "The Vanishing". If you haven't seen the Dutch (Belgian?) original, it is one of the scariest, most disturbing films ever made. The Hollywood version was pure cheese. :(

It's a sad indictment of Hollywood that the only original stuff being made today is animated (thanks to Pixar). Everything else is just remakes of existing moves, adaptations of (crap) TV series, adaptations of comic books, tired sequels or puerile and lightweight gross-out comedies or romcoms that a few years ago would have gone straight to video.

I have been to the cinema once in the last eighteen months as a result. I'm not happy.

[william northcote]

They even remade "The Wickerman". I will probably ignore it when it comes on cable and just watch my limited edition dvd of the original. Remake the Wickerman pffft.

I agree. Will Cage measure up to the night in the hotel while the orgy is going on next door? Will it have the same feel and impact as the ending when you want the police to come in and save Woodward while he burns to death? Or will Hollywood do a Team America: World Police and send in the SWAT teams and ruin a good immolation of some B rate movie star.

[Saburo]

I read that the remake is different so I'm not even sure if the scenes are similiar. Sounds like it's based loosely on the original and Americanized. All about the money.

[ScottUK]

I hear (i.e. refuse to see it) that the Wicker Man remake really, really sucks.

To quote a young lady on IMDb:

The Wicker Man. I am so angry that I cannot write a proper comment about this movie.

The plot was ridiculous, thinly tied together, and altogether-just lame. Nicolas Cage...shame on you! I assumed that since you were in it, that it would be at least decent. It was not.

I felt like huge parts of the movie had been left on the cutting room floor, and even if it's complete-the movie was just outlandish and silly.

At the end you're left mouth agape, mind befuddled and good taste offended. I have never heard so many people leave a theater on opening day with so much hatred. People were complaining about it in small groups in the mall, four floors down from the theater near the entrance. It's that bad.
Fantastic. Another score for Hollywood.

[BushidoUK]

I hate the way Hollywood rewrites history for the American audience. (and if Mel Gibson is in it with a definate anti British slant)

U571 as a case in point.

ive heard rumours that theyre going to remake the battle of Britain, only this time its the Americans "wot won it for us.

[Mark Murray]

Got one major gripe about this thread. It's too prejudicial. Let me explain -- You see, Hollywood isn't so nice and non narrow-minded that they'd stop at just remaking foreign films. Nooooo, Hollywood isn't that selective. They sink as low as they can go and they'll remake any film. LOL.

Can we say, Cheaper by the Dozen, Bewitched, Herbie, Psycho, Bad News Bears, Poseidon, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, George of the Jungle, King Kong, The Omen, Longest Yard, Stepford Wives, Assault on Precinct 13, Planet of the Apes, Flight of the Phoenix, Freaky Friday, Flubber, Shaggy Dog, War of the Worlds, House of Wax, The Fog, Willard, Charlotte's Web, The Omen, Miami Vice, etc, etc, etc.

And then there's those all time remakes of remakes. For example, Bruce Willis in "Last Man Standing" really follows "Fistful of Dollars" which follows "Yojimbo".

I guess my worst remake would have to be the American made, "Godzilla". Totally the worst remake ever.

Why does Hollywood make remakes? My guess is the money. They'll take a chance on something "known" rather than on something new and unknown. Other than that, you get directors who are famous and just want to do a remake. Peter Jackson and King Kong for instance.

[Mark Murray]

I hate the way Hollywood rewrites history for the American audience. (and if Mel Gibson is in it with a definate anti British slant)

U571 as a case in point.

ive heard rumours that theyre going to remake the battle of Britain, only this time its the Americans "wot won it for us.

Hmmm ... I read about the history behind that movie. Didn't think it was right that they changed history either. But with Hollywood, it's all about the glamour/action and not reality. Although I think a few movies have tried to capture more from reality than glamour. Jacob the Liar (remake) is one example.

Unfortunate that there is probably more bad remakes than good ones, but at least we are getting some. :)

[fifthchamber]

I agree with Mark here, Hollywood does remakes because Hollywood puts so much cash into the films that it can't afford to lay money on an enterprise which stands a chance of crashing. This is why so many great films come originally from the indies..Hollywood doesn't take the chances it could in film because it is believed that it cannot be afforded...So the original works are made cheaper but with more passion, that passion gets seen by Hollywood and then possibly picked up and run with by them..
To Hollywood it is safer to back something that was proven to be a hit before than it is to invest money in something that could change the way films are made or add something worthy to the genre...
Recent TV trends have done the same thing, taking things like reality shows and mass producing them because no one is willing to say "What about a program where...(Something ELSE happens..)"...So we get inundated with the same shows..Until something else comes along and then we all get Lost-a-likes..
I still like the British Film Industry because it isn't that big...France can sometimes do it too..Russia has been good once or twice and Japan is catching up slowly as well..But the problem is that with money and the demands of investors all these things that make these companies special need to be made safe..So they are left behind and remakes are worked out..
Doesn't mean it's not crap though..

[Vedenant]

Can you spell Clouseau.

There just can't be a substitute for the grand man himself Peter Sellers.

Don't get me wrong here, I enjoy enormously mr. Steve Martins' movies. But I decline to even consider this one.

Other remakes bordering blasphemy are:

The Lady killers, Italian Job.

And the epitomy of remakes: the one that was originally known as "Dr. Jerry and Mr. hyde" by Jerry Lewis and was remade by Eddie Murphy as "The Crazy Professor" Even though the original was "crazy humor" of its time, it still had some very subtle themes. Mr Murphy changed that all into toilet humor.

All we now have to wait is for some HW exec. to have a brainfxxt and we have in our hands remake of the "How to murder your wife" starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston....

[Vedenant]

Get Carter. That made me soooo angry!!!!!

[Trevor Johnson]

One movie that I loved was "La Cage Aux Folles." I don't think Robin Williams did it justice with "The Birdcage."