To Kill a Mockingbird!
Dr. Stranglove.
The Day the Earth Stood Still. OOOPSIE! Too late for that one. (The remake sucked!)

I despise remakes. Hollywood seemingly has no imagination. Remakes and sequels suck in general.

And they totally messed up The Day The Earth Stood Still. . . It's beauty in the original was the simplicity of it.

"The Haunting" from Shirley Jackson's psychological ghost novel, The Haunting of Hill House.

The Robert Wise 1963 production honored Jackson very well and scares the hell out of people even today. The cast was quite good. The remake was ugly and ridiculous; the script was infantile.

The tv series was okay. I'll bet there are not enough B-17s for a movie.

The problem with most remakes is that they are done for crap reasons. A remake should really only be done when there is an entirely new spin being put on the story.... Casablanca for instance... I would not be opposed to an updated version of the story taking place in the context and locations of today in the Middle East and being told from the 'Ilsa' characters point of view.

First, full disclosure -- As a general proposition, I don't care for remakes of the classics.

Turning specifically to Casablanca, I just can't see any reason or justification for remaking that which was made to perfection and in which there is no room for improvement. Casablanca is my favorite movie of all time (just nudging out The Apartment), and I would wager it's in the Top 10 of all lovers of classic movies.

Why futz with that which cannot possibly be improved upon?

Just my opinion. But it's about as strong an opinion as I could possibly have when it comes to movies

Honestly, imo no movie is sacred (remakes have been part of movie making since they began, after all), and I am pressed to think of any remake that achieved any sort of success to match or surpass the original. The fact that the attempts pretty much fail miserably is satisfaction enough for me.

Still you gotta wonder: they have MILLIONS of dollars to make a freakin' movie and they can come up with no new ideas? Seriously?

Still.... step away from the Kane and no one gets hurt...

They usually suck - Look at the travesty 'Guess Who'. Don't get me wrong - I loved Bernie Mac. But Guess Who's Coming to Dinner re-made? Oh helllllllllllllllls no!


Leave it be. Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Why? Oh Why?

No magic in the remake cast AT all.

I could also see the plot being updated to reflect someone more like Rupert Murdoch than William Randolph Hearst.

Would be terrific.

But he and Giovanni Ribisi seem to be the only true character actors of my era. Yeah - I just referred to Gen X as an era!

At least in my opinion the best of all films tend to be so theme, art and acting driven that they are fairly safe from having remakes done of them.

Films that are more plot driven are the ones that are in danger. And yes there are many here that, though I don't count in ym fav films of all time, I'd still NOT like to see remade.

Let me see...

Alien (The Ridley Scot original)
Blade Runner ( Please don't do this one guys!!)

Oldboy (oops too late)
Robocop (oops too late)

The Never Ending Story
The Shinning
Terminator
The Usual Suspects

It was a television miniseries, but according to interviews with Stephen King, he preferred it to Kubrick's 1980 film.

King might have liked the mini series (it was set in the hotel that inspired the book) better, but Kubrick's version is definitive.
Check out this analysis for a good time suck:http://www.collativelearning.com/the%20shining.html

I read that Stephen King didn't care for the Kubrick film because he wanted someone in the lead role who seemed to be a relatively sane person & was driven insane by the situation. Nicholson has played so many unusual roles, people pretty much saw him in the insane role even when he was trying to be normal!!

I have to agree with him on that but I still like the Kubrick film the best!! In the opening scenes when the family is driving to this lodge with the creepy music & talking about the Donner party, you already something bad & powerful is coming!!

and the best place about it is it took place in OREGON!!!!

Robocop (whoops too late)

Total Recall (whoops too late again)

Batman (because the last one was so damn good it will be hard to top)

I really dislike remakes, in general.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

and stay true to the book. The book was written from the Chief's point of view, not McMurphy's. It would be an entirely different spin.

I don't think they should remake Gone With the Wind or Wizard of Oz.

12 Angry Men (oops... With Jack Lemon too)
Desk Set
Random Harvest
Auntie Mame
Here comes Mr Jordan
The Goodbye Girl
Colossus the Forbin Project
Lost Angel
Forbidden Planet

Yeah - I don't think that one could ever be redone. My husband saw it for the first time a few weekends ago (TCM showed it) and now has this on his top 20 list.

Pretty in Pink
Gone with the Wind (for various reasons)
E.T.
When Harry Met Sally

Gosh, I could really go on and on. I absolutely hate remakes when there are so many awesome stories still waiting to be told to the semi-literate. (I'm joking because I used to tease my husband-who never picked up a book-about that)

Your "semi-literate" joke aside, I totally agree with this. Every time there's a remake announced, I always think, "What? They couldn't come up with something new and original to do?"

If an old movie is considered a well-beloved classic, why remake it? It just seems like it's an ego trip on the part of the director - "Hey, I can do it better!" Well, most likely not.

I'll allow that there may be exceptions - for example, I loved the 1984 version of "The Razor's Edge", although I admit I never saw the 1946 version (but according to my late mother who saw both, the 1984 version was much better).

The thing is, there just seems to be a real dearth of creativity in the movies being cranked out these days, and doing remakes seems like a big part of that. We NEED some new stories!

I think some stories can be redone to find a new audience. For example. I loved the remake of "Heaven Can Wait" with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. Other than true film buffs, there just aren't that many people who watch classic films. Remember when Ted Turner colorized all those classics thinking that young people would watch them? I was a teacher then, and I asked my teenage students if it made a difference. They said "We don't watch old films because they're black and white. We don't watch them because they're old."

When Tim Burton remade Planet of the Apes, I thought it was pointless, and I'm a fan of Tim Burton. But I'm 57 and a fan of the original. But I enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It's not as good as the original, but I didn't expect it to be. It took something from the original premise and did something new with it.

I agree we need new stories though. It makes no sense to me that Hollywood will spend $200 million making The Lone Ranger" because it's Johnny Depp playing Tonto, but they won't take a chance on films that are smaller budgets "Dallas Buyers Club" which took years to get made. The studio lost millions on LR and DBC has already made back its budget many times over.

Should've got an Oscar

Shut up! No! Just no no no!

That said - if Baz Luhrman wanted to do that I would be aok with that!

Some movies ought to remain the single definitive incarnation of the story that they've told. Do we need a new Van Gogh's Starry Night? Do we need a new Moby Dick (the novel)?

When something is a classic in its entirety, it ought to remain standing on its own in all its unique wholeness, and not be messed with.

The 1957 classic with an evil, non-Mayberry Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal.

Budd Schulberg's script was WAY ahead of its time in predicting the unholy nexus of media gasbags, right-wing politics and slick Madison Avenue marketing.

Some years ago, I heard a re-make was in the works. And it was going to be a Whoopi Goldberg project. My skin crawled.

According to the story I read, in the L.A. TIMES IIRC, Ms. Goldberg went to a video store intending to rent a horror movie. Whatever that movie was, the title was similar to "A Face In The Crowd." So she rented it by mistake.

She had never seen it, was captivated, and immediately started planning to re-do it with her in the Andy Griffith role.

I haven't heard any more about this project since, and assume it is dead. And I hope it stays that way. Some movies just don't need a remake, and this is one of 'em.

ON EDIT: you can buy the Special Edition of "AFITC" dirt cheap. If you do, make sure it has the interviews. You get to hear Andy Griffith say the f-word!

they re-made The Women, but I nearly puked when I read that they re-made Mildred Pierce. I mean -- why? Both movies were well done, the stories fit the time periods in which they were made, the actors were well-cast. What possible new twist or new interpretation of the stories can there possibly be. Needless to say, due to my love of the originals, I did not waste my time nor my money on either of the re-makes.

I think that's the reason I love foreign and indy films -- there are new plots and cultural settings while Hollywood seems to be out of ideas and/or so in love with CG and special effects they can't come up with anything else.

some movies are just fine the way they are IMHO. Don't want to see Goonies remade (nor a sequel made at this point)!

For the first time.

They cannot remake this movie eveeeeeer.

Robert Redford and Paul Newman were having a ball making it - I can't believe another group of actors could have so much fun! Great story, costumes, set - and I feel like I was let in on a big joke.

Nope! Can't be remade.

but I'll just list a couple.

Saving Private Ryan
I don't think it could be improved upon.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
There were so many film stars in IAMMMMW that I don't think today's actors would be able to leave their egos behind.

Frankly, there are too many remakes that never should have been made. The remake of Psycho is at the top of that list.

Forrest and he would have been born around the same time and my dad was a ' Bama man.

I find this a respite from the political strife of General Discussion.

"Forrest Gump" was a groundbreaking movie utilizing use of CGI to put Forrest into historical events. Quite a stir then.

This film and "Philadelphia" were part of Best Actor winner Tom Hanks rise to one of the greatest actors of all time!

This movie could never be done over again and be "Forrest Gump," could it?

Is my mom's all time hands down favorite movie.

Followed only by Silver Streak and The Toy.

The Toy could never be made today either - no way and no how.

that sees BLAZING SADDLES for the first time uncensored must be left speechless afterwards. Anyone that attempts a remake will fail in a horrible manner.

Dawn of the Dead had the consumerism critique removed and Day of the Dead had the anti-military message reversed to a pro-military message.