I saw the trailer for the remake of "The Magnificent Seven". How do you improve on the original? I suppose the remake of "Yrue Grit" was not bad, just different, and perhaps this remake will be the same. I have the same mixed opinion about the upcoming remake of "Ghostbusters". What next, redoing "Animal House"? Why screw with near-perfect classics?
Remaking old successes is nothing new in Hollywood. Epics like " Ben Hur" and "The Wizard of Oz" were remakes. Still, aren't there any new ideas out there?
It might work if you never saw The Original Magnificent Seven.
ReplyDeleteOf course that was a remake of The Seven Samurai, the actors watched and mimicked the Kurosawa film, which is pretty good.
As a friend said on Facebook yesterday, "Hollywood's been out of ideas for decades. They're just taking advantage of Gen Y & Millenial lack of historical acumen, now."
ReplyDeleteBut, hey, there's a Three's Company movie in the works! I'll bet somebody read "The Martian" and went, "Hey, there's a great under-utilized property! Let's do a movie!"
Barf.
The best response would be to simply ignore the remake. It worked for Wild Wild West.
ReplyDeleteThey milked the comics to death, and now they will beat the classics to kingdom come. I don't mind movies that are derivatives, like Apocalypse Now was Heart of Darkness transported to 1960s Vietnam. Some themes are universal and repetitive with each generation's slight variation.
I've yet to watch the new Jungle Book but if it's good, hey. They sure aren't showing the old one anymore.
In the spirit of the Justice League's "Civil War" and "Batman vs. Superman," I suggest "Pooh vs. Eyeore; the battle for 100 Acre Wood!" In a world of conflict and strife, there was an oasis of peace and goodwill, until the day when Eyeore bogarted the honey supply, put Piglet out to guard the hives with a blockade only he would be anal retentive enough to make succeed, and kicked Christopher Robin to death when he stood up for the Pooh. I ought to type that out and mail it to myself to put in a safe deposit box. I bet they make it. Then I can sue for original material royalties.