Worst remake of a classic film?

Question

Bedazzled? The Ladykillers? The Wicker Man? Any others?
Which remake most totally destroyed the original and why?

Answer 1

Thankfully I have not seen any of the remakes you mentioned, nor would I.

I cannot imagine anything worse than an all Yankee cast for a movie like "The Lady KIllers" - a wonderful movie, set in a mad and totally daft postwar London, of fond memory. A classic cast, impossible to find today, including Alec Guiness, Hebert Lom and Peter Sellars, plus a small part for Frankie Howerd. Brilliant. Seen it hundreds of times. Must get the DVD.

The worst ever was the Yankee remake of "Titanic". The original British version had been made back in the 1950s and was true to the story. There were still then hundreds of survivors from Titanic who gave their stories.

The worst aspect of the Yankee remake was the way in which they dealt with the brave captain of Titanic, making him look an idiot. He went down with his ship. We got to respect that. Then there was all that rubbish about an Irish kid meeting an upper class English girl. What total crap is that? No such event could possibly ever have happened. We're talking strict Edwardian rules here.

The entire movie remake was bollox!!

A movie is not a stage play. In my belief, once a movie has been made, it is in effect a snap-shot of history. Not the story, but the people in the movie. It should never be remade, not even THE BIG MOVIE II etc.

Quite often the remakes offend an older generation who remember the original of their youth of fond memory. A new generation is getting a totally crap version of the movie and in particular if the original is set in some historic setting and location, then it simply will not match up.

Worse; there are actors in Hollywood who, because they are in receipt of massive incomes, actually believe they can act. Well, I have to tall you they cannot. I am NOT impressed.

Answer 2

Wow, so many have come up with great answers. I'd go along with you and say Bedazzled and The Ladykillers would be on the list. So would:

Psycho
The Bad News Bears
The Italian Job
Godzilla
Rollerball
The Parent Trap
Yours, Mine and Ours
Cheaper By the Dozen
Planet of the Apes
The Fog
The Three Musketeers
Miracle On 34th Street

While I don't like Titanic at all, it's not a remake of A Night To Remember nor the same titled Titanic (1953). I named only those who tried to copy the originals, not tell the same story a different way.

Answer 3

All of those! AND Oceans 11! Good grief did that suck! Why must they do this? As for the other post what was wrong with Halloween? It is a classic! Oh and the hills have eyes. The new ones where way too gory! Oh and what was that Sci-Fi with Tom Cruise? That sucked big time! Oh I could go on and on about bad remakes!

Oh and while not on the subject how the devil did that crap fest THE BLACK DAHILIA get on the big screen? It had NADA to do with her! Read the book my dark places to find out what it did! How could he live in Los Angeles and get all the facts wrong?

The truth is there are no good writers in Hollywood so they must try to remake the good stuff and ruin it every time!

Answer 4

Alfie, because you can't get any better than Michael Caine, super cool

The Italian Job, why remake a classic, also Michael Caine

The War of the Worlds, Just ludicrous

Miracle on 34th Street, Too twee, totally lost the magic of the first
Wizard of Oz, because no one else could play Dorothy but Judy Garland

Goodbye Mr Chips , couldn't capture the essence of original
and the performance of Robert Donat

Answer 5

Hi there.
Can't comment on those, as I refuse point blank to see them, most especially "Wicker man". You just want to get these people and slap them dizzy!
The most pointless has to be the remake of "Psycho", using ugly people that cannot act to recreate the film shot for shot. Who expected to come out of this well?
"King Kong" is another that cannot be matched and everybody who tried has failed to capture the magic.
The worst I have seen has to be "The Ring", though. The Japanese original is absolutely brilliant, tense and brooding. The US version is brainless kiddy pap, rendered down into the same old stalk and slash drivel they seem to so love.
WHY? They could see how good the real one is, why not remake it faithfully? Why throw away the tension and drama?
Did the X Files teach them nothing?
Arrggghhh!
Yours angrily, Steve.

Answer 6

I haven't seen many of the films already mentioned, but how about the remake of "Get Carter"?

The remake wasn't terrible, fairly average really, but Sly Stallone was no substitute for Michael Caine and for me, the remake just lacked the compelling atmosphere of the original.

Answer 7

The Thing From Another World, High Noon and Wizard of Oz.

1) Less suspense and kinda liked that giant terrorist carrot. lol! 2.) The actors in the remake were crappy. 3.) It was more like a musical than a movie.

Answer 8

Psycho remake with Vince Vaughan, total rubbish.

Answer 9

The Wicker Man without a doubt. How could Nick Cage, who I like, make such rubbish?

Answer 10

Psycho. The remake was a complete waste of time.