Hollywood executives and producers like churning out remakes for the same reason mothers like serving leftovers to their kids. IT'S EASY!
Here's the recipe for a remake:
First, you snatch the original film that's been lovingly stored within the memory bank of the public. Next, you add a dash of inexpensive actors who know how to look good on screen and well...that's pretty much all they know how to do. Then, drench the film in a hefty coating of computer generated visual effects to mask its stale flavors like the butchered storyline, acting, or directing. Finally, you serve up the film with fancy words like "new vision," "re-imagining," "reboot," or whatever label the producers want to slap on it other than "remake."
As long as people keep consuming remakes, other classic films will enter the Hollywood kitchen looking like filet mignon and leave it looking like mystery meat.
Believe it or not folks, we will soon be treated with remakes of classic films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Birds, Footloose, and even The Karate Kid, which will be renamed The Kung Fu Kid with Will Smith's son, Jaden Smith, set to star in the role that was originally made famous by Ralph Macchio. Jackie Chan will also take over the role that was iconically portrayed by Pat Morita as the young boy's mentor, Mr. Miyagi.
You will never be Mr. Miyagi to me, Mr. Chan.
Granted, sometimes board games can make decent films. 1985's Clue was an alright movie for what it was. Then again, at the other end of the spectrum you have films like 2000's Dungeons & Dragons, which makes you wish you could get back the 107 minutes of your life you wasted watching it.
My point is that good, original films are hard to come by these days. Why is this? Well, the main reason is that producers are often afraid to take risks on original story ideas by upcoming screenwriters. There is less of a risk when it comes to remaking classic films because there is already a built-in audience who enjoyed the original film and will go to the theater to see the remake simply because of that fact. Essentially, many producers believe it doesn't make sense to put so much time and effort into a brand new story when you can retell an old story in minimal time and with little or no effort.
One studio executive said it best when describing why studios are so eager to spit out remakes: "If you're trying to get a movie made now, you can push the rock up a mountain or you can push it on flat ground. And most of us would rather push it on flat ground."
Yes, a good lesson indeed boys and girls. Always take the easy path. With such great wisdom coming out of Hollywood it's amazing California is able to function properly. Oh wait, scratch that last sentence.
The bottom line is that most remakes or "reboots" are either garbage or mediocre films at best. Notice how I said MOST remakes. There have been exceptions with the most recent one being the reboot of Star Trek. In the nerdy debate of Star Trek vs. Star Wars I always believed the Star Wars Universe was superior. But even I was won over by J.J. Abrams' awesome vision of the first voyage of the crew of the Starship Enterprise.
Films like the newest Star Trek give me a small glimmer of hope for remakes. But then as soon as a great film like Star Trek is released, I hear about the announcement of a Cliffhanger remake and I immediately slam my head down. Why anyone would think this 1993 Sylvester Stallone action flick warrants a remake is beyond me. It was an entertaining, mindless action film and nothing more. But some individuals seem to think the story could be explored further. According to producer Neal Moritz, "Just as they rebooted Star Trek, we're going to do the same with Cliffhanger."
Aside from the terrible remake idea, putting Cliffhanger on the same level as Star Trek is just insane. Maybe Mr. Moritz should listen to what was said to Mr. Billy Madison when he tried to sound intelligent to an audience...
Unfortunately, remakes are here to stay and there are plenty more coming. All I can advise anyone who is reading this to do is to allow yourself to see more original, creative, thoughtful films like Up, 500 Days of Summer, or The Hurt Locker and skip the effortless, recycled films made from the faded memories of Hollywood classics.
perhaps it's not the case that there is no originality but mabye it's because we've reached a bottle neck of ideas. for instance, rob zombie said,"every cool riff has already been written by black sabbath, everyone is just ripping off those riffs." this seems to be the case with the movies.
ReplyDeletei mean dont get me wrong i agree with you 100% that we dont need a remake of a good movie. if someone wants to remake a movie the least they could do is remake a bad move and make it better.
I agree with you that there is some cause for alarm in the movie industry. However, producers, film director, and screen writers have to look at the commodity that is movies. This goes to say that their sole purpose is to sell a product to the people. Although, it may lack in originality, it still will sell. That is the dilema in today's age, people just want to be entertained and if Hollywood can advertise, and market it effectively then people don't care if it's a remake as long as they are entertained. That alone is some cause for concern.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some points made in this but i have to say that the creative minds in hollywood are still churning. Certain remakes should be shot down, these are known as classics. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th and so forth. But to say that hollywood has lost their edge? that may be a little haste. They just recently put out a few blockbusters such as district 9, The Hangover, and of course the Dark Knight. Hollywood producers are looking to far into making the quick buck i understand but a director who created i am legend and the best fast and the furious movie to date should be given a chance. J. J. Abrams is a great director and one who seems to be able to pull us out of this slump that you see... I feel that our producers are doing what they are dealt with. Maybe budgets are too low for what they want but i think its too early to panic. And as for the board games idea i agree completely with your statements but also feel that the video game genre of movies is still undiscovered. I mean a video game is basically an interactive movie. So why not knock them over to the big screen? But there are still more opportunities for the big screen to win the publics hearts back.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree with you about remakes. Nothing is as good as the first! Great topic for the blog.
ReplyDeleteI have been saying the same thing! There is no originality anymore. All of the sudden they are making all these movies from the 80s and TV shows are lasting hmm..a minute. Also, every book is becoming a movie-Eat Love Pray with Julia Roberts (she shouldn't be that role) and even Lauren Conrad-LAUREN CONRAD is making a movie out of her book! Who wants to see that?
ReplyDeleteGreat article!
The movie industry has moved from the creativity model to a profit driven model designed for moguls of the industry to make high gross earning.
ReplyDeleteThey follow the adage "if it works once, then remake it." Marketing models now include the promotional materials that are involved in movies.
Disney does good job with developing promotional material associated with their movies. The Toy Story 3 movie will most likely have several action figures sold to children.
Hollywood executive now say "show me the money" when considering the production of scripts.