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What movies and/or TV series SHOULD be remade?

#1

The other day, I watched the movie [Project X (1968)][1]. It was a sci-fi espionage film set in the year 2118. Due to the nature of what the film is about, I was a thrown off by the upbeat 60s jazz music in the opening credits. Not what I was expecting at all. The whole thing had a TV movie feel to it.

But I will say this: The core story was actually pretty good. This would a prime candidate for a modern big budget remake. Keep the basic plot and give everything a fresh coat and it could be a winner. Movies like this are ones that should be remade. I’m reminded of this quote from director John Huston:

There is a willful, lemming-like persistence in remaking past successes time after time. They can’t make them as good as they are in our memories, but they go on doing them and each time it’s a disaster. Why don’t we remake some of our bad pictures… and make them good?

So, what movies do you think should be remade?
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_X_(1968_film)

Public Domain Ethics
#2

I remember a discussion about this a while back, and I can’t remember who said it but I think a good answer was (like that quote suggests): the bad ones.

If you try and remake a classic, you’re going to have an uphill struggle to convince fans of the original, and you’re probably not going to improve on it. But if you can take an idea that had potential but was poorly executed for whatever reason, and work out how to fix it, you could stand a chance of success.

So, er, I guess, Showgirls? :smile:

#3

You’re talking about MAN OF STEEL, right?

#4

Seriously though, it’s worth looking at why we get so many remakes, and I think it’s the same reason we get so many sequels: it’s more about the brand-awareness side of selling a movie than it is about having a particularly strong story that demands to be retold. So by that logic, we’re only going to get remakes of the successful stuff, which is self-defeating for the reasons set out above.

#5

Ignoring the terrible movie, Land of the Lost would actually be a great adult series. For a children’s series, it had a rich mythology. A mature version would be like Lost taken to the next level. It has a lot of potential.

Another TV series I would love to see rebooted is Otherworld. It only lasted 8 episodes but could be successful today.

#6

I know it’s not quite the same thing, but I pray daily for a new series of Star Trek.

I think they’ve missed a trick not doing it after the last couple of movies.

#7

We’re human beings. Not Alpha Centaurans. We can’t handle too many different kinds of stories. Changing the type of stories people like to see would be like expecting a dog to graduate from playing fetch to playing Cricket.

#8

The Last Starfighter. It remains my go to answer for this question. It’s Harry Potter in space and it’s a billion dollar franchise waiting to happen. It works as a TV show too. It’s just a gold idea.

Quantum Leap is another one. Rather than jumping back 30 years or so into a teenage girl, the lead character should be jumping all over history, all over the world. It’d take a big budget, but it’d be a really impressive TV show.

Blakes Seven is something the BBC should be investing in. It’s another franchise that could become as much a cash cow as Doctor Who.

#9

Gary Seven would be a good show for Paramount. Essentially, an American Dr. Who but set against the background of an interstellar John LeCarre style cold war.

#10

Quantum Leap is a good pick. I’d love to see some kind of revival of that idea.

#11

I always thought the 80s horror films Society and The Stuff were ripe for remakes. They both have great concepts at their core but are hampered by being not particularly great movies. Plus the sub(or not so sub)text of both are still pretty relevant today.

#12

I would love to see Sliders continue with a reboot or continue with a new group.

#13

There’s lots of older films and TV shows I like, but would be happy to see remade or continued.

Kim Newman has written a lot of stories around The Diogenes Club, taking the idea that Mycroft Holmes was a spymaster into a world that’s heavily influenced by shows like ‘Department S’ and ‘Adam Adamant’ and adding even more fantastical elements like vampires and other creatures to the mix.

That’s definitely one way to reinvent those kinds of shows and help them fit in with a lot of the genre shows that are on TV now.

#14

What the world really needs is a contemporary HAMLET television series, but set between the time he leaves Denmark and before he returns where he, his friend Horatio and the comic duo, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern travel the world righting wrongs committed by the secretive members of ultra-rich aristocratic families and the dangerous underground of criminals and clans who do their dirty work.

Heck, set it in the middle ages and turn it into a series like The Tudors or The White Queen.

Even better, Hamlet, friends and the pirates that kidnap them go through the Bermuda triangle and end up in modern day Virginia Beach where Hamlet turns out to be particularly good at solving crimes committed by the secretive members of ultra-rich Southern aristocratic families and the dangerous underground of criminals and clans who do their dirty work.

#15

I had a look around last night to see if there’s an plans to remake this movie. Turns out everyone wants to remake it, including Spielberg, but they’re impossible to get. But I did find this glorious version of what a trailer for today would look like:

#16

I will echo Quantum Leap…Kevin McKidd’s “Journeyman” tried it a few years ago.

“The Fugitive” lends itself nicely to episodic TV.
“Deadwood” went out too quick…

#17

I have to admit, I loved the Land of the Lost movie. It is terrible, but weird in a way that we never see. I saw it with a friend and we laughed the whole time. Later, I rented it and my wife and I laughed a lot. I guess I’ve surrounded myself with people who have similar tastes.

This is an interesting discussion but I have a hard time coming up with anything. I guess when I was a kid I always wished I like Krull better than I did.

EDIT- I also liked Project X so what do I know.

#18

It was me, although I was far from alone in that.

More specifically films with a good idea but poor execution. So maybe not Showgirls as that was most probably a terrible idea executed better than it deserved. :smile:

I think Jim’s examples are quite good in that aspect. In the case of Quantum Leap and Blake’s 7 they were more hampered by the budgets or technology of when they were made than badly produced but that means there would be a lot of merit in revisiting them.

#19

Flash Gordon

I know people like the campy 80’s version, I like it too, but I think the Alex Raymond stories are perfect. We need a movie that goes back to the grit, the grime, the medieval affectations, swords, wars, gladiators, bare-knuckle fights all of it. Just straight fantasy adventure. Just…do it right next time.

#20

@RobertB: Project X wasn’t horrible bad. It was just an idea too far ahead of its time. Cheesy acting, sets and effects did not let the story reach its potential.

As to Land of the Lost, the movie was okay for what it was but the concepts and mythology do lend it to the potential of a serious, adult interpretation.