c/bad-movie-remakes

The Total Recall remake missed the whole point of Mars

I caught a bit of a podcast last week where they talked about the 2012 Total Recall and one guy said the original worked because Mars felt dangerous and weird. The remake just turned it into a generic chase movie with Britain standing in for everything. They spent like 200 million bucks and still made the world feel smaller and less interesting. I remember watching it in theaters and walking out feeling like I saw a trailer for a video game I'd never play. Why even call it Total Recall if you're gonna strip out the trippy stuff and the three-breasted lady? Anyone else think the remake crew just didn't get what made the 1990 version fun?

Why did they remake The Warriors with modern CGI? That movie needed grit, not polish

I used to watch the 1979 version with my dad on VHS every summer, the fake lightning and cardboard sets made it feel real and raw. Then I caught the 2024 remake last month and it looked like a video game cutscene, all the sweat and danger got smoothed away. Does anyone else think remakes lose the soul when they clean up the imperfections, or am I just stuck in the past?

The $45 RoboCop remake Blu-ray I regret buying

I used to defend the 2014 RoboCop reboot as underrated, but then I actually watched it again last weekend and realized the original had way more heart. The new one felt like it was made for shareholders, not fans, and I wasted 45 bucks on a shiny case I'll never open again. Anyone else shell out for a remake they now can't stand looking at?

The RoboCop remake forced me to choose between nostalgia and my own sanity

Back in 2014 I had a free Sunday and my buddy kept pushing me to see the new RoboCop in theaters instead of rewatching the 1987 original for the 40th time. I picked the remake because I figured a modern take couldnt ruin something I loved that much. Three scenes in I was already checking my phone and by the end I felt like I wasted $12 and 2 hours of my life. The irony is the original is still there on my shelf, it never went anywhere, but I still chose the shiny new garbage. Has anyone else paid money for a remake when you KNEW the original was sitting at home waiting for you?

The Psycho remake gets too much hate, just watch it with fresh eyes

Everyone trashes the shot-for-shot Gus Van Sant version from 1998, but I actually found it more watchable than the original after about 20 minutes. The color palette and the Vince Vaughn performance hit different when you stop comparing it to 1960 and just take it as its own weird thing. Anyone else give a second chance to a remake everyone swore was a disaster?

The 2019 Lion King vs the 1994 one, why did they even bother?

I grew up on the 1994 Lion King, watched it maybe 40 times on VHS at my grandma's place in Austin. The new one had better fur textures but zero soul, the animals barely moved their faces so all the emotion was gone. Compare the 'Be Prepared' scene, the old one had Scar's creepy shadow and sharp angles, the remake just had a CGI lion walking on rocks. My nephew saw both back to back and said the hyenas in the old one were scarier, that says it all. Is there any remake that actually beat the original for you, or are we all just chasing nostalgia with worse tech?}

Rant: why do studios keep remaking movies nobody asked for?

I mean, I finally watched that new take on The Craft last weekend and it just made me mad. The original had this gritty 90s vibe that you can't copy, and the remake tried to make everything sleek and modern. It's like they looked at the wrong parts of the source material. Same thing happened with that Total Recall reboot from 2012, they stripped out all the weird Philip K. Dick stuff and just made it a generic action flick. Idk, maybe it's just me but when a remake changes the tone that much, what's the point of even calling it a remake? The old movies still exist and look fine, so it's not like we needed a new version. Has anyone else noticed this pattern where the remake takes the least interesting part of the original and builds the whole thing around it?

The 2007 RoboCop DVD that proved remakes kill the original's soul

The 2016 Ghostbusters reboot felt like a different movie after the original cast cameo

After watching the 1984 version on VHS last month and then revisiting the 2016 one the same night, I saw how the original's tight timing and chemistry made the remake's jokes land flat, so has anyone else noticed the pacing difference ruins the whole tone?

The 2020 remake of 'The Witches' still haunts my movie nights

Last Halloween I rewatched that Anne Hathaway version and my cousin walked out after 20 minutes, she said it felt like a kids cartoon that forgot it was scary. Why did they even remake the 1990 one when the puppet effects were already perfect, has anyone else found a worse remake that completely missed the original's vibe?

The 1998 Godzilla that I finally appreciate after 15 years

I used to trash the 1998 Godzilla remake every chance I got, but last month I watched it with my nephew in Portland and something clicked. The problem wasn't the monster design or Matthew Broderick, it was that I expected a Godzilla movie when it's really a Jurassic Park knockoff with a kaiju skin. Once I treated it as a dumb 90s creature feature, the chase scenes through Madison Square Garden actually worked and the egg hatching sequence was honestly tense. Has anyone else had a remake flip for them after watching it with fresh eyes or a different audience?

The Robocop remake made me appreciate the original's tiny details

I watched the 2014 Robocop remake last week and it got me thinking. Back in the 80s I used to watch the original on VHS and I never noticed how much work went into the little world building stuff. Like the ED-209 malfunctioning during the board meeting, that was a throwaway gag but it set up the whole idea that this tech is untested and dangerous. The remake just has the robot working fine until the plot needs it to fail. The remake also polished out all the grit. Detroit in the original looked like a bombed out wasteland, the remake made it look like a normal city with some bad neighborhoods. I mean the original had that toxic sludge sprayed on that guy's face, the remake was way too clean and safe. It felt like they were scared to be gross or messy. What really got me though was how the remake explained everything. The original never told you how RoboCop's brain worked or why he had those glitches, you just accepted it. The remake spent 20 minutes on his wife and his memories and his humanity, which sounds good on paper but it kills the mystery. Sometimes less is more. Anyone else feel like remakes add too much explanation to things that were better left vague?"

Overheard my nephew say the original was 'too slow', that explains everything

Last Saturday my sister hosted a family dinner and her 16 year old nephew was talking about the new Mean Girls musical remake. He said the 2004 one was 'too slow' and 'needed more songs'. I get it, he grew up on TikTok and short clips, but man, that movie is a classic. The remake tried to fix something that wasn't broken, and it showed in how flat the jokes landed. Studios keep remaking stuff because they think old equals outdated, when really the pacing was fine for the story. I told him to watch the original with the sound off and just read the expressions, he laughed, but I think the point stuck. Has anyone else had a younger relative defend a remake that you just can't get behind?

Question: my 1980s classic got a remake with a budget, why did they strip the plot?

I watched the new version of The Wicker Man for the first time last night and it completely missed the point of the original. They replaced the slow burn mystery with jump scares, and the ending made no sense compared to the 1973 version. Has anyone else found that remakes remove the subtext to appeal to a wider crowd, or am I just too attached to the old films?

The manager at the Alamo Drafthouse swore the RoboCop remake was better. What?

He had this whole speech about how the 2014 version had 'better themes' while we were waiting for our drinks, and I just stood there in the lobby for 5 minutes arguing that the original's satire actually hit harder because it was played straight. Has anyone else run into a true believer who defends a remake with logic that just doesn't line up with what's on screen?

Talking remakes with my uncle changed how I see the 2016 Ghostbusters

I was over at my uncle's place last Saturday helping him paint his garage, and somehow we got on the topic of bad remakes. He's 68 and not really into movies, but he said something that stuck with me. He said the original Ghostbusters was a movie about regular folks getting paid to do a weird job, and the remake was about celebrities being celebrities in Halloween costumes. At first I wanted to argue because I remember enjoying the 2016 one when it came out, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. The new one had all these big names and cameo gags, but none of the simple teamwork that made the original work. It made me wonder if I was just defending it because I wanted to like it, not because it was actually good. Has anyone else had a conversation like that where someone older pointed out something obvious about a remake that you completely missed?

The 2005 War of the Worlds remake still makes me mad

I watched the original 1953 version with my dad when I was a kid, and the remake from 20 years ago just missed everything that made it scary. Spielberg spent close to $132 million on it and the son character running back into the explosions made no sense at all. The tripods looked cool, sure, but the alien weakness to bacteria was rushed and the ending felt like someone hit the fast forward button. Tom Cruise screaming his kids' names for 90 minutes isn't suspense, it's just loud. I remember leaving the theater in Chicago thinking they could have just reshot the original scene by scene and it would have been better. Has anyone else watched the old version after the remake just to clear your head?

Just realized the 2019 Lion King remake had a higher budget than the original's total box office run

I was reading some box office numbers on Wikipedia last Tuesday after a boring dinner, and the math blew my mind. The 2019 photo-real remake cost around $260 million to make, but adjusted for inflation the 1994 animated original only made about $422 million worldwide, so the new one's budget was over half of what the classic earned in its entire theatrical run. Yet the remake still felt empty because the animals had no expressions, which kind of defeats the whole point of a cartoon lion. Has anyone else looked at the production costs versus the charm factor and wondered if they just dumped money into a soulless cash grab?

Spent $30 on the old RoboCop remake, wish I'd trusted the reviews

I finally caved and bought the 2014 RoboCop remake on a digital sale last week. The $30 price tag felt okay since I loved the original so much, but man, that was a burn. The action scenes had no weight, and the suit design looked like a budget cosplay next to the 1987 metal beast. What really got me was how they stripped all the satire out, it turned into a generic corporate thriller. I kept checking the runtime hoping it would end, and I actually fell asleep during the third act. Has anyone else dropped cash on a remake they knew would flop just to confirm it? What did you spend and was it worth the letdown?

The 1998 Godzilla remake finally made sense to me after seeing it in a theater in Austin

I spent years hating on that remake, called it a total cash grab, which it was. But last month I caught a midnight screening at the Alamo Drafthouse and the crowd was roaring at every dumb joke. Watching people genuinely enjoy the camp and the ridiculous monster design, I realized the original 1954 movie was never going to be topped, so why not just embrace the goofy version. That screening changed how I judge remakes, now I ask if it brings something fun to the table instead of if it ruins the original. Has anyone else had a theater experience flip your opinion on a movie you swore you hated?

A friend swore the Psycho remake was a must-watch, I still want my 2 hours back

My buddy Dave kept saying the Gus Van Sant shot-for-shot remake was 'interesting art' and not a total waste. He convinced me to sit through it in 2023, and I honestly thought the original was playing at first, then the acting got flat and I felt sick. It cost me $14 on a rental and I spent the whole runtime checking my phone, which I never do. Dave later admitted he only liked it because he wrote a college paper on remakes and needed to defend it. Has anyone else been tricked into watching a flop remake by a friend who had some weird academic angle on it?

Chose the RoboCop remake over the original for movie night, biggest regret of my week

I picked the 2014 version because I wanted something slick for my buddy in from Detroit, but the PG-13 rating stripped all the grit and that ED-209 stop-motion chaos is nowhere in sight, has anyone else sat through a remake that made them miss the clunky practical effects?

My hot take on Total Recall remake flipped after a late night rewatch

Last month I told my buddy at work the 2012 Total Recall was an insult to the original. But last Tuesday at 2am I caught it on cable and actually paid attention to the world building. The way they designed the Colony and the transit system felt genuinely fresh and creative. I still think the original has better performances but the remake stands on its own as a solid sci-fi flick. Anyone else have a remake they initially trashed but came around on after a second look?

Rant: That Ghostbusters remake still bothers me

I was talking to my cousin Dave from Pittsburgh last weekend and he said the 2016 Ghostbusters was 'fine, just not needed.' And honestly, that hit different because I realized I agree. Nobody asked for a reboot of a classic comedy, especially one that didn't bring anything new to the table. Has anyone else had a conversation that made you see a bad remake in a new light?

Just realized the new RoboCop remake was totally unnecessary

Rewatched the 2014 version last night and it completely missed the dark satire of the original, felt like a generic action flick. Has anyone else found an older remake that actually ruined the original's vibe for you?