The best example is The Thing. The original film in the 1950s was awkward af. But the 1980s remake by John Carpenter was chef’s kiss. Then they made a remake of a remake and it was meh.
The 2011 The Thing wasn’t so much a remake as it was a prequel to the remake, telling the story from the Norwegian scientists’ camp.
The 1982 John Carpenter remake opened with the last two remaining Norwegian scientists chasing “The Thing” until it reaches the Americans’ camp. But they’re misunderstood by the Americans. When trying to shoot at The Thing, which has taken the shape of a sled dog, the Americans instead return fire and kill them. Then the Americans explore the Norwegian camp and try to figure out what horrors killed everyone there, while slowly discovering why they were shooting at a dog in the first place.
The 2011 film shows what happened to the Norwegians before the 1982 remake. You’re correct, it wasn’t as great of a film (hard to compete with John Carpenter), but it wasn’t exactly a remake.
The worst thing about the 2011 prequel is they had filmed the whole movie with practical effects, like the Carpenter movie, which is one of my favorites of all time. If you’ve seen it, you may remember very little of these and a lot of cgi.
The studio or production company or whatever didn’t like the practical effects and we got cgi Thing instead. I’d love to see the original effects, and I feel so bad for the people who worked so hard on it just to get scrubbed from the final cut.
It was a weird combination of remake and prequel. It hit all the same story points and barely added anything new apart from Tetris aliens.
You scared me for a second, being only aware of the 80s one I thought you wanted a remake of that lol
Today we see it that way but in the 70s and 80s, the 1950s Thing was hailed as a classic prestige science fiction film. That’s why Carpenter’s version was trashed at the time. It was dismissed as a grotesque barf bag SFX spectacle that completely disregarded what made the original so good.
The upscale did Lisa a little dirty
Dear AI, please upscale this image, but also try to make tons of subtle changes that completely ruin the vibe. Do it in a way that makes it clear that you’ve been trained on lots of images from The Simpsons, but have no idea what the fuck is going on in any of them.
I want them to make good discworld movies.
The repeated failure to use Brian Blessed as Ridcully is a constant source of rage to me
The 2 color of magic movies were quite enjoyable
Theres 2 of them?
One for CoM, one for LF
I think they are categorized as mini series actually. I kinda think of them as movies because of the length
I actually enjoyed Hogfather but haven’t read the book.
It’s Dune. Great book but original movie needed improvement
Practice what you preach, OP
Instead of the corporatization of storytelling, we should be letting artists tell the stories they want to tell. We should engage with our media more critically and stop chasing nostalgia.
Stranger Things did that, for its first season.
That’s Dune for you.
I won’t stand for this slander of David Lynch and Kyle McLachlan.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I would love to see a modern version and one that’s got great effects.
Tbf that is the modern version. The old one from the BBC definitely suffered from lackluster effects.
That was part of its charm for me. Red Dwarf was the same; the lack of budget somehow made it funnier.
I do wish they would do one that follows the plot of the radio show. It would probably have to be a TV series though, it goes on a movie.
I think Douglas Adams thought it was funny that every iteration was a little different.
Well they DID make a TV series in 87 that is really fun and worth a watch that follows the radio show. I assume you knew this though and wanted an updated one.
I want something completely different… Pick up rejected movie ideas from the 1920s and 1930s and make them EXACTLY like they would have done back then.
Or maybe they could come up with an original idea
Crazy talk I know
Instead of making another high action time travel movie they could make something more adventurous. Also don’t make it a silly family friendly movie. We need more serious adventure films that aren’t reboots.
Nice idea, but you’d never get funding. So lean into it. Instead of remaking flops, demake them. Redo Battlefield Earth or Waterworld on a half million dollar budget. As the world watches your film with effects that would make Sharknado blush they will finally ask “what is art?”
I don’t think Waterworld needs improving, but I recognize that I’m in the minority.
I’m conflicted about waterworld because the special effects were really good for the time but they have dated quite a bit since then.
It’s mostly explosions, as I recall. Is it the miniature work that stands out to you?
Yeah try jumping exploding jetskis into an oil tanker on a half mil budget. The movie rocks.
Sharknado had a tornado filled with sharks with not much more special effects budget, and that was 13 years ago (how the time flies- like sharks in a tornado). We not trying to win Academy Awards for VFX with these demakes.
Waterworld is unfairly maligned and I won’t stand for it. Yo you should watch it, seriously
Sharknado is pretty fun, competently made in my complete amateur opinion.
What I meant is in Waterworld they did that shit for real.
I have watched Waterworld. There is a lot to like (concept, practical effects, Hopper as the villain), but there is a lot lacking (writing, about something, also Hopper as the villain). They should have finished the script instead of barreling ahead. They needed someone in the room to manage Costner’s ego. It’s a very mid Mad Max “inspired” film, of which the 80s/90s had many. The Salute of the Jugger/The Blood of Heroes is about on par and it didn’t cost the GDP of a small nation.
A urinal bolted to a wall: The movie
Or maybe, just maybe do a new franchise or movie. I’m so tired of going to the cinema and watching the trailers for 9 ouf of the 10 comming up movies being sequals or reboots of old franchises.
there are plenty of good movies that are not reboots/sequel.
e.g. the top ten on letterboxd for 2026 contains 2 sequels and 1 reboot and 1 documentary/biography, so you get >50% original new movie stuff this year.
If they can’t even make a good sequal or reboot of an old successful franchise, how do you expect them to make a good movie/franchise from scratch?
Theyre all the same anyways. There hasnt been a unique story in hundreds/thousands of years. Its all the same plots with different characters in different environments.
Better yet, why not create something original?
We could certainly use a lot more Discworld movies.
Because no one watches those.
I think it’s because the way the advertise movies now is terrible. Go look at trailers of the past and it’s always “in a world gone mad only one man can stop the terrorists from blowing up New York” yeah I know it’s cheesy but at least I know what the movies about. These days it’s 300 cuts per minute and now it’s anyone’s guess what genre it is.
Downsizing is the quintessential example of the switch and bait of modern trailers. What an incredibly boring movie that was.
Two words: Easy Money
Movie mash-ups.
Back to the Future and Tron.
Blade Runner and Hawaii 5-0
Truman and Silo.
Mrs. Doubtfire and John Wick.
WALL-E and alien.
What I wouldn’t give to see a swarm of Xenomorphs tear ass through that ship full of obese humans
Sigourney Weaver was in both movies.
