People often have an opinion on
what movies shouldn’t be remade. For example, if The Princess Bride is
remade there will be an apocalypse caused by the fans of the original. There
are over 500,000 books being published a year and most of them are not being
made into movies/shows. So when I heard that Twilight might be getting the TV show treatment, I snapped a bit. They've made enough money off of that bestseller. Why not take a risk and try something original? However,
there are a few movies that need something better. Here are my top 5 films that deserve a remake.
The Black Cauldron
This film was made in 1985 by Walt Disney Productions. To me it was the first film that Disney tried to make a dark animated fantasy film. However, it performed terribly at the box office. With a budget of $44 million they earned $21.3 billion at the box office.
The movie is based on The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander which follows an “assistant pig-keeper” named Taran who wants to be a hero that wins the battle but ends up discovering that heroes are often overrated, things aren't as black and white as they seem in legends, and glory may not be worth the getting.
It’s a great series with good
romance that still has dark themes that the movie originally desired. However,
the movie made the characters seem bland and one dimensional. If a remake of
the series happens, they need to make the characters more exciting and
relatable like the books. Also, did I mention that it's a series? No more milking the dregs out of a tiny book like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This has 5 books, all with stellar plots and different themes.
Also, call the first movie by its
proper name. The title The Black Cauldron is technically the second book
in the series even though the movie is based on the first book... well, kind of.
I am Legend
I haven’t rewatched this film since I was a teenager, and I was on the hype train of Will-Smith-cannot-make-a-bad-movie. I remember liking the movie, but one question I had that was never answered while watching the movie: Why is it called I am Legend? To my recollection the movie never answered that question. I remember watching the alternative ending when the movie came out on DVD and still had that question.
Well fast forward to 2017 when I read the book for the first time to seek out this lifelong question of mine and I realized that the book is nothing like the movie. In the movie the antagonists are zombies and Will Smith (Robert Neville) is supposedly the last human alive. Come to find out there are more humans alive, and he saves two he met by either sacrificing himself or discovering the intelligence of the zombies and setting them free.
In the book Robert Neville is the remaining human in an apocalyptic world where the rest of the population turned into vampires. During the day they are inactive and at night they tempt Robert to come out of the secure household to essentially die. He found another human who, in the end, betrays him and sacrifices him to the vampires. I won’t tell you why she does this or why the book is called I am Legend. You can either read it for yourself or wait for the remake.
The original story is different from the movie, and I think they should remake the movie to follow the book.
Treasure Planet
Treasure Island in space: what more reason should their be for a remake? When I watched this movie for the first time I thought it was great. A young boy wanting to explore the galaxy to find the treasure. I was shocked to find out that it didn't do well in the box office. It makes sense---after all these years I don't quite remember what happened. I remember the art and the twist, but most of the individual characters are forgettable. After act one when the twist occurs, the movie became less interesting.
I believe a remake would make this flop successful. When this movie came out Disney was not doing well with its animated movies. I believe if they remade this movie with their new style of animation it would be more successful and not be known as "the biggest flop in the history of Disney animation."
Van Helsing
Like Will Smith I thought Hugh Jackman couldn't make a bad movie. When I was a child I played with childish things . . . . I liked Van Helsing when I was a child but there is a reason why I don't watch it now. It's just like every other action film that was made in the mid 2000's: a lot of action, poor plot, and bad GGI.
Luckily times have changed. CGI is better if used correctly and instead of making it an action film make it a mystery. I still would like to see Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing again because he can do no wrong. Make it an origin story of how vampires came to be with Van Helsing investigating a series of people mysteriously disappearing the same way. Then the ending would open up to the Dark Universe (Vampires, Frankenstein, the Mummy, etc).
Lord of the Rings
Ya, you heard me right Lord of the Rings needs to be remade! The graphics are terrible, they should have done everything in CGI, the cast are all B list actors. Everything needs to be redone for the movie and Tom Bombadil should be included. . .
JK.
What I really want to be remade is The Hobbit. Making a 300 page book into 3 movies is a little ridiculous. The first Hobbit movie was OK, but I want this book to be made into one movie. I want to have the same cast that was used in the movie (They were all great!), take away CGI and use practical effects like Lord of the Rings, remove Legolas and the love story. Most importantly is making sure that the movie is a comedy adventure story instead of an action adventure like the book.
One of the most hilarious scenes that JRR Tolkien wrote happened in The Hobbit. It happens when Gandalf, Bilbo, and the Dwarfs wanted to rest at Beorn's, an extreme introvert. Beorn doesn't like to have visitors so Gandalf and Bilbo get themselves invited to stay with him for the night. Gandalf tells of his captivating adventure and slowly adds a dwarf in the story. Beorn being so enthralled to the story he didn't mind including more company just to hear how the end of the story. It's a great scene that needs to be in the movie.
There are movies that did well and are being remade. I wish producers would take a chance and remake a flop, than play it safe by remaking a movie that did well.
What movie would you add to the list?
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