Are the only ideas left just remakes?!

Maybe in YOUR mind, but thankfully you aren't god.

The Karate Kid sucked, maybe (and I HIGHLY doubt it) the "Karate Prince of Bel Air" will be nice and entertaining.

Now what is that supposed to mean? I didn't come off saying I was god. In my mind I think they shouldn't remake SOME things, I never came off saying, "I will smite thee if you do".

There are only three stories. You certainly don't wait for those three to become dated to tell another version of one of the three. All you need is a storyteller who has a desire to try his hand at one of the three so you can see how his is different from the ones already out there.

There is no such thing as "shouldn't be remade."

Why not? I restate my initial point: How does the existence of a remake take anything away from the original film?

And, assuming we accept the quoted premise, how do we decide what movies "shouldn't" be remade and what movies are acceptable to remake?

I suppose the aspect could be revolved around the different generations. For instance, for the sake of argument I will use Star Wars as a reference because, as a person who intereacts with all ages of star wars fans, I can explain better detail. The generation that I grew up in was the original SW movies(4,5,6). While the kids nowadays have probably grown up with the prequels(1,2,3) And the clone wars stuff. So the generations view the different ones, the older generation can appritiate the Original Trilogy, while the younger ones seem to be more around the Prequels. So, if you look at Karate Kid, which the older generation can appritate and you get a new generation of people to watch the remake. Pretty much takes the aspect away from the original. While it is just people like me who don't see why we must take the appritiation from the originals, to each his own.

I admit, it isn't my decision to what can and can't be remade. Nor do I think it should be, it is just my opinion in all, which everyone in the thread has their own. And I can respect if you wish to either want a remake, or not. As far as how to decide...there is no absolute way to decide...I never said there was, it is all based on the opinions of people.

Provide a definitive standard (one that isn't "'cause Spoiler sez so), and I'll accept that.

But in the absence of one, why not?

Originally Posted by llamatron Seriously, Bryan. is pretty much the coolest person in all of existence and definitely all of GD.

Again, I am not saying that the standard is because I don't say so...

I think that "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

That would apply to, say, Lucas remastering the original trilogy and then not releasing the originals in an anamorphic widescreen format (LUCAS! *shakes fist*), but not to a a film that is a remake of another film, because you're creating a separate entity and not a "fix."

I'm pretty sure i've seen a previous version of Chronicles of Riddick in my toilet.

I must agree.

Doubtless there are certainly films out there that due to poor interpretation of an idea or crude manufacture could be said to deserve a makeover (or at least a decent burial), but the recent fascination with re-tooling either hugely successfull or classic films frankly boggles my mind.

I've never understood the argument that remaking a movie 'doesn't take anything away from the original'. I'd contest that it does. It immediatly cheapens not only the the film it remakes, but us as well. Culturally it is extremely damaging as it suggests that we have no respect for a piece of original art and that we are so intellectually flatlined that we can no longer create anything new for ourselves. (The 'no new stories' thing is a red-herring here - they may only be three basic storys, but it's finding a new way to tell them that has kept authors occupied for centuries. Re-hashing someone elses thoughts on them doesn't count).

Aside from this, it's a flat out insult to the people involved in creating the original work AND to anyone who has been moved in some way by the pre-remade film. Not good enough y'see. Needs some work - you'll enjoy this version more!

What I find most troubling is that Hollywood is no longer even bothering to reach back in time to find projects to re-boot; more and more it's films that were released only a few years ago (though this at least begins to destroy the already weak contention that 'we're just bringing (the film) to a new generation', when everyone over the age of six has seen it in the first place...)

There have been remakes that I've enjoyed more than the original. But I can't think of one right now. That's how rare it is...