Movies so good they should never be remade

[Doc Safari]

The TV show thread got me thinking about movies that should never be remade, or that even after remakes the original is still the best.

My list.

The original King Kong

The lighting and the way the movie is paced have never been equaled by any imitator. The way the film makes you feel like you are on a safari still makes me want to watch this movie. There is danger at every turn. Even so-called herbivore dinosaurs decide to charge or attack the human characters is just like it would be in the wild. Sure the special effects and the dialogue are dated, but for overall atmosphere I prefer this to any Kong sequel, remake, or imitation that came after it.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

This is the ultimate action-adventure movie of all time in my book. I’ve seen the movie a least twenty times and I never get tired of it. I can’t say that about any of the other Indiana Jones movies.

The Ten Commandments

Cecil B. DeMille and Charlton Heston can never be topped!

The 1953 War of the Worlds

I know there have been many advances in special effects since this movie, but in my book no one ever improved on the snake-necked Martian War Machines spitting death rays. The Tom Cruise War of the Worlds was watchable, but it just made me want to see this one again. The same goes for Independence Day.

[eternal24k]

just as bad as remakes are standalone movies that get sequels :suicide2:

[BCmJUnKie]

Vanishing point (they already remade it and it was a pile of shit)

Cool hand Luke.

Red Dawn

[Watrdawg]

This is a classic I've watched almost every year since I was a young kid.

The Wizard of Oz.

I still watch The Ten Commandments every year it comes on. Just as good as the first time I remember seeing it back in the late 60's.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Bullitt.

[GermanSynergy]

Gigli

[VLODPG]

Any of the Dirty Harry movies but if they did a remake,then they should only cast Hugh Jackman in Clint Eastwoods role

[Slater]

"The Wild Bunch", "Alien" (although a prequel is apparently in the works), "Aliens", the "Band Of Brothers" series.

I kind of liked "Final Countdown" (the USS Nimitz goes back in time to(almost) thwart the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor). Maybe a new variation on that theme.

[sadmin]

Jeremiah Johnson
Saving Private Ryan

[Watrdawg]

Midway

[Gutshot John]

No such animal.

Any movie can be remade as audience tastes change. The problem comes in when people try to compare the remake to the original when in reality each should stand on its own merits. Certain movies are cultural phenomena (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark) that were popular because they tapped into something no marketing type could have identified. A remake can be damn good, but it will never be the same. They were lightening in a jar and to expect a remake of one of those movies to capture the imagination in the same way is asking too much.

I can think of numerous movies where I've enjoyed the remake more than the original. I can think of others where I enjoyed both for different reasons.

It's like Beethoven's 9th, different orchestras have done different performances/arrangements of the same piece of music.

That said they're just movies. What I do resent however is when original movies are altered/changed through colorization or whatever.

[Slater]

I believe the current Hollywood terminology is "re-imagine".