By: Martin Rand, III
Date: October 27, 2011
Remakes are nothing new in the entertainment industry and, in the coming weeks, there are even more scheduled to be released. I always hear people talk about how there's no more creativity in the world and how everything has already been done; but is this really a bad thing?
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| "Beavis and Butt-Head" is being remade for this generation starting Oct 27. I think it's great but, for some reason, people don't like remakes. |
Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with taking a classic and remaking it for the hear-and-now. When it's done well, it can become great in its own right. It could even become bigger than the original with the new generation. For example, the reboot of the 1960s classic "Planet of the Apes."
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" set itself apart from its predecessor. With its well crafted story and memorable moments, it carved out its own lane and has jump-started a new series of ape movies.
This is what I mean by done well. Some creative thought and effort went into making the product fresh and new. At times, this can actually be more difficult than making something brand new. Think about how hard it would be to take something great and elevate it one more level.
Also set to be rebooted tonight is "Beavis and Butt-Head." I'm not sure how much better than the original this will be but the preview trailers look funnier than anything I can remember on the original.
Of course, parents and TV activist would probably say there's no need to bring back the two most famous couch-potatoes in history but, it was one of my favorite shows as a kid, I'm happy to see it back on the air.
Other remakes scheduled for release next month is "Halo: Combat Evolved" and the Motorola Razr. "Halo" redefined a generation of video-games and proved first-person shooters can work on a console system. It's being remade with better graphics and new controls but retaining the same the story, levels and weapons of the original. The Razr was the most popular cellphone ever (until the iPhone); and is being remade with a Android operating system and will be the thinnest touchscreen ever.
I'm excited about both of these products. Will they be better than the originals? Most definitely and the nostalgic feeling will make them worth buying.
Remakes can be a phenomenal experience. They can either bring you to a place the original couldn't or make you remember a different time in your time life when all you had was the original; and that can be just as satisfying.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that people shouldn't try to be creative because I welcome fresh and new ideas all the time. But, don't think just because something is a remake it's going to damage the original product. Don't let a "few bad apples" ("The Thing.", "Nightmare on Elm Street", "Charlie's Angels") ruin what could be a great experience.
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A couple of things about this post I don't entirely agree with. 1) being the premise.
"But, don't think just because something is a remake it's going to damage the original product." - Pyrate
I don't deny there is someone out there who might make this argument, but I think you dissected the broader mood regarding reboots/remakes into something more palpable for your argument to resonate. In other words: a straw-man. Re-make may not=bad, but the very prospect of it doesn't bode well for the original's legacy.
People like me are at least reasoning from already available information. It's not like Hollywood actually has the best track record when it comes to reboots and remakes. Shaft anyone? Or how about the FIRST Planet of the Apes remake that you conveniently forgot to mention lol. By the end of 2010 there were 75 squeals and reboots scheduled. District 9 proves creativity still exists within Hollywood, but its increasingly scarce.
I also feel you kinda pushed it with the Halo comparison, however. For the most part we know what we're getting with this Halo revamp, not so much with a reboot of a great piece of film. Same with the razr launch.. if they f**k up your old favorite phone, you can give it back. But if they f**k up your favorite old movies, we're ALL stuck with it.. forever.
I know they don't have the best track record (as I mentioned above, you can also throw in Clash of the Titans) but my point was remakes can't take away from the original. If it's bad, it falls to the waist side and is forgotten (which is why I didn't mention the first remake of Planet of the Apes lol), but if it's great it only adds to the legacy. A remake could never take anything anyway from the original because the original is cemented forever.
I'm not sure about that number, but I have a list of about 100 remakes and reboots scheduled in the coming years. So, as you mentioned, while creativity isn't dead (as Inception proved) it is scarce. Remakes and reboots (I chose not to include sequels because I have a different opinion about sequels) outnumber originals but their not all bad. For every Planet of the Apes I can give you a True Grit. While people, like you, choose to focus on the negative, I choose to focus on the positive.
My point in including Halo and the Razr in this discussion was to show that it isn't just movies that are remade. This process happens all throughout the entertainment industry and other industries as well. People associate remakes with film and that's not 100% true.