As I sat clicking through different movie sites on the Internet, I read the news that there is a remake of one of my favorite films of all-time, Flatliners, in the works. The 1990 film was one of the freakiest movies I had seen growing up, not because of blood and gore, but because of the simple fact that I could picture this actually happening. The movie, directed by Joel Silver, had a realistic feel to it and it touched upon a question that many of us have; just what is on the other side once you die? The film, which starred Kieffer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, and Julia Roberts, is considered by many to be a cult classic. So, why remake a movie that is only 23 years old? The simple answer is Hollywood has run out of original ideas, which leads me to my top 10 list of unnecessary remakes.
The 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic was remade, shot-for-shot, in color by Gus Van Sant. Van Sant also added color to the film. While the 1960 version is widely considered one of the greatest horror films ever made, Vince Vaughn takes over as Norman Bates, a role made famous by Anthony Perkins. There was no reason to even see the 1998 remake. The actors in it, Vaughn, Julianne Moore, and Ann Heche, seem to just copy the actions of the actors from the original. Van Sant, who gained notoriety for his direction of Good Will Hunting, really stunk it up with this film. He really hasn’t made a decent film since.
While I liked the remake, it was unnecessary. I’m starting to lose a lot of respect for Will Smith. It almost seems like he wants his entire family to control Hollywood, as he pimps out his son and now daughter to the entertainment industry. The 1984 film, starring Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio, spawned three sequels, the last of which was one of the worst sequels ever made. Many forget that it starred Hilary Swank. Fans of the original can quote many lines from the film. In the 2010 remake there was no “Send him home in a body bag,” only images of teen bullying and an attempt at dramatic acting by Jackie Chan. The updated version was a hit, but mainly with younger audiences, who probably haven’t seen the original.
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