What I am interested in is, what movie would you remake and why?

To start the ball rolling, I’ll give you one of my favorite films that would benefit from different interpretation: The Wizard of Oz.

Now I know it is a classic musical, but that’s just the problem, it shouldn’t be. The book had a lot of really cool things that would have made some nice scenes like when the woodsman fights the Klahidahs and the Hammerheads and a bunch of other cool things. There was even more fantastic stuff in the sequels.

I think the movie Return to Oz was a step in the right direction, but I think it would have been better to start from scratch and begin again.

I would cast Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman) in the Cary Grant role, Sandra Bullock (so sue me!!) as Eve Kendall, Alan Rickman in the James Mason role, and Sean Bean (GoldenEye, Patriot Games) in the Martin Landau role.

I would pump up the action quota with car chases and other explosive effects, but bring in some really great writers to pump up the characters, too. I'd like it to be a movie like Lethal Weapon or Die Hard, an action with great characters among the action. The movie would start in New York, work its way to Mount Rushmore, before finally reaching the action-packed climax in good ole San Francisco.

My first choice for scoring the film would be Elia Cmiral. (Good ole boy Jerry might not be around by the time I get to make this ). I think Cmiral would do a fantastic job.

(Interesting sidenote: I actually started writing a story about two years ago called Coast to Coast, heavily based on North By Northwest, but never finished it. But I do have the complete, detailed outline sitting somewhere in my room.)

This would be the one film I would love to remake. Actually, it wouldn't be a remake. Like the upcoming Planet of the Apes film by Burton, mine would be more of a reinterpretation of a classic film more than a direct "remake."

Great topic, MWRuger!

When the bizarrely conceived (but not poorly done, merely pointless) remake of PSYCHO came out, I thought, "well, if I was going to remake anything scene-for-scene, what would it be?" I figured it would be Ishiro Honda's MATANGO (1963, released here as ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE and doomed to instant disrespect as a consequence.) It's a fascinating picture that few people ever give a chance. (I don't recommend available American prints anyway, the dubbing is poorly acted and recorded, and it's not LETTERBOXED, nor is the voluptuousness of the color preserved. Not as bad as what happened to THE TELEGRAPHED MAN, though, in which case the distributor was so cheap they wouldn't even pay for a color print! It went out in B&W! And I like black and white, but this movie wasn't LIT for it, that's a whole other science.) I'm not sure I would want to remake this one, the original is perfect as it is, but it would be interesting as an exercise. I suppose I'd want Christopher Young to score it.

I also think it would be interesting to take on one of Akira Kurosawa's most underrated and little-seen (Stateside) movies, THE BAD SLEEP WELL. I already know what the final shot would be. I think I would take a much different approach to a lot of the exposition, however, especially in the last half hour or so. Here's the surprise for ya: I'd do what was done on CAPE FEAR and PSYCHO, and insist on retaining Masaru Sato's doomy, gloomy BAD SLEEP WELL score for my version. I can't imagine anything else working for me. If I can't have that for whatever reason, however, I guess either Christopher Young or Carter Burwell, or even some younger genius I haven't heard of yet.

I am little enough assured of my ability to get all the movies I want to do of my OWN material without taking on the added stress of worrying about remakes ... still, I'd rather see THE BAD SLEEP WELL retackled than the more famous, but more tedious, HIGH AND LOW (Richard Price adapted that, and Scorsese was kicking it around YEARS ago ... well, those two would make something interesting out of it, but the Kurosawa version is too long by half.)

I’d also like to see at least one DECENT version of LORD OF THE FLIES.
The first British film was too tame. The last one was IMHO horrid.

This isn’t a remake, but I hope Hollywood makes COLD MOUNTAIN,
a wonderful, award winning novel about a man’s journey back to the
North after the Civil War. Stunning book that would make a great movie.

NP The Keep

Such as:

Airport
Earthquake
The Towering Inferno
The Poseidon Adventure

And maybe even one of my all-time favorite bad movies.The late Paul Bartel's cult classic Death Race 2000,with a young Sylvester Stallone.

NP: City Slickers 2 (Shaiman)(****½)

I'd be curious to see a modern version of Metropolis. I think CGI would work very well for this movie, and it could have a great score, too.

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Originally posted by dantoris:
Marian - I completely agree, but I would still like to do it. I think it would make a really great film. Like I said, I have nothing against the original, it's one of my all-time favorite films.

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Yeah, I just cannot imagine any remake coming near the original NBNW. I prefer getting the upcoming DVD in August.

NP: Jaws Expanded

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I would pump up the action quota with car chases and other explosive effects, but
bring in some really great writers to pump up the characters, too. I'd like it to be a movie like Lethal Weapon or Die Hard

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NP: American Ninjas and Fighters - "American Ninja 2 Suite" George S. Clinton ****/***** (God, I love Clinton's music for this film! Let's hope he doesn't get type-cast as a comedy composer because of Austin Powers.)

For instance: "There's no place like home." A lot of snooty know-it-alls claim that this is the lesson to be learned from Baum's book. Not so. Dorothy states this near the beginning of the book, while she's talking to the Scarecrow after rescuing him from his beanpole. The filmmakers obviously wanted Dorothy to be a dynamic character (i.e. one that changes), so they had her come to this realization at the end of the film. Baum's Dorothy, however, is completely static and knows that home is where she belongs from the very beginning.

They main theme of the book, which is only hinted at in the film, is that all of Dorothy's companions already possess the things that they're hoping to receive from the Wizard. What these characters really lack is self-confidence and the patience necessary to allow these qualities (intelligence, caring, and courage) to develop. The film hints at this idea by having the Scarecrow solve all the problems (such as cutting down the chandelier to trap the Witch's guards) and having the Tin Woodman cry at every opportunity, but there's a serious flaw in the film by presenting the Lion as a genuine coward. He's not a coward in the book--in fact, the message that Baum's trying to send is that courage is the result of being brave no matter how scared you really are.

As for "Return to Oz," it's a great film that was never given a fair chance.

I agree that there's something to be said for real MONSTER-type monsters -- that, indeed, is what I'm shooting for in my own giant-monster script (additionally, something darker and more violent than anything we've seen in the genre since WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS, although perhaps the recent GAMERA pictures qualify.) The KONG trademark kind of gets in the way of what I want to achieve now.

Todd: yes, RETURN TO OZ is a neglected masterpiece. But the original WIZARD is so ingrained in people's minds, that -- again that wicked word, "trademark" -- the OZ trademark got in the way.

I love Mighty Joe Young(1949), and I also love Mighty Joe Young(1998).

It's just like potato chips and Pringles.

Gae, you are asking for details that are an integral part of the original film to be duplicated in a remake.

This will never happen.

When I'm hungry for Pringles, I BUY Pringles...when I'm hungry for potato chips...well, you know.