Cinema's Recycling Bin: Remakes & Reboots

       ♻️Cinema's Recycling Bin: Remakes & Reboots♻️

If you’re anything like me you shake your head in disbelief every time you read about a movie being remade or “rebooted” as they like to say these days. My thoughts run from, “They already did this! Do something new!” to “Once again there is proof that there are no original ideas left in Hollywood!” I find it an annoying practice.

What’s kind of surprising is that it’s been going on forever! They were remaking movies almost before there were movies! I realize that doesn’t make sense, but the first recorded remakes of movies actually occurred in the late 1890s. Turns out I’d be complaining about remakes no matter when I was born.

So we’re not talking about a sequel, or a prequel, or a legacy sequel. We’re talking remakes. Here are a few fun facts before we get into some noteworthy remakes:

*Sometimes remakes are American versions of foreign films (they never get it right). We’ve been over this before. 

*Sometimes a remake of a black and white movie is done in color - Kon Ichikawa did The Burmese Harp twice (b&w 1956/color 1985).

*Some remakes look nothing like their original. Just take a look at Scarface from 1932 and then that mess from 1983.

*Other times the remakes look almost identical! Michael Haneke did a shot for shot remake of his own 1997 film Funny Games in 2007. I’ve seen both. It’s really weird to see both. The movie itself is extremely messed up. I’m sure if you screened these back to back you’d need to seek professional help down the role to address the trauma. 

*Gus Van Sant did a shot for shot remake of Psycho in 1998 for some unknown reason. Talk about nobody asked for that…

*Sometimes the remakes are made for TV movies. They remade Rear Window as a TV movie in 1998. We LOVE the genre here at Cinema Wellman, we did an entire episode about made for TV movies, but…REAR WINDOW!!!!! You just can’t do that. I’m looking at you as well, Mr. Gus Van Sant. 

*Speaking of made for TV movies, did you know that Heat is a remake of a TV movie?! I don’t recall that ever happening before. 

*Sci-Fi likes to remake/reboot in order to show off new FX: ie. The Blob, The Fly, The Fog.

*Sometimes they change the titles, which I don’t get at all. Maybe it’s to disguise the fact that they’re remakes. Have you heard of Infernal Affairs? How about The Sea? Have you seen The Total! No? What about The Departed (which I loathe), The Lake House and True Lies? Granted there are language differences, but still…

*Some movies get remade over and over. King Kong has been done 4 times, The 39 Steps 4 times, Freaky Friday 4 times - 5 if you count Freaky, and you should!

*They seem to be willing to remake ANYTHING! I mean, who asked for reboots of Footloose, or Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, or Robocop, or Total Recall, or Point Break, or Rollerball! Especially Rollerball!!

*The new trend is Disney making live-action versions of their animated films. A majority of these are head scratchers. 

Now I’m not suggesting that all remakes are terrible. On the contrary. There have been instances where the reboot was quite entertaining even though nobody asked for it. Examples of this would include; War of the Worlds (1953/2005),  Carrie (1976/2013), The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974/2009), 3:10 to Yuma (1957/2007), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968/1999), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947/2013), West Side Story (1961/2021),  Narrow Margin (1952/1990), True Grit (1969/2010), and Ransom (1956/1996).

In these cases, the remakes are pretty far apart, so introducing these stories to new generations makes sense. Although you could always just watch the original. 

Let’s begin with a story that Hollywood just can’t stop telling!

A Star is Born 

(1937, 1954, 1976, 2018)

First off, you have to applaud the fact that the original and the most recent remake were made 81 years apart. It’s a story that every generation seems to get their own version of. And with the top notch roster of talent they keep putting together, why not?! I have a feeling Hollywood isn’t done with A Star is Born.

1937: Janet Gaynor & Frederic March

1954: Judy Garland & James Mason

1976: Barbra Streisand & Kris Kristofferson

2018: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

One of the things about the story that lends itself to multiple remakes is that the story is timeless. Let’s look at how IMDb describes them.

1937: “A young woman comes to Hollywood with dreams of stardom, and achieves them only with the help of an alcoholic leading man whose best days are behind him.”

1954: “A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.”

1976: “A has-been rock star falls in love with a young, up-and-coming songstress.”

2018: “ A musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.” IMDb even rebooted its synopsis from 1954!

As I mentioned, it’s a timeless story. And no matter how you slice it, it’s pretty grim. Spoiler alert if you somehow have never seen any of these versions…the guy always ends up walking into the ocean or hanging in his garage. Great movies, but you will not be smiling at the end of any of them. 

Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven

(1954, 1960, 2016)

Here’s a story that’s been told on screen three times, and the transition from the original to the first remake is one of my favorite genre switches in film history.

The great Japanese director Akira Kurisowa’s influence over other filmmakers is well documented. Kurisowa’s The Hidden Fortress (1958) inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars. You may have heard of that.

Yojimbo, which Kurisowa made in 1961 was turned into a western by Sergio Leone three years later titled For a Fistful of Dollars with a young Clint Eastwood.

Kurisowa’s Seven Samurai (1954) is critically regarded as one of the best films of all time. It was turned into a western in 1960 by director John Sturges, and updated in 2016 by Antoine Fuqua. Not a bad trio of directors right there. 

Since Seven Samurai takes place in 1586 and the remakes take place in the American “Old West,” we have another story that transcends time. 

All three versions feature a group of mercenaries/gunslingers who accept a seemingly impossible job for people in need. There’s a small, defenseless group of villagers who are being threatened by a bad man and his gang of other bad men. 

Our heroes come in, work together, and help the people defend themselves. It’s a great story that works in 1586 and it works again almost 300 years later. The music in the 1960 version is absolutely amazing, as is the scenery. 

See the Kurisowa original and the 1960 Sturges version back to back and you’ll be in for quite an experience. If I owned a theater, I’d show that double feature once a week. 

The Thing From Another World/The Thing

(1951, 1982, 2001)

This trifecta has something in common with the previous trio in that the original and first remake are TREMENDOUS. The most recent one is decent, but not as good as either of the two that preceded it. 

Sci-Fi was king back in the 50’s. Along with the Western, it may have been the most popular genre of that decade. 

Howard Hawks’s sci-fi/horror film The Thing from Another World is about a group of scientists fighting a bloodthirsty alien organism at a remote arctic outpost. First of all, any sci-fi/horror film set in a remote arctic outpost is going to be worth the price of admission. 

The original is excellent, but I think John Carpenter’s 1982 remake with Kurt Russell is even better. As I mentioned earlier with sci-fi being remade, there is an improvement in special effects. That means Carpenter’s version is quite bloody. People and dogs splitting open and other things coming out of them. It’s quite wet. 

The Manchurian Candidate

(1962, 2004)

This political thriller centers around a soldier who is brainwashed into becoming an unwitting assassin. The story has three major characters; the brainwashed soldier Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey/Liev Schreiber), Shaw’s close friend Ben Marco (Frank Sinatra/Denzel Washington), and Shaw’s mother Eleanor (Angela Lansbury/Meryl Streep). When you have three major roles to fill, and you fill it with that talent, you know you’re in for something special. 

We are also lucky enough to have these thrillers directed by John Frankenheimer and Jonathan Demme. Both do a terrific job, as usual. 

The posters are 100% true in both cases! “You must not miss the first five minutes to know what it’s about! When you’ve seen it all, you’ll swear there’s never been anything like it!”

“A crackling conspiracy thriller,” “Brilliantly engrossing.” “Meryl Streep…Utterly Terrifying.” Nailed it. No notes. 

See both of these, and see them in order (as always). 

I also wanted to mention an excellent triple feature all based on the same novel. The Last Man on Earth/The Omega Man/I Am Legend (made in 1964/1971/2007 respectively) are all based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 dystopian thriller. All three are different enough that they don’t always seem like they’re remakes at all. All three are worthy of your time.

Since we’re basically talking about recycling here, just a quick shout out to the good people at Upcycled! I wore my Upcycled t-shirt for this YouTube episode!

Upcycled Inc. is a waste diversion organization and is part of the Precious Plastics community (https://preciousplastic.com).

Upcycled takes discarded plastics and upcycles them into long-term use products. Since their start just two years ago, Upcycled has “upcycled” over 3,000 pounds of plastic, turning that unwanted plastic into useful configurations. They create products (benches, garden beds) that can be used to reach their mission of giving plastic a long-term purpose and creating a more environmentally conscious community. Great work being done there by phenomenal people! Kudos to co-founders Orlando and Freddie. Keep fighting the good fight! Cinema Wellman loves their mother Earth, and we love Upcycled!

Check out their website: goupcycled.com and follow them on Instagram: @go_upcycled If you live in or around the Baltimore area you can volunteer your time at one of their many planned cleanups. If you don’t live nearby, you can always donate funds to help the cause. 

And don’t forget to recycle whatever you can, especially plastics! Be good to your mother!

Platforms

A Star is Born (1937): hoopla, kanopy, freevee

A Star is Born (1954): HBO Max, Amazon Prime

A Star is Born (1976): HBO Max, Pluto

A Star is Born (2018): Amazon Prime

Seven Samurai (1954): HBO Max, Criterion, kanopy

The Magnificent Seven (1960): tubi, pluto TV

The Magnificent Seven (2016): Amazon Prime

The Thing from Another World (1951): Amazon Prime

The Thing (1982): Amazon Prime

The Thing (2011): Amazon Prime

The Manchurian Candidate (1962): Amazon Prime

The Manchurian Candidate (2004): Paramount +

The Last Man on Earth (1964): kanopy, hoopla, freevee

The Omega Man (1971): Amazon Prime

I Am Legend (2007): HBO Max

War of the Worlds (1953): Paramount +

War of the Worlds (2005): Paramount +   

Carrie (1976): Not currently available😞

Carrie (2013): Paramount +

 The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974): Showtime

 The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009): hoopla

 3:10 to Yuma (1957): Amazon Prime

 3:10 to Yuma (2007): HBO Max

 The Thomas Crown Affair (1968): Amazon Prime 

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999): Amazon Prime, tubi

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947): kanopy, tubi

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013): HBO Max

West Side Story (1961): HBO Max

West Side Story (2021): HBO Max, Disney+

The Narrow Margin (1952): Amazon Prime

Narrow Margin (1990): Amazon Prime

True Grit (1969): Paramount +

True Grit (2010): Showtime

Ransom (1956): hulu

Ransom (1996): Not currently available😞

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Until next time…take care!