8mm Forum: Remakes - Why Does Hollywood Bother

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Posted by Barry Attwood (Member # 100) on February 28, 2006, 10:13 AM:

I can't see why "John Carpenter" has allowed an executive producer credit on the remake of his 1980 classic horror "The Fog", it is awful, with no style or imagination. The basic story is the same, but the handling is terrible, this had a 15 certificate, and I was expecting to have a few jumps in my seat like the original, but I found myself just shaking my head with disbelief as this terrible remake. The original 1980 film had a terrific cast, fine acting and special effects (for 1980), and a taut script, with just the right balance between shocks and revelations, and it boasted the terrific foreward by "John Houseman", but the 2005 remake is a waste of celluloid, and early contender as the worst film of the year, can't Hollywood come up with new ideas anymore, they just have to re-cycle the same tried and tested formulas, what a pity, especially when they tamper with one of my favourite horror film (I still have my own 8mm print too!).

Have any of the forum members seen any remakes, or TV spinn offs that have drove you to desperation i.e. "The Dukes Of Hazzard" film.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on February 28, 2006, 11:34 AM:

Hollywoods getting very very desperate mate, just look at the the scary movie so called comedies, 1 2 & 3, as for dukes of hazzard [Eek!]

wot a pile of piles.. i suspect ideas are running dry, what what we do without Mr Speilberg. [Wink]

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on March 01, 2006, 02:44 AM:

Yes, there has been an awful lot of rubbish in recent years. I can't understand why a remake of The Fog was ever considered. The original has become better with the passage of time but upon initial release it wasn't regarded very highly at all. In fact, John Carpenter described the original cut as "stupid" and "not scary". So he went back and shot lots of inserts and jump scenes and the end result was a "save job".

As to why he accepted an executive producer credit I would imagine it was a pay cheque for doing absolutely nothing other than lending his name.

Posted by Scott G. Bruce (Member # 384) on March 01, 2006, 07:20 AM:

I suspect that Hollywood is suffering not so much from a lack of creativity (there are certainly excellent stories out there), but much more from a paralyzing fear of taking risks on new material. Remakes have the minimal security of already having a niche audience that is familiar with the original. New stories are a complete shot in the dark, unless they are marketed along the lines of other stories ("It's just like X! It's this year's X!"). When producers and actors don't put the monetary return first and just try to make a compelling film that tells a new story well and looks beautiful, they can sometimes have a hit on their hands ("Good Night and Good Luck" is probably the best example from 2005). Unfortunately, most studios are so tight-fisted and conservative that it seems safer to them to recycle crap. And why not? Audiences seem to be all too willing to pay obscene amounts of money to watch crap movies. Until we movie-goers begin to show some sense and stop giving studios a profitable return on god-awful remakes, we can expect the production of many more bad movies (probably at the expense of good ones).

The lowest common denominator rules!

What do you think?

The kettle's boiling for tea . . .

SGB

Posted by Andrew Wilson (Member # 538) on March 03, 2006, 11:39 AM:

with the crap remake of the fog done starring models incorp.i am dreading the remake by fox of the omen.hell only knows what that will be like.hollywood has lost the plot for years so im with you on that one john.as to john carpetner and the late derba hill giving there names to a lot of crap;then the paycheck must have been good.cgi is no match for guys going around with smoke machines as in the 1979 original.andy.

Posted by David Michael Leugers (Member # 166) on March 04, 2006, 07:22 PM:

This past year has been pretty dreadful in a steadily declining atmosphere lacking in originality. I don't know the attendance
figures (as opposed to gross receipts) but you can certainly tell
that there are far fewer people in the seats when you do go to the cinema... with the desire for digital projection and HDV "movies", one wonders if some idiot in control actually wants to kill off theatres. Seeing a quality film on the big screen in all its glory is the ONLY reason I go out to a theatre. Crap I can get on the TV.

David M. Leugers

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on March 06, 2006, 03:24 AM:

A perfect summary David.

For those looking for a real film with a bit of quality look up "The Constant Gardener". Apart from the camera being a bit too much on the move for my liking it has a story, good acting, a good script, well put together and a decent ending. Not the best film of all time but in today's age of mediocrity is quite an achievement.

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on March 08, 2006, 12:11 AM:

I gotta agree on one thing... you go to the movies for the real-film, big-screen experience... but inexperienced projectionists and shoddy management ruin it for you, and my wife and I have sat in near-empty theatres at least the last five times we went to see a movie, and I'm talking probably a timespan of two years here. I've had four super-saver tickets in my wallet for months and there isn't even anything playing that we feel compelled enough to go see and use these tickets! I think a little part of why we all love screening super-8 films is the simple truth of "If you want something done right, do it yourself" - when you're in control of all the technical stuff, the setting up and ensuring a flawless screening and viewing experience, then you don't have to live with poorly framed or out-of-focus images, or even bad sound... one time during Star Wars III my wife had to leave the room and ask management to fix the sound because it was nearly inaudible after the movie had started. Odd, since all the commercials and previews had been BLASTING us out of our seats right up until then!!

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