Unkillable Cat
Mildly Dipped
More films on the remake block - Highlander and Commando.
The A-Team remake is a film. No big names attached to it yet.
The A-Team remake is a film. No big names attached to it yet.
Total Recall, remake, coming soon...(2010)
- Thread starter zioburosky13
- Start date
Mildly Dipped
Sir GlowaLot
First time out of the vault
A remake of Total Recall or A-Team for example is not needed.
A-Team was a series of the 80s with it's cartoonish violence. People get thrown against walls and stand up a moment later without real injuries. Assault Rifles used on short range but no one is ever taking a bullet wound. Wooden tables used as a protection against bullets and so on.
I do not think this would work if they put it into a new Series of the same name. Even less if they use realistic violence, because it would kill any humor in it. One of the strong points of the original A-Team was, that it never took itsel too seriously.
Irony is something rarely seen in a Movie or a TV-Series and so the remakes are all doomed to fail.
A-Team was a series of the 80s with it's cartoonish violence. People get thrown against walls and stand up a moment later without real injuries. Assault Rifles used on short range but no one is ever taking a bullet wound. Wooden tables used as a protection against bullets and so on.
I do not think this would work if they put it into a new Series of the same name. Even less if they use realistic violence, because it would kill any humor in it. One of the strong points of the original A-Team was, that it never took itsel too seriously.
Irony is something rarely seen in a Movie or a TV-Series and so the remakes are all doomed to fail.
UniversalWolf
eaten by a grue.
I've been reading PKD lately, and you're right, it is pretty good. To me this raises a question: couldn't they find some other PKD story to make into a movie instead of remaking one that's already been done?SuAside said:
And I wish for once they wouldn't change the title.
Are there any? Maybe Ben-Hur or The Ten Commandments, but other than that?SuAside said:
I've been dreading the possibility of a Casablanca remake for several years now.alec said:
Deuce Bigalow: Mutant GigoloCimmerian Nights said:
Does anyone else resent that Land of the Lost was turned into a dinoexploitation comedy? Land of the Lost was surprisingly mysterious and sophisticated for a kids show, and not comedy.
was there up to this day anyway EVER a good "movie-adaption" of the loost world (which somewhat Land of the Loost ist based on, or I am wrong?)
Cimmerian Nights
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
Has anyone actually gone back and watched the A-Team now that we have hair on our balls (speaking on behalf of myself)
It's horrendous.
It always was.
So was the Dukes of Hazzard.
So was Knight Rider.
It's unwatchable now.
That being said, the A-Team theme song is awesome.
How long until the Airwolf movie?
It's horrendous.
It always was.
So was the Dukes of Hazzard.
So was Knight Rider.
It's unwatchable now.
That being said, the A-Team theme song is awesome.
How long until the Airwolf movie?
TwinkieGorilla
This ghoul has seen it all
not sure if anybody has addressed this bit of the topic yet, as i skimmed the thread...but P.V.'s movie had fuck-all to do with the actual P.K. Dick version (aside from the most rudimentary plot bits) and the only "remake" i'd really like to see is Cronenberg's (since he was basically the first real director of the script and left because, supposedly, he made a version "too close" to Dick's version).
fucking Douglas Quail the pasty clerk turns into Douglas Quaid the ripped construction-working Schwarzenegger. fucking stupid typical Hollywood bullshit.
(worst part is that i love P.K. Dick so much i love every goddamn adaptation of his work. his stories transcend whatever "bad" comes into play. not many people i could say that about...i guess it's the sci-fi pulp that already lends itself a forgivable amount of cheese)
fucking Douglas Quail the pasty clerk turns into Douglas Quaid the ripped construction-working Schwarzenegger. fucking stupid typical Hollywood bullshit.
(worst part is that i love P.K. Dick so much i love every goddamn adaptation of his work. his stories transcend whatever "bad" comes into play. not many people i could say that about...i guess it's the sci-fi pulp that already lends itself a forgivable amount of cheese)
aenemic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
it's not that strange that all we get these days is remakes and sequels to old classics.
there's barely any writing involved - the basic material is already written. just throw a half-assed script together and, if you feel like it, check with the source material if you're breaking any rules or such (not required):
you get the hype for free and only need a rudimentary pr campaign just before release.
your product will speak to lots of people: older people will watch it for nostalgia, younger people will watch it because it's supposed to be ahsum.
big money for little effort.
there's barely any writing involved - the basic material is already written. just throw a half-assed script together and, if you feel like it, check with the source material if you're breaking any rules or such (not required):
you get the hype for free and only need a rudimentary pr campaign just before release.
your product will speak to lots of people: older people will watch it for nostalgia, younger people will watch it because it's supposed to be ahsum.
big money for little effort.
I dont know if somebody already said it on the thread (only read a few posts in) but I would love to see all the Philip K Dick stories that have been made into movies be done again, only sticking to his original plot and title (when that was changed).
Even something like Minority Report that was actually quite good on film would benefit from having a parallel version based entirely on the book and plaid as more of a drama than an action film.
Even something like Minority Report that was actually quite good on film would benefit from having a parallel version based entirely on the book and plaid as more of a drama than an action film.
zioburosky13 said:
I used to say as much myself but nowadays I'm not so sure. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not a lack of original ideas that's causing this remake-trend (and not just of 80s material), but an almost panic-level of risk aversion.
add MacGyver & Kung Fu to the listCimmerian Nights said:
Have the originals been even good to begin with ?Public said:
It was "entertaining" yeah ... but was it REALLY good. It was also one of the few movies I thought Arnold Schwarzeneger did a really bad acting in (and I mean Arnold even managed it to make a good impression as pregnant male!)... how did they always got this usualy good actors playing so bad particularly in a batman movie ...
welsh
Junkmaster
Remake Total Recall? Why? The original was fine as it was.
Jeezus, what the fuck with the creativity? I mean, there are so many plots out there that could be done.
Hollywood is all about the dollar, kids.
Jeezus, what the fuck with the creativity? I mean, there are so many plots out there that could be done.
Hollywood is all about the dollar, kids.
welsh said:
Actually, to be perfectly honest, the amount of plots is in fact rather limited. I remember studying this literary crap while I was still in university, but I forgot the dude's name, I'm pretty sure he was French. Anyway: he devised a list of possible plots in fiction and he came up with something like 30 possible plot developments of which all books and stories ever written are simply variations. That's it. Thirty-something possible plots. If you deviate from them, you basically end up doing a Barthelme (which would just be listed as 'experimental').
welsh
Junkmaster
Hey Alec-
Actually my prose teacher says that there are only about 7 or 8 real plots, but what I mean is that- given the number of decent books out there, they could certainly make a lot more better movies.
Probably with the big commercial movies is that they need to have a sure win worth the big investment. So they play it safe- sequels in the summer.
Back in the 50s it was westerns. Hell, Wayne did the same move twice. There were multiple Magnificent Sevens, but only one that matters. Likewise, there was only 1 Wild Bunch.
And that's the problem.
Music suffers the same prob. Used to be that a record company would allow an artist a few records before there was a big success. Prince, for instance had lots of records before he hit big with Purple Rain. But now, no one wants risk.
Actually my prose teacher says that there are only about 7 or 8 real plots, but what I mean is that- given the number of decent books out there, they could certainly make a lot more better movies.
Probably with the big commercial movies is that they need to have a sure win worth the big investment. So they play it safe- sequels in the summer.
Back in the 50s it was westerns. Hell, Wayne did the same move twice. There were multiple Magnificent Sevens, but only one that matters. Likewise, there was only 1 Wild Bunch.
And that's the problem.
Music suffers the same prob. Used to be that a record company would allow an artist a few records before there was a big success. Prince, for instance had lots of records before he hit big with Purple Rain. But now, no one wants risk.
Hey welsh 
True that: there's a no risk policy.
But at the same time I really do wonder whether we haven't reached our creative boundaries some time ago. To me at least, nothingever really feels new anymore. I had my most recent "WHAT THE FUCK?!" moment a couple of years ago when I discovered Barthelme's fiction. But Barthelme was most productive during the sixties and seventies. His 100 stories explained the last twenty years of fiction to me. And simultaneously destroyed it.
What is that exactly, an innovative movie, an innovative book, an innovative band, an innovative game? How much further can one go than Captain Beefheart, than Aphex Twin, than Balkan folk songs and their twisted metre? Can you really do anything more than what was already done in Joyce's Ulysses or, in fact, Homer's Odyssee? And aren't all games basically Pong in disguise?
Seriously.
It's the absence of a project that is fucking up humanity. There's no end-goal, we just go with the flow, hoping it'll lead us somewhere good, somewhere final, but truth of the matter is that we are too fucking dumb to figure out the end goal OR there is no bigger goal at all and it just happens we still have some gametime left. Compare it to a skirmish game of Age of Empires 2 where you take an island map and put the difficulty level on Easy or Standard. You can take all the time in the world to build up your economy and build a formidable army, because your opponent will most liekly be to stupid to build Transport Ships and attack your island. He'll just keep doing what he's proogrammed to do until all his gold is gone, all his stone is gone, all his food is gone and all his trees are gone, and then all of his villagers will just be standing there, bedazzled, useless, ready to be slaughtered, ready to become extinct.
There is an economic crisis going on and everyone is talking about it but the creative crisis has been going on for years and people still seem surprised.
We're basically in the new dark ages, but thanks to Edison everything is now illuminated. I guess it can be deceiving at times.
True that: there's a no risk policy.
But at the same time I really do wonder whether we haven't reached our creative boundaries some time ago. To me at least, nothingever really feels new anymore. I had my most recent "WHAT THE FUCK?!" moment a couple of years ago when I discovered Barthelme's fiction. But Barthelme was most productive during the sixties and seventies. His 100 stories explained the last twenty years of fiction to me. And simultaneously destroyed it.
What is that exactly, an innovative movie, an innovative book, an innovative band, an innovative game? How much further can one go than Captain Beefheart, than Aphex Twin, than Balkan folk songs and their twisted metre? Can you really do anything more than what was already done in Joyce's Ulysses or, in fact, Homer's Odyssee? And aren't all games basically Pong in disguise?
Seriously.
It's the absence of a project that is fucking up humanity. There's no end-goal, we just go with the flow, hoping it'll lead us somewhere good, somewhere final, but truth of the matter is that we are too fucking dumb to figure out the end goal OR there is no bigger goal at all and it just happens we still have some gametime left. Compare it to a skirmish game of Age of Empires 2 where you take an island map and put the difficulty level on Easy or Standard. You can take all the time in the world to build up your economy and build a formidable army, because your opponent will most liekly be to stupid to build Transport Ships and attack your island. He'll just keep doing what he's proogrammed to do until all his gold is gone, all his stone is gone, all his food is gone and all his trees are gone, and then all of his villagers will just be standing there, bedazzled, useless, ready to be slaughtered, ready to become extinct.
There is an economic crisis going on and everyone is talking about it but the creative crisis has been going on for years and people still seem surprised.
We're basically in the new dark ages, but thanks to Edison everything is now illuminated. I guess it can be deceiving at times.
Nice speech alec. The part after "Seriously." I mean.
We all have different thoughts about what is going on and how the world is turning out to be these days. Some of us have similar, but some others have totally different. There are also many people who don't give a damn because they've come to a conclusion- we'll all die soon anyway, so why should we care?
We all have different thoughts about what is going on and how the world is turning out to be these days. Some of us have similar, but some others have totally different. There are also many people who don't give a damn because they've come to a conclusion- we'll all die soon anyway, so why should we care?
alec said:Hey welsh
True that: there's a no risk policy.
But at the same time I really do wonder whether we haven't reached our creative boundaries some time ago. To me at least, nothingever really feels new anymore. I had my most recent "WHAT THE FUCK?!" moment a couple of years ago when I discovered Barthelme's fiction. But Barthelme was most productive during the sixties and seventies. His 100 stories explained the last twenty years of fiction to me. And simultaneously destroyed it.
What is that exactly, an innovative movie, an innovative book, an innovative band, an innovative game? How much further can one go than Captain Beefheart, than Aphex Twin, than Balkan folk songs and their twisted metre? Can you really do anything more than what was already done in Joyce's Ulysses or, in fact, Homer's Odyssee? And aren't all games basically Pong in disguise?
Seriously.
It's the absence of a project that is fucking up humanity. There's no end-goal, we just go with the flow, hoping it'll lead us somewhere good, somewhere final, but truth of the matter is that we are too fucking dumb to figure out the end goal OR there is no bigger goal at all and it just happens we still have some gametime left. Compare it to a skirmish game of Age of Empires 2 where you take an island map and put the difficulty level on Easy or Standard. You can take all the time in the world to build up your economy and build a formidable army, because your opponent will most liekly be to stupid to build Transport Ships and attack your island. He'll just keep doing what he's proogrammed to do until all his gold is gone, all his stone is gone, all his food is gone and all his trees are gone, and then all of his villagers will just be standing there, bedazzled, useless, ready to be slaughtered, ready to become extinct.
There is an economic crisis going on and everyone is talking about it but the creative crisis has been going on for years and people still seem surprised.
We're basically in the new dark ages, but thanks to Edison everything is now illuminated. I guess it can be deceiving at times.
To me creativity is a self-expressive subconscious form, everyone in the general mold attempts to define, to create, some derivative example based on past unique qualities.
Authors attempt to become their own by utilizing, as you said, pre-existing creative outputs and doing so they deceive themselves into believing that what they're doing is avant-garde, something previously unseen.
That's the creative crisis, the belief that consciously shaping your ideas, ideals and expressive visions will provide the most unique quality.
But I believe it's the direct opposite, too few people on earth are introspective enough to mull within their subconscious, stay up late nights until they reach delirium and their brain begins to think and mental locomotion carries on without their consent.
Ever sit up so late you nearly feel dizzy or disassociated from reality? That's the perfect state for creative output, it's when your conscious thought is clouded by fatigue and your subconscious runs wild as your brain prepares itself for sleep, your conscious thought becomes lethargic, unable to hold back the subconscious, it's a flood of ideas too esoteric to reach everyday musings.
The truth pours out when the vision is most diaphanous, I believe that when Philip K. Dick was most insane he created something that none other would ever be able to imitate. I still believe VALIS is a piece of art produced by a mind so far retreated into itself that the conscious has ceased to control the whole. He became paranoid, self-destructive, but in that process everything came out, and he wrote something that contained every iota of belief and understanding within it.
You're not going to find many people with the will to suffer through something like that in the name of art or expression. If everyone forced themselves into forgetting their ordered selves and subjugating their minds to the chaos of background internal processing and possessed the courage to carry it through without questioning themselves, the level of variation in modern writing, film, music, anything you can think of, would be unparalleled, especially in an era such as this where the largest centers of the free world are as open minded as they are.