View Full Version : Interesting take on remakes
Elvis_Christ
08-01-2012, 09:21 PM
Read this today and thought some of you might find it interesting:
http://io9.com/5931046/why-remakes-are-one-of-our-greatest-achievements-as-a-civilization
neverending
08-01-2012, 11:55 PM
It's an interesting article, though overly simplified, and he gets his facts wrong. The idea of originality is hardly a 20th century invention. As soon as Gutenberg invented the printing press authors were codifying their original ideas, and they still exist. Thomas More, Rabalais, Cervantes, de Sade, Victor Hugo, Jonathan Swift, Percy and Mary Shelly... just a few examples of strikingly original ideas expressed in literature far before the 20th century.
And his comparison of folklore to movie remakes breaks down with just cursory examination, As he notes, folklore is oral tradition, passed down through the ages. Movie scripts are not. Each one is created by a specific individual, or team of individuals, written down and produced, to a greater or lesser degree, as they were written.
It's a fun little theory... nothing that hasn't been said before... but IMO, doesn't hold up.
Just my opinion, naturally.
Why do we need a remake of the Evil Dead?? It is/was perfect.
roshiq
08-02-2012, 02:22 AM
It's an interesting article, though overly simplified, and he gets his facts wrong. The idea of originality is hardly a 20th century invention. As soon as Gutenberg invented the printing press authors were codifying their original ideas, and they still exist. Thomas More, Rabalais, Cervantes, de Sade, Victor Hugo, Jonathan Swift, Percy and Mary Shelly... just a few examples of strikingly original ideas expressed in literature far before the 20th century.
And his comparison of folklore to movie remakes breaks down with just cursory examination, As he notes, folklore is oral tradition, passed down through the ages. Movie scripts are not. Each one is created by a specific individual, or team of individuals, written down and produced, to a greater or lesser degree, as they were written.
Ditto.
I also think the person...the sad moron who wrote the article has quite different or more precisely I'd say Wrong perspective & idea about the term Originality, Theme & idea of a story/movie as well as Remakes. I guess he or she just got paid to write an article in favor or to support the trend.
Sad part is it's already got more than 1,50,000 LIKEs in facebook.:rolleyes:
randomgamer666
08-18-2012, 02:51 PM
the remake of the hills have eyes got me to watch the original but i still hate people remaking movies and they only do it because they ran out of ideas i wish i could find a place were i can give them my ideas of movies i have about 20 of them somewhere
the remake of the hills have eyes got me to watch the original but i still hate people remaking movies and they only do it because they ran out of ideas i wish i could find a place were i can give them my ideas of movies i have about 20 of them somewhere
Ever thought of becoming a screen writer? Writ your ideas into a story then when you have a full story that makes sense to you and you know it would work turn the story into a script, send scripts around there your ideas getting used.
My take on remakes is this, we all may not like them but there not a 100% bad. They have been some really good remakes that have been entertaining films such as amityville horror, RZ's halloween and hills have eyes. Although they are generally not as good as the original for most people who have seen the originals first. They do have a purpose in this genre though as they make younger generations want to watch horror movies, because the younger generations have only ever known cgi, prestine image quality and bigger budget effects they would probably look down on the classics if they didnt watch the remakes first.
randomgamer666
08-19-2012, 05:15 AM
thanks dude im going to film school soon soo ill be a screen writer soon i loved some remakes but when theres a remake out every week it gets boring
Yeah I hated the NOES remake, with such an iconic face removed from the film it just didn't work. But I defiantly like to see my ideas go to screen one day but unfortunately that seems impossible in my predicament.
randomgamer666
08-19-2012, 06:20 AM
must suck dude but i started coming up with films since i was 10 im 17 now so i really hope 7 years of thinking dosnt go to waste
It won't if you decide what you want to do, and plan your way to get there in logical steps you will get there just keep going
ferretchucker
08-29-2012, 02:37 PM
Agree with Neverending. What the author of the article fails to realise is that his argument that retellings are interesting indicators of societal differences doesn't REALLY apply to remakes. Oral tales have infinite variants evolving independently through small audiences in different cultures over time - he's right, this DOES make them interesting to compare because of the subtle changes that evolve over time as a result of cultural influences. Remakes, however, are ONE mass released retelling of a single mass released story, USUALLY made in the same culture (of course, adaptations of j-horror and such are exceptions). Far less interesting to study and compare, and far less informative of cultural differences.