Remakes, sometimes also called reboots.
Whenever the topic of remakes is brought up to any serious movie pundit -good remakes that is-, within a large plethora of options -especially recent ones-, almost always three films will stand out as the only movies that achieved success in both outclassing its original to the point of making it fall into oblivion, and by demonstrating the few occasions in which a remake was both needed and properly executed. The films are John Carpenter’s The Thing, which is a remake of The Thing from Another World; David Cronenberg’s The Fly, which is a remake of the same titled movie from 1958); and Brian De Palma’s Scarface, also a remake of the same titled movie from 1932, which was produced by Howard Hughes during his time as a movie executive).
With the exception of Scarface, the reason why Carpenter and Cronenberg remade The Thing and The Fly was due to the 1950s science fiction being a genre associated with mediocre production and low quality standards. Most sci-fi films of this era, today are labeled as B-movies or worse, such as the case with Ed Wood’s films, including the commonly referred to as worst movie of all time Plan 9 from Outer Space. Unlike the Hughes 1932 Scarface, which stands as a great film on its own and features fantastic acting by Paul Muni and great directing by Howard Hawks, The Thing and The Fly took on a mediocre product, and elevated the concept with superior acting, directing, special effects, and general production, even adding philosophical themes. De Palma’s Scarface is a re-imagining on the main subject of Hawks, using a more modern approach that was able to work effectively mostly thanks to the same reasons why The Thing and The Fly succeeded (better actors, better production). These three films succeeded so much, that they are constantly featured in top movies of all time lists.
Needless to say that dozens of other remakes exist with mixed results when compared to their originals. However generally speaking, it is hard for anyone to come up with a remake that can compare in terms of quality with the aforementioned films, or at least surpasses the original film. Planet of the Apes, Vanilla sky, Psycho, Diabolique, Mr. Deeds, The Stepford wives, all share the same characteristic: they are forgettable. Then came this recent trend of remaking films that were already considered good -even classics-, which for no other reason other than to capitalize from their old fame: Total Recall’s 2012 remake, Robocop’s 2014 remake, Carrie’s 2013 remake, Point Break’s 2015, and many others. All these films can be summarized in one word: forgettable. It makes one wonder the need for it other than to cash in millions of dollars (the only reason). Then comes the Disney conglomerate.
About a year ago, the folks at RedLetterMedia addressed the matter of remakes during their review of The Exorcist: Believer (another unnecessary remake), by briefly emulating a speculative Disney boardroom meeting discussing the remaking of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. You can watch their analysis below -it only takes sixty seconds-:
Today Snow White sits with an average of 1.6 out of 10 at IMDB, 40%-70% on RottenTomatoes. Surely several of the low score reviews are driven by the “either good or bad” recent trend to evaluate products, but still this reality does not deviate by how dissapointed a substantial percentage of audiences feel -especially with film so highly regarded such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves-.
I was never too big into Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, however I have always acknowledged its quality, importance and legacy in the pillars of movie history. I recognized the simplicity yet effectiveness of the story, I felt the sentimental appeal of the classic songs (Heigh-Ho, The silly song, Someday my prince will come), and I understood why thousands -if not millions- cried when it premiered, during a time of depression where optimism was a much needed emotion in our world. Moreover, I knew -just as it had occurred with 1971’s Wily Wonka, and Tim Burton’s remake-, there was zero chance a Snow White remake would be able to even compare itself to the lowest point of the original film. But who are we to stop Disney and their endless pursuit to destroy every ounce of the legacy Walt Disney himself built for us: Disney, Disneyland, Disneyworld… they all exist thanks to the classic films. They do not exist because of the remakes.
Will this wave of adequate bashing against Snow White make movie producers to wake up and get them to stop remaking old classic films that do not need any updating or improvement and that have stood the test of time for decades -and most likely will continue for centuries-? Only time will tell, however the power is in your hands.
HR