Comignsoon.net is looking back on some of the biggest remakes from the past decade and comparing them to the films they’re based on. Check out our selections in the gallery below to see which ones pale in comparison to their predecessors.
Remakes are nothing new. They’ve existed long before the recent string of live-action Disney remakes, long before the multiple iterations of Spider-Man, even before the trend of American remakes of foreign box office hits. They’ve actually existed since the beginning of film history, when many directors would actually remake their own films years down the line (one such example is George Cukor’s 1932 film What Price Hollywood, which he later remade as 1954’s A Star Is Born).
Still, that doesn’t excuse this recent string of horrible remakes, reimaginings, and sequel-remake hybrids. With no real reason to exist beyond studios banking on recognizable intellectual properties to bring in big bucks at the box office, these films listed below are truly the epitome of a bad movie, made worse by the fact that most come from genuinely good movies that still hold up. Even if you think the original films are just okay, there’s no denying the laziness and lack of quality these remakes possess.
recent remakes
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Adventures in Babysitting (2016)
Chris Columbus is practically a household name after all the childhood hits he made throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. If there’s nothing wrong with his version of Adventures in Babysitting, why did Disney bother to put their own made-for-TV spin on it (especially when the former always seems to be on TV anyway)?
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Ben-Hur (2016)
To this day, no one has tried to remake the epics of the mid-20th century—titles like David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago remain untouched. Unless, of course, you consider 2016’s Ben-Hur, which might be one of the craziest examples of a poorly-conceived remake in this entire slideshow.
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Flatliners (2017)
A sequel-remake to a 1990 movie of the same name (that wasn’t even that good to begin with), 2017’s Flatliners is a failure in almost every sense of the word. It doesn’t even compare to the original, and it’s unclear how or why the names attached to the film—names like Ellen Page, Diego Luna, and Kiefer Sutherland—even chose to associate with it in the first place.
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The Magnificent Seven (2016)
The original Magnificent Seven is itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, so it’s not that offensive to see another filmmaker do another remake of the same source material. What IS worth getting upset about, though, is just how lazy this 2016 take is.
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A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Horror franchises seem especially susceptible to endless sequels and remakes. There’s not a single successful franchise that hasn’t seen it happen recently, from Child’s Play to Halloween to Saw. What sets those franchises apart from A Nightmare on Elm Street is that the latter’s 2010 remake is so completely devoid of anything even remotely redeemable.
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Oldboy (2013)
Spike Lee and Park Chan-wook are two highly-respected and incredibly talented filmmakers, both of which are currently working today. In theory, if one wanted to remake the other’s film, things would probably turn out okay. Unfortunately, Lee’s take on Chan-wook’s Oldboy proves this to be very, very wrong.
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Point Break (2015)
Kathryn Bigelow paved the way for female filmmakers in the action genre. Not only are her films historically significant, they’re genuinely very good. Point Break, starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, is one such example. That’s why it’s so insulting to see 2015’s Point Break remake try to cash in on Bigelow’s success.
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Poltergeist (2015)
Tobe Hooper has long been considered one of the best horror directors of the 20th century. Unfortunately, because of his 1980s classic Poltergeist has a slight reliance on technology, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to do a modern take on it. Simply put, 2015’s Poltergeist is ghastly.
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Robocop (2014)
Part of what makes a Paul Verhoeven movie so great is the filmmaker’s knack for practical science fiction effects. Movies like Robocop and Total Recall (both of which have remakes on this list) are practically timeless because of how much detail goes into Verhoeven’s films. That’s why overly-serious remakes like 2014’s Robocop are so upsetting: there’s nothing wrong with the original. Just go watch it instead.
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Total Recall (2012)
The second of two Paul Verhoeven remakes on this list, 2012’s Total Recall is a total mistake. Colin Farrell is a great actor, but why put him in the position to be compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger? Not to mention, Len Wiseman of the Underworld movies is no match for Verhoeven’s genius.
