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About two weeks ago, a remake of the 1982 film “The Thing,” was released in theaters, once again reminding us that good movies should probably be left untouched.
For those unaware, the 1982 “The Thing” was a horror movie that used masterful affects to depict a virus that mutated into its host in order to survive. In a time when computer generated images were far less sophisticated, the movie relied on detailed modeling to create its monster. The result was good cinema.
(Courtesy of Universal Pictures)
Not only was the movie a fun ride, but the gore was so inventive and professionally done that it should be deemed art. Not to mention the movie is pretty damn scary.
Of course, the artistry seems less significant when it’s modernized. The creators of the recent release of “The Thing” use computer-generated images and advanced animatronics that undermine the genius of their predecessors. The gore is no longer art, it’s just gore.
Remaking successful movies is so difficult, it should be forbidden. The track record for movie remakes should support this notion. If one were to compare remade movies to their originals, a large trend of low-quality remakes would be found.
“Psycho”, for example, is a wonderful and classic horror movie created by Alfred Hitchcock that Gus Van Sant ruined with his shot by shot replica in 1998 — casting Vince Vaughn as the serial killer did not help either.
The 1974 “Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” was a coolly-acted, thrilling robbery movie, and was butchered by the 2009 remake starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington. While Washington was pleasantly good as the detective, the duo of him and Travolta simply couldn’t compare to the humorous and chilling clash between Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. Shaw’s performance, as the antagonist in the original, created one of the most satisfying endings to a heist movie — an ending that was removed and changed for the worse in the remake.
In 2001 Tim Burton unfortunately decided to ridicule the original “Planet of the Apes” with his remake that made the apes look silly. The list of bad remakes keeps going, and I do not look forward to Star Wars: A Newer Hope, where the death star is a cube and Jack Black plays Han Solo.
Of course. we occasionally receive a good, and sometimes better, remake. The most recent example that comes to mind is the Coen Brother’s version of “True Grit,” in which they added dark humor and tighter cinematography to make it better than the John Wayne version. However, these special remakes are few and far between.
Trying to make good cinema better should always be discouraged, because people will always hold a favorable bias towards the first. The most recent “The Thing” is about exactly what the title suggests, a thing. The 1982 version was about the innovation behind “the thing,” it was about very creative minds conjuring something new and enthralling.
There lies what most remakes lack — innovation. Without innovation, movies are nothing more than moving pictures.
Contact CU Independent Writer Edward Quartin at Edward.quartin@colorado.edu.
