Best & Worst Sequels/Reboots/Remakes

[Riley]

Tell me what YOU think are the best sequels to/reboots/remakes of whatever it is you like. Don't be shy! I won't judge...Too much...

My Best:

• Return To Oz
• Shock Treatment
• Batman Returns
• Batman Forever
• Batman & Robin
• Pokemon 2000
• Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth
• Hellraiser: Hellworld
• Hellraiser: Bloodlines
• A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Meh(s):

• Queen Of The Damned
• Xiaolin Chronicles
• The Dark Knight
• The Neverending Story II

WORST:

• Teen Titans GO!
  
• Love Never Dies

 

[Mr Allen]

One of the worst remakes in recent memory was about 3 years ago when they did the Robocop remake.

The 1987 original was a classic, OK it was extremely violent and full of F words, but that was part of the story! The remake had most of the violence removed for a lower age rating, and nearly all the F words were gone.

Best remake? 10 years ago they remade Hairspray, the original came out in the early 80s starring Debbie Harry from Blondie, and the remake was even better! John Travolta in drag! What more could you want?

Grease 2 though, what was the point? The original was one of the highlights of the late 70s, Grease 2 sucked in comparison.

And finally, the Karate Kid remake from 2010 starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, completely lacked the charm of the Ralph Macchio original IMO.

 

[jamesaldrin]

I agree, I also strongly dislike Teen Titans Go. Hate, even. The original Teen Titans was so cool.

 

[Riley]

I actually HATE the original, too. Dunno why. Maybe I fear reading a page on it will lead me to confront TTG. Or maybe I feel like it's that show's fault TTG exists in the first place.

 

[Judge]

Sequels often carry the same negative dynamics as do remakes, IMO.

Just another excuse for Hollywood to take the low road and attempt to capitalize on a past box office success.

 

[Sylar]

Best:

• The Thing (1982)
• Ocean's Eleven
• The Departed
• The X-Files 2016 revival
• Battlestar Galactica

Meh:

• Fright Night
• House of Wax - I might get some hate for this one.
  
• The Hills Have Eyes

Worst:

• Total Recall - They said it was going to be closer to the original story but in the end they just ripped things out of the first film and took away the violence and charm.
  
• Robocop - Same as Total Recall, what was the point? They even removed the satire from the original.
  
• A Good Day to Die Hard (Die Hard 5)
• Human Centipede Part 3
• Heroes: Reborn - The creator ruined the original series with poor choices and got it cancelled despite it being a huge phenomena in season 1. Not only did he get a second chance with the show but he killed an official season 5 comic by a different writer to make it happen... Only to repeat all the same mistakes he made the first time, tenfold.

 

[Sylar]

One of the worst remakes in recent memory was about 3 years ago when they did the Robocop remake.

The 1987 original was a classic, OK it was extremely violent and full of F words, but that was part of the story! The remake had most of the violence removed for a lower age rating, and nearly all the F words were gone.

The worst part is that the director was a huge Robocop fan and wanted to make a good reboot, but the studio shot down all of his ideas and forced him to film what they'd come up with in the board room.

I wonder if Michael Keeton's character and him forcing the scientists to make Robocop black and "tactical" was always like that or if the writer and director added it later to make fun of them?

 

[Riley]

The worst part is that the director was a huge Robocop fan and wanted to make a good reboot, but the studio shot down all of his ideas and forced him to film what they'd come up with in the board room.

The same thing pretty much happened to Joel Schumacher. Batman & Robin was the way it had been because the execs wanted something family-friendly that would sell toys.

 

[Mr Allen]

Gremlins 2! As a movie it wasn't that bad, but as a sequel to the 1984 original, which was one of, if not THE best horror comedy of the mid 80s, it just didn't work IMO, and I gather plans are afoot for Gremlins 3, although last I heard it's going to be a proper sequel not some pants reboot of the original, which makes sense given the kind of open ended ending of Gremlins 2 with the female Gremlin.

 

[Sylar]

Gremlins 2! As a movie it wasn't that bad, but as a sequel to the 1984 original, which was one of, if not THE best horror comedy of the mid 80s, it just didn't work IMO

It was done that way on purpose. Joe Dante (who directed both films) didn't want a sequel to be made and didn't think anyone could come up with a worthy follow up. He only did it on the condition that he could do whatever he wanted, and used that opportunity to parody Gremlins and hit back at critics.

Gremlins 3 is in the works, but it has been in some form since Gremlins 2, who knows if/when it'll finally see the light of day. Don't expect to see the female Gremlin again, though.

 

[Jorg]

In this moment I just remember this:

WORST: Dragon Ball Evolution

 

[Judge]

Best:

• The Thing (1982)
• Ocean's Eleven
• The Departed
• The X-Files 2016 revival
• Battlestar Galactica

Good examples of the very few better remakes. I'd add one in particular though which would likely be argued with among film critics.

I've always thought "The Thomas Crown Affair" remake was far more entertaining than the somber original with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway.

Much less serious as a crime drama and more of a cat-and-mouse mind game between two people who couldn't decide who was the cat and who was the mouse, having fallen in love with each other. And quite amusing that Faye Dunaway was cast as Crown's psychiatrist who tended to poke fun at him.

 

[Mr Allen]

It was done that way on purpose. Joe Dante (who directed both films) didn't want a sequel to be made and didn't think anyone could come up with a worthy follow up. He only did it on the condition that he could do whatever he wanted, and used that opportunity to parody Gremlins and hit back at critics.

Gremlins 3 is in the works, but it has been in some form since Gremlins 2, who knows if/when it'll finally see the light of day. Don't expect to see the female Gremlin again, though.

Critics? The original came out in '84, there was no Internet back then cos it hadn't been invented yet,

 

[Judge]

Critics? The original came out in '84, there was no Internet back then cos it hadn't been invented yet,

Long before the Internet the public usually paid close attention to a handful of newspaper critics. Especially those frequently interviewed on television. And then of course in the US we had "Sneak Previews" which debuted on tv in 1975.

Involving such as uptight critics like Judith Crist or Gene Siskel (ugh) who seemed to imply that most any good film had to be artistic and have redeeming social values. And other critics like Roger Ebert or Gene Shalit who weren't so afraid to simply say that they liked a film because they found it entertaining. (Yay!)

If Gene Siskel or Judith Crist liked a particular film, I usually avoided them. And if they hated a film, it just had to be good!

 

[Sylar]

Critics? The original came out in '84, there was no Internet back then cos it hadn't been invented yet,

I was talking about newspaper and magazine critics, professional movie reviewers. Leonard Maltin gave the first film a negative review and had a cameo in Gremlins 2 where he was quickly attacked by Gremlins. Joe Dante also did a sillier version of Phoebe Cates' "I hate Christmas" speech because it became a controversial and mocked part of the first film among critics and audiences.

 

[Neramo]

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five armies. Even the fights in "The Room" were better than the action in this movie. Didn't expect a Two Towers battle, but atleast something that would be more exiting than two people peeing at antfarms.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Godzilla (1998)

While I liked this as a kid, been 6 years old when I first saw it and been blown away by how amazing my childhood mind thought the monster looked, I've since seen the original Japanese Godzilla movies from the very first in 1954 up to now and I realize how much Roland Emmerich's movie was such a bad version.
Godzilla looked wrong, he didn't breathe atomic fire, he ran away a lot, there was no monster(s) for him to fight, any damage he caused was mostly unintentional and he was killed by the military - that's not counting the rest of the movie's flaws.

While I'm not a fan of the film, I still do like the monster (now called Zilla) and I like the Animated Series that followed with Zilla's son (Zilla Junior) and managed to rectify a lot of the 1998 movie's mistakes.

 

[AGXStarseed]

The Land Before Time sequels...all 13 of them!

When I was a kid, I got as far as the 5th film (The Mysterious Island) before the constant laughing/screaming while running and the songs every 5 minutes got on my nerves.
As an adult, I can only watch the original as the rest are just annoying at least.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Just a quick additional one; I hated the 1990's remake of Lord of the Flies.

I think the major reason for my hatred of it is because in GCSE English I had to study the book and during our study, the teacher decided to bring in the 1990's version - which didn't help hardly any of us since the adaption was practically nothing like the book.
Heck, even the Wikipedia entry listed all the differences between the film and the book. The only thing I liked about it was the trailer:

Thankfully, I was able to watch the original 1963 movie version which, while not a masterpiece, was closer to the book and easier for me to get into and helped with my English work.

I think if anyone ever does a future adaption of Lord of the Flies, I think it would function better as a TV series. As long as it was close to the book with necessary adaptions when needed, I think it would work; you could actually work in all the important parts and make it dark and gritty. Furthermore, effects in television nowadays are pretty decent so it could look really good as well.

 

[Questella]

Star Trek, keep it going!
The Garfield movies were pretty good
(yes I know not current, I'm not really good with current)
I was going to hate on the new Jungle Book but then Christopher Walken was singing and yeah there's that.

I hated My Little Pony until the newest and John de Lancie got his touch in it (Q from Star Trek TNG )

I really don't go out of my way to watch new stuff unless it's something that's previously caught my attention...

I loved how the new(ish) Batman series had a better actual story/back story though I wouldnt put it above Tim Burton and the other two, juse different, both fitting of their Era and all pretty awesome. Batman Begins got me to get the TPB reprints of the comics. <3

Omg I just saw they remade original Monopoly with the Dog and now a Cat piece featured!

I can't do the new Alice and Wonderland Tim Burtons though the Queen of Hearts in them are dead on my main bully at work, all the way from the bad makeup, the funny shape, and super short stature! That queen is real and evil and lIves in Kentucky! Her face is exactly the same, I get such bad anxiety and can't even watch it, and I LOVE Tim Burton! <3 <3 <3