There are always mixed opinions on remade movies, especially if they are one of our favorites; but when is it too far and why does Hollywood often remake their popular movies? Many remakes fix the original's plot holes, while others make new ones. It's great that we have the technology to make better graphics but what was wrong with the graphics in the original?
With live-action remakes, the actors add more personality to the character, but are they being true to the character? There will always be ride-or-die fans and people who hate certain movies till the cows come home but there will always be negative and positive sides to these remakes.
Hollywood remaking your favorite movies doesn't have to be a bad thing, there is so much potential for it, from improving on the character details to fixed plot holes that were left in the original. With any remake, they try to follow the originals' story, the only thing these movies change is actors who play them because, one, its a remake, and two, it's usually around 10 or more since the original was made.
The 2011 Footloose followed the same story as the original, the only difference was the actors that played the beloved characters. In Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" live-action remake, they were able to fix the major plot hole that had fans angry for 26 years. In the1991 original, the Beast was cursed by the Enchantress when he judges her by her appearance. She tells him that he will have till his 21st birthday before the petals fall off; cursing him as a beast forever. Later Lumiere mentions that they have been in their cursed form for 10 years.
If you do the math, that would mean he was 11 when he was cursed; but all the paintings of him in the castle show him as a man, not a 10-year-old boy. The 2017 remake fixes this confusion by making him a man when the encounter happens. Over the years, everything involving movie production has changed, new/better cameras, equipment, computer graphics, and much more; these things can really make any movie one of a kind. Some movies are remade because of the technology that the directors wanted in the film were simply not available at the time of the originals' production.
Everyone has heard of the 1956 award-winning movie, "The Ten Commandments"; but did you know that this classic is a remake? In 1923, Cecil B. DeMille produced and directed this silent film by the same name. It was highly praised for its "immense and stupendous" scenes and was the first studio film to use Technicolor. The parting of the Red Sea was done by setting gelatin on top of a metal table and melting it, then running the filmed scene in reverse.
A lot has changed from 1923 to 1956 when Cecil B. DeMille remade his 1923 classic. DeMille was able to add more scenes, like baby Moses in the basket, and improve upon existing scenes. The Ten Commandments (1956) was based on the book, The Prince of Egypt, by Dorothy Clarke Wilson, along with other stories.
It was filmed using VistaVision, a color by Technicolor and for the Red Sea scene, they made a huge trough at Paramount Studios where they sent water flowing in it, reversed the footage while adding multiple different angles, and used that for the film. These two movies used technology that left the audience in awe and has broadened the possibilities of movie production.
But why does Hollywood have to remake what seems like every movie on the planet? Are they thinking about what the fans want or just trying to make another quick buck? It's great when a remake fixes plot-holes that were left in their predecessor, but what if more arise and/or are created due to how they fixed the original plot-hole or by changing details that were in the original movie?
In the 2019 remake of "The Lion King", Scar rules over Pride Rock after Simba runs away after the death of Mufasa, and hunts all the other animals for food. But, why does Scar still looks the same as he did at the beginning of the movie; he should have at least gained a few pounds since becoming King. Also, if Simba was eating bugs as he grew into an adult, then why does he look bigger and stronger then Scar? This has always bothered me since seeing the 1994 Lion King and they didn't fix this in the remake.
When remaking a movie, most directors put their own ideas into the storyline, but does too many new ideas mess with the story? When Rob Zombie decided to direct the 2017 remake of Halloween (1978), he knew it would be a daunting task trying to keep it true to the original, but making it fresh with his new ideas. What most people love about the original Halloween was its simplicity; t was about a man who stalks babysitter and with the $325,000 budget, John Carpenter did an amazing job.
Halloween (2017) is cut down to just 60 minutes, which made it hard for audiences to care about the victims from the beginning because audiences don't get to know the characters in this Halloween. Many fans feel like Zombie just glossed over and ran through the movie, making the 1978 Halloween eel jump just as special to us as when it came out.
What happened to the nostalgia we felt while we watched our favorite movies like, The Santa Claude, Finding Nemo, or even Aladdin when we were kids? This generation of young kids will see the remakes as “the original" unless their parents have shown them the original. It hurts to see kids in the theater knowing that this will be the very first time that some of them will see Mulan or The Lion King.
One of the best parts of The Lion King is Scars' musical number “Be Prepared", many couldn't wait to see how it was adapted into live-action" and it was disappointing. Scar doesn't really sing, he talks while music plays along with the hyenas whisper what Scar says, then at the end Scar belts out “Be Prepared" and that's it. The voice actor did make it his own, but it just didn't hold the nostalgia we felt with the original.
It can be great to be able to see a remake version of your favorite films but it can also have us disappointed when details get changed or if it seems the director didn't care about the movie as much as we do. So whether you love them or hate them, remaking films has always been a thing in Hollywood and it doesn't seem like they're slowing down anytime soon
