Since I generally eschew remakes, I can't respond to many of your comments for comparison purposes.
I saw two versions of Mutiny on the Bounty--Clark Gable and Mel Gibson. The original was better. I couldn't get my head around Marlon Brando as Fletchter Christian, so I stayed away.
I saw the original King Kong. Loved it despite the poor animaltronics (is that the right word?). I was rooting for the ape from the word go. Saw the original Mummy. Wasn't crazy about it. Along similar lines, how many versions of Dracula have there been? I liked the original a lot. Liked the one with Frank Langella a lot less, although I saw him in the Broadway version of it when it was a show. It was much better than the movie. I have a vague recollection of seeing Anthony Hopkins in a Dracula movie. Can't remember much about it though. Images of it flash into my head and then vaporize. It ain't easy getting old.
Shapeless, I'm with you. I loved Tim Burton's version of Willie Wonka. Thought Johnny Depp was brilliant. And I wasn't crazy about the original. An actual improvement, IMO.
Roberta, Helen Mirrin in anything is worth seeing. I've been looking forward to seeing that movie.
Blacksmithin,' what a guy, going with your wife to a romantic comedy. They tend to be at the top of my list, so Stranger Than Fiction is definitely a must see.
The Mummy sounds like fun. I love the old horror movies because they weren't dependent on blood and gore. It's nice knowing that another good one has been made. I also found the Blob to be a fine couple of hours, if only because of Steve McQueen. He made my then 20 something heart go all aflutter.
Boidy, I also saw Frank Langella on stage in Dracula. It was at what was a Shakespearean theatre (since closed) in a pretty little Connecticut coastal town. I loved it when the lights dimmed on the empty stage and the sound of a wolf howl came echoing from the depths of the theatre. Never saw the movie. Basically, I love being scared in a shivery kind of way, rather than nauseated by guts all over the place.
I know I haven't been much use in comparing remakes (I've seen the original or the remake or neither, never both) - but it's fun to hear Roberta, Diane and Blacky do the comparisons for me so here's another one.
Cape Fear! The original had Rod Taylor or someone in that mould and I think Harrison Ford was in the remake (or am I channeling a Simpsons episode?)
No Cape Fear was Robert Mitchum and the remake was DeNiro. They were both pretty good, but Mitchum was especially evil.
Sideshow Bob played the role in the Simpsons episode.
The original of Cape Fear had Robert Mitchum as the scary guy and Gregory Peck (loved dat man) as the victim. The remake had Robert DeNiro as the scary guy and Nick Nolte as the victim. Robert DeNiro can scare the doody out of anybody when he puts his mind to it. But overall the original was better, stronger, sharper. I think the strength of the original was on the good guys side. More credible and more sympathetic characters. And Mitchum was dynamite in the part.
Diane, I agree. Helen Mirren is worth seeing in anything! She's magnificent. I ran into her one day at my doctor's office. A very nice woman--with visible panty line. Hey, Helen. Put on a slip. You have an image to maintain.
Never watched the Simpsons. I tried. I couldn't get into it. When it comes to cartoons, I'm stuck in the past. What's up doc? But I did like Shrek, so I'm not entirely hopeless.
Speaking of Shrek puts me in mind of another element of movie making that leaves me mystified. SEQUELS. Aside from Star Wars, which was originally intended as a trilogy, has there ever been a sequel as good as the original? EVER? I'm thinking. So far, nada. (The sequel to Shrek was mediocre.)
Jaws 1. A terrific movie. (I'm trying not to hold a grudge because of all the sharks that were mindlessly slaughtered as a result of this film's popularity.) This film scared me silly. I was afraid to go to the bathroom--afraid some large fish would bite my tush.
Jaws 2. Ho hum.
Jaws 3. Terrible.
Jaws 4. So bad it was almost good from a laughableness perspective.
Why did I watch them all? Aside from my being nuts? I honestly don't know. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.
Sequels don't count Roberta, stick to the remakes!
If you can handle Jaws x 4 how far did you get in the Police Academy franchise?
This thread reminds me about one of my bugbears non-english speaking movies being remade, badly for American consumption, especially when the general population isn't aware that it's a ripoff.
Eg The Birdcage was La cage au faux (excuse my apalling spelling) from France
and there was the movie about the guy with incredible bad luck getting lost with another guy in the Amazon jungle (so bad I can't remember the title).
The one about the girl raised to be an assassin - where the French version was much grittier/better.
So many times I've watched something on SBS (our local ethnic broadcaster) and suddenly realised, half way through, 'So that's where hollywood got the idea from....'
Before I leave sequels and return to remakes, I feel compelled to mention some sequels that weren't half bad. The Thin Man series was wonderful. It wasn't the stories. It was the people (and the dog). They kept the movies light and worth watching. Another group of sequels that succeeded was the James Bond series. Certainly the first three movies were truly terrific. The franchise suffered when Sean Connery left, but Roger Moore wasn't bad. I think things took a decided turn for the worse with Moonraker. It never recovered, IMO.
As I consider these two groups, I think it's the characters that can keep the movies interesting and alive. Sequels that feature gimmicks (like mechanical fish) just don't cut it.
Hingehead, You're right about foreign films that become Americanized and are often weakened. Yes, La Cage au Folles (spelling?) was far superior to Birdcage. And I know the film you're talking about with the girl assassin--La Femme Nikita with Anne Parillaud (who was truly wonderful). The French version was much better than the American version with Bridget Fonda. I think the American title was Point of No Return.
The movie version of Frank Langella as Dracula was pretty sexy. I've seen Dracula on stage a couple of times: great fun. Some talking head on television pointed out that everyone who plays Drac plays Bella L but poot Bella's career was destroyed by playing Drac.
The American versions of some of those French comedies are plodding and silly while the French originals are souffles, sweet, light and quick to go down.
