# Movies that need a reboot



## Man in the Funny Hat (Feb 13, 2010)

I'm not sure I can believe I'm saying this... but the film series I think should be rebooted is STAR WARS.

Seriously.  It was almost criminal the way the entire series was... betrayed by the prequels.  I really think I would enjoy seeing the whole thing started over again - this time from "Episode I", but perhaps leaving out all the abysmal crap that it was saddled with and getting to the core excitement and treasure trove of potential that the overall story actually has.

It'll never happen, but it's just something that hit me suddenly just now.  What do you think?  Should we just leave bad enough alone?  Could it be revived with, say, a single origin-story followed by films that take the entire SW universe in new and interesting directions?


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## Joker (Feb 13, 2010)

If Star Wars were to be rebooted I would like to see it done by someone who likes the story but isn't very involved in the product, fanwise, and who has more or less free reign to what he/she wants creatively.  Must also be a skilled filmmaker.

Or I would like to see a collection of short films done by different filmmakers set within the Star Wars universe ala Animatrix.

Basically, I don't want Lucas to do more than provide a studio and the loot.


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## Man in the Funny Hat (Feb 13, 2010)

Joker said:


> Basically, I don't want Lucas to do more than provide a studio and the loot.



Yeah, that would sorta be the whole idea.  The original film was brilliant and will stand on its own merits forever aside from Lucas' later revisionism [Han shot _first_ dangit!].  Empire was wonderfully darker in tone but very much just an episode in an ongoing serial at that point.  Jedi, though weighed down by all the baggage inherent in Ewoks, still had the core of an adequate sequel, and even a moment or two of greatness.  The prequels, however, simply lacked any and all of the vibrancy of the original trilogy.  Effects naturally improved but acting, character development and even basic plotting all suffered HORRIBLY so the series as a whole just marched steadily downhill.  Whatever exciting or interesting elements they had were lost in the expensive mediocrity of the rest of the film.

I think maybe Lucas was just trying too hard to recapture that lightning in a bottle and had nobody to tell him to his face that his ongoing story just wasn't compelling anymore.

Way back, not long after the first movie was released and talk started to turn to sequel plans I remember reading an interview where Lucas was quoted as saying something like, "I just put up the basic castle walls, now I'm going to let everyone else have fun putting up the gargoyles and stuff."  I would be interested to see that actually happen because I think others can actually do better with it than he did beyond the original.

My vote would be for Joss Whedon.


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Feb 13, 2010)

*Starship Troopers*: With less campiness and more emphasis on the *powered armor* and the actual plot of the novel.


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## Ed_Laprade (Feb 13, 2010)

Eric Anondson said:


> *Starship Troopers*: With less campiness and more emphasis on the *powered armor* and the actual plot of the novel.



How about powered armor, period? It definitely needs to be redone.


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## Thornir Alekeg (Feb 14, 2010)

Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie.  Duh!

Actually the movie franchise I would like to see rebooted is Terminator.  The original is a classic, and T2 was great, but the additional movies were pretty bad and I think ruined the franchise.  The Sarah Connor Chronicles had the potential to help things out, but it never had a chance to complete its story.


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## StreamOfTheSky (Feb 14, 2010)

The Dark is Rising book series deserves far, far better than the godawful movie _The Seeker_.  Supposedly they deviated heavily from the book because they were afraid stupid little Harry Potter fans would actually accuse a book series from the 1970s of ripping it off!

In any case, I loved The Dark is Rising, and it saddens me to know it will probably never again get another shot at a movie.

It also saddens me that probably not a single person who reads this will know what I'm talking about.


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## Knightfall (Feb 14, 2010)

Man in the Funny Hat said:


> I'm not sure I can believe I'm saying this... but the film series I think should be rebooted is STAR WARS.



It's way too soon for that.


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## carrot (Feb 14, 2010)

StreamOfTheSky said:


> The Dark is Rising book series deserves far, far better than the godawful movie _The Seeker_. Supposedly they deviated heavily from the book because they were afraid stupid little Harry Potter fans would actually accuse a book series from the 1970s of ripping it off!
> 
> In any case, I loved The Dark is Rising, and it saddens me to know it will probably never again get another shot at a movie.
> 
> It also saddens me that probably not a single person who reads this will know what I'm talking about.




I know what you are talking about... Loved that series as a kid. The only similarity between the Dark is Rising and Harry Potter was the lead character being 12.


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## jaerdaph (Feb 15, 2010)

I want a remake of _Nine to Five_. That shizzle is still teh funny.


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## StreamOfTheSky (Feb 15, 2010)

carrot said:


> I know what you are talking about... Loved that series as a kid. The only similarity between the Dark is Rising and Harry Potter was the lead character being 12.




Well, even so, that's at least part of the reason the movie was so bad.  See here: Author Uncertain About 'Dark' Leap to Big Screen : NPR



			
				Linked Story said:
			
		

> Not Harry Potter
> 
> And even when he approached the book 10 years later, Hodge found many problems. First of all, he thought, even though the book was written more than 30 years ago, the premise of an 11-year-old English boy who finds out he can do magic seemed too familiar.
> 
> "One of the things I didn't want it to be confused with was Harry Potter, because I just think the world doesn't need another English boy involved with fantasy adventures," he says.




It is cool to know Susan Cooper lives so close to where I am.  I hadn't realized that.


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## Pig Champion (Feb 15, 2010)

Eric Anondson said:


> *Starship Troopers*: With less campiness and more emphasis on the *powered armor* and the actual plot of the novel.






Thornir Alekeg said:


> Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie.  Duh!




These both I consider good because they are so bad. If the faults in either movie were diminished, I'm not too sure I'd like them.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Feb 15, 2010)

Howabout Earthsea?   Yeah, I know it was a miniseries, but what else is a miniseries but a movie that didn't get a whole bunch of editing?


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## Dire Bare (Feb 15, 2010)

I want Buck Rogers to get the Battlestar Galactica treatment!


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Feb 15, 2010)

Man in the Funny Hat said:


> I'm not sure I can believe I'm saying this... but the film series I think should be rebooted is STAR WARS.
> 
> Seriously.  It was almost criminal the way the entire series was... betrayed by the prequels.  I really think I would enjoy seeing the whole thing started over again - this time from "Episode I", but perhaps leaving out all the abysmal crap that it was saddled with and getting to the core excitement and treasure trove of potential that the overall story actually has.
> 
> It'll never happen, but it's just something that hit me suddenly just now.  What do you think?  Should we just leave bad enough alone?  Could it be revived with, say, a single origin-story followed by films that take the entire SW universe in new and interesting directions?



Unfortunately, I'd rather create a list of things to do with a Star Wars "Re-Imagination" then think of other movies deserving a reboot. 

In fact, the thing that most deserves a reboot that comes to my mind is not a movie but a series - _Space Patrol Orion_ or _Raumpatrouille Orion_ - the German equivalent of Star Trek/Doctor Who that could have been. 

Startrek already got its reboot. The jury is overall still out if the reboot as a whole will work, but at least I enjoyed the last flick.


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## Quantum (Feb 15, 2010)

The Jury is actually in on Star Trek and most fans enjoyed and embrace the reboot.


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## Umbran (Feb 15, 2010)

"Needs" is such a specific word.

In terms of the fiction - no work ever "needs" a reboot/reimagining/remake.  

In terms of commerce - I suppose a movie "needs" a remake when someone owning the rights thinks that such is required to keep interest in the property high enough to keep it in print/available or turning some defined level of profit.

Thus - it could be said that Star Trek rather needed the reboot - as a business, it wasn't doing what the owners wanted it to.

And also thus - Star Wars really doesn't need it.  The original films have their fans.  The prequels have their fans (believe it or not ).  The animated stuff goes apace.  There's no real sign that the thing is dying as a business, so no reboot is called for at this time.


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## Relique du Madde (Feb 15, 2010)

The wizard of Oz and the Return to Oz.  They should get Terry Gilliam, Guillermo Del Toro or Tim Burton to do that series.


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## Jeremy Ackerman-Yost (Feb 15, 2010)

Relique du Madde said:


> The wizard of Oz and the Return to Oz.  They should get Terry Gilliam, Guillermo Del Toro or Tim Burton to do that series.



Del Toro.  Full stop.

Gilliam is too erratic to trust with it and Burton lost his mojo years ago, IMO.  (Perhaps his Alice adaptation will change my mind on that, but I'm not holding my breath).


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## Man in the Funny Hat (Feb 16, 2010)

Knightfall said:


> It's way too soon for that.



Revenge of the Sith was released 5 years ago and I seriously doubt anyone would object to anything anyone did to any of the prequels.  The original Star Wars is now 33 years ago.  That's too soon?


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## Man in the Funny Hat (Feb 16, 2010)

Umbran said:


> "Needs" is such a specific word.
> 
> In terms of the fiction - no work ever "needs" a reboot/reimagining/remake.
> 
> ...



Well then ignore the word "needs".  What do _I_ care about what it needs?  I care about what I want.    Besides, if the "franchise" is making X dollars but rebooting the series would mean it makes X+1, or even X+(1*N) what's to object to?


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## Mallus (Feb 16, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Howabout Earthsea?



Earthsea would be great... but that project would _really_ need the right director. Say like like Alfonso Cuarón.


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## Dire Bare (Feb 16, 2010)

Man in the Funny Hat said:


> Revenge of the Sith was released 5 years ago and I seriously doubt anyone would object to anything anyone did to any of the prequels.  The original Star Wars is now 33 years ago.  That's too soon?




Yeah, it is.  The story is still active with the Clone Wars animated show and the upcoming live action show.

Stories need at least some time to grow fallow before we pull them out and redo them.


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## Dausuul (Feb 16, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Howabout Earthsea?   Yeah, I know it was a miniseries, but what else is a miniseries but a movie that didn't get a whole bunch of editing?




Mmm... Earthsea... well, I'd love to see a Wizard of Earthsea movie that hewed true to the spirit (if not necessarily the letter) of the original, but translating it to the screen would be tough, and selling it to Hollywood tougher still.

(spoilers follow)

[sblock]The ending especially. The theme of the novel is that Ged can only get out of his dilemma by acknowledging his shadow as a part of himself. It embodies his own capacity for evil, which he can neither run away from nor destroy; only by accepting it can he learn to deal with it. It's a subtle thing and very challenging to convey on screen, and the studio execs would be pushing hard for a standard-issue good-triumphs-over-evil final battle.[/sblock]
Also, being faithful to Ursula LeGuin's vision would require casting almost entirely non-white actors (Ged and most of the people of Earthsea look like Native Americans, Vetch and a few others are black, only the Kargs are white), and outside of the action and comedy genres, that tends to go over like a lead balloon in Hollywood.

...You know, I think this really ought to be an indie movie. Don't know if the special effects fall within the reach of an indie budget, though.

Still, it wouldn't need as much as a traditional fantasy epic; the only scenes requiring major CGI would be the showdown with the dragon and the escape from the Court of the Terrenon. And you'd probably have to cut out at least one of those anyway, for length. The battle with the Kargish barbarians at the start is conveniently shrouded in fog, and everything else is on a fairly personal scale.


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## Desdichado (Feb 22, 2010)

Man in the Funny Hat said:


> Seriously.  It was almost criminal the way the entire series was... betrayed by the prequels.



I know you said seriously and all, but I hope you didn't mean it.  That's pretty shrill fanboyism if so.

Not that the prequels weren't pretty bad movies, no doubt, but criminal?  Betrayed?  C'mon.

That said, rather than a Star Wars reboot, I'd like to see Lucas relinquish some control to some other movie makers.  Look at the brilliant stuff that's coming out in the Old Republic video games, for instance.  The setting as is still has plenty of legs left in it; it just needs a talented moviemaker to take the helm again.


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## Knightfall (Feb 22, 2010)

Man in the Funny Hat said:


> Revenge of the Sith was released 5 years ago and I seriously doubt anyone would object to anything anyone did to any of the prequels.  The original Star Wars is now 33 years ago.  That's too soon?



Yes.


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## Man in the Funny Hat (Feb 23, 2010)

Hobo said:


> I know you said seriously and all, but I hope you didn't mean it. That's pretty shrill fanboyism if so.



Fanboyism would be attempting to claim that they weren't that bad.  And what kind of fanboy would be CALLING for a reboot?



> Not that the prequels weren't pretty bad movies, no doubt, but criminal? Betrayed? C'mon.



Pretty close to it, yes.  This is not to say that the prequels lacked any redeeming value.  They had their moments.  This is also not to say that Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi don't have significant flaws of their own.  They do.  All the more reason I would not be averse to seeing someone else take a whack at the core tales being told through the 6 films.



> That said, rather than a Star Wars reboot, I'd like to see Lucas relinquish some control to some other movie makers. Look at the brilliant stuff that's coming out in the Old Republic video games, for instance. The setting as is still has plenty of legs left in it; it just needs a talented moviemaker to take the helm again.



And should one of those talented filmakers want to start over again from the beginning?  Does that not fit the bill just as well?


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## Plane Sailing (Feb 23, 2010)

Knightfall said:


> It's way too soon for that. (star wars)




Heck they are rebooting Spider Man after just a few years, so I'd say there is easily soon enough for a star wars reboot!



Dannyalcatraz said:


> Howabout Earthsea?   Yeah, I know it was a miniseries, but what else is a miniseries but a movie that didn't get a whole bunch of editing?




I'd love to see an Earthsea movie that was faithful to the original. Although I have to admit that whether reading it as a kid or a grownup I never noticed the racial mix which Ursula considers to be so important to the story. My mental images just had everyone looking basically white european (with variations from nordic to southern mediterranean), probably because the basic social setting fitted in with pseudo-european fantasy constants too.

It was basically just a really great story (although I've liked her sequels increasingly less; they feel to me like revisionist adding in more recent philosophies in quite a heavy handed way)

Cheers


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## RangerWickett (Feb 23, 2010)

I tried to 'reboot' the Star Wars prequels on my own terms. I pitched a D&D cartoon to WotC and Adult Swim, and though it never got past the idea stage, my plan was to have a reckless warrior get kicked out of a paladin order, then be corrupted by a Tharizdun cult, while his best friend -- a half-orc rogue -- actually becomes a paladin (but keeps his Han Solo-esque scoundrel charm) and has to stop the cult's plans to extinguish the sun.

In the end the two friends would battle atop an erupting volcano with magic swords, and after the half-orc lops off his old buddy's leg and drops the guy in the path of oncoming lava, his final words to the man that betrayed him would be, "I hope you burn you black hearted son of a bitch."

(If we got a second season, he'd come back as undead.)


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## Insight (Feb 26, 2010)

One movie that definitely does NOT need a reboot is True Grit (2010)

WHY?


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## ssampier (Feb 27, 2010)

Indiana Jones

I'm jonesing for Jones style action, but Harrison Ford is much too old.

Indiana Jones should be a film series, much like James Bond.

Star Wars

I'd rather I just pretend the _other_ three films did not exist*. I would be willing to watch a new movie set in the KOTOR universe, however.

*I liked RotJ, damnit, ewoks and all.


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## El Mahdi (Feb 27, 2010)

deleted


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## Aus_Snow (Feb 27, 2010)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Howabout Earthsea?



Please. Yes. Wonderful trilogy, atrocious audiovisual. . . thing.


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## Plane Sailing (Feb 27, 2010)

El Mahdi said:


> ..._*Legend*_ (or maybe a sequel with Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, and Tim Curry reprising their roles)




I'd settle for seeing the wonderful original UK theatrical release - about half an hour longer than the horrible hacked version shown in the USA and ever after.

The original was fab.


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## Mouseferatu (Feb 27, 2010)

Plane Sailing said:


> I'd settle for seeing the wonderful original UK theatrical release - about half an hour longer than the horrible hacked version shown in the USA and ever after.




Readily available on DVD.


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## Krug (Feb 28, 2010)

*Ladyhawke* - those effects need an update, and that soundtrack... urgh.


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## Man in the Funny Hat (Mar 1, 2010)

Krug said:


> *Ladyhawke* - those effects need an update, and that soundtrack... urgh.



Yep.  It wasn't BAD music as such (I'm an Alan Parsons fan) it just didn't jibe well with the setting.  It needed a more traditional orchestral score.


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## Plane Sailing (Mar 1, 2010)

Mouseferatu said:


> Readily available on DVD.




Well, whaddayouknow? For years I looked for it to no avail, and I gave up hope, but there it is!

(In the process I found an excellent site about Legend with lots of information about the differences between different versions, not to mention some bits from the original 140min version as originally scored)

LEGEND - What's wrong with this picture?

and 

Ridley Scott's LEGEND FAQ


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## Kaodi (Mar 2, 2010)

I think we need a ReBoot,  .

Joking aside, I am sceptical of the professed need to reboot certain franchises. Neither Star Wars nor Indiana Jones need rebooting, though they could benefit from new films in the series.

I am not sure how to articulate this properly, so let me be very vague (and get away with it): the motives for remaking movies are many and varied, but they are demanding. A poorly motivated remake is a doomed venture. 

Wizard of Oz, for instance, is a classic. Part of me would very much say, "Hands off!" However, as an artistic venture, it does have a certain amount of appeal. Art will probably more often than not be a sound reason for remaking something, though it becomes more perilous if the reason is that the original is perceived as "flawed" art. 

If this is missing the mark somewhat, perhaps I could offer dramatic and emotional impact instead. When one says, "Let us remake The Wizard of Oz!" one should probably be concerned foremost not with art direction, or even acting, but with those touches that will make the original theme of the movie resonate more with modern audiences. To do that without changing main content or style requires subtlety and a deft touch.


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## Dioltach (Mar 2, 2010)

I'd love to see a proper series of movies of _The Chronicles of Prydain_. The Disney version was almost as bad as the _Earthsea_ miniseries.


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Mar 2, 2010)

Insight said:


> One movie that definitely does NOT need a reboot is True Grit (2010)
> 
> WHY?



Because we can?


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## StreamOfTheSky (Mar 2, 2010)

Dioltach said:


> I'd love to see a proper series of movies of _The Chronicles of Prydain_. The Disney version was almost as bad as the _Earthsea_ miniseries.




Never bothered to see the Disney version, but I'll take your word for it.

Seconded.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Mar 3, 2010)

The heck with _Wizard of Oz_...I'd like to see a remake of _Zardoz_!  Maybe as a series done by someone like Showtime or HBO!


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## Hand of Evil (Mar 3, 2010)

Buckaroo Banzai!


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## Droogie (Mar 24, 2010)

Insight said:


> One movie that definitely does NOT need a reboot is True Grit (2010)
> 
> WHY?




I dunno, man. Jeff Bridges in the lead role? Coen Brothers? I'm sold.


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