by Ashley Smith

Created on: May 31, 2009   Last Updated: June 01, 2009

The argument for against movie remakes depends on the quality and availability of the original and the intentions of the re-makers. If the original movie was widely available and was seen by many then the argument for a remake lessens, if the film was originally shown in a limited amount of places or was made in a minority language then perhaps a remake is justified. Also it can be justified if there is to be a better financed version in order to improve the stories adaptation form a book or play then again a remake may be again justified. All to often the remake is a lazy way to have a film without having to write it first. Many just retell the story with different people playing the parts. The story isn't improved and it's more a rehash then a remake.

Everyone from Walt Disney on down have used this technique, although to be fair Disney have remade 101 Dalmations from a cartoon to a live action film which is just about allowed. Attack on Precinct 13 was remade with little change to the basic storyline, it was basically the same film but recast as has happened with hundreds of others. One example of when the special effects budget just about justifies the remake was the newer version of The Blob. The classic original was made in 1958 where special effects barely existed, the remake thirty years later kept the basic story but improved drastically on the original.

Where the lines blurs a lot is when a character or group of characters returns in a film that is technically a remake but with different stories and different actors. Star Trek the movie has arrived in the cinema once again, many years after the last one of the previous run. This time all characters from the original return but with all new actors and many year's newer effects. The story lines are on a similiar theme, are on basically the same ship but is this a remake or a totally new film? Is the repeated reshowing of the James Bond franchise a remake or a new story? Casino Royale has been remade by the team with a new Bond but an existing story. The franchise ran out of original stories from James Bond's inventor over thirty years ago, but keeps turning out stories with many characters including the main one being played by different people.

The Ladykillers is one of many remakes that is OK, the 2004 remake made much of the original but employed very different actors and changed the exact story in order to almost make it new. Another example of a justified remake is the Magnificent Seven being remade from the Seven Samurai original. Although the remake is basically the same story it changes actors, location and even language, this make the new story more accessible then the original while retaining the basics.

There are of course plenty of films you may love that are in fact remakes and you didn't realise, so they aren't all bad, but many are just the film companies being lazy, it's up to you to decide.

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