Remakes Lazy Film-making?

[b.miller]

a friend of mine (who doesn't mind remakes at all since he hates old movies... but he also loved Armageddon) always brings up the argument that a remade movie is just like a remix of a song. I do think that makes for a good comparison to decide if a movie remake is good or not, but in most cases the metaphor doesn't quite hold. The Longest Yard for example, would be akin to adding a hi-hat and calling it a remix. The Thing on the other hand, would be like Basement Jaxx's remix of Technologic, where it definitely sounds like the Jaxx but also has that original spine in there. It's changed to the point where it can stand on its own as a track. I think the reason why all remakes always get compared to the originals is because so many of them cannot stand on their own. Since reading your guys' War of the Worlds responses, I've been thinking about why i really didn't mind the characters and how the aliens die... and i think it's because I was familiar with the story already. The characters certainly aren't the same but they're like the remix element... trying the story with treated vocals instead of the originals... so I was really coming at it like that and not as a stand-alone film. I mean, that's not necessarily bad because I ended up liking it for the most part, but it's definitely a different angle to look at it from.

I don't know though, because even a great remix, when compared to a great original song, kind of pales for me. I would much rather have a new story than an old one told differently.

just rambling