Films I'd like to see re-made
by MudgeMalog | created - 27 Aug 2012 | updated - 16 Jul 2020 | PublicI know. You can count the number of good remakes (Cape Fear, The Fly, The Thing, The Departed) on your fingers; and count the number of bad remakes (Dawn of the Dead, Total Recall, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) with grains of sand on the beach. But many of those remakes should never have been made (Psycho); or were just slapped together to make a quick buck (Clash of the Titans).
If done right, any of the movies below can be re-done and be a good movie. You may look at one or more of the movies below and think it's too much of a classic to be re-made. The sad thing is, it's near impossible to get someone to watch a movie that's 40+ years old.
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1. Fantastic Voyage (1966)
PG | 100 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
When a blood clot renders a scientist comatose, a submarine and its crew are shrunk and injected into his bloodstream in order to save him.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 20,803
Great premise and story, but a high school freshman with a laptop could do better FX than this 45 year old movie.
2. The Lost Weekend (1945)
Passed | 101 min | Drama, Film-Noir
The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 40,163 | Gross: $9.46M
Yes, the original is great. But it was toned-down from the novel. The film has the protagonist turn to alcohol due to writer's block while in the novel he drinks to suppress his homosexual feelings. I'd love to see a true adaptation.
3. 1984 (1984)
R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a totalitarian future society, a man, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack
Votes: 78,874 | Gross: $8.40M
The novel is an A+, the film is a B-. Definite room for improvement.
4. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Not Rated | 112 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, Cyril Cusack, Anton Diffring
Votes: 45,391
5. Phantasm (1979)
R | 89 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.
Director: Don Coscarelli | Stars: A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, Kathy Lester
Votes: 41,232 | Gross: $11.99M
6. Harvey (1950)
Approved | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Due to his insistence that he has an invisible six foot-tall rabbit for a best friend, a whimsical middle-aged man is thought by his family to be insane - but he may be wiser than anyone knows.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: James Stewart, Wallace Ford, William H. Lynn, Victoria Horne
Votes: 58,210
7. Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
Not Rated | 79 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Evil aliens attack Earth and set their terrible "Plan 9" into action. As the aliens resurrect the dead of the Earth, the lives of the living are in danger.
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr. | Stars: Gregory Walcott, Tom Keene, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore
Votes: 40,380
Yeah, it's bad...but with a real budget and real director, I'd see it.
8. Sid and Nancy (1986)
R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist for British punk group Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is portrayed.
Director: Alex Cox | Stars: Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman, Debby Bishop
Votes: 34,651 | Gross: $2.83M
If you read about everything that happened, alot of good stuff was left out of the movie.
9. The Sinister Urge (1960)
Not Rated | 71 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A flunky for a porno movie ring starts murdering the smut films' lead actresses.
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr. | Stars: Kenne Duncan, Duke Moore, Jean Fontaine, Carl Anthony
Votes: 1,693
Probably Ed Wood's *best* movie.
10. Three Amigos! (1986)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Western
Three actors accept an invitation to a Mexican village to perform their onscreen bandit fighter roles, unaware that it is the real thing.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Alfonso Arau
Votes: 83,496 | Gross: $39.25M
11. RoboCop 2 (1990)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
RoboCop returns to protect the citizens of old Detroit but faces a deadly challenge when a rogue OCP member secretly creates a new, evil RoboCop 2.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Belinda Bauer, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 93,078 | Gross: $45.68M
Do it frank miller's way.
12. Season of the Witch (1972)
R | 130 min | Drama, Horror
A neglected, unhappy suburban housewife gets mixed up in witchcraft with unexpected consequences.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Jan White, Raymond Laine, Ann Muffly, Joedda McClain
Votes: 3,936
I'd love to see a silver lining to this George Romero dud.
13. Re-Animator (1985)
Unrated | 84 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.
Director: Stuart Gordon | Stars: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale
Votes: 71,418 | Gross: $2.02M
It's a cult classic, and beautiful in its way. But the FX are pretty bad, and I'd love to see it done with modern tech.
14. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Horror
Doctor, scientist, organist, and biblical scholar Anton Phibes seeks revenge on the nine doctors he considers responsible for the death of his wife.
Director: Robert Fuest | Stars: Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Virginia North, Terry-Thomas
Votes: 16,665 | Gross: $0.55M
In the off-chance an actor wouldn't embarass himself when compared to Vincent Price, there's plenty of opportunity to make a good movie...especially if you can get people to hate the doctor more so than in the original.
15. Spies Like Us (1985)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Comedy
Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Mark Stewart, Sean Daniel
Votes: 52,922 | Gross: $60.09M
It's a timeless plot - war is stupid...and where there's stupidity, there's comedy.
16. Touch of Evil (1958)
PG-13 | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 109,723 | Gross: $2.24M
17. The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
Passed | 69 min | Drama, War
Truncated adaptation of Stephen Crane's novel about a Civil War Union soldier who stuggles to find the courage to fight in the heat of battle.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Audie Murphy, Bill Mauldin, Douglas Dick, Royal Dano
Votes: 4,830
18. Basket Case (1982)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Horror
A young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed, formerly conjoined twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.
Director: Frank Henenlotter | Stars: Kevin VanHentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner, Robert Vogel
Votes: 21,640
19. 12 Angry Men (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama
The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler
Votes: 863,703 | Gross: $4.36M
Another timeless plot. Maybe update it with video, DNA, etc. Modern audiences (damn kids) can't relate to this b/c it's so out-dated. And it's too bad b/c it has such an important message.
20. Catch-22 (1970)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, War
A man is trying desperately to be certified insane during World War II, so he can stop flying missions.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel
Votes: 26,482 | Gross: $24.91M
It's my fave book of all time, and although the movie is good, I feel it could be better.
21. Fear Strikes Out (1957)
Approved | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
True story of the life of Jimmy Piersall, who battled mental illness to achieve stardom in major league baseball.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, Norma Moore, Adam Williams
Votes: 2,157
22. Cyborg (1989)
R | 86 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A martial artist hunts a killer in a plague-infested urban dump of the future.
Director: Albert Pyun | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Richter, Vincent Klyn, Alex Daniels
Votes: 34,174 | Gross: $10.17M
23. Kickboxer (1989)
R | 97 min | Action, Sport, Thriller
Kurt Sloane must learn the ancient kick boxing art of Muay Thai in order to avenge his brother.
Directors: Mark DiSalle, David Worth | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Alexio, Dennis Chan, Michel Qissi
Votes: 60,796 | Gross: $14.70M
24. The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)
PG | 96 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Omri, a young boy growing up in Brooklyn, receives an odd variety of presents for his birthday: a wooden cupboard from his older brother, a set of antique keys from his mother, and a plastic Indian from his best friend, Patrick.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Hal Scardino, Litefoot, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Jenkins
Votes: 31,014 | Gross: $35.62M
25. The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Passed | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Eleanor Parker, Arnold Stang
Votes: 12,200
26. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Approved | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester
Votes: 137,676 | Gross: $8.18M
27. Houdini (1953)
Approved | 106 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
From his beginnings as a "wildman" carnival act to the internationally famous feat of escaping from a locked trunk in an ice-jammed river, the great Harry Houdini emerged as the world's most captivating magician and escape artist.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Torin Thatcher, Angela Clarke
Votes: 3,723
More facts, less Hollywood
28. The Sword in the Stone (1963)
G | 79 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A poor boy named Arthur learns the power of love, kindness, knowledge and bravery with the help of a wizard called Merlin in the path to become one of the most beloved kings in English history.
Directors: Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi, David Hand | Stars: Rickie Sorensen, Sebastian Cabot, Karl Swenson, Junius Matthews
Votes: 106,388 | Gross: $22.18M
Closer to the legend. Add the lady in the lake and Sir Lancelot.
29. Wedlock (I) (1991)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A male prison escapee heads for his hidden loot electronically attached to a female prisoner.
Director: Lewis Teague | Stars: Rutger Hauer, Mimi Rogers, Joan Chen, James Remar
Votes: 9,144
Cool premise, bad plot
30. The End (I) (1978)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
Slapstick black comedy about a man (Reynolds) who finds that he hasn't much longer to live and has bungled his attempts at suicide.
Director: Burt Reynolds | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Dom DeLuise, Strother Martin
Votes: 4,377
31. College (1927)
Not Rated | 66 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Ronald's high-school valedictory address praises books and condemns sports. His girlfriend Mary condemns his attitude. Fearing to lose her to rival Jeff, he decides to go to college and pay more attentions to sports.
Directors: James W. Horne, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Anne Cornwall, Flora Bramley, Harold Goodwin
Votes: 5,469
32. Night of the Comet (1984)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.
Director: Thom Eberhardt | Stars: Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Robert Beltran, Sharon Farrell
Votes: 24,094 | Gross: $14.42M
33. The Stranger (1946)
Passed | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Philip Merivale
Votes: 28,692
34. Angel (1983)
R | 94 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Molly, a high schooler, secretly earns her living as Angel, a street prostitute whose only family and friends are the ones she works with on the streets. She has to survive against a serial killer who is targeting people of her profession.
Director: Robert Vincent O'Neil | Stars: Cliff Gorman, Susan Tyrrell, Dick Shawn, Rory Calhoun
Votes: 4,573 | Gross: $17.49M
35. Action Jackson (1988)
R | 96 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Vengeance drives a tough Detroit cop to stay on the trail of a power-hungry auto magnate who is systematically eliminating his competition.
Director: Craig R. Baxley | Stars: Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone
Votes: 12,580 | Gross: $20.26M
36. Sisters (1972)
R | 93 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley
Votes: 20,643 | Gross: $0.35M
37. The Ref (1994)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A cat burglar is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve.
Director: Ted Demme | Stars: Denis Leary, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey, Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.
Votes: 26,536 | Gross: $11.44M
Put OFF airs. Act how you want. Be yourself. Timeless ideals.
38. Very Bad Things (1998)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A prostitute is killed during a bachelor party and the attendees turn on each other as the wedding approaches.
Director: Peter Berg | Stars: Christian Slater, Daniel Stern, Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau
Votes: 48,983 | Gross: $9.80M
Good Premise + Good Plot + Bad Writing = REMAKE!
39. It (1927)
Passed | 72 min | Comedy, Romance
A salesgirl pursues a handsome playboy.
Directors: Clarence G. Badger, Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Clara Bow, Antonio Moreno, William Austin, Priscilla Bonner
Votes: 3,561 | Gross: $0.41M
40. The Untouchables (1987)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
During Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 330,505 | Gross: $76.27M
Classic? Yes. But it's more Hollywood than history.
41. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
PG | 112 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Jack Thibeau
Votes: 147,300 | Gross: $43.00M
Very good movie, but not so historically accurate. Also, new facts have arose since 1979.
42. Nick of Time (1995)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An unimpressive, everyday man is forced into a situation where he is told to kill a politician to save his kidnapped daughter.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Courtney Chase, Charles S. Dutton
Votes: 45,128 | Gross: $8.17M
43. I Am Legend (2007)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Drama, Horror
Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Votes: 813,261 | Gross: $256.39M
The book is so great that there have been 3 adaptations...all failures (IMO). In the book, the zombies get smarter and smarter until he realizes that it's a step in the evolutionary ladder and the zombies will never be exterminated, humans will.
44. Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Passed | 124 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A suave but cynical man supports his family by marrying and murdering rich women for their money, but the job has some occupational hazards.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Mady Correll, Allison Roddan, Robert Lewis
Votes: 19,114 | Gross: $0.33M
The original is so great, yet no one has seen it. If someone could avoid looking like an idiot compared to Chaplin, this could make a great movie (again).
45. Silver Bullet (1985)
R | 95 min | Horror
In a small town, brutal killings start to plague the close knit community. Marty Coslaw, a paraplegic boy, is convinced the murders are the doings of a werewolf.
Director: Daniel Attias | Stars: Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Corey Haim, Megan Follows
Votes: 31,446 | Gross: $5.40M
46. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Music
Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.
Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, Terry Camilleri
Votes: 141,529 | Gross: $40.49M
Updating the slang and slackers with modern versions could be fun. Of course, they'd have to replace the 8 historical figures with new ones, but there's no lack of them. I think there's plenty of potential if the writers put in some real effort to create a new movie and not just rip off the original.
47. Singles (1992)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A group of twenty-something friends search for love and success in grunge-era Seattle.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Sheila Kelley
Votes: 32,638 | Gross: $18.47M
48. Blade (1998)
R | 120 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A half-vampire, half-mortal man becomes a protector of the mortal race, while slaying evil vampires.
Director: Stephen Norrington | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright
Votes: 298,580 | Gross: $70.09M
49. The Big Feast (1973)
NC-17 | 130 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of men go to a villa in the French countryside where they resolve to eat themselves to death.
Director: Marco Ferreri | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi
Votes: 14,677
My idea: A super-wealthy man creates Craigslist post to re-create La Grande Bouffe IRL He'll supply all the food, drugs, booze, and hookers. It would have to be akin to the original, either NC-17 rating or Unrated. Lots of potential
50. Last Stop on the Night Train (1975)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A pair of psychotic hoodlums and an equally demented nymphomaniac woman terrorize two young girls on a train trip from Germany to Italy.
Director: Aldo Lado | Stars: Flavio Bucci, Macha Méril, Gianfranco De Grassi, Enrico Maria Salerno
Votes: 3,423
51. Gaslight (1944)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Ten years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband. His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, May Whitty
Votes: 33,821
52. The Hunger (1983)
R | 97 min | Drama, Horror
A love triangle develops between a beautiful yet dangerous vampire (Catherine Deneuve), her cellist companion (David Bowie), and a gerontologist (Susan Sarandon).
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Cliff De Young
Votes: 29,012 | Gross: $5.98M
53. The Running Man (1987)
R | 101 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.
Director: Paul Michael Glaser | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown
Votes: 167,475 | Gross: $38.12M
Make it more like the Stephen King book, taking place in public streets, not an arena. Smartphone technology would make the communication between Richards and Killian interesting.
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