Top 10 Movies They Should Never Remake
Image courtesy of Fathom Events
We live firmly in the era of Hollywood reboots, remakes, sequels, and prequels. It’s become a hot-button topic across the movie industry, with many opining that studios’ reluctance to look beyond well-known intellectual property is hurting the industry as a whole, at least creatively. Of course, that doesn’t mean cinema is lacking great movies based on fresh ideas; you just have to look a little harder for them.
That said, there seems to be little evidence of studio bosses, at large, turning a corner anytime soon, and just about everything seems to be on the table to be remade or revisited in some fashion. Almost everything. Below, we pick out 10 movies that arguably should never be remade. For a variety of reasons, even their flaws, they are perfect as they are:
1. The Goonies
A reboot or sequel of The Goonies has been widely rumored, but this kids’ movie should be well left alone. We have seen with Stranger Things that it is possible to package 1980s nostalgia effectively. But while the Duffer Brothers pulled it off, there is a wide-eyed innocence caught by the cast, Richard Donner, and the screenplay by Chris Columbus and Steven Spielberg that feels inimitable.
2. The Breakfast Club
If The Goonies was the kids’ movie that defined many a 1980s childhood, The Breakfast Club spoke to 80s teens and generations thereafter. John Hughes’ tale of a Saturday detention captured a zeitgeist that would be difficult to replicate today. It’s not exactly that teens are different today. Rather, it’s the portrayal and perception of teens – something Hughes mastered. Millennials revere it, but Gen Z can find its own version of youthful ennui and dissatisfaction.
3. Casablanca
Regularly topping lists of the greatest movies of all time, Casablanca remains close to perfection. The idea of remaking it would feel near-sacrilegious, but thankfully it rarely comes up as a possibility. The thing is, part of its appeal to modern audiences is its antiquity: the acting style, the camerawork, the sometimes-grainy style, and the irreplaceable presence of Bogart and Bergman.
4. Groundhog Day
While the premise is clever, and we could perhaps see some attempt to reboot the concept of a character living the same day over and over again, this movie belongs to Bill Murray and was carried by his distinctive deadpan comedic delivery. The concept, at least, is arguably the most likely to be replicated of all the movies on this list, but any director would be advised to go in a new direction rather than try to catch lightning in a bottle in the same way as Harold Ramis did.
5. The Big Lebowski
It should basically be a rule to never remake a Coen Brothers movie, but The Big Lebowski is arguably the most esoteric of the duo’s works. Moreover, the character work by Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi, as well as supporting cast like John Turturro and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, was a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
6. The Godfather
The Godfather feels untouchable and should remain so. While there have been a smattering of Godfather video games, and even a popular The Godfather Megaways slot available among the large selection of slots at Pulsz online, Francis Ford— Coppola’s masterpiece somewhat exists in its own bubble, respected as one of the greatest movies – and sequels – in history.
7. Pulp Fiction
One thing that tends to unite some of the movies on this list is their idiosyncrasies. Pulp Fiction probably epitomizes the most. Yes, it gave rise to the idea of a Tarantino movie, but it is so unique that it would be fruitless to do so anyway. We’d bet everything we own that Tarantino would not allow anyone to touch it, regardless.
8. Back to the Future
Of the ten movies on this list, BTTF is probably the one Hollywood bosses would most love to remake. It’s never going to happen. Robert Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale have said they would thwart any attempt to do so. Never say never, of course, but the originals are perfect.
9. Fight Club
It is possible that Fight Club’s underlying message of anti-consumerism and our loss of identity could resonate today, perhaps with an angle focusing on something like social media, yet there was something that caught the zeitgeist of the late 1990s in David Fincher’s cult classic. It feels both timeless and of its time.
10. The Princess Bride
We want to finish with the words of the movie’s star, Cary Elwes, who summed up many fans’ sentiments when it was rumored that they might remake The Princess Bride. Elwes said, “There’s a shortage of perfect movies in this world. It would be a pity to damage this one.” Nothing else needs to be said.
