Bad film remakes

I recently watched Brief Encounter as part of a recent Coward/Lean film course with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard being deliciously buttoned up and English.
Apparently there was a remake with Sophia Loren and Richard Burton ?
Spoiler alert - they didn’t remain buttoned up ???

Re-makes are seldom as good as the original. People seem to think nothing is worth watching unless there is sex, gore and nudity.
Give me a good story, good script and actors who fit their parts. My imagination can add the rest!!

MawB ?

The Italian Job.
And if you want to see something truly dreadful: Ben Hur.
(Third remake; never saw the first one)

The Ladykillers.

I am dreading the remake of my favourite film Rebecca. I love the book and the film and the air of mystery is somehow enhanced by it being in black and white. With it are memories of sitting with my son one wet afternoon, he was about 12, the age when the films he liked had lots of special effects, noise, colour, crashes and bangs. He sat with me, enthralled as the story unfolded and I like to think that is what started his love of film as an art, and his appreciation and understanding of lighting, cinematography as a means of getting atmosphere, and the fact that no amount of special effects can trump a very good story.

Often televised versions can be better than the original films. Think of Pride and Prejudice with Olivier, Jane Eyre with Orson Welles and then compare the versions with David Rintoul (the one before Colin Firth) and Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester.

We were shown the early version of P & P when I was at school. Greer Garson was suitably feisty as Elizabeth and Olivier was my idol for some time.

eazybee agree with you about Ben Hur. Nothing can ever come up to the wonderfulness of the Charlton Heston one.

I preferred the original of Far from the madding crowd, though I wouldn't say the re-make was "bad" - just not as good.

The remake of Brief Encounter was awful and I think the remake of Goodbye Mr Chips was awful too.

Little Women remakes after the forties wonderful production where the cast perfectly fitted the characters.(Janet Leigh. juneAllyson, Elizabeth Taylor and Margaret Sullivan, Peter Lawford etc. It contained humour, emotions and remained so very faithful to the book. Absolutely loved it. Hate the last overhyped remake especially when the producers thought it improved it by denying Professor Bahaer the opportunity to get Jo’sbook published. We were led to believe that the local rag published it for her. Then there was the dumpy, middle aged Amy!!! Better not stop now before I throw the iPad over the room.

I feel as if Christmas is coming with all these turkeys! I had forgotten about the re-remake of Ben Hur. The original had style and grandeur and Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd of course. And the American version of The Lady killers, even with Tom Hanks, couldn't match Alec Guinness etc.

I haven't seen the more recent Little Women. My favourite is June Allyson, although Katherine Hepburn also starred in a version in 1940s.

Hang on! The original Ben Hur had Ramon Navarro! Is there a difference between a remake of a film based on original script or minor work and a new attempt at filming a classic novel such as one by Austen or a Brontë?

grumppa I'm not aware of the Ramon navarro version of Ben Hur but I bow to your superior knowledge! I don't think it matters if its from a script or a classic novel, a bad remake is a bad remake!

But surely remake implies remaking a film. The Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice, for instance, wasn't a remake of any of the previous films, but a new film of the novel. Shouldn’t a young actress have the chance to play Elizabeth Bennet in a film that appeals to a contemporary audience?

Sorry about Ramon Navarro; my mother used to bang on about him, just as I bang on about Claire Bloom as Juliet at the Old Vic.

@Eleothan, do you mean the Goodbye Mr Chips remake with Martin Clunes? Must say I though he was excellent in the role.

I wasn’t keen on the remake of Rebecca with Emilia Fox and (I forget the bloke’s name.). It was done well enough, but to me it lacked the ‘shivery’ quality of the B&W version, with that brilliantly evil Mrs Danvers.

TV, not film, but to me nobody will ever better Joan Hickson’s Miss Marple. Some of the ITV remakes were truly dreadful - plot mucked about with, sexed up for the sake of it, etc.

Witzend Yes, I meant the Martin Clunes version. Perhaps it wasn't his fault as he's a good actor but, to me, he was wrong for that role and I didn't like the production anyway.

I think I saw the Emilia Fox version of Rebecca but I don't recall much about it. I don't think anything could beat the original black and white film which had exactly the right brooding and sinister atmosphere.

We must have different tastes as I found Joan Hickson really irritating in the part of Miss Marple. I thought Julia Mackenzie was better.

Joan Hickson for me!

grumppa I have never said remakes shouldn't happen. Of course young actors should get every opportunity to play good parts. My original post was about bad remakes. The remake I referred to of Lost Horizon had a stupendous cast with incredible actors, however the film itself was awful! ☺

Eloethan Judith Anderson as Mrs. Dancers was chilling. It was a great film. Very gothic.

Mrs Danvers!

the Italian Job ,The Thomas Crown affair both originals were brilliant both remakes a bit of a disappointment

paddyann I have never seen the remake of The Italian Job, thankfully☺️ but I agree with you about the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Despite being very fond of Pierce Brosnan, the film was a let down.

I don’t like the new Lion King - loved the animated version, the music, the “characterisation”, the voices (especially Jeremy Irons) but this one , although impressive technically, just misses the charm.