A science fiction community and weblog
Is it time to plunder the 70s for sci-fi movie remakes?
Submitted by Capt. Xerox on July 7, 2010 - 9:26pm.
John Scalzi has an another list of science fiction movies that he offers up to directors looking for recognizable titles to remake for modern audiences. The last time he did, he listed 80s movies. This time around he's taking a look at films from the 70s. Don't be surprised when he pulls out lists of 60s and 50s movies soon.
I do like that he doesn't automatically go for the most successful movies, but rattles off some pretty awful titles that weren't successful, but had the potential to be good. That follows my remake rule to take something bad and make it better.
And speaking of movies by the decade, Den of Geek compiles a list of science fiction movies by decade to illustrate what styles defined each decade. There are also books and TV series in the mix. You may just find something there that you have never seen before.
Before Scalzi gets to his list of movies from the 50s, how about a book from that decade that has yet to be made into a movie? I'm speaking of Have Spacesuit, Will Travel which is an OK book, but probably doesn't live up to its great title. An indie producer is taking a stab at adapting that Robert Heinlein classic into a movie some time soon.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
How bad is too bad?
How bad of a movie is going to be too bad to remake. Can we expect to see a remake of Plan 9 from Outer Space or Santa Claus Conquers the Martians?
Bad movies vs. terrible
You make an interesting point. I think there is a fine line between bad and terrible. The movies you mention are celebrated as camp classics. People watch them just to laugh at them, not to enjoy the story.
When I say that remake bad movies into good ones, I'm talking about movies that at least had some potential, but failed for some reason such as poor directing or acting. To use one of Scalzi's examples, Damnation Alley was not a particularly good movie, but it could have been a great one. If you remade that movie today, I'm sure it could be done better, but wouldn't be surprised if it would be worse as it would probably become a special-effects-driven popcorn movie.
C.X.
Post new comment