i really couldn't agree less as far as giving snake plisken a clear history.
i never said i wanted to see Snake's life story...where did you read that?
i personally don't want to know how he damaged his eye, how his first mission went or exactly how he fell out of the military's good graces, those are things better left up to the audience.
well you may personally not want to see any of that and i can respect that opinion, but try not to use "the audience" to justify yours.
i swear all theses "lets go back to the beginning" stories just show how lazy writers are becoming.
another opinion...but this time i can't respect it. you mean to tell me that Paul Haggis (Casino Royale) and David Goyer and Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins) are lazy writers? wanting to set the record straight or making something better doesn't equal laziness. the Japanese are known for taking things that have already been invented and making them better....are they lazy also?
as far as there being room for improvement...has it occured to anyone else that film (and kinda music) are the only art mediums where people have the audacity to look at someone elses work and say "i'm going to do it better"?
is that so? i could've sworn i remember seeing Alex Ross redo a cover for Wizard (magazine) that has Spidey in the same pose and same clothes that Todd McFarlane drew back when Wizard was first starting off. also...Konami released "Metal Gear Solid: the Twin Snakes" for the Gamecube which was a remake of the original "Metal Gear Solid" for the first Playstation. most fans welcomed it with open arms. i'm also sure that there are countless books that have been made using the same formula from previous books only to change character names or ethnicities....those are essentially remakes. hell, a lot of people would even consider Jesus's story a "remake" of Hercules's. remakes aren't only confined to film and music. video games and books have been remade as well...
you don't see someone rewriting Catcher in the Rhy with a more level headed Holden or repainting The Mona Lisa with a hotter Mona.
Mona Lisa was an actual person. her name was Lisa Gherardini and the title "Mona Lisa" actually means "Madam Lisa". as we all know, you can't "remake" an actual person. i want to see Escape from NY remade because even though i like the movie...the acting, the effects, music, sound, etc. are pretty outdated and i'd love to see a more fleshed out version of it. i've never read Catcher in the Rye but i seriously doubt it has outdated special effects or camera work. every situation is different...you can't just say "no remakes AT ALL!"
let artists make their own movies instead of redoing someone else's idea, i don't car what you think can or should be changed about it.
if the original artist is alright with the idea then what's the problem? David Bowie helped Trent Reznor remix one of his songs and Sting helped sing "I'll Be Missing You" at one of the MTV Music Awards. if an accomplished artist lets another accomplished artist redo his/her own work it's commendable in my opinion. it's more humbling. i know Casino Royale might not've had that luxury but i doubt anyone's gonna argue that it shouldn't have been remade.
i have no problem with everyone stating their opinions on remakes but please stop trying to make them out to be artistically unethical or immoral as a whole.