What would classics be like if they were made today?

[Hyde]

Bit of a weird thread I know, but it's been something pestering my mind for some time. Back to the Future and its sequels are some of my favourite movies ever, however I wonder whether the movies would have been as good or successful if they were made today.

Would the plot have been any different? Would the Doc have had daddy issues oldrazz? If it stayed the same, would critics have liked it as much? The same can be done for a ton of other great movies from the 70's/80's - Alien, the Star Wars Trilogy, pretty much every film by Steven Spielberg, Indiana Jones, the list goes on.

Thoughts?

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Oooh. Well it's the most relevant with science fiction that puts in hard dates for instance, Back to the Future, The Terminator, The Matrix, even Star Trek.

According to Back to the Future we should have hover boards. Skynet should have already become self-aware. And Star Trek says the eugenics war happened 20 years ago.

Star Trek is a great example because we actually get a taste of what you are asking. The 2009 version is basically "What a classic would be like if it were made today." Quite a bit more action, substantially more fast paced, some lens flare thrown in and presto!

idk how Back to the Future would be different. I literally think you could just update the dates and the film would still make sense. For instance, in BttF2 they go to the year 2055 instead and its his grandson, etc.

Star Wars - Timeless (different universe)
Indiana Jones - Timeless (it was a period movie to begin with)
Godfather - Timeless (see above)
Alien - Still works for the time being

Obviously the editing arts, quality standards, camera tech, computer graphics and political correctness is stuff that is constantly changing.

Superman will give you another taste of this. Man of Steel is going to be Superman vs. Zod just like back in 1980.

And of course you have:
Total Recall (2012)
Dredd (2012)
The A-Team (2010)
Incredible Hulk (2008)

All perfect examples of what you are asking. Then again, a lot of people refuse to accept reboots of classics. Almost to the point of taking offense. If they ever rebooted my favorite movie (Almost Famous) idk how I'd feel about it.

 

[Hyde]

Oooh. Well it's the most relevant with science fiction that puts in hard dates for instance, Back to the Future, The Terminator, The Matrix, even Star Trek.

According to Back to the Future we should have hover boards. Skynet should have already become self-aware. And Star Trek says the eugenics war happened 20 years ago.

Star Trek is a great example because we actually get a taste of what you are asking. The 2009 version is basically "What a classic would be like if it were made today." Quite a bit more action, substantially more fast paced, some lens flare thrown in and presto!

idk how Back to the Future would be different. I literally think you could just update the dates and the film would still make sense. For instance, in BttF2 they go to the year 2055 instead and its his grandson, etc.

Star Wars - Timeless (different universe)
Indiana Jones - Timeless (it was a period movie to begin with)
Godfather - Timeless (see above)
Alien - Still works for the time being

Obviously the editing arts, quality standards, camera tech, computer graphics and political correctness is stuff that is constantly changing.

Superman will give you another taste of this. Man of Steel is going to be Superman vs. Zod just like back in 1980.

And of course you have:
Total Recall (2012)
Dredd (2012)
The A-Team (2010)
Incredible Hulk (2008)

All perfect examples of what you are asking. Then again, a lot of people refuse to accept reboots of classics. Almost to the point of taking offense. If they ever rebooted my favorite movie (Almost Famous) idk how I'd feel about it.

Agreed. Or in the case of BTTF, which is an idea I thought of, if a remake happened the movie still takes place in 1985 but when he travels to 2015 (or whichever year the film would be released in) it's what that year is like now, so no hoverboards but there is 3D TV's. Then in an alternate 2015 it's how we saw it in BTTF2, with hoverboards etc.

But do you think the movie and pretty much every other classic would have been good or well liked at all? I'm pretty sure stuff like Singing in the Rain and The Wizard of Oz would have either been poorly received or bombed, if they got to be made at all.

 

[BATZARRO WWD]

Well, a lot of what made classics classic might be considered risky by todays studios. You will see this in the Robocop remake. I bet there will be no over-the top gunfire scenes, no ****es, and no drugs, all in search for a pg13 rating.

If Predator was created this year, the hunter would probably disintegrate people instead of ripping off their skulls.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Would the plot have been any different? Would the Doc have had daddy issues ()? If it stayed the same, would critics have liked it as much? The same can be done for a ton of other great movies from the 70's/80's - Alien, the Star Wars Trilogy, pretty much every film by Steven Spielberg, Indiana Jones, the list goes on.

Funny you mention that, since it actually happened in BTTF: The Game. He was a first generation German immigrant who eventually became a judge and wanted Emmett to follow a career in law.

 

[Ultimatehero]

ZACH GALAFANAKIS should be the LEAD in the CITIZEN KANE remake. 'Nuff said.

 

[weezerspider]

Art is often a response and/or emotion to whats currently going on in the world. Therefore, none of these films would be the same in a different time.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Oooh. Well it's the most relevant with science fiction that puts in hard dates for instance, Back to the Future, The Terminator, The Matrix, even Star Trek.

According to Back to the Future we should have hover boards. Skynet should have already become self-aware. And Star Trek says the eugenics war happened 20 years ago.

Star Trek is a great example because we actually get a taste of what you are asking. The 2009 version is basically "What a classic would be like if it were made today." Quite a bit more action, substantially more fast paced, some lens flare thrown in and presto!

idk how Back to the Future would be different. I literally think you could just update the dates and the film would still make sense. For instance, in BttF2 they go to the year 2055 instead and its his grandson, etc.

Star Wars - Timeless (different universe)
Indiana Jones - Timeless (it was a period movie to begin with)
Godfather - Timeless (see above)
Alien - Still works for the time being

Obviously the editing arts, quality standards, camera tech, computer graphics and political correctness is stuff that is constantly changing.

Superman will give you another taste of this. Man of Steel is going to be Superman vs. Zod just like back in 1980.

And of course you have:
Total Recall (2012)
Dredd (2012)
The A-Team (2010)
Incredible Hulk (2008)

All perfect examples of what you are asking. Then again, a lot of people refuse to accept reboots of classics. Almost to the point of taking offense. If they ever rebooted my favorite movie (Almost Famous) idk how I'd feel about it.

You know, with rare exception these movies are always set waaaay to closely to the present.

If anything, when a futurist tells you any prediction, always automatically add 20 years to it.

Then again, thanks to flat screens and plasma, even pre-21st century movies set in an unspecified future are immediately dated by the big ass vacuum tube television sets and monitors.

 

[Silvermoth]

Logan's run would be a lot more relevant and a lot less of a cult fav

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Wizard of Oz is the oldest movie I am actually entertained by. Everything I've ever seen prior to 1939 just puts me to sleep.

 

[Hyde]

Wizard of Oz is the oldest movie I am actually entertained by. Everything I've ever seen prior to 1939 just puts me to sleep.

Same here, however I bet the movie would be nothing like the original if it was made today. Oz: the Great and Powerful is a damn good example of this.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Yeah. Pretty damn good example. That movie was disappointing.

 

[samsnee]

The biggest difference is the musical background. These days, you have music in the background for everything, whether it be a pop song or musical note. It's there to tell you how you should be feeling at that moment. Old movies from the 40s and 50s were a slower burn.

 

[Erzengel]

I was watching Jaws and I feel it really holds up.

My issue would them trying to make the cast hollywood or teen friendly. Putting in nudity for the sake of it. Etc.

And I don't know how you can recast Quint. The whole monologue he gives about the Indianapolis is probably one of my favorites.

 

[Pink Ranger]

The Indian Jones franchise, if it had never previously existed, could not get made today. No mainstream studio would fund it, sadly.

 

[DACrowe]

Wizard of Oz is the oldest movie I am actually entertained by. Everything I've ever seen prior to 1939 just puts me to sleep.

Check out The Adventure of Robin Hood (1938)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Swing Time (1936)
King Kong (1933)
Frankenstein (1931)
Metropolis (1927)
The Invisible Man (1933)
or City Lights (1931)

The first four I mentioned especially. And of course, 1939 through 1949 is in many ways the peak of the Hollywood system, depending how you look at it.

 

[zeroapoc]

You know, with rare exception these movies are always set waaaay to closely to the present.

Robocop was ridiculous in that way. I think it was set about 5 years after it was released.

If you're going to set something in the future, go a long way ahead.

 

[zeroapoc]

Logan's run would be a lot more relevant and a lot less of a cult fav

There's was talk of a remake a decade ago. Then it went into developmental hell.

 

[Tequilla]

Every movie is a product of its own time. So i really can't answer that.

Wizard of Oz is the oldest movie I am actually entertained by. Everything I've ever seen prior to 1939 just puts me to sleep.

No Chaplin ? No Bunuel ? Ozu ? Mizoguchi ? Howard Hawks ? Even Disney movies ? 30's was such a strong decade for the expansion of cinema's influence.

 

[Hellion]

Check out The Adventure of Robin Hood (1938)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Swing Time (1936)
King Kong (1933)
Frankenstein (1931)
Metropolis (1927)
The Invisible Man (1933)
or City Lights (1931)

The first four I mentioned especially. And of course, 1939 through 1949 is in many ways the peak of the Hollywood system, depending how you look at it.

I was raised on these...and IMO, The Bride of Frankenstein is still the my favorite/best of sequel.

Now, I'll probably be spending the week revisiting these.

 

[uniqueweasel]

I think you could safely say for the more action driven classics, they would be a lot more cgi heavy

 

[sueb1863]

I'm not sure Back to the Future would be the same today. Some studio heads might object to Doc having such a close relationship with a high school age boy. They might try to change it to make it acceptable - for example, having Marty get accidentally involved and sent back to 1955 instead of knowing Doc or having any friendship with him beforehand.

 

[redhawk23]

Every movie is a product of its own time. So i really can't answer that.



No Chaplin ? No Bunuel ? Ozu ? Mizoguchi ? Howard Hawks ? Even Disney movies ? 30's was such a strong decade for the expansion of cinema's influence.

You can recognize the importance of something without being particularly entertained by it.

 

[Tequilla]

You can recognize the importance of something without being particularly entertained by it.

Yes you can.

But i think it was their quality that cemented the importance .

Sometimes there is a lot of preconceived ideas about a particular time , setting etc , without fully experiencing it. For instance , any Howard Hawks film from that time is as accessible to anyone as any movie. I speak for myself because when i was younger i wanted to run away as far as i could from any motion picture pre-60 t:

 

[spider-neil]

I think you could safely say for the more action driven classics, they would be a lot more cgi heavy

Thank goodness a lot of Sci-Fi classics were made in the 80's.