Who Called The 80’s?

Some time ago, someone picked up the phone and called the 80’s, pleading for its comeback to the silver screen. The movie executives overheard this and gleefully rubbed their hands.

Therefore, a big wave of remakes and follow-ups of old classics will sweep over us in the next few years, whatever we want it or not.

I think that some of these old movies could be interesting to see in new and updated versions, but frankly, some of them deserve to rest in peace and only live on in our dark memories, though.

Since I grew up in the 80’s, I decided to dive into this nostalgic collection of movies and share my thoughts about some of them. So be sure that you sit comfortably, because this post became rather large.

Fame (2009) – First out is Alan Parker’s Oscar winning musical drama, about the talented students on the New York Academy of Performing Arts. Kevin Tancharoen has directed this update from a script written by Allison Burnett.

The TV-series that sprung from the original and ran for 7 years is maybe the one that most people refer to when they talk about Fame.  You might remember Debbie Allen’s character Lydia that during the start of every episode said the famous quote,

“You’ve got big dreams? You want fame? Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying … in sweat.”

She also has a role in this new version, as Principal Simms. Fame will dance and sing into our cinemas on September 25.

Karate Kid (2010) – Ralph Macchio learning karate with the unforgettable words, “Wax on, wax off”, become a huge hit back in the 80’s. Now, Will Smith’s son Jaden Smith will learn martial arts from Jackie Chan, in this remake, renamed to Kung Fu Kid.

The story in Kung Fu Kid is similar to the original, only this time the boy has to learn Karate in China, for some reason. Will Smith is one of the producers behind this, and the Cody Banks director Harald Zwart is the one helming the project, and is set to go up next summer.

Red Dawn (2010) – In this war drama from -84, the Soviet Union invades the USA and a group of high school students (Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, etc) forms a resistant group called Wolverines, and fights back, using guerrilla warfare.

In this remake, the writer Carl Ellsworth has updated the story to reflect our current situation, with 9/11 in fresh memory. The director is Dan Bradley, who recently has worked on movies like, Quantum of Solace and the latest Indiana Jones movie, as a second unit director.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) – This is planned to reboot the whole franchise that was started by Wes Cravens great horror movie from -84. Samuel Bayer is the one helming this fresh start, written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer.

Robert Englund, will not reprise his role as Freddy Krueger. Instead, we will see Jackie Earle Haley, who recently played Rorschach in The Watchmen as the badly burned dream stalker.

Michael Bay, who is co-producing this one, is no strangers to remakes of horror movies, since he is the one behind, Friday the 13 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as well. What worries me a bit is that none of these could measure up to their originals. However, I think that this one is off to a good start, considering choice of Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy.

Highlander (2010) – After my friends and I watched the original, we turned into the immortal Scotsman Connor MacLeod, and ran out and fought each other with sticks, screaming, “There can be only one!” I guess that no other film will ever manage to cause so many bleeding fingers, in one evening.

The rumor says that Davis-Panzer Productions and Summit Entertainment is planning a remake, directed by Jamie Sonderman from a script written by Matt Holloway and the “Iron Man” co-writer Art Marcum.

Robocop (2011) – Darren Aronofsky is said to taken on directing Paul Verhoeven’s classic sci-fi western about a cop that is literally shoots to pieces, and then rebuilt into a cyborg, with one mission, to stop crime with any means.  However, recently at Comic Con MGM representatives said that they could neither confirm nor deny that he was still in the project.

The movie was first to be released 2010, but has been postponed to 2011, due to scheduling conflicts with Aronofsky. David Self has penned the script for this revamp. David Self also wrote the script for Road to Perdition.

Conan (2011) – I have only one, but howling, memory from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s breakthrough movie from -82; a sweaty Grace Jones dressed up in minimal leather clothes.

This time around, Marcus Nispel will direct Roland Kickinger as Conan, in his adventures across the continent of Hyboria.  Some funny trivia about Kickinger, he has already played the body of Schwarzenegger in Terminator Salvation.

Missing in Action (2011) – This is another war movie that has been revamped to better suit our current situation. In 1984, Chuck Norris escaped from a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, this time the story is set to a prisoner camp in Iraq. Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore are the ones who has penned down the script.

Total Recall (2011) – Columbia is currently developing a new version of the sci-fi drama of a man that buys an implanted memory, which makes him believe that he is a secret agent.

Neal H. Moritz will produce it and Kurt Wimmer, also rumored to helm the upcoming adaption of Metal Gear Solid, is the one who will write the script.

Knight Rider (2012) – Based on the popular TV-series with David Hasselhoff as the lone wolf Michael Knight, who fought crime with the help of the high-tech car, K.I.T.T. since then a number of TV and movie productions has appeared, yet none that received any greater success though.

However, Glen A. Larson, the first TV-series creator, will write the script this time, so maybe things will be different for this remake.

The NeverEnding Story (2012) –The fantasy movie, which is about a boy who stumbles upon an alternate reality through a book from 1984, was when it came out, the most expensive movie made outside the USA.

However, it seems that this remake is not set in stone, though. Recently in Sci-Fi Wire, the producer Frank Marshall said that he think there is an opportunity to enhance the original story, with more elements from the book. He continued to say that they are still working on the rights, but when they get that, they will bring a writer onboard.

Ghostbusters 3 (2012) – This one has all the opportunities to become the movie of the year, 2012. According to the buzz around it, all the previous actors are onboard on the project, which includes Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis and Ernie Hudson.

However, it seems that the boys will manage without Sigourney Weaver, who does not seem to reprise her role. Apparently, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky are working on a script, but the seat in the director’s chair is still open.

Wall Street 2 (2010) – Another movie from the 80’s that is about to get a follow-up is Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, and you can read more about that in my post, Wall Street 2 Headed towards Bankruptcy.

The Epilogue:

This post became quite a long, but I had great fun writing it and I hope that you enjoyed reading it, as well. Feel free to express your thoughts about the remakes in this post, or about remakes that you would like or not like to see, in the comments below.