[Movies] Gremlins Reboot - Good idea or terrible?

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Charlie Don't Surf

Charlie Don't Surf

Nah! I like seeing new takes on stories I enjoy. Remake everything. If there end up with 8 different film versions of The Thing (this is possible), John Carpenter's from the 80s won't be one iota less enjoyable.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
I find your reaction surprising. Truly I do. Just when I think I have Charles in Charge figured out I get a curve ball like this.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Dave said:
Unless they go in a completely different direction - like turning it into an actual horror movie, a la Fright Night - it'll be nothing more than a stale remake.

Thoughts?
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They already did this. It was called Critters and it was... okay. Had some weird sequels. Haven't seen any of the movies in at least 12-15 years.
 
Covar

Covar

Charlie Don't Surf said:
Nah! I like seeing new takes on stories I enjoy. Remake everything. If there end up with 8 different film versions of The Thing (this is possible), John Carpenter's from the 80s won't be one iota less enjoyable.
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You know I don't think it really bothers me one way or the other. Best case scenario you get two good movies, worst case you still have the original to enjoy.

Most my rage from adaptations and remakes doesn't come from changes (obviously there are exceptions), but things that get left in and things to break.
 
strawman

strawman

It was a wonderfully campy horror comedy that was reasonably suitable for youth. It is, however, outdated by today's movie standards. Why not remake it? Add the fact that every teenager has a cell phone and can text people images and videos. Add a little more pseudo science. Make it campy and funny, and it'll be a hit with its intended audience.

You might not be its intended audience. If you aren't OK with that, please report to the retirement center and complain about it to your dinner companions. The rest of the world will continue to spin. Sorry for the inconvenience.

:awesome:
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
Dave said:
Thoughts?
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I think shows like Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and others show that old concepts can still be done in a fresh manner without having to go completely grim'n'gritty or in the opposite direction to outright parody. All those shows have a balance between humor and serious moments, and are a lot of fun despite treading on mostly old ground. Familiar concepts can feel fresh with enjoyable characters mixed with solid writing. Heck, it doesn't even have to be well written characters or flawless writing, it just has to be fun.

That said, a Gremlins remake would be hard to pull off. There'd need to be enough new brought to the table to make it relevant to current society, but that's not an easy thing to pull of. It would take examining why Gremlins resonated so well in 1984, and then extrapolating how to connect that same concept to 2013 (or whenever it will come out). I think that is what's missing from a lot of remakes, they either fail to try to translate the concept at all, or mistranslate it.
 
strawman

strawman

figmentPez said:
examining why Gremlins resonated so well in 1984
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Great idea!

Part of it is largely timeless:

- Buyer beware
- Monsters under the bed
- Monsters that appear when you "don't follow the rules"
- Ability to do nasty things to the "bad guys"

But it's been so long since I've seen it, these are surely the very broadest of theme brushstrokes.

What else was that movie made of?
 
Tress

Tress

Fear of technology going haywire and killing people. Pretty timeless, especially if you made the new Gremlins computer savvy.

EDIT: Also, it had the whole "China is a land of mystery and weirdness" thing going on, but that probably doesn't need to be repeated.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Gremlins and Gremlins 2 are two of my favourite movies. Except for this past Christmas, I've watched them every year with my niece (this year, it seems, she's "too cool" to watch them).

And honestly, if it gives us a new Gremlins movie, I'm all for it...provided they keep in the spirit. If they went in the way of it being more wacky comedy like the second one, I'd be totally okay with it. It's much more comedy than horror, really. The first one is scary (sure scared the hell out of me as a kid), but it's supposed to be more in vein of the old monster movie drive-in flicks. Similar in some ways, in fact, to Slither, which I know a lot of folk here love.

Most importantly, though? THE REMAKE CANNOT HAVE CGI GREMLINS. It's puppetry or GTFO.

Unless they bring back the electric gremlin. That was fucking awesome.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
ThatNickGuy said:
Most importantly, though? THE REMAKE CANNOT HAVE CGI GREMLINS. It's puppetry or GTFO.
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I agree with this. Personally I'm not so down on CGI as to say it will never replace practical effects, but it sure isn't there yet. Use CGI for mob scenes of dozens of gremlins in the background, but use puppets whenever possible.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Yeah, I'd be willing to meet in the middle and have CG gremlins in the background to add to numbers or something. But the whole reason that the movies have stood the test of time (for me, anyway) is because of the practical effects.
 
Wahad

Wahad

Terrible idea, because I saw Gremlins when I was 6 and it gave me nightmares for days. Fuck you, Gremlins. Fade into obscurity.
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

I figure if Little Shop of Horrors, made what, 30 years ago, can have one of the best animatronic puppets I've ever seen, there's still a great use for the medium over CGI. Sadly, CGI is likely miles cheaper to produce so I wouldn't be surprised if it takes over.

As for the remake itself, sure why not? It'd be cool to see someone like Sam Raimi take a shot at this franchise, I think his campy-gritty kind of style could be a lot of fun for it.
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

I'm talking like Evil Dead kind of dark and gritty, not Sin City. Considering how much of the first movie is basically in the dark anyway it's not much of a stretch.

Edit: Maybe gritty was the wrong word choice. I dunno, I'm tired.
 
Calleja

Calleja

Seriously, I have a huge Gremlins itch now.

I'm fucking nervous about this remake, it could be fucking glorious or a complete heretical disaster. No middle ground, probably.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

I tried watching Gremlins over Christmas Break... Man my nostalgia glasses are broken. I could not watch 30 minutes of it with out turning it off.

I loved it when it was in the theaters, but I have not seen it since.
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

I really hope they use puppets, but if they can pull off the crazyness of the original film with CG than power to them. As long as one of them is murdered in a microwave, I'm cool with it.
 
Calleja

Calleja

Yoshimickster said:
I really hope they use puppets, but if they can pull off the crazyness of the original film with CG than power to them. As long as one of them is murdered in a microwave, I'm cool with it.
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I'd need one to be shoved into a blender more than the microwave, I think.
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

The kitchen scene was just awesome in general, that mom kicked ASS!

Also in the remake if they have a scene where the gremlins sing "New York New York" I would be happy.
 
Tress

Tress

One of the earliest "oh crap!" moments I ever had watching a movie was when that gremlin burst out of the cupboard at the school, which is also the first full glimpse the audience gets of the little beasts. I need that scene for this movie to work.
 
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