7 of the Most Useless Movie Remakes Ever Made
For some reason, every time producers in Hollywood make a hit movie, it inevitably inspires a remake. This is partially due to fans demanding more excellent content but let’s be honest — it’s mostly about money.
There have been thousands of terrible films released over the decades. But perhaps the worst of these are follow-up efforts to originals that were worth watching. Most of the time, producers are better off leaving well enough alone and just coming up with an original concept.
Are there any new ideas anymore? Not really. But these remakes are some of the worst of the worst.
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Why oh why does Disney insist on creating live-action versions of every single movie? Some fans loved this effort to bring the 1991 animated classic to life, but most universally panned the film, which starred Emma Watson, as being unnecessary and boring.
The Hollywood Reporter said, “…the whole experience was actually a little bland, lacking in-depth and so effervescent as to be almost instantly forgettable.”
Robocop (2014)
The 1987 sci-fi action comedy film Robocop was a true classic. Meanwhile, the 2014 remake lacked heart and substance.
The Guardian called it, “A deafening, boring action pile-up that is more Call of Duty than Robocop.”
Fame (2009)
It’s unclear why anyone would try to remake the 1980 musical drama Fame, but that’s exactly what happened close to 3 decades later. Like so many other remakes, the 2009 version did not improve on the original in the least.
Famed critic Roger Ebert called the effort, “A sad reflection of the new Hollywood, where material is sanitized and dumbed down for a hypothetical teen market that is way too sophisticated for it. It plays like a dinner theater version of the original.”
The Wicker Man (2006)
Part of what makes older horror films great is they rely on creepiness instead of fancy visual effects. Robin Hardy’s 1973 thriller is considered one of the greatest, so it makes zero sense why filmmakers opted to make so many changes in the new version.
Fans and critics despised the effort, with The A.V. Club saying it, “turns a cultishly creepy classic into a dull and windy farce.”
Footloose (2011)
It’s so risky to remake cult classics even when they aren’t that revolutionary to begin with. Unless filmmakers get everything right on the second try, from acting to casting to script, they run the risk of annoying fans of the original plus alienating new viewers.
And that’s what happened with the Footloose remake. It was so bad that almost no one remembered it ever happened. According to IMDb, one critic said, “From start to finish, Brewer’s remake exudes the look and style of its forebearers: semi-awkward dance choreography, clunky dialogue and an obedience to formula that borders on cliché.”
Aladdin (2019)
Speaking of Disney films that should never have been touched, Aladdin suffered the same fate as Beauty and the Beast. Casting Will Smith as the Genie wasn’t the worst decision, but he was given the impossible task of filling Robin Williams’s shoes, which was never going to happen.
Critics said it was not a whole new world in the least.
Psycho (1998)
Many fans consider the original Psycho (1960) to be one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best films. With people’s obsession with horror movies, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to take on this classic story. But casting Vince Vaughn in the role Anthony Perkins originally played was a bold move that viewers did not care for.
One critic summed up the shot-by-shot remake with two words: “Redundant and unnecessary.”
