Getting this back to the topic of sci-fi, I recall being frightened out of my wits when I saw the original version of The Body Snatchers. The remake, with Leonard Nimoy, wasn't nearly as scary, simply because it was not made in the context of the day.
That's what I find so disappointing about this flurry of remakes - they are taken out of context, and end up being mindless entertainment.
With The Body Snatchers, and with other films of the day, like The Day The Earth Stood Still, it was all about the Cold War, the fear of communism, the fear of being overrun by the unknown. The remake of The Body Snatchers was just an ordinary sci-fi horror flick, with no underlying social or political subtext to it.
Planet of the Apes, for example, the original version, was a social statement of the day, a rejection of the way human beings behaved, of the establishment, and of the (apparent) ultimate end of the world human beings were heading toward with their constant wars. Who could forget that anguished yet angry cry at the end when Taylor realises he's not on another planet, but his own, in the far future, when he rounds the point and sees the half buried statue of Liberty?
The remake did not have any context except sheer entertainment, so of course, it didn't work.
Ditto, Stepford Wives. The original Stepford Wives was commentary on the women's lib movement. The remake is a comedy, and a not very good one at that.
That's why most remakes don't work; the context is lost.
I am awaiting my 21st you know!
