The best remake ever...

[ProfessorChaos]

I have been a fan of the GAR universe since I first saw Night '68 when I was seven. I was totally terrified and wouldn't leave the house past dark for nearly a week after I saw it...living within view of a cemetary didn't help much. Then when I was ten, they did the remake. No one would take me to the theaters to see it, and it seemed like forever until it came to the video store and I got to rent it. Talk about a remake! That's the style of remake they should have done to DAWN and DAY. I guess like the Stones say, "You can't always get what you want."

That said, if you could get what you want, which film would you personally oversee the reproduction of and what sort of effort would you put into it?

As for me, I'd do a another NIGHT film, only this time, it'd have a much larger back story, almost a prequel, or something like that, having the same characters and show how they all ended up at the house (kind of like the direction Peter Jackson took with King Kong, you know, turning it into a four hour epic)...we all know how Barbara gets there, but what about a long action sequence of Evans City with Ben, showing the carnage in a small town as things went over the brink? What about a car ride with the Cooper family? You know, being there when the radio broadcast came over the air, the car breaking down, the daughter being bitten, the mad dash for the farmhouse...Maybe a side story of the first rescue party being oraganized, Johnny's return as a ghoul....

Sorry, I could go on and on about this. If I ever become a billionaire, though, you can bet your ass that this will be a reality, along with a justified remake of DAWN and DAY.

BTW, this is the first thread I've ever started. I'm sure this type of thing has been beaten to death by some of you around here, but oh well. Hope it provides (or reanimates) an interesting discussion.

[Bubdotd]

Hey welcome to the forums!

I'm sure no one will flame you lol.

were good people here and this is your opinion and most of us will respect that.

[The Alive Man]

I loved SAVIN's NIGHT (1990), and enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. I found it very charming, and genuinely frightening.
I loved all the colorful "shades" of the movie, it's solid pacing and - above all - the acting, which was truly TOP NOTCH stuff (IMHO).
The make-up was very very goood, excellent I would say.

It was my second approach to GAR's universe (even if it's not a GAR movie, of course) after my early viewing of 'ZOMBI'. 'ZOMBI' (DAWN) worked on me like an epiphany, I was just 11 or even 12, don't really remember (well, it doesn't even matter).

To me, the greatest segment of NIGHT 1990 is the ending. Beautiful and poetic. I loved the colorful "psychedelic-like" filters they used for the shots. I loved everything.

In my mind, it's not even a remake, but a different take to the script imbued with an artistic dignity of its own...

That's why Hollywood and the current trend of remaking just plain bad. They release empty simulacra.

[Philly_SWAT]

To be honest, I dont think that I would remake any of these movies. I am on record as saying how to me it is dissapointing when people remake movies, in essense trying to capitalize on past "name recognition" to make profits now, instead of coming up with new "art" for the sake of making new art.

Now of course, it would be interesting to see the scenes from Night you talk about, the Cooper's car turning over, the scene at Beekman's diner, etc. I would think a movie like that wouldnt really be a remake, but a different movie. I would be more comfortable if GAR made such a movie, rather than you or me, because they were all his ideas to begin with.

A couple of more thoughts....Dawn 2004 was a good movie in my opinion. I hate that it was called "Dawn of the Dead", and was called a remake. It was a good movie in its own right, but was not a remake of GAR's original. Also, Night90 was a really good, and storyine wise pretty much a remake of the original, but GAR wrote the screenplay, along with the new ending, and other Romero people were involved with the movie, so to me it is included in the "Romero cannon" of movies, whereas Dawn04 is not.

If I was a billionaire, I definately wouldnt mind using some of my money to make some movies, perhaps even some zombie movies, and I would definately want those movies set in the GAR zombie universe, but I wouldnt want to be presumtive that I could do anything better than he had already done, and would try instead to concentrate on a brand new story and see what people thought of it from an artistic standpoint.

[mercurior]

long long time fan of the dead series of films first time posting, i have seen most of them a dozen times, i too prefer the 90's night, it seems so much more real, i am not sure about the dawn remake, fast zombies, it just wasnt as in depth as my very fav dawn, the 78 one. which i watch every few days.

i think the prequal idea would be a good one. count me in if i get money ;-)..

[_liam_]

greetings new folk.

i'm against remakes in the same way most people are against guns - ie usually a bad thing but sometimes they serve a purpose.
there are some ok remakes (night90, fellowship of the ring) and even some that eclipse the originals (scarface, the thing, casino royale), but by and large they suck, using the original's name as a brand foundation.

call me a movie snob, but i just wish someone would do a classy remake of one of the dead films, instead of the blood & thunder popcorn weve had so far.

imagine a beautiful looking, well scripted b&w notld remake with millions of $$$ behind it...

[capncnut]

Welcome to the jolly worm pit that is HPotD. :D

[Deadman_Deluxe]

Velcome to ze forums yah?


1. Do not take ANYTHING i say in the literal sense . . . ever!

2. A sense of humour will be essential to your survival here, develop one now or suffer later.

3. Please be aware that 77.4% of the people you will bump heads with on these forums are ONLY here inbetween eating cereal from their own shoes and smearing their own excrement all over their apartment walls.

4. The remaining 82.6% of statistics are made up on the spot.



+ NOTLD 90 was pure class!!!!!!!

[Minerva_Zombi]

I don't think Night 90 was that good a remake frankly. Its cheesy in parts, the acting is bad, the directing is bad, and its very tame. It scared me as a kid, but now that im older I find it hard to take too seriously. Tom should stick to EFX. Dawn Remake was ok. I wish it would have just not used the Dawn name and went in a different direction because it has a really good atmosphere about it and the whole end of the world thing is done really well. Day, I have no hope for...

[cinezombi]

Night (1990) For Tony Todd's Performance as Ben

[EvilNed]

I'm not that big of a fan of the Remake. Infact, out of the Romero saga films, it's my least favourite film. It's just dull. It lacks in creativity, music, pacing and simply doesn't grab ahold of me and keep me interesting. It's right out dull, to me.

And the music just sucks, which is a big no-no for a dead flick.

[capncnut]

I'm not that big of a fan of the Remake. Infact, out of the Romero saga films, it's my least favourite film. It's just dull. It lacks in creativity, music, pacing and simply doesn't grab ahold of me and keep me interesting. It's right out dull, to me.

And the music just sucks, which is a big no-no for a dead flick.

I agree with you on the music but the NOTLD remake is a hell of a lot better than the chocolate covered pretzel that is Yawn 04.

[EvilNed]

I agree with you on the music but the NOTLD remake is a hell of a lot better than the chocolate covered pretzel that is Yawn 04.

Night 90 is boring, which to me is the worst crime a film can commit. To me, it's low par filmmaking from beginning to end. And at least Dawn 04 showed more creativity and had better atmosphere.

[The Alive Man]

EvilNed,

NIGHT '90 had a very calibrated pacing. Really. And please, DAWN featured an hint of "atmosphere" (or at least an attempt to create it) only in the first 40 minutes or less...

[EvilNed]

Even so, during those 40 minutes the film achieved something Night could not achieve during it's entire length. Night 90 was simply not interesting. A very calibrated pacing? What do you base that on, because I find the whole thing to be sub-par.

[bassman]

Of course it all boils down to opinion, ned.

I have to agree that Night90 is the best remake of Romero's films. Although I haven't seen the Day remake(trying to keep an open mind but....:| )

[The Alive Man]

Even so, during those 40 minutes the film achieved something Night could not achieve during it's entire length. Night 90 was simply not interesting. A very calibrated pacing? What do you base that on, because I find the whole thing to be sub-par.

In all regards,

NIGHT '90 was old-style cinema, being eighties stuff (... and showing that all the time). I loved the "classic-like" direction, the nice make-up, the atmosphere.

DAWN'04 resembles an A-TEAM episode gone bad, especially in the last third.

Matter of tastes, maybe.

[EvilNed]

In all regards,

NIGHT '90 was old-style cinema, being eighties stuff (... and showing that all the time). I loved the "classic-like" direction, the nice make-up, the atmosphere.

DAWN'04 resembles an A-TEAM episode gone bad, especially in the last third.

Matter of tastes, maybe.

If Dawn'04 resembles the A-Team, then Night'90 is ****ing Falcon Crest. :shifty: It wasn't thought through, poorly planned and a very rushed production. That's also why it's sub-par standards. I agree that the script is pretty good, but the execution is just faulty on so many levels.

Dawn 04 was crap. But at least it was entertaining crap.

[capncnut]

If Dawn'04 resembles the A-Team, then Night'90 is ****ing Falcon Crest.

As much as I disagree, that was a damn funny comment. :lol:

[HLS]

In all regards,

NIGHT '90 was old-style cinema, being eighties stuff (... and showing that all the time). I loved the "classic-like" direction, the nice make-up, the atmosphere.

DAWN'04 resembles an A-TEAM episode gone bad, especially in the last third.

Matter of tastes, maybe.

It has been a long time since i saw night 90 but i did enjoy it. i liked dawn04 but it does not measure up to the origional dawn. After all who can beat a pie in zombie face scene?:D :p ;) i never thought much about it but your so right. it was so A-teamish.

[The Alive Man]

A-teamish... crap. But enjoyable nonetheless ;) (as far as Zombies are involved).

[EvilNed]

When talking to others about zombiefilms, I will always right-out diss Dawn 04. But compared to Night 90, I like it.

A-Team is classic! The Dead-remakes are not. And the Day remake doesn't really look like a remake at all. Less so than Dawn, actually. It actually looks more like a remake of Zombie Flesh Eaters 2.

[dmbfanintn]

3. Please be aware that 77.4% of the people you will bump heads with on these forums are ONLY here inbetween eating cereal from their own shoes and smearing their own excrement all over their apartment walls.



Man, How did you know that is what I was doing???:confused: :confused:

[coma]

If Dawn'04 resembles the A-Team, then Night'90 is ****ing Falcon Crest. :shifty: It wasn't thought through, poorly planned and a very rushed production. That's also why it's sub-par standards. I agree that the script is pretty good, but the execution is just faulty on so many levels.

Dawn 04 was crap. But at least it was entertaining crap.

Thats funny because it's true.

I though Notld 90 was really TV movie of the week with zero atmosphere. I like it better now, but when I saw it I though. Man, that sucked!
Barbara-Cliche and stupid at the time
Harry Cooper- bad dialouge and a TV movie Actor.
Lighting was pure Soap Opera
Music was a plate of dicks
Tony Todd was great, as usual. In this case because he imitated Dunae Jones eright down to the dialouge beats. Toma nd Judy were better, but the original judy was hotter (not that that matters). Helen Cooper acted better in 90, than the original.
I like it noe, ecspecially compared to Dawn04. The writing was solid (some dialouge excepted) in Notld90. Though Dotd04 sure looked great.

And the A team a classic?!?! Huh?
A million Automatic weapon clips fired and no one ever , ever got hurt!
A car goes over a cliff
It bursts into flames
"Are you Okay?"
"Yeah. I'm Okay"
I swear to god that was in an episode. Stoooooooopid!

[Philly_SWAT]

And the A team a classic?!?! Huh?
A million Automatic weapon clips fired and no one ever , ever got hurt!
A car goes over a cliff
It bursts into flames
"Are you Okay?"
"Yeah. I'm Okay"
I swear to got that was in an episode. Stoooooooopid!
It always bothered my how no one ever got hurt on the A-Team. I remember watching an episode once where a helicopter crashed into a mountain and burst into flames, and I was thinking "Holy crap! Someone is going to die!" Then I saw the bad guys stumbling out of the wreckage without a scratch on them. Oh Boy!

[N2NOther]

I'm a fan of movies in general and remakes are no exception. As long as I like the film overall then I'm fine with it, remake or not. Night is a good remake. Takes things I didn't like about the original and fixed them. Does it replace Night '68? Never.

I also enjoyed Dawn of the Dead '04 as a film in it's own right rather than compared to the original.

That being said, Day of the Dead, judging merely from the trailer, looks pretty dire.

[ProfessorChaos]

When I first started this thread, I had the idea that if jackasses were going to continue to butcher our beloved saga, shouldn't it be done right? Don't you think that you could do one of these films justice? Which film would you do, what aspects would you change, who would you cast as the characters, would you keep it consistent with the original time period, update it to today's world, etc.

Sooooooo.....any takers?

[Chaos]

None of Romero's Dead movies warrant a remake, under any circumstances.

[DjfunkmasterG]

IF anyone remakes Night again, after LDB's 07 version there is only one route to take. We need to see the massacre at Beakman's Diner.

[Bongholio]

or at least the "stuff one more in" in to the truck scene
or the downfall of the guy with the "hot shi* gun"

[Adolf Kitler]

It always bothered my how no one ever got hurt on the A-Team. I remember watching an episode once where a helicopter crashed into a mountain and burst into flames, and I was thinking "Holy crap! Someone is going to die!" Then I saw the bad guys stumbling out of the wreckage without a scratch on them. Oh Boy!
You weren't told?

The A-Team took place on the same paralel earth where the coyote and roadrunner call home.

[Danny]

^ he speaks the truth:D

[DjfunkmasterG]

At least the Road Runner and Coyote were more entertaining, than the A-Team. DAWN 04 was way better than the A team and out of the all the remakes of George's films it is the BEST.

[coma]

At least the Road Runner and Coyote were more entertaining, than the A-Team. DAWN 04 was way better than the A team and out of the all the remakes of George's films it is the BEST.
NOTLD90 was better. Much better.. Though, obviously, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. my opinion is I think your a little nuts:)

And Roadrunner and the A team were both lame. Ateam because it insulted intellignece and Roadrunner because it was always the same. Acme , Canyons, Anvils and beep beep. Wylie Coyote always had my sympathies cause Roadrunner was an asswipe.

[Brubaker]

NOTLD90 was better. Much better.. Though, obviously, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. my opinion is I think your a little nuts:)

And Roadrunner and the A team were both lame. Ateam because it insulted intellignece and Roadrunner because it was always the same. Acme , Canyons, Anvils and beep beep. Wylie Coyote always had my sympathies cause Roadrunner was an asswipe.

I can't sympathize with the Coyote. Why? Even if it is a cartoon and he is supposed to chase the Roadrunner and follow the script, I'm sure there was much slower prey that he could have caught.

The A-Team was made for the same people who watch Romero's films only for the zombies and for the gore, you know the same ones who miss any hidden meaning or message in the films :rolleyes:

[RazielTalos]

IM all for the guy that started this post...total backstory, i also wouldnt mind seeing what made harry cooper such an a sshole, n either version...the massacre in evans city, all that good stuff


Also, I think a movie based, LOOSELY, on the NOTLD 3part comic, where Barbara survives, would be pretty cool. Cause it is possible in the end of Night68, barbara seeing her brother is what snapped her out of her coma realy, and she started whooping some zombie ass off camera...although i think the whole spaceship/monster alien smackdown/loco horndog scientist/charles manson in the white house would be kind of a stretch...

[ProfessorChaos]

What if they would have remade Dawn of the Dead and actually tried to pay honor to Romero's work instead of just ripping off the title? Wouldn't it be awesome to see a modern day take on this? How about the scenes in the countryside with all the rednecks? And the slaughter at the projects? What about an alternate ending that either followed Fran and Peter when they left or showed Peter shooting himself and Fran sticking her head into the blades of the chopper? Any thoughts?

[Brubaker]

What if they would have remade Dawn of the Dead and actually tried to pay honor to Romero's work instead of just ripping off the title? Wouldn't it be awesome to see a modern day take on this? How about the scenes in the countryside with all the rednecks? And the slaughter at the projects? What about an alternate ending that either followed Fran and Peter when they left or showed Peter shooting himself and Fran sticking her head into the blades of the chopper? Any thoughts?

Tom Savini's cameo and the homemade "survival video" shown in the bonus features fills the redneck quota.

[frequentc]

I'd have to say that Night 90 takes the cake as far as remakes go. Dawn 04, aside from using the title Dawn Of The Dead, has very little to do with the original, and Night 90 sticks closely to Night 68. Based on that alone, there is really only one remake of a GAR movie in the first place.

Does Dawn 04 stand on its own? I do believe so. It was rather entertaining. The makeup looked pretty good, and the acting wasn't terrible. However, I hated the pacing, I hated the "Saving Private Ryan" war movie style of shooting on the zombie scenes, I didn't really sense much of an atmosphere, and I'm not a huge fan of fast zombies. It's not one of my favorites, but it's definately better than a lot of the other zombie films out there... but certainly not worthy of being called a remake of such a classic.

Night 90 I personally really enjoy. Right down to the soundtrack. Being a huge fan of electronic and ambient music, I thought it worked really well and added a very creepy atmosphere to the film. The fact that it was timid and slow also added to the atmosphere as it gave you time to breath it in. Some of the acting (particularly of Kate Finneran who played Judy) was not so great. The film kept to the basic concept of the original, virtually all the way through, and was able to add a few new surprises, which qualifies it as a worthy remake in my opinion. Whereas, by the end of Dawn 04, you're not even sure if you're watching the same film anymore.

As for what I would do if I could remake one myself, I simply wouldn't do it. I am not a film maker and wouldn't have the balls to screw with such classics. I respect them as they are. Also, I would much rather create something fresh and original if I had the ability to do so.

This idea of a solid prequel to the original Night (and NOT one like Children Of The Living Dead... *shudder*) sounds nice. I would love to see the back stories on these characters... and not the back story of the cemetary zombie like Russo did with the 30th Anniversary. That was the biggest crock of **** ever. Who cares what his back story is. We all know how it ends. He's still a senseless murderer... only now he's eating people and rotting with other members of the walking dead.

Thanks for your time!

[jdog]

tom savini's night 90 is the best to me. dawn 04 was alright but its nothing i will watch to often.

[fartpants]

dawn 04 gets better with each viewing though:)

[darth los]

Now of course, it would be interesting to see the scenes from Night you talk about, the Cooper's car turning over, the scene at Beekman's diner, etc. I would think a movie like that wouldnt really be a remake, but a different movie. I would be more comfortable if GAR made such a movie, rather than you or me, because they were all his ideas to begin with.

I was thinking something similar. What happened to all the characters from NOTLD is a side story that deserve to be told on their own. I'm tired of seeing the same story in night retold over and over. Something like that would breathe new life into it. It would be like following the bikers from dawn and seeing how they dealt with it. see the whole crisis from their perspective. Who knows we might end up sympathizing with them as to their reasons for raiding the mall.