Film Remakes Were Always a Bad Idea | A Gene Production

These days it may sometimes feel like all film media is a remake, reboot or reimagining of an old story, maybe reworked for a modern audience - or simply just a shot-for-shot remake in every sense of the word. This is by no means a new phenomenon, however, and has been around in some form or another since the very beginning of the film industry, since the very first film camera was placed in the very first train station. We may critique film studios for their "lack of vision" or "unoriginality," but how much have they actually learned in the hundred-plus years of film, and are remakes today any different to remakes back then?
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Music Used in This Video:
Kevin MacLeod - Fig Leaf Times Two: • Fig Leaf Times Two
MetzMusic - Glow: • (No copyright music) J...
ARMC - Evening in New York: • Royalty Free Jazz Musi...
CleanMindSounds - Ambient Space Piano Cinematic Music: • Ambient Space Piano Ci...
Mattia Cupelli - Dark Tension Rising: • Dark Tension Rising Mu...
LuKremBo - Wine: • lukrembo - wine (royal...
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Special Thanks:
My cat, Wilbur, for agreeing to still long enough to take part in the intro to this video.
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Athbhliain Faoi Mhaise daoibh go léir.

[@MrChristianDT]

I think a major problem with remakes comes from the fact that a movie that wasn't really loved by someone isn't going to get remade & when you already love something that much, all you're doing by attempting to remake it is recapture something & not make art. Vice versa, if you hire someone to remake something that's already good as is, it's hard for them to be as invested, because it makes them feel like a hack.

[@AGeneProduction]

That’s why I feel like the most successful remakes, for the most part, don’t really feel like the same movie at all. More like using the original as a loose guide for themes and plot points, but other than that you’re free to change the setting, the era, the genre, literally anything! Trying to outdo the original at what it’s known for is rarely ever going to work! Unfortunately, most remakes play it way too safe and just make the same movie again.

[@zackreed6010]

@@AGeneProduction amen to that Gene. Thank you for the time and observation. You have great content and I look forward to getting to know you better. Take care!

[@RTU130]

Yea

[@deadplthebadass21]

@@AGeneProduction did someone say Scarface lol Edit: a movie so good a lot of people didn't even know it was a remake

[@smokedbeefandcheese4144]

That just sounds like imposter syndrome plus skill issue. But I understand what you’re saying. I feel like another problem is it will always be received as a remake. Unless it is so good that people forget about the original. Like that song the house of the rising sun. It is a cover but most of the time people play the animals version.

[@bluebugaboo3344]

The capsule didn't land on the moon twice, it was just edited in the wrong order. The reason I know this is because if you watch the 1956 film Around the World in 80 days, they played the film A Trip to the Moon and there you can see that they edited the scene in the right order.

[@alface935]

Wait WHAT?

[@bluebugaboo3344]

@@alface935 Watch the 1956 film Around the World in 80 days and you see what I mean.

[@alface935]

@@bluebugaboo3344 Ok

[@swampfire6600]

@@bluebugaboo3344 where could i find it if its on any streaming service?

[@bluebugaboo3344]

@@swampfire6600 Here's one kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zn-3i2iJYr2Br5Y&ab_channel=KZbinMovies If you Google it, it will show more options.

[@Steven_Andreyechen]

I always think back to one of the Documentaries about the Wizard of Oz that was included on one of its dvd releases, where one of the people interviewed said that it’s sort of pointless to remake good films because they wouldn’t really benefit from it, you should remake the ones that missed the mark the first time around.

[@AGeneProduction]

That’s a good way to look at it! Although one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so you’ll never be able to please everyone by remaking a movie, good or bad.

[@Steven_Andreyechen]

@@AGeneProduction Absolutely, every film is bound to be some one’s favourite, but I think the general sentiment is meant to be that some benefit more than others from being remade

[@thecactussword4304]

@@Steven_Andreyechen I would much rather see a remake of Mr. Sardonicus or The Black Cauldron over a remake of There Will Be Blood or The Brave Little Toaster.

[@CostumersManifesto]

Which in fact was what they did in 1939, make a better version of the Wizard of Oz than the 1910 version.

[@HydraSpectre1138]

A Wild Wild West remake actually sounds like a great idea.

[@bunk-o2495]

in concept the most offensive remake to me is Ben Hur (2016) like, how does someone go, "yeah Ben Hur, what a stinker, just very visually and technically boring, we can fix it, all 11 of those Oscars were flukes" my god the hubris of greed like that. anyway great video!

[@AGeneProduction]

So many remakes absolutely reek of hubris! Like I said, not all remakes are bad but some originals should just never be touched with a ten-meter pole! Thanks for the comment!

[@artirony410]

to be fair, the 1950s Ben Hur was a remake of a remake lol

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

You realize that the '59 Ben Hur was a remake of a massive and pretty good MGM silent 1920s spectacular, which itself was a remake of earlier silent versions, right?

[@bunk-o2495]

@@OuterGalaxyLounge I do know that, but when I watched the 2016 version, huge chunks of it felt like, to me, way to close to shot for shot redos of the 1959 film, which is the film that is reasonably assumed to be the version most current viewers and those who made the movie, are probably the most familiar with. So it's certainly a presumption on my part, as I can't truly know what was going on in the film maker's heads but, when watching that version in particular I couldn't help but feel that the main point the studio had in making was that we have computers now, and so they could finally "make it right" which to me just felt really gross and presumptuous, especially when speaking of a film that is that well renowned in its visual presentation. Perhaps contemporary people felt similarly to the 59 version, but for me that movie was what immediately popped into mind as an example of a remake that wasn't made because it had anything truly unique to bring to an adaptation, but simply because they thought they could do it 'better'

[@erraticonteuse]

@@OuterGalaxyLounge Do you realize that Ben-Hur was a novel before it was any movie?

[@EmployeeAMillion]

Pinocchio is my favourite film, so it sucks to see it get such a mishandled live action remake. The real (and most cynical) reason Disney keeps making these is because they think “cartoons=kids stuff, live action=adult stuff”. Former CEO Bob Chapek even said it in an interview recently. It’s a really bad way of categorising animation, because plenty of adults still watch it. The only adults watching the live action remakes are parents who were tricked into remembering the originals existed, and expecting something more for them. A few decades ago, Disney’s strategy of adding onto their animated movie catalog was to produce cheaper spin-off shows and direct to video sequels, make their movies franchises in their own right. The results were hardly ever great, but I’d rather those return than them keep pranking parents with these live action remakes.

[@AGeneProduction]

It’s a shame what they did with Pinocchio in particular - one would think they’d handle such an influential Disney icon with more care (Wish Upon a Star is literally the Disney theme now!) The industry’s attitude towards animation in general is quite disheartening. Or when they try to lump all animation together as a “genre” rather than a filmmaking technique.

[@gmanley1]

Honestly, the same argument could be said for live-action is for kids, like animation.

[@RTU130]

True

[@FleppyTheClown]

Disney does not think that, in fact there are many high-ranking members at Disney trying to get adult animation more oriented into their platform, or at least more animation that adults can enjoy

[@gmanley1]

@@FleppyTheClown Exactly.

[@guy-sl3kr]

Making the moon swallow the spaceship instead of getting gored by it is such a baffling decision. Maybe it's just my modern bias speaking, but if you're gonna change that aspect of the film then why bother remaking it at all? Also idk how anti-imperialist it is when the plot is basically the astronomers going on a murder spree in a foreign country then kidnapping a random person to use as a zoo exhibit.

[@AGeneProduction]

It’s crazy baffling! It would be like remaking “Back to the Future” without the DeLorean!” Méliès was very much anti-imperialist in nature, and he actually drew many of these political caricatures for the publication “La Griffe” in the 1880s using the pseudonym “Geo. Smile.” The anti-imperialist message in “Trip to the Moon” comes from how the astronomers are portrayed throughout the film. This satire only really becomes clear in the final scene of the film, which was usually edited out by distributors (for the very reason to omit this message), and considered lost until recent decades. Here, the astronomers are very much the butt of the joke from our point of view - they are being hailed as brave conquerers (receiving comically large medals and a ham-fisted statue) despite the fact that they really do very little conquering for much of the film - they sleep, they are captured and they run away - the “prisoner” they bring back to earth is more of an accidental stowaway. But of course, this is kept secret by themselves, who seek the fame of the public who, at the time, would have largely seen imperial conquest as a positive thing. They didn’t actually “conquer” the moon, despite their statue quite literally depicting it. They were very easily driven out by the natives. It’s an aspect of the film that’s rarely spoken about since the final scene was considered lost for so long, but an aspect which ads so much depth to the film as a satire. It really shows Méliès brilliance that such a slight narrative of his can still have multiple layers to consider!

[@guy-sl3kr]

@@AGeneProduction Are you referring to the scene where the crowd dances in a circle around the statue of an astronomer stepping on the moon? I thought the people were just celebrating the moon landing/moon impaling. I mean, they're the first people to have landed on the moon, right? So I interpreted the ending as the dudes being celebrated as explorers, not conquerors. Besides, even though they ran away, they _did_ kill the king and like 5 other natives. I wouldn't call that being easily driven out considering the astronomers suffered no harm themselves. idk I guess I'm just not seeing the satire here.

[@AGeneProduction]

That’s fair, although I do personally think that the “stepping on the moon” statue, or stepping on anything in that pose for that matter, definitely denotes conquest. Although I do concede that anti-imperialist or not, the narrative is very slight and open to interpretation, which is a good advantage of old films not heavy on plot, I think. I think some of the argument also does come from Méliès’ own history with satirising empire through published caricatures, and how that might be reflected in this film which certainly does touch on the topic in one way or another.

[@guy-sl3kr]

@@AGeneProduction I'm not familiar with anything else Méliès has done so I'm probably missing a lot of context there. I'm glad one of us appreciates old films though! I find them stuffy at best 😅

[@sneedmando186]

To our eyes it may appear as satire, I wonder if people then would have seen it as such.

[@TheWarmotor]

I love that Disney went from being a beloved touchstone of generations of childhoods to the most potent icon of soulless corporate greed. They lived long enough to see themselves become the villian :)

[@felipea1399]

They never were the good guys. Look at how they pushed back the Mickey Mouse copyright with every possible chance or how Walt Disney sympathised with Nazis

[@mojotheaverage]

I've never seen the point of remaking beloved classic films, especially when you're just doing a shot for shot recreation. I genuinely think that the best use for remakes is to take a weak or forgotten film that had a lot of promise or an interesting concept that was poorly executed and bring out its potential. Best example of this is John Carpenter's The Thing which took a pretty schlocky, barely remembered horror movie based on a much more interesting book and remade it into a veritable classic

[@IMAL0ST1]

so truu

[@KoopaMedia64]

The Howard Hawks original is still worth watching

[@NoahSpurrier]

Both versions of 3:10 To Yuma were good. Both versions of the Fly were good. Both versions of The Thing were good… Invasion of The Body Snatchers… the Last Man of Earth/Omega Man/ I Am Legend.

[@coolstopmotionpics590]

Remakes aren’t a bad idea, they can illustrate other artists visions on the same story, but they have to have something to tell, like 1982’s The Thing, 1984’s Scarface, 1986’s the fly, 1986’s little shop of horrors, 1998’s The Parent Trap or 2005’s King Kong, and I could go on and on pointing out all the great remakes in cinema history. The problem comes when you have studios like Disney uses this concept to create a decal of their previous movies basing themselves by the Nostalgia to have some easy money. Yes there are other remakes that don’t work and are not like the Disney ones, like 2014’s Robocop or 2012’s Total Recall. But their problem does not come from the fact they’re remakes instead it comes from the fact that they’re bad movies even if they were original. So it is not just: Remake=bad Original=good

[@MissCaraMint]

There is a reason we have hundreds of takes on Cinderella. It’s a familiar fairytale that allows for people to explore themes that are still relevant to humanity today. There are so many great versions, and so many also who are clearly just going through the motions.

[@RubykonCubes3668]

Yeah, i agree! The author of the "Fruits Basket" manga was definitly in favor of a remake of an anime adaptation (because there was one made back in 2001). Rumor has it that she didn't really like that her early artstyle was adopted anyway, so the anime that came out in 2019 is more fit to her artistic vision. To be fair; this is one of the case scenarios where i see a remake making sense. Not like the heavy hit-and-miss disney is pulling nowadays.

[@DanielTGaming]

Just found this video in my recommended, and I was surprised with how small your channel is. A Trip To The Moon was a silent film I was personally fascinated with ever since I saw the 2011 recolored version with that new Air soundtrack on Netflix. So hearing about all of this adds a whole other perspective to that movie.

[@AGeneProduction]

Thanks a lot for your comment! I’ve been fascinated by Méliès ever since I saw the film “Hugo” when it came out. He’s been a largely influential figure for me since then. It always feels like there’s something new to learn about his life and work. I’m really glad you enjoyed the video! :)

[@thesovietarcade]

The best remake of Trip to the Moon is the Tonight Tonight music video. Such a classic in it's own right, and introduced me to Méliès.

[@calessel3139]

For what it's worth, out of curiosity about five years ago I tested to see if it was true that remade movies are worse than originals, at least as a measure of audience approval. I went through all the remakes listed on Rotten Tomatoes & IMDB tallying each film's critic & audience scores. The results are enumerated below: Of around 130 remakes listed at the time, only 20 rated the same or better than the original in approval (15% of the total). Of this group about half were considered much better than the original film (ie. rated 15%+ higher approval). Conversely, 85 of the remakes scored worse than the original film (ie. rated 15%+ lower in approval). Within this domain, over 50 were rated much below the original movie (ie. rated at 40%+ lower in approval) with about a dozen rating 70% below the original in approval (the 2010 remake of Nightmare on Elmstreet being the worst rated film remake at 15% approval vs the original 1984 version rating at 93% or a drop of 78%!). So according to this, albeit crude, assessment, only about 8% of remakes are much better than originals, 8% are about the same, 84% are worse. Of the worse group, about 50% are much worse than average and 10% could be generously called abysmal.

[@Drane_]

What're the movies you saw that were better than the original?

[@DANIELMABUSE]

Unfortunately, we do not have the counterfactual ratings of the same (remade) films if they were not remakes. Its quite natural to decry a film simply because it is a remake. This produces a problem with these comparative ratings.

[@cartervandenberg4771]

I watched the Jungle Book remake when it came out and I hadn't even watched the original, but I could still tell I was watching the inferior version of something. In the words of Bennett Foddy, "They're trash, and I don't mean they look bad or that they're badly made, although a lot of them are. I mean they're trash in a way that food becomes trash as soon as you put them in a sink. Things are made to be consumed and used in a certain context, and once the moment is gone, they transform into garbage"

[@AGeneProduction]

It’s mad because I think The Jungle Book is my favourite of all the Disney remakes, but it’s still funny how true that quote is in this context!

[@MrChristianDT]

You know what is a legitimately good remake? The 1970s version of King Kong.

[@caseysmith544]

which remake, the 1999 or the 2010's one?

[@cartervandenberg4771]

@@caseysmith544 The 2010's one holy shit there's one from the 90s??? ... Is it good?

[@caseysmith544]

@@AGeneProduction Yes the 2010's one is but the really long 1999 movie that used Bruce Lee's son to play the adult character is trash as for kids movie the thing is nearly 3 hours making more for teen and teen do not want to watch a movie like this. If Disney wanted to make a movie about the Jungle book the adult parts of the story, they should have done a Jungle Book 2 and kept the next part going in a close style of cartoon doing the adult part, not do this mistake where they glance over the kid part to get to this long drawn out version of the original. That 1999 101 Dalmatians was a good but not great remake of the original movie, they could have used a better actor for one of the parts for the Wife and the Guy who have the original 6 dogs.

[@Enriqueguiones]

Segundo de Chomón was a genius as great as Melies, considered by many film historians as the inventor of the stop-motion. Sadly, he died completely forgotten and as poor as a rat. In the 1910s, obtaining physical copies of certain movies was extremely difficult and the concept of "remaking a film" wasn't far removed from "re-staging a play". Even the rights over a movie were tied to the celluloid, and not it contents. Chomón was asked to make a new version of "Trip to the moon" because there was not enough copies of the original around and it was a very popular film at the time, specially among children. He added some stuff like the moon "eating" the ship because he DID NOT WANT to make a shot-by-shot remake. Shortly after, Chomón went to make the complex special effects of the italian epic "Cabiria": the first modern movie (predating "The birth of a nation" by two years).

[@kbone797]

That moon face is literally something out of my nightmares

[@eggnite4144]

Fr fr

[@Laffinatu]

(I apologize for the length but I feel compelled to share my thoughts, even if not shared by others.) I enjoyed your breakdown immensely! You opened my eyes to a problem that a lot of major IP franchises are facing and its mostly all due to Disney farting out what it can to lure fans into the cinema or worse- to keep them subscribing to streaming platforms with subpar productions and it’s all to make the stockholders happy. What I’m getting at is that in a way, they’ve taken the idea of the Méliès method of structuring films and made all sorts of unbearable movies where the studios throw out anything resembling a script, ignore the input of creatives best suited to handle these productions then Studio execs have directors blindly shoot with actors, effects, and stunts, only to assemble the final cut in an editing room piecing together a complete misunderstanding of the original IP themes without a coherent narrative. -ahem- Star Wars Sequel Trilogy-ahem They are banking on the spectacle and nostalgia being all viewers need. Only there isn’t a spectacle. They assume we will love these soulless shots and stunts with familiar faces and set pieces littered about. There are many videos going into this, but you, good sir, have in a way given a more clear answer as to what method, if any, Disney and Lucasfilm are using. Now this may be a bit off topic, but it’s the same way Méliès would assemble his spectacles and amazing visuals that were groundbreaking and stunning for the time that the narrative wasn’t the important part, although it served a purpose. It works. Taking this method and applying it to a series or saga of features with strong narratives and characters just doesn’t work. Akin to the South Park episode where we discover Family Guy jokes are written by a group of captive manatees that select at random cutaways and senseless humor, Disney is embracing this as an actual means of production. Thanks again for bringing this all to light about remakes, originality isn’t dead, respect for our predecessors and their art is what’s at death’s doorstep. “A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.” George Lucas

[@kristian3466]

I must admit that when you mentioned The Mummy at 15.30 I got confused. At first I thought you meant the 1999 Brendan Fraser and the 1932 Boris Karloff movies, and was taken aback, like "Wasn't the 1999 one universally loved, and barely a remake of the 1932 one?" Then after googling, I found out about the 2017 version. I guess it was so underwhelming that I never even heard about it... Anyway, good job with the video! I've long been interested in early film history, but I didn't know someone remade A Trip to the Moon, so I learned something new there :)

[@amentco8445]

look up the unfinished audio mummy trailer, that's what that clip is from

[@Saavik256]

The 2017 one was originally planned out way differently, but then Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise turned it into a shitshow with his demands and changes to the script. That being said, it's still a fairly entertaining brainless action movie, if you take it that way. (Because it is)

[@someguy7777]

"Film Remakes Were Always a Bad Idea " john carpenter:*angrily smoke chains*

[@anubusx]

Alien was a remake of IT The Terror From Beyond Space.

[@Tymbus]

Yeah. His version of The Thing was brilliant!

[@noodlearg9745]

i like the way this dude says film. it’s just so nice. i mean this in the most genuine way possible

[@69Jackjones69]

Filum

[@DeleightofThere]

Scotish and Irish people often pronounce film as fillum apparently. Not sure where this guy is from as his accent doesn't sound like either, but perhaps has some influence from one or the other. I find it fascinating and unique.

[@codyb3232]

I thought it was a great video, but that's the one part that was getting annoying to me hahaha "fill-uhm"... sounds like nails on a chalk board haha

[@honilock577]

I love random videos like this. A refreshing "phew" from the endless slew of recommended videos. I hope you gain traction. This video was REALLY good.

[@rotroom]

trip to the moon reminds me of the reasons i love dark crystal so much. something so magical about practical effects in a way special effects n cgi could never emulate. a magic show with a narrative. that's how id also describe dark crystal. both so beautiful :)

[@Yatukih_001]

Not always. There are some remakes which are excellent in my opinion. But hey thanks for this video! Shadow of the Vampire is one of the most outstanding, shining examples of successful remakes or attempts at a remake. Well done and excellent presentation! Kind regards from Ásgeir in Iceland.

[@Thebigketchupman]

I am baffled that you have only this many subs, this was such a good video. Keep it up man!

[@daveindezmenez]

There's one aspect of remakes that wasn't mentioned - when the original didn't get it right the first time and it had to be done again in order to get the material right or, briefly mentioned in this video, where someone can add something new to the story. In the case of the first there are a number of examples where the "remake" actually ends up being the superior film: "The Wizard of Oz" (at least 2 previous versions) and "The Maltese Falcon" (3 versions before John Huston made the definitive version. For the latter, "The Thomas Crown Affair" comes to mind where the premise of a bank robbery is changed to that of a art museum heist and made all the more interesting for it. It comes across as just as good of movie in my opinion and I wouldn't discard either one. As far as I'm concerned remakes shouldn't be made because the original was successful but because there's lots of room to make it better.

[@Dave5400]

At the end of the day, there are only so many basic plots for a film. Most of the differences in films are just padding like where or when they are set. Still the same old sagas of "unexpected romantic entanglements that actually work out great" or "oops, we've accidentally created something evil that was meant for good", but the trick is to add something new by putting a different and innovative twist on them, which of course needs to be executed well in order to work. As you say, there have always been remakes of old films and re-hashes of old plots, but there just doesn't really seem to be any films that add anything to the classic films or classic plots as of late. CGI has certainly come a long way in the past 20 years, but seemingly not much else has in my opinion and the same can be said for video games. "Good graphics do not a good film make", as your Disney examples prove. Novelty in characters and innovations in filmmaking are the only way films can improve and today they seem rarer than ever probably due to the sheer number of them constantly being made. I really couldn't tell you the last modern-day film I watched or video game I played that I really thought "Wow, that was interesting. Never seen that before". The Wizard of Oz had the novelty of colour, Disney had animated feature films, Wallace and Gromit had claymation, The Matrix had its mind bending plot, and so you get the idea. How many incarnations of Superman, Star Wars, A Christmas Carol, King Kong, James Bond ....... can you really have whilst still keeping it interesting? I don't really see the value in watching a new version of Aladdin (which I did at Christmas) only to discover it is a near clone of the original, even down to the same songs and an almost identical script. I already know the plot, I am fairly familiar with the music, the actors aren't necessarily any better, and the original was great anyways. What is the point in tainting the memories of the classics by watching a remake unless the original was crap? Maybe I'm just a miserable git, but that's what I think about films.

[@artemis2027]

There's a movie which has a theme of old films and it is amazing. It's called Hugo and is just a good film that barely anyone ever talks about

[@AGeneProduction]

Hugo is one of my favourites! My first introduction to Méliès and Scorsese when I was younger. I’d love to do a video about it in the future!

[@TimoIvvie]

Dude, only 430 subs!? You deserve more, this is quality content! Keep going!

[@crazydog4626]

A good Pinocchio remake that you didn’t mention was the 2020 one, it is still the story, but it adds on the dark story that the original book had, it resembles more the book than the 1940 Disney movie, which is how i think a good remake should be, adding on to the original or even resembling the book even more (if it’s based on a book of course)

[@AGeneProduction]

I’ve not seen 2020’s Pinocchio, but from what I’ve seen it looks quite creative. It sounds more like an adaptation of the book than a remake of the 1940 film, similar to Del Toro’s Pinocchio last year, which must work in its favour.

[@acessoriesnotincluded2597]

I loved this video, and I am glad I stayed until the end. I very much enjoyed the history and analysts of early and modern films. I hope that Gene will get to 10,000 subs this year!

[@SPSax4]

So this what the moon from that film is what Futurama was referencing in the Whalers on the Moon Amusement Park episode. They really keep some obscure easter eggs lol

[@deniseb.4656]

I'm gonna make my own amusement park. With black jack and hookers.

[@bronkobjama3154]

Damn congratulations on a very good video. Glad to see you getting some real viewership off of your hard work

[@Swagner_Soar]

Incredible video about a topic I didn't know I was interested in. Very well done!

[@MaximeCasabianca]

Nice and very interesting work! Just discovered your channel too, nice to see that your channel is growing fast, you deserve it.

[@BrandonPilcher]

I do like the 2005 remake of King Kong. Sure, it suffered from Peter Jackson’s self-indulgent tendencies, but it was nice to see updates to the story, visuals, and portrayal of certain subject matter (e.g. gorillas and dinosaurs). The 1933 original is horribly dated in a number of ways, so remaking it with modern visuals and attitudes made some sense.

[@troin3925]

A Trip To The Moon is a loose adaptation of H.G. Wells’ First Men in The Moon. Like how Nosferatu was an unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

[@josephcowan6779]

@Jordan Marks It kind of combined both ideas, and added new ones. The cannon shooting the bullet shaped rocket was from Jules Verne. The selenites, and the struggle with them inside the moon were from HG Wells. In neither were there a group of astronomers, or the ending with a selenite prisoner or a parade.

[@Cobra-yo7fx]

Nice video! You seriously have a lot of potential my friend! I wish you great amounts of happiness and success! :)

[@0h_hey944]

Well made video! can't wait for your channel to blow up!

[@samuelgeorge6998]

Your Duel analysis was fantastic now onto this .... for a channel with 3k subs your great x

[@poletooke4691]

Nice video and I absolutely loved your creatively done intro. Keep it up!

[@AGeneProduction]

Many thanks! I was thrilled with how the intro turned out! (Getting Wilbur to sit still for that long was a nightmare 👀)

[@styleissubstance]

Really good video. I just wish there was more commentary on the corporate cynicism underlying newer films pushed by studios. Regardless, keep up the good work. I'll keep my eye on this channel.

[@AGeneProduction]

Thanks for the feedback, it’s much appreciated :)

[@pikakirby1119]

Thank you for helping me to finally understand what's going on in a trip to the moon I've been confused about the films plot since I saw it

[@bubbytumby8509]

You should do a review/ analysis of HUGO. The movie Hugo was my introduction to a trip to the moon. I would love you going into it

[@AGeneProduction]

I adore Hugo! It was my own introduction to the life and works of Méliès, which had been very influential for me over the years! I just recently watched it over Christmas, actually. I’d love to make a video on it if I think of something I can add to the discourse, rather than just a general review! Thanks for the comment 😄

[@dwaynetherickscanchez3160]

This dude flow and linking between ideas is too smooth

[@adamhickey396]

Great video! Never seen or heard of Excursion to the Moon but that image of the Moon eating that spaceship is pure nightmare fuel in terms of it looking very bizarre and poor compared to Melies. I actually think that the remake version is also stealing from Melies's other movie The Impossible Voyage where the sun eats a train. I know of both of those movies simply because it features heavily in the music video to my all time favourite Queen song "Heaven For Everyone". Something tells me that that image of the moon eating that rocket is going to blow up into a meme after this...

[@PlutoniumBoss]

This is why I appreciated the Robocop remake more than most remakes. It wasn't perfect, but it tried to have its own identity and its own angle on the story. It is better to aim for excellence and land in mediocrity than to aim for mediocrity and hit it.

[@tmp123ful]

This was great, subbed!

[@ExtremeWreck]

The moon in the remake looks like something you find in some really obscure movie from like the 80s or 90s that barely anybody knows about & is some of the absolute most mind bogglingly bizarre pieces of mind screw to have ever been put together.

[@LegoManiac_101]

I didn’t know that there was a remake of “A Trip to the Moon”.

[@CodenameJameslee]

Here's my favourite movie remakes: Dredd 2012 Scarface Bladerunner 2049 Funny Games 2006 The Things Tron 2009 The Ring Casino Royale Insomnia 12 monkeys 1995 The Magnificent 7 1960 Zodiac 2007 the girl with the dragon tattoo 2007 Heat Fist full of dollars The departed Reservoir dogs Ocean's 11 2011 Cape fear War of the wolds The Planet of the Apes trilogy Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978 Suspiria 2018 (this is technically not a remake but I'm still gonna put it in) *Edit I forgot about: Perfect blue/Black Swan Devilman Crybaby It 2017 Mad max fury road FREAKY FRIDAY 2003 I AM LEGEND 2007 HALLOWEEN 2007 THE MUMMY 1999 CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 2005 (it that bad ngl) Vanilla Sky Dune Invasion The fly Remake aren't the problem, greedy film studios trying to make money out of old projects without putting any care, effort, or respect to the og is the real problem

[@rolloxra670]

Bladerunner 2049 isn’t a remake, it’s a sequel

[@CodenameJameslee]

@@rolloxra670:/

[@employee4272]

Tron 2009 is technically a sequel.

[@RareCinephile]

I’ve yet to see Perfect Blue, but Black Swan is my favorite film ever, so I agree.

[@train_go_boom2065]

King Kong 2005

[@gianmatute7577]

I saw Hugo a few days ago on my film class and this pops up, I dont know if to be pleased or scared

[@AvidSonicFan]

If these remakes are created as a replacement for the original, why can't these studios actually delist the older movies and pretend they never existed in the first place?! This is what happened with a couple video games lately, with Gearbox delisting all older versions of Duke Nukem 3D with the inferior "20th Anniversary World Tour", and with SEGA delisting Sonic the Hedgehog 1-3 & CD with Sonic Origins. I would also say Lucasfilm with the Star Wars Special Editions due to the studio's arrogance on insisting the unaltered trilogy never existed, but I don't count those as remakes...

[@AGeneProduction]

Even if they’re not remakes per se, the fact that you can’t get an “official” version of the original Star Wars trilogy is such a tragedy!

[@j.tgrooms]

Didn't know there were remakes of films in the early days of movies

[@malusclarion3527]

Absolutely underrated channel.

[@clankertown]

I was appalled to see this man only has 900 subscribers.

[@boombaby1769]

Brilliant analysis, very good video! Thank you!

[@NoshuHyena]

I was literally thinking about it when you read the quote and I feel so called out lmao.

[@DPedroBoh]

Cool video and all. Also i love the way you say film.

[@anthonydarter]

To be fair, John Huston's 'The Maltese Falcon' was the third version of the book, so remakes can be great.

[@Drue7]

I dunno know why they feel the need to remake movies we already love and adore. They should remake the movies that we hate and try to make those ones better than the original.

[@Taminaro]

heres a cool funfact: my grandpas dad was french and his uncle was working at the movie theatre where the trip to the moon first "premiered", so my grandpas dad got free tickets to the movie!

[@AGeneProduction]

That’s unbelievable! What a lucky guy :D

[@matheus5230]

When one reads about the writing process of these old classic Disney films such as Pinocchio, you see that the very simple narrative was completely intentional. Walt encouraged everyone to keep the stories as simple and basic as possible, because it allows for greater freedom with what you can do in the animation, its charm and the characters as well.

[@AGeneProduction]

It really does show in the final animation of those older films!

[@mr.cheese8604]

I think remakes can sometimes be warranted. When I think of good remakes, I usually think of 1959 Ben Hur. A movie that took a 1920s silent blockbuster and turning into a cinematic masterpiece. Remaking key spectacle scenes, like the naval battle and chariot race, improving the story and characters, and adding intriguing dialogue scenes that were impossible to make in the 1920s. I think movie remakes can be good if it can be drastically improved from the original while still accomplishing the same goal.

[@derworfnet]

Funny thing is, I didn’t knew for the longest time that _Trip to the Moon_ was remade and I actually watched the remake first when I was a child. So when I watched the Original much, much later, I was confused that the Capsule *didn‘t* fly into the moon‘s mouth and assumed a Mandela-effect.

[@redfear77]

It’s kind of crazy to see the huge improvements within 40 years between the moon film and Pinocchio, even if that is a remastered scene.

[@seiyuokamihimura5082]

Voyage de la lune, the thumbnail video, is probably one of my top 10 milies' films. The sound track is amazing, so is the film, even if a few notes and frames are missing.

[@johnclark926]

Remakes as a concept are very valid, especially in the case where the cultural or technological limitations of the time get in the way of a film’s full potential (i.e. films made to favor the Hays Code and/or limited to black & white), but I have to admit that Disney’s recent bout of live action remakes are more comparable to “legal” bootlegs of films they own the copyright to rather than genuine attempts to make good films.

[@Tymbus]

Agreed. I thought the Jungle Book remake had many excellent qualities but they messed up the songs (apparently the director didn't want to use them which would have been fine by me)

[@erikrivera5946]

Some of the best video games are made this way. With the story taking a back seat to the gameplay during development. Games like portal, metal gear, downwell, sunset overdrive to name a few

[@smokedbeefandcheese4144]

Yeah my mind was drawn to that parallel as well. It’s also interesting to think that both took that mindset of the gimmicks being more important than the story. And I wonder if this is common with early entertainment. In all fields. If story only takes precedent when a medium matures.

[@TheSteveBoyd]

Every once in awhile, KZbin actually manages to recommend a video from a channel I haven't seen before, and gets it RIGHT! I really enjoyed this video and you get a like and subscribe from me today. I was very surprised to learn that there had been a remake of "A Trip to the Moon". I absolutely love the surviving films of Georges Méliès. He was the unrivalled genius of his time and his is a fascinating and tragic tale. It's no wonder I hadn't heard of the copycat version, as it is of little or no consequence. Some remakes border on the blasphemous (Russell Brand's remake of "Arthur" jumps to mind), or just plain redundant (Spiderman), but every once in awhile somebody manages to improve upon the original. The live-action release of "Pete's Dragon" with Robert Redford was a major rescuing of a terrible mid 70s Disney movie, in my opinion. Anyway, blah blah blah.... I dig your channel and I'm glad I found it. ☮

[@AGeneProduction]

Thanks so much for your nice comment, I appreciate it! I hope my future projects are as to your liking as this one was :D

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Well you earned a subscriber :) great video dude!

[@AGeneProduction]

Thanks for the nice comment! Looking forward to making more :D

[@TheAlison1456]

bro you have the music used in the description but not the movies just to note I saw u mention the cat in there, nice.

[@Mrs._Ukraine]

This guy has the potential to go viral

[@ChristopherHaleFilms]

Great video. Very informative, thank you.

[@the_boi_4203]

The excursion to the moon moon took the idiom "bite the bullet" a bit too literally 💀

[@mlody9834]

main problem with remakes are hype, u never remake bad movie, u always gonna choose a good movie, and by that u are putting yourself in position where u need to do something better then previous version, even if someone didnt watched old movie he heard about it as "this legendary movie" so hes gonna have really high expectations

[@KlaxontheImpailr]

The moon lady eating the pod is funny as hell to me for some reason. 😂

[@BIOHAZARDRUSGaming]

I’m surprised there were no mentions of international movies getting an English remake. Films like Ringu/The Ring, [Rec]/Quarantine, ones that are also mostly shot for shot remakes just in an English-speaking format

[@50-frames-of-stick71]

The all quiet on the western front remake was pretty good

[@markadams7046]

There have been some really good remakes though. Ben Hur of the early sixties was remake of the silent film version, and though the silent film version was really good, the 60s version still did so much better and won a record number of Academy Awards. The early 80s version of The Thing was also much better than the original version. I hope remakes still get made because sometimes they can still be really good.

[@NIGEL341Hilasd]

You shat on Disnay and gave me a history lesson. U earned a sub.

[@ajboomer1347]

There are a few exceptional remakes out there, most notably David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) which I often hear alot of good reviews about.

[@meluckycharms111]

858 subs? Is that right?? Wow this video really got the algorithm’s attention. 858 subs plus one!

[@Jorno_arts]

I thought you would mention that Disney also remade scenes of their Oswald shorts after Walt left Universal

[@JaredGriffiths2000]

Great video!

[@briansinger5258]

Intro to body transition was smooth.

[@davidmccann9811]

I think remakes work best when the remake is not a carbon copy of the original. So for example, the 1982 'The Thing' was a remake of the 1951, 'Thing from Another World.' Both share pretty much the same story line, but are so different that they are both great movies. We also love some movies because we find them nostalgic (warts and all) and they bring back great memories. So when they are remade scene for scene, but with a load of CGI thrown in, it just doesn't work for most of us.

[@zackreed6010]

Imagine if the same attitude was taken towards theatre. Imagine if only one actor could play a role or one director could have a take. Imagine if there was some sort of proprietary telling or take on a live show. It would have absolutely robbed us of some of the greats that were being inspired to give their perspective. Art is subjective and not owned. Remakes are not a bad thing, they are the natural evolution of art through the ages and through the lenses of different generations. People need to let up and appreciate the new takes on classic works and judge them independently.

[@AGeneProduction]

I do agree, and make that point in the video. Not all remakes are inherently bad, and the best remakes are ones that accompany the original and not try to replace it as the “de-facto” version of the story. Usually by having a “different take” on the original. Creative remakes are often on par with the original, if not better. Unfortunately, the over-saturation of near “shot-for-shot” remakes give the entire practice a negative rep. Theatre is a different beast altogether, I feel, as theatre is designed to be re-acted and seen live. Movies, by design, are created to be viewed once in that very way (with the exception of re-releases or directors’ cuts, etc) but I do get the comparison to an extent. Thanks for the comment, it’s a good perspective on things!

[@zackreed6010]

@@AGeneProduction you absolutely do make that point and I so appreciate it. I think there is a fun about a new director taking on an old project. Like re-making an old bird house with new tools and materials. We, as artists, are always riding on the coattails of those that came before us. A new telling or artistic interpretation is not necessarily meant to be a better version and that is where I think the discourse is. It's simply a, "Oh, I loved this thing, I would love to try my hand at that!" and I love so much that we live in that age of creative expression where the old is being brought to light in a new way. Not only does it pay homage and give after to things that are decidedly not relevant anymore, but it provides a new take and a new kind of fire for creatives looking to insert their voice and perspective, their generation's advancements, onto things that otherwise would be shelved with the rest of the lot. Truly, I love remakes for the heart of them. Most pale in comparison, no doubt, but ALL come from a place of love and exploration.

[@danielmkubacki]

This video is very enjoyable.

[@neonwind]

Well stated, thank you.

[@guystudios]

You forget that a remake (Ben-Hur), is tied as the film with the most Oscar awards.

[@AGeneProduction]

I couldn’t mention all remakes, unfortunately. But I reckon that would be included in the part of the video where I say that some of the best films of all time have been remakes :)

[@guystudios]

@@AGeneProduction Oh, true.

[@therealisticgamer5834]

I clicked because of the thumbnail. I think we now know where the moon from The legend of Zelda Majora's mask got the idea from. That moon with a face looks creepy.

[@kenthuang436]

I think a few remakes work pretty well. We have several different Christmas Carols which are really good, the two A Star Is Born remakes made a huge profit and won Oscars for their nominated songs, and the 96 version of Romeo and Juliet gave the story a modern twist that actually worked well.

[@joshuas7383]

In my opinion, nowadays the magic is basically gone in Disney movies. It’s all just money.

[@josipkefer6031]

That thumbnail is nightmare fuel.

[@curiodyssey3867]

Fantastic video

[@finslaw]

I am a horror fan, and remakes of post-50's movies are usually unnecessary (The Omen, The Stepfather, Psycho, Shutter) or downright terrible (The Fog, Prom Night, Firestarter, Flatliners)

[@AGeneProduction]

I’m curious, did you see the recent “Invisible Man” remake?

[@deniseb.4656]

"A trip to the moon" is one of my favourite movies together with "Un chien andalou".

[@PlacidSine]

thank you gene very cool!

[@lordplebius483]

I think the trick to remakes is vision and economy. Most people think of remakes as dragging out the old Goldies for a good beating, but it's also possible to remake something that was not very good or perhaps unrealized on it's original debut and making it pop with whatever the new artist has.

[@LoquendeitorRZ]

"Remakes should be for bad movies, not for classics" -A random meme i saw

[@officialflikz]

Although... There have been remakes that surpass the original by far, so I guess it depends on the quality of the movie itself and how it captures or elevates the original