It seems every year that a remake, a re-imagining or a re-boot hits our cinema screens, dividing the public’s opinion. Sometimes the general reaction is positive, but most of the time people are left asking ‘why?’

I will be looking at 3 movie remakes and discussing how well they did and why they were made.

I will begin with ‘War of the Worlds’.

War of the Worlds started life as an 1898 novel written by H.G Wells, split into two volumes. Taking place in England, it tells the story of unnamed character and his brother looking for his wife after an alien invasion. The book was immensely popular, having never gone out of publication to this date, and various adaptations were made. A 1938 radio broadcast, narrated by Orson Welles, was very famous as it was read as a news bulletin which fooled many listeners into thinking that it was real. Due to the book’s and radio programme’s success; a theatrical movie was released by Paramount Pictures in 1953, directed by Byron Haskin.

The film’s plot was slightly different from the book. Set in America, it tells the story of a scientist who tries to find out how to defeat the aliens.

Dr. Clayton Forrester witnesses a large meteorite crashing into the town of Linda Rosa. Before he gets the chance to examine it an alien escapes and immediately kills 3 people before knocking out the town’s power. As other meteorites crash land around the world, the Marines step in, looking for peace with the alien soldiers. The aliens attack, killing many so the Marines flee. Forrester and his friend Sylvia escape in a small military plane. They hide in an abandoned farmhouse surrounded by several unsuspecting Martians. Forrester wounds one with an axe and takes a sample of its blood. The scientist discovers the alien’s weaknesses from the sample. The military drop 3 atomic bombs on the Martians that prove unsuccessful. It is estimated that the Aliens will take over Earth in just 6 days. When all hope is lost, and people begin to accept their fate, it is revealed that the Martians have no biological defences against the bacteria and virus’ in the Earth and suddenly die.

The film was well received with the public and critics. It was officially the most successful Sci-Fi of the year, earning a $2 million profit in the box office. It was also nominated for 3 Academy Awards, winning 1, picking up the Oscar for Best Special Effects.

Stephen Spielberg, after working with Tom Cruise on the 2002 film, Minority Report, declared that he’d love to work with him on another film. A meeting took place where the director explained to Cruise that he had 3 possible films that he would like to make. They both agreed on a remake of War of the Worlds, and in 2005 it was released horizontally by Paramount and Dreamworks.

The film’s plot differs from the original, but does bear small similarities with the book. It follows the story of Ray Ferrier, (Cruise) an estranged single father who operates container cranes in New Jersey. His kids, 10 year old Rachel and 17

year old Robbie, come to stay over for the weekend as their Mum is visiting her parents in Boston. A day later, a huge lightning storm hits the town. When it ends, he and his bewildered neighbours venture outside. A huge machine with three long legs, known as a Tripod, steps up from underneath the ground and begins killing many people. Ray just about escapes the carnage and drives away with Rachel and Robbie to his ex-wife’s house where they stay the night. They awake to find half the house has been destroyed, and the street looking like a war zone. Ray decides to take the kids to their Mother in Boston. Robbie has decided that he wants to join the armed forces in their mission to defeat the aliens. Ray leaves Rachel by a tree to try and bring Robbie back, but as he has hold of him he notices and couple trying to take away Rachel, thinking they are saving her. Ray makes the decision to go back to Rachel, leaving Robbie who runs off. It looks like Robbie has been killed seconds later though when the Tripod’s let off an explosion which presumably kills everyone. Ray and Rachel are taken in by a man named Harlan who is plotting revenge on the aliens as they killed his family. The next morning one of the aliens makes its way into Harlan’s house, so the three of them hide. The alien leaves after a tense few minutes, but Harlan is losing his mind, screaming and shouting so Ray makes the tough choice of killing him so to protect Rachel and himself. Rachel has run outside and is captured by the Tripod. Ray finds some of Harlan’s grenades so sets some off in order for him to be captured too. He is selected by the aliens for harvesting but all of the other prisoners grab hold of Ray, saving him. As he was half way up into the Tripod, he lets off a grenade inside, and as he is pulled away, the Tripod blows up, freeing all of the captives. Ray and Rachel finally arrive in Boston, where they find Robbie at his grandparents’ house with Mum. Ray notices that plants are dying due to bacteria. Suddenly the Tripod’s collapse and die, as it is revealed that they have no biological defences against natural bacteria.

Although made on a huge budget, $132 million to be precise, the film was a massive commercial success, earning over half a billion dollars at a cool $591 million. The film was also successful with the critics too, with the most praise aimed toward the special effects and the fresh storyline related to a film that had already been adapted for film, TV, radio and stage. Cruise’s acting was also commended, although the ending to the film was slightly criticised as it was seen as quite flat. That didn’t deter the film when it came to the Academy Awards though, earning three nominations in the Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Visual Effects categories.

The second film I will be looking at is REC.

REC is a Spanish horror movie released in 2007, featuring English subtitles for the UK and USA audience where it gained a cult following. Directed and written by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, it follows the story of a TV presenter who is at a fire station filming a documentary when the fire fighters are called out to an apartment block after a woman has locked herself into her room. While there though, they realise that the situation is a lot worse than first anticipated.

Balagueró and Plaza had previously worked together before, directing the documentary OT, The Movie back in 2002. Both fans of the horror genre, they decided to create a horror movie of their own. Little did they know that their little movie, on a slim budget, would find itself ranked alongside the true horror classics.

Going back to their documentary making days, the pair decided to have the film played out in a handheld fashion, giving the impression that the film wasn’t a work of fiction at all. Abandoning music and dramatic Hollywood-style stunts, the movie achieved what it always wanted to do; sometimes shifting aside an understandable plot for the sole purpose to terrify. And terrify it does.

Casting real life TV presenter Manuela Velasco in the lead role as a reporter made the film even more feasible, making people believe that what they are watching is a documentary. This was more apparent in Spain, where Velasco is a household name.

REC begins with Velasco’s character, Angela Vidal and her cameraman attempting to film a documentary called ‘While You Sleep’. This episode has them following the fire-fighters of Barcelona on their night shift. The department receive a call about an elderly woman being trapped inside her apartment. Manu, the head fire-fighter, agrees to let Angela and Pablo accompany him and his team on what they believe to be a routine job. When they arrive, the police are already there, and they smash down the woman’s door. The woman then becomes extremely violent and bites on the officers. Downstairs, the terrified residents are gathered in the entrance hall, and the military arrive outside to seal off the building. No one inside the building knows what is going on. After heading downstairs, and leaving one fire-fighter to keep tabs on the lady, they are shocked to see him thrown down the stairs, in a critical state. The police man kills the old lady with a single shot. Despite being told by the police to stop recording, Angela encourages Pablo to continue. Angela then interviews a little girl named Jennifer, who tells her that she is feeling unwell and her dog is currently at the vets.

A health inspector arrives and reveals that people who have been bitten react differently depending on their blood type, and also explains how a dog taking into the vets earlier in the day had gone crazy and attacked the other animals. Jennifer then suddenly attacks her mother and runs away. The police have no option but to handcuff Jennifer’s mother to the stairs, so if she does change she cannot hurt anybody. More and more people in the block are becoming infected, making them aggressive and bloodthirsty. Angela and Pablo are forced to fight them off, before learning of a key to an exit that is located on the third floor.

After retrieving the key, they appear to be the only human survivors. They are forced even further upstairs by the un-dead and stumble into the former owner’s penthouse. They discover that he used to be an agent for the Vatican, and had captured a girl who he believed to be infected to try to create a cure for her. However, when he realised that she was contagious, he locked her away and left town, presumably to starve her and the virus to death.

The attic door swings open, and Pablo pokes his camera up to have a look. Something jumps up and smashes the light form his camera, leaving him and Angela inside the pitch black attic. Pablo decides to turn on the night vision and notices the captured girl searching for their whereabouts. Pablo tries to escape, but trips and is killed by the girl with a hammer. Angela, now alone in the attic with the girl, picks up the camera and tries to run away, but in the darkness she falls over too. Frantically searching for the camera, which is right in front of her and still recording, the girl arrives out of nowhere – dragging the screaming Angela into the darkness – leaving her fate unknown.

The movie was widely acclaimed by the majority of critics, the most praise attached to the hand-held style and the originality. The movie was nominated and won many awards in Spain as well as being described as the best ‘shaky-cam’ movie ever made. Two sequels were released; REC 2 and REC 3: Genesis in 2009 and 2012 respectively.

Quarantine, the American remake released in 2008, isn’t your average remake. Hitting the cinema screens only a year after REC did, there were many factors as to why a movie described as a ‘carbon-copy of REC’ was created.

Created on a larger budget, as is to be expected with Hollywood remakes, Quarantine wasn’t as well-received as the original Spanish version, earning poor-to-mixed reviews from critics. The reason this film was made was down to the sheer success of the original, and the slightly greedy American companies wanting to join the ride, which explains the reason as to why Quarantine was made and released so soon after REC. REC was still carrying a buzz around the world, so the makers of Quarantine thought their movie would be a success because many people enjoyed the original.

Although the critical response was largely poor, the Americans were proved right as they enjoyed a decent return at the Box Office, earning over $40 million compared to the $12 million budget. This was largely helped by the intrigue and curiosity of moviegoers who wanted to see the American interpretation of a modern classic. The fact that REC was being sold on DVD at the same time that Quarantine was being shown in the cinemas also helped too. Quarantine’s box office returns earned them a sequel, Quarantine 2: Terminal in 2010 – where the plot was completely different to the REC sequels.

The third and final films I will be looking at are Karate Kid and its 2010 remake.

The original Karate Kid was released in 1984 by Columbia and directed by John G. Avildsen. The film is about how a 16 year old called Daniel is told by his mother that they are moving from New Jersey to Los Angeles, where he is immediately bullied and decides to ask the apartment handyman to teach him karate in order to get back at his tormenters.

Written by Robert Mark Kamen as a underdog story, this is what attracted Avildsen to the project as he has great success with a previous underdog film - the hugely successful Rocky, from 1976.

Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) moves from New Jersey to L.A with his mother. After meeting his apartment’s maintenance man, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), Daniel becomes close with the popular cheerleader Ali (Elizabeth Shue) once he starts school. This irritates her boyfriend, Johnny, who happens to be the best student at the local karate dojo. Johnny and his gang begin to bully Daniel, and after one particular beating after school, Mr. Miyagi appears to stop the fight. Daniel wants the handy man to train him; he refuses but agrees to take him to the dojo to make peace. The sensei, the brutish John Kreese, laughs it off and challenges Daniel to enter a tournament in 2 months’ time. Miyagi agrees to train Daniel and makes an agreement with the sensei to have his students leave him alone until after the tournament. Daniel becomes frustrated with Mr. Miyagi for making him doing many chores, such as wax his car and paint his house. After a while, Mr. Miyagi attacks Daniel, showing that the muscle movements that Daniel used while doing the chores were actually important defensive moves. They become closer to the point where Daniel and Mr. Miyagi develop a father-son relationship. The tournament arrives and Daniel surprisingly makes it to the semi-finals, where he faces Bobby, one of sensei John’s least vicious students, with the prize of facing Johnny in the final. Kreese instructs Bobby to perform an illegal move, making himself disqualified and Daniel out injured, thus making Johnny the winner. Bobby reluctantly performs the move, which leaves Daniel requiring medical attention. Daniel is advised by the doctor to pull out of the competition, but Daniel refuses, believing he bullies to defeat him should he quit. He hobbles out into the ring where he is holding his own against the fitter Johnny. After a well-constructed blow to the nose, Johnny is forced to his corner to clean up the blood. His sensei then orders him to sweep the leg, which disgusts Johnny but he does it anyway out of fear. Daniel keeps getting up though, and the fight is at a tie-breaker. With Johnny performing another illegal move, Daniel only has the strength for one last move. He places himself into the ‘crane’ stance, a move he has only ever seen Mr. Miyagi do. Johnny lunges into him, but he jumps up and kicks Johnny in the chin, winning the tournament. Johnny hands Daniel the trophy himself, gaining a new-found respect for his opponent. The film ends as Daniel celebrates his unbelievable win.

The film was a hit, with both critics and at the box office, earning over $90 million in the USA alone from an $8 million budget. The praise was mainly attached to the relationship between student and teacher, as it got more and more personal into a father-son kind closeness. The film was nominated for many awards, picking up the Best Family Film as well as Elizabeth Shue awarded with Best Young Supporting Actress at the Young Artist Awards for her performance as Ali. Pat Morita also won praise from critics for his performance as Mr. Miyagi, earning an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film was so successful that it was rewarded with 3 sequels – two of them starring Macchio and Morita whereas the 4th film was seen as a re-boot with Morita teaching a new student played by newcomer Hilary Swank. The first sequel was well received by critics and even grossed

more at the box office than the first film. However the 3rd and 4th parts were panned and the series was put on hold for many years until the 2010 remake.

The remake, distributed by the same distributors of the original, Columbia, was released in 2010. Directed by Harald Zwart and with Hollywood mega star Will Smith and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith credited with producer roles, the movie was produced on a much higher budget than the original - $28 million more to be precise.

Will and Jada’s son, Jaden was announced as the main character of the film, this time called Dre. The plot was almost identical to the original, apart from a few differences, such as Dre being 12 years old, Dre and his mother moving from the USA to China, the re-naming of Mr. Miyagi to Mr. Han (now played by Jackie Chan) and the ‘wax on, wax off’ method becoming the ‘jacket on, jacket off’ technique.

Prior to its release, there was an issue regarding the name of the film. Some decided that it should not be called The Karate Kid as karate isn’t actually featured in the remake. Karate originates from Okinawa, but as the film is set in China, Mr. Han teaches Dre the art of Kung-Fu. A compromise was made however, with the film being known as The Kung Fu Dream in China, Japan and South Korea.

The remake did very well at the box office, grossing just under $360 million worldwide. The critics praised the film too. Although pointing out that is wasn’t as good as the original, they said that it was a satisfying 21st Century version of a classic film, praising the performances and chemistry between young Smith and veteran Chan. As the demographic age was lowered for the remake, the nominations and awards came from award ceremonies like the MTV Awards and Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.

The remake was a success for many reasons. One being star theory. Will Smith and his wife Jada as producers and their son Jaden and Jackie Chan starring was always going to be a big draw for audiences. Synergy played a big part too. The original movie only had a handful of associated products, such as posters and t-shirts. The remake was made in an era where technology is rife and Twitter and Facebook play a huge part in helping a movie to succeed which is why the remake made a lot more money than the original. Examples of the 2010 version’s merchandise are DVD/Blu-ray sales (which didn’t exist when the original was released), a soundtrack album featuring many popular artists such as Justin Bieber, Akon, Lady Gaga and Flo Rida being sold on iTunes, iPod/iPad apps and games, downloadable posters as well as many others.