Comments on: Most Rebootable 80s Franchise (Part 2) [Think Tank]

By: Eddie

Eddie — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:13:04 +0000

I voted with Lee, but mainly just because HeMan and Masters of the Universe weren’t on the list.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:46:51 +0000

One Word – Krull! True, not a franchise to begin with, but I think they could build it into one.

By: Gab

Gab — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:23:57 +0000

@Lee: You’re so gonna blog about it?

By: lee

lee — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:29:44 +0000

@Glenn: “Anton Yelchin as Balki”
FTW

@Gab: I did sort of have Terminator on the mind when I wrote “Leave ‘em alone,” but I suppose that could have applied to the decision to make a sequel to Terminator 2. That David Foster Wallace article we mentioned a while ago certainly took the opinion that T2 ruined T1, which is certainly a minority view.

But even if you think T2 was great (which I do), there was plenty of risk that the sequel would have fallen well short of the original. This of course did not happen, for 2 main reasons: 1) James Cameron is James Cameron and 2) T1 was super low budget; T2 was Cameron’s chance to really max out what could possibly be done in a Terminator story.

So I guess a better rule of thumb than a blanket “leave ‘em ALL alone” for reboots/sequels would be to make sure you’re really adding value and not just stamping out another copy of a template. Also, adding value is not the same thing as making random changes to the original just for the sake of being able to say it’s not just a template copy. Sigh, this is a topic for a whole separate post.

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:46:03 +0000

I won’t accept anything less than _The Adventures of Buckaroo Banazi Across the 8th Dimension_.

…Cause the renaissance man/top neurosurgeon/particle physicist/race car driver/rock star/comic book hero/last hope of the human race combo is hot.

By: Gab

Gab — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:18:28 +0000

Well, I’m quite easily entertained, and it takes a lot for something to get “ruined” for me to the extent that I won’t like it because of another edition to its canon- so I’m going to say “me” for myself. In fact, I think the previews look kind of awesome. Action fluff. BUT, I won’t be surprised if a ton of people *do* get jaded by the G.I. Joe movie.

By: DaveW

DaveW — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:04:43 +0000

Building on Gab’s comment and Lee’s answer, you know what really annoys me? When a sequel or reboot is so bad, it somehow makes the original (completely awesome) product tainted by mere association. While sequels and not reboots, the Matrix trilogy comes to mind as the most glaring example of this. The original was a spectacular film when it was released, but the sequels were so wretched that even the first moves has become an outcast and a pariah. Star Wars? Same deal. T:S (and T3, to an extent) hasn’t managed to have that effect yet, but McG’s still got two more sequels to finish murdering the originals with, so it’s still anyone’s game. Who here doesn’t think that the new G.I. Joe movie’s going to destroy any lingering fondness they may have had for the source material?

By: Gab

Gab — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 05:25:19 +0000

I can’t help but think your answer was spurred by a certain film recently in theaters, Lee. I get frustrated with remakes/sequels/prequels/etc., too, but I’m sorry you were *so* traumatized/jaded that now your love for the franchise has been marred. :(

By: Glenn

Glenn — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:47:08 +0000

I have but one suggestion: Perfect Strangers, co-starring Anton Yelchin as Balki.