Hollywood has, for most of it's history, had a mindset of "why mess with a good formula?" Of course, that means that you get such things as, currently, 11 (count 'em... 11) sequels to the original 1984 film Children of the Corn. Additionally, sometimes the studios in Tinseltown think they can improve on the formula by remaking a classic film. Sometimes those sequels and remakes hit a positive nerve and sometimes the public and the critics both howl with indignation and consternation at the chutzpah that the studios had to making such endeavors.
In terms of remakes, the standout successes with such endeavors such as the Humphrey Bogart version of The Maltese Falcon (which was actually the third attempt at the story, as there had been two previous film adaptations, in case you didn't know...) are paralleled to the Gus van Zant debacle of a remake, Psycho, the horrendous "tribute" to Alfred Hitchcock's original film, Psycho. Additionally, when Hollywood tries to capitalize on box office bonanzas by making sequels to great movies, the results can be equally varied. Many people consider Aliens, the second film in the Alien franchise to be one of the greatest sequels of all time. On the other hand, many fans refer to the Highlander sequel, Highlander III: The Final Dimension as "Highlander: The Apology", because Highlander II: The Quickening is considered to be such a phenomenal dud.
The essence of this blogathon is to address some of those classic and not-so-classic films that came out in the aftermath of beloved films. You can have your choice in your selection of the movie(s) you choose to review here. You can pick a remake or a sequel that improves on the original in some way, or you can choose to discuss a remake or a sequel that should never have been green-lighted in the first place. You are not limited to just the immediate sequel or remake in this. For example, one of the movies I am choosing for my part in the blogathon is Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The Star Trek franchise had four previous major motion picture releases prior to that, to varying quality in story and production.
Additionally, if you think a film got short shrift in it's reception, feel free to defend it with all your might. Maybe you think the van Zant Psycho was a better movie, who knows...?
My co-host for this endeavor, Rachel at Hamlette's Soliloquy and I have a few guidelines to help you make your decision.
1. Choose your movie(s) and notify either her or me of your choice. There are enough sequels and remakes out there to go around, so we are only going to allow only one person per movie. But the parameters are open to possibilities. One person could choose to cover, say, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, while another could do Police Academy 2: The First Assignment, while still another could write an overview of the entire Police Academy franchise. The only real requirement here is that your entry focus more on the remake or the sequel, and not the original film. Try to limit yourself to two entries each for the blogathon, so as to give others a chance at some beloved (or not-so-beloved) follow up attempts at greatness.
2. Grab one of the banners that Rachel has made for this blogathon and promote the event.
3. After you post the review, let one of us know of it's URL so we can link it in our wrap up post during the event.
4. Most importantly, have fun.
The Roster: (so far)
Going to be a fun one!!!
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