Excuse Me, You've Got Your 80's in My 2000's

Transformers. Footloose. Fright Night. You can’t walk into a movie theater nowadays without seeing an 80s remake on the marquee. Has Hollywood finally run out of ideas? That seems to be the most popular opinion, but I think there’s something more than that.

Sure, a lack of originality has been apparent in recent cinema, but I don’t think that’s the reason for all of these remakes. The truth of the matter is that we run Hollywood now. All of us in our 30’s, who grew up in the 80’s, are the reason these remakes have become so popular. The majority of filmmakers in Hollywood now grew up in the 80’s, so many of these properties hold a special place in their hearts. Can any of you honestly say that if a studio gave you a hundred million dollars to make a big screen adaptation of Voltron or She-Ra that you wouldn’t jump on that opportunity in a heartbeat? I know I wouldn’t be able to resist.  

It’s not just the filmmakers that are responsible for this resurgence though. These remakes wouldn’t still be coming if they didn’t make any money, and the studios are certainly cashing in on them. Most of us in our 30’s have children now. Exposing our children to that which made us so happy as kids is an amazing feeling. There’s a certain love for that time period and culture for those of us that grew up then, and we want to share that with our kids now. Thanks to the plethora of remakes nowadays, my seven year old son is enjoying the same things I did when I was younger. Transformers, Thundercats, and Star Wars, just to name a few.

The biggest obstacle filmmakers have to overcome now, is adapting the material to a time we (and our children) can relate to. Look back at some of the movies from the 80’s you loved. Most of them are so far beyond campy, that kids these days wouldn’t give them a second look if they were shown them now. It’s just how things were in the 80’s. It was a different time, and a different set of rules applied to the movies. If Ferris Bueller’s Day Off were remade today, using the same script, it would be ridiculous. Sure, we could appreciate it, but the new generation of moviegoers would find it insulting to their intelligence. We just have to hope that despite changes being made to the original source material, the feel and the message of the original doesn’t get lost in translation.

Those of you thinking that this is just a phase, and will fizzle out soon, think again. There’s no sign of the 80’s onslaught ending any time soon. In the next couple years we’ll be treated with remakes of Robocop, Brewster’s Millions, The Last Starfighter, Red Dawn, 21 Jump Street, and many, many more. These films surely won’t be groundbreaking or original by any means, but I look forward to taking this opportunity to bond with my son, relive the past, and enjoy the ride.

If you're a fan of geek culture, be sure to check out Michael Coppolecchia every week at Super Podcasto Magnifico, a weekly podcast and geek news site.