Top 10 Worst Hollywood Remakes

Kicking off our list is the adaptation that failed miserably to understand that the original was a product of its time. This was due to the era’s ever-present undercurrent of threat, annihilation and paranoia. Sure, the remake somehow made loads of money, but it was a tediously boring picture that won’t be watched again anytime soon.

This Tim Burton remake was another dreadful waste of celluloid. Like the original, the film was similarly centered on the boy who wins a golden ticket; however, the remake was tainted as it lacked the heart of the original and featured unlikable Oompa Loompas. Don’t even mention Johnny Depp’s repugnant Michael Jackson impersonation.

This film was a screwball comedy that starred Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. It was a vague remake of the French film “Le Diner de cons,” otherwise known as “Dinner for Cretins.” In it, a financial executive was forced to find himself an idiot to take to a mean-spirited dinner. Like many of the films on this list, it took likeable actors and great source material and turned it into a mess.

This was the third reboot of 1956’s “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” As the tale of an alien epidemic, it should have been exciting, but the film proved to be soulless. After becoming infected, the film’s characters were forced to struggle to stay awake. This, of course, paralleled the experience of bored audiences everywhere.

This project was Tim Burton’s first failed attempt to remake an untouchable classic. He placed an uncharismatic Mark Wahlberg in the iconic role of the shipwrecked astronaut that was originally occupied by Charlton Heston. The result was a film that tried to mimic the original’s profound social commentary, while also adding action. Unfortunately, the movie’s ending fell flat. Was Burton just aiming to out-twist M. Night Shyamalan?

This film was the product of Dean Devlin and Roland Emerich. You would think that they of all people wouldn’t drop the ball: after all Godzilla was a monster movie legend. Despite his towering might, this production was no match for a corny script, total lack of a plot and Matthew Broderick’s deep-rooted inability to act.

Nicolas Cage starred as a haunted and determined policeman who travels to a remote island to solve the mysterious disappearance of a child. Cage took a few cues from the 1973 cult horror classic, but he just confused audiences by randomly punching women, stealing bicycles, screaming, and wearing a bear costume.

In this Sci-fi action film, the main event was an ultra-violent sport that emerged in 2005. While the original was grim and ludicrous, it stood on much better footing than this brain-dead retread. Like many other would-be blockbusters, it put all of its resources into action and noise, and went nowhere in the process. Simply put, LL Cool J was the best element of this picture, and that’s always a bad sign.

This money-grab was wrapped in the promise of nostalgia and honest laughs. What Hollywood didn’t realize was that Peter Sellers single-handedly made the iconic series work with his use of subtle comedy, while Steve Martin was full-on lowbrow. Shockingly, this remake managed to spawn an even more atrocious sequel.

Taking the most dishonorable spot on our Top 10 countdown is the shot-by-shot massacre of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller. The film introduced color, which was something Hitchcock himself did not need. It also added atrocious performances by Anne Heche and Vince Vaughan that prove this update was completely unnecessary.