To be honest, the mention of the word “reboot” can be quite disappointing. While it does not sound heavy in any way, “reboot” comes with many nostalgic memories, both heartfelt and infuriating, simply because it now represents the less admirable trend of taking our favorite pieces of art and remaking them without any character or soul.
It is very easy to understand why the reboot of sci-fi classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still” serves as an example. Numerous comics, films, and other art pieces have undergone this disguise in order to take advantage of them as commercial cash grabs masquerading as art. In my opinion, cover versions of songs should take a more permanent deafening silence, and so should reboots.
The reminiscence of retro sci-fi movies is similar to an old companion that helps you remember your identity and origins. How would you feel if I told you this friend was about to be renovated in a way that altered their character completely? The thought is saddening and to some, worse than mere creative sloth by the film makers. Might hint towards an apocalypse of culture and the growing need for something real because everything these days is unnecessarily flawless.
Look back at the classic movies and you have ‘Total Recall’ as well with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Its captivating action rose blend in with the suspense were some of the astonishing qualities of the movie. Do not forget the astonishing moments of the movie as it brought so much to the table like when Quaid pulled the tracker from the nose – yes you can image it vividly.
The supreme satisfaction of making the feeling of the mottled earthy Martian scenery so tactile was commendable and something to be proud of. It was a beautiful gruesome thrill that churned my stomach in the best way imaginable.
On the other hand, the 2012 remake felt oversleek and highly ‘competent,’ boasting exceptional special effects. It did not reproduce the gritty charm of the first. Somehow, it felt tedious and boring as a sci-fi action film because of a sort of inexplicable oddity that makes one feel, is this reality?
RorbCop rebooted in 2014, perfectly summed up the collision of nostalgia and disappoinment. The critisicm infused with science fiction in the original deeply resonated with my audience, and by audience I mean my childhood self and the society that served as the original’s viewer base.
In my childhood, I used to enjoy watching the original version, imagining what life would be at my age, and to my surprise, it didn’t seem so uncanny. It was not simply a ‘kid’s movie’ in my memory, instead, it served as both family entertainment and an astute piece of society critcism. With that dual identity, the story was a plot possible rich in layers.
It doesn’t seem implausible to suggest a society with partially militarized police forces and robots patrolling the streets. The 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still comes to mind featuring a purposeful message served up through action beats that supplants the original’s thoughtful commentary with mindless explosions. I vividly remember the 1951 version being aired on television as a child and its deeply resonant message: Yes, humanity can be quite violent and paranoid when confronted with the strange and unknown, but we have the ability to surpass our instinctual drives—even in the presence of intimidating aliens and robots telling us the opposite.
If the 2008 version has any meaning, it is buried under war-like action sequences and beats in place of the previously sustained quiet tension. It feels as though these films are being contemporized, stripped of the elements that made them appealing in the first place. Earlier, emotions packed in Klaatu’s warnings felt genuine, albeit stiff—but that weight has now been diluted.
In case of the remake, things are quite the opposite with Keanu Reeves’ performance. If it’s credible to say that a robotic quality is what he had in the role of a dispassionate and slightly creepy alien, then I don’t see why Hollywood thinks that the audience nowadays won’t appreciate a character delivering a far too important message shrouded in ambiguity.
All of this is hard to consider. Star Trek is another story. While I for one recognize the controversy, I must say that alongside the hordes of new fans brought into the fold by J.J.
Abrams’ 2009 reboot, I found the way new visual appealing. There was, however, something important that felt absent. For people like us who grew up with the original series, the reboot didn’t have the right stuff. It’s not in the effects or the action, but in the deeply philosophical musings and social commentary isn’t, where the original magic resides.
The episodes got me questioning what it means to be human in an advancing world, and what it means for people and society to venture into the human frontier of the unknown while dealing with moral, ethical, and legal nightmares. The reboots suffered from a lack of human experience. More optimistically, there is still Blade Runner 2049.
This is one of the better modern attempts at a remake. Villeneuve’s take respects Scott but eases away from over-relying on the source material. The visuals are crisp to say the least, and the film comes across as a well thought out premise off the original story.
Still, it does not have the same taste and essence that first made Blade Runner a classic in sci-fi films. The sequel keeps the charm, although it seems to land in an imaginary runner-up spot. The reboots are what annoys me, they leave no room for innovation for true creators.
There is nothing objectionable to meeting once more with ancient legends; my concern is that with the responsibility and intent of a true storyteller with balance every filmmaker takes it on. A classic example of this done rightly is Mad Max: Fury Road. George Miller took the “stuff you put in the fire” spirit of the Mad Max films and shaped it into a sound solid, even great narrative. It had as much urgency and relevance as the other great narratives of its time.
Such a story does not stoop to replacing any of the founding works; they just evolve the hell out of them using what could be termed “the right kind of dynamics” in the words of Sanford Meisner.
Unfortunately, many of the reboots do seem to suffer from the syndrome of trying Awfully to recreate your childhood house, but first demolishing it and replacing it with an imitation. These attempts, devoid of such fine details possess no distinctive minutiae, oddities, and memories that provide character to the better house. We remember the ghost in the closet when we reminisce about Halloween in elementary school.
The rekindling of everything we hold dear happens around moments like these. Moments like these give life to coinsided multiciversity. Not only makes sense or serve purpose, but sparks interest, which is deviod in lifeless reboots. I get that my stance can be interpreted as a rant from a diehard fan of the sci-fi genre but trust me, it’s merely my perspective.
I don’t recall longing for a glimmering sci-fi epoch, Instead, I stand as a sentinel wanting to preserve these out of this world series in their original form. If we so choose, the past is able to be relevant. As a guardian of film history, I implore you to experience the amazement, along with shock, that I went through in my formative years, to realize the enormaty of these eternally cherished stories blending seamlessly into the writers imaginations, or as they chose to put it, ‘timeless’.
Could I just say, as a first note on contemporary reboots, I would impress on Tinseltown the need to approach them exquisitely thoughtfully. This applies all the more to classic works of art which have served emulating benchmarks for the greatest works for many. If a work was good enough to be on that kind of sacred pedestal half a century ago, it practically meant a guaranteed spot in the dormitories across college campuses from future generations.
Such is the case in present day, more so due to the proliferation of digital technology. There it is, “making itself known.” That classic piece sure needs to be “respected,” when those Velociraptor-like brainstormings for concepts to abduct, I mean, ‘get inspired’ by, start pouring in from Hollywood. The next time I hear of a sci-fi classic being gruesomely assassinated over the reboot guillotine, it’s replacing eye rolls with muted curses about how BatMan’s idea-sucking vortex seems to be the only fresh proposal in town these years. However, a hidden ember of optimism fuels me. Maybe one day, somewhere down the line, someone will absolutely get it right.
Till then my hope rides on the reality of visionary masterpieces sculpting the timeline where classic sci-fi exists in its glorious stride, as I relish the fantasy of dipping into a magic VHS collection like it’s a portal to a truly epic alternate universe.
