Worst Adaptations/Sequels/Rip-offs/Remakes in film?

[JustOrdinary]

About two and a half years back, I decided to hunt down and watch every single terrible, horrifyingly bad movie I could find in order to be able to objectively, and justifiably, name the absolute worst piece of cinematic trash to have ever tainted the film industry. I gave up on humanity about halfway through, but at least I managed to see a good lot of bad movie fodder for this thread. Finally, my masochism pays off!


Worst adaptations:

Doom, Dune, Silent Hill, Resident Evil 'trilogy', Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Super Mario Brothers, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, Street Fighter (the one with Van Damme), Tom and Jerry the Movie (adaptation of the cartoon, IT COUNTS), Double Dragon, The Flinstones Movie, Far Cry, Max Payne, DareDevil, Dead or Alive, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Wanted, Spawn, Dragon Ball: Evolution, The Fantastic 4, Catwoman (*shudder*), Elektra, Ghost Rider, Barb Wire, Steel, Garfield: The movie, Robin Hood (the Russell Crowe one, but there have been worse ones too. The Kevin Costner one comes to mind), Dune, Hitman, Alien Vs Predator, Spice Girls: The Movie, The Punisher, Richie Rich, Dennis the Menace, The Last Airbender, Scooby Doo (that live action movie, and its even more horrible sequel)

Worst Sequels:

Batman and Robin, Neverending Story 3, The Next Karate Kid, Home Alone 4, Son of the Mask, Dumb and Dumberer, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Men in black 2, Jurassic Park 3, Evan Almighty, Ace Ventura Jr, House of the Dead 2 (... it was actually worse than the Uwe Boll film), Jaws 3 (or was it called Jaws 3D? Memory's a bit fuzzy), Jaws: The Revenge, Saw 4 (I have yet to see any sequel past that), Highlander 2: The Quickening, The Matrix: Revolutions, Superman 3, Superman 4, Troll 2, Troll 3, Anacondas (yes, it's a sequel. The previous movie was simply Anaconda), Anacondas 3, Anacondas 4, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Starwars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Starwars Episode 2: Clone Wars, Xmen 3: Last Stand, Garfield 2: A tale of 2 kitties, Blade: Trinity, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver surfer, Spy Kids 3D, Final Destination 3, The Final Destination, Conan the Destroyer, 28 weeks later (days was good, weeks was absolutely idiotic), Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps,

Worst Rip-offs:

Transmorphers, Ratatouing, and also;

Every other movie by the Asylum EVER [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Asylum]


Worst Remakes:

The day the earth stood still (2008), House of Wax (2006), The Fog (2005), Clash of the Titans (2010), Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006), Godzilla (1998), Disturbia (2007), War of the Worlds (2005), Quarantine (2008),


The uhh, categories limited the choices by quite a bit. That's all I can remember for now. I'll edit any more in if I can.


P.S. I couldn't decide between five across the eyes, catwoman, and ratatouing.

 

[Wasted Frank]

A thread about bad sequels and nobody has metioned alein resurrection, I am disapointed. Also the jurassic park sequels, they were awful compared to the original.

 

[Crazy_Dude]

I agree, if only because Paul W.S. Anderson couldn't figure out how to do a straight comic/novel-film adapation without fucking up basic premises (look at how he fucked Resident Evil) and the Strause Bros went to a very bad place where Pred-Alien/Alien canon is concerned.

To be fair though, both Alien and Predator purists tend to consider AvP to be entirely non-canon.

Why do filmmakers believe they can make changes to establised source material on a whim. Who allows this shit? Does a studio exec/producer just dump truck loads of cash into an IP owners lap and walk away? FJAFOIGHGIHggiajkljaklgjdgjdlgjaj

Predators, IMHO was a really faithful sequel that brought the fun of the original with present day tech and added something new.

Predators was a little too faithful to the original. It felt like a 90% rehash of the original.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

The Last Airbender!!!!

Dear god it is without a doubt the worst movie my Husband and I have ever seen, including Sharktapus and the like.

We loved the Nick show but Shamalan basically Shamalan-ed the movie to fuck-all. All of the humor and the love and care put into the show just flew out the window. It deserved all the hate and razzies that crap got. It amazes me even now how that bastard looked at this kid's show and seemed to think "hmm, its alright, but we need that guy from Twilight and morose faces and lets forget about the intelligent writing and anything cute about the story. That should totally help".

Sorry, still so very bitter about that situation. I will never pay to see any movie he makes ever again. I might even openly picket his next movie, poor shlobs that even give him one.

This. I love the cartoon series with a passion matched only by my love for Doctor Who and sex.

I was willing to give Shamalan the benefit of the doubt and give him a chance to wow me, cause the trailers looked good, I'll admit. So I was looking forward to it when I went in to the cinema.

Starwipe to a couple of hours later and I actually physically punched the cardboard cut-out display advert for it that was set up outside the cinema. I felt so betrayed. All the awesome, amazing, hilarious characters from the cartoon...turned into boring cut-outs that just stagger mechanically through every scene with no hint of any real human emotion.

I want those couple of hours back, along with the innocence I feel was stolen from me during that film. I want to be able to watch the cartoon series again without the cancerous tumour that is the memory of that film sitting on my brain and poking me to remind me of its presence.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

While I'm here, I'd like to officially rebuke anyone who either has said, or is thinking of saying, the 2010 Nightmare on Elm Street remake.

In short, I loved that fucking film. It was different, sure. But it worked. It was tense, it was atmospheric, the characters were (for the most part) believable and realistic. Plus Freddy was the creepiest, scariest thing I've seen on film for quite some time.

Don't get me wrong, the old Freddy was cool. But he ended up as a weird, stupid parody of himself. It was awesome to see Freddy be genuinely scary again, and Freddy's performance alone would have made me rate this film incredibly high. Add to it the cool visuals and the mostly-excellent performances by the rest of the cast, plus some genuinely REALLY unnerving moments, and it became one of my favourite modern horror films.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Mind you IIRC GW had some problems with Willam King and his expansion on Ragnar Blackmane's background.

IIRC, Ragnar didn't have much of a backstory before King, except that he killed a wolf on the way back to the fortress, and that he was trained by Ulrik. King has him killing the wolf, but mentioning a new character, Ranek, in the role you'd expect of Ulrik, though he might pop up later.

In regards to Star Wars, I thought Lucas only had to kowtow to the studio/script editors during the first film. The success of the toys/collectibles were enough that he pretty much got his own way from Empire Strikes Back onwards (this is what I remember from the Special Feature docos on the DVDs).

Hmmm...yeah, that might be right, though he didn't direct the 2nd two, and he didn't do all the writing.

There were just so many glaring errors with AvP, I would'nt have noticed if they hadn't tried to base it so close on the comics/novels.

I didn't notice so many continuity errors with AvP, more that it (especially the sequel), outright sucked. A big part of Aliens was that the marines weren't terribly competent (my mum is convinced the company, or at least Burke, made sure to pick the morons, but I'm not so sure), and they couldn't fire their weapons until they only had two or three left anyway. The national guard force, all trained to modern US standards and heavily armed should have made short work of the weaponless aliens. Except that the movie was about whiny kids and not aliens or predators anyway.

A thread about bad sequels and nobody has metioned alein resurrection, I am disapointed. Also the jurassic park sequels, they were awful compared to the original.

I didn't mind Alien: Resurrection, but the Jurassic Park sequels truly did suck. The security in the first movie was a bit lax, with some not totally convincing justifications, but in the second...the mercenaries couldn't run away from the dinosaurs because they were too weighed down by all the weapons they'd brought along.

Use your weapons, they are designed to inflict damage!

 

[Scarim Coral]

Since Eragon and The Last Airbender are taken I say The Spirit (comicbook film). Ok granted I never read the actual comic but from what I seen and heard of the comic, the film itself was a Sin City wannabe. There was some violence (not super compare to Sin City) but there were plenty of kiddie like moment. So overall it did not mix well.

 

[Thaluikhain]

There's a few things Anderson ripped from the comics/novels but didn't implement quite the same way.

- Predators hate the cold, they'll only hunt/slaughter in cold weather conditions if they're forced to. (Predator: Cold War)

Yeah, I noticed that, the previous two movies had them only coming out when it was hot, but I didn't mind them being in an environment where there infrared thingy might actually have been of some use.

On Aliens, from my point of view it wasn't so much that the Colonial Marines were dumb asses, it was more that it the mission was most likely routine (a downed transmitter) and they were given a new LT with little operational experience.

I get that the LT was useless, but the others didn't inspire much confidence either. Vasquez interrupting Ripley when she's telling them about the creature from the first movie (in rather graphic detail) to say "I only need to know one thing...where they are" to laughter and applause, and so on...nah, get another squad. If someone tells you that the place you are heading to may or may not be home to one or more large murderous alien beasties...yeah, that's something any reasonable person is going to pay attention to.

On the other hand, this could just be because movies tend to portray supposedly competent military units as being hopelessly inept for plot reasons.

In regards to the National Guard's performance in AvP:R, I have to liken them to Austrlia's Army Reserve. They're trained to a certain level of expertise, and depending on whether they're being deployed soon or not, their skills aren't that great (The Choco's will hate me for that). So that taken into account, the fact that they mustered so quickly to the town with the correct uniform on and their boots laced up is fantastic, but they were fighting creatures that thrive in low-light, built conditions.

Granted, they aren't (neccesarily) as well trained as regular army units. However, they are still fairly well trained, and well equipped (including night vision and armoured vehicles). I don't see them being easy prey for aliens, though this brings me to:

Also, an Alien series novel I read years ago had a part in it where someone fired a 9mm on a Drone carrying a person away for impregnation. The rounds ricocheted off the Alien's exoskeleton, and one of them hit and killed the bug food it was carrying. The Drone then promptly grabbed the shooter, as he was out of rounds. But that may have been one of those little mistakes authors make.

9mm rounds from a pistols or SMG are notoriously bad at penetrating armour, which is which carbines are replacing the SMG in military use. IIRC, M16s or M4s were used effectively on aliens in the movie, and that townsfolk and soldiers/police could hold the aliens off in time to be nuked (which was retarded, of course). Also, in Aliens, were the shotgun and pistols supposed to be future tech they just used modern props for, or modern weapons still being used?

If standard 5.56mm rounds from a M16 or M4 can't penetrate the aliens hide, then yes, the aliens are a threat. I don't buy that, personally, though. I could envisage the aliens being encased in a reasonably resistant carapace, but the bullets should still go through and make a mess of them, same as everything else.

If that is the case, then aliens simply aren't much of a threat to modern military units, IMHO. Predators, who avoid being shot and have weapons of their own, sure, but not aliens.

 

[2xDouble]

Haha, worst blatant rip-offs in Film? How about everything SyFy Channel ever made. They rip off EVERYTHING and make crappy B-movies (at best).

No wonder they changed their name, it's not Sci-Fi anymore... [sub]at least they still show Star Trek marathons once in awhile...[/sub]

 

[Lord Deathray]

What about Pathfinder(2007)?
Honur and glory to the first who finds out what it ripped off.

 

[MetalDooley]

Worst adaptation: I Am Legend

Worst rip-off: Any movie made by "The Asylum" e.g. Transmorphers,Snakes on a Train,The Day the Earth Stopped etc

 

[Ldude893]

Almost every single Disney animated sequel during the Eisner era.

 

[anthony87]

Starship Troopers.

If you haven't already - never read the book. You will forever lust for the blood of the director/producer/screenwriter.

I have seen bits of that and really want to read the book. One of us in the review has to have seen/read the source material to make this funnier.

In that case, definitely read the book and the watch then film.

Depending on your tastes the book might be difficult to get through, I read it in my late teens. A lot of other Sci-fi authors and critics have slam it because of the type of story it is and the themes involved. It's not a long book though.

Some of the inconsistencies between the novel>film off the top of my head:
- A character that was killed off in the first chapter, for the film had a sex change, became a major character and a love interest
- Johnny Rico never had a love interest, he dated a girl once who later became a pilot/captain and which he then met again only once
- Johnny's Morals & Ethics teacher did not rejoin the Mobile Infantry when war began with the Bugs, the filmmakers melded to characters together
- Lieutnant Raszchak wasn't anything like the character in the film (even though Michael Ironside is cool as hell)
- Mobile Infantry used Powered Armour (that's right, Robert Henlein was the first to write about the common-place power armour concept) that agumented their abilities so that a platoon of MI could attack/destroy/control several hundred km of battlespace, with a plethora of weapons at their disposal (flamthrowers, guns, rockets, nuclear missiles etc), and were dropped onto a planet (similar to ODSTs) - none of the films have adequately displayed this
- MI actually used military tactics - the films used zerg tactics, which really don't work unless you're power armour, and even then the book MI don't zerg (well, except for Klendathu)
- The Battle of Klendathu failed because some of the starships crashed into each other when dropping out of hyper/warp space to drop the MI and only a fraction of the invasion force landed on the bug homeworld; the Commander who planned the attack died fighting on the surface
- A high school friend of Johnny did join R&D, but he never saw him again as he died on a Research moon around Pluto during a bug asteroid attack
- The film is filled with Nazi-like propaganda and converted uniforms - completely the opposite of what was mentioned in the book
- The filmmakers used the nationalist/military service/complex morals & ethics issues as reason to make an "artsy" anti-Nazi joke film, even though both the Director and Screenwriter had only read a few pages of the book

The only way I can watch this film is if I'm that wasted I don't know what I'm watching, and that stage I'll like anything... including Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.

Have you seen Robocop?

 

[Amethyst Wind]

The Golden Compass.

The original writer, Phillip Pullman, is a complete tool for signing off on this piece of shit. The film ended right before the climactic finale to the book for some stupid reason.

Also, they got the name wrong, the original book was called Northern Lights, but ever since the film came out any new editions of the book have been called The Golden Compass just so they can put that fucking line ('Now a major motion picture) at the top.

The film sucked generally too. Besides the story butchering, the acting was bad and the effects needed work.

 

[liveslowdiefast]

Tron Legacy was a bad sequel to a bad movie. Could have done without that too.

Tron wasn't a bad movie, and i would guess that your judging it on what, the CGI?

 

[Jeffster92]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned The Wicker Man yet...

 

[Simonism451]

Starship Troopers.

If you haven't already - never read the book. You will forever lust for the blood of the director/producer/screenwriter.

May I suggest it the other way around (I know the book came first, but still): Don't read the Book, because its Borderline-fachist and two-dimensional take on the subject war will bore you to hell, read Joe Haldeman's "Forever War" instead or watch the movie, which is ,besides Norman Spinrod's the "Iron Dream", one of the most wonderfully exagerated Take-Thats on the entire genre of military Sci-Fi

Edit: Oh, and I'm hoping Games Workshop does the same with the Spacemarines in Warhammer 40K seeing how they are basically Nazis in Space

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Adaptations

- Batman & Robin, the worst Batman movie ever made.
- Catwoman.
- Anything by Uwe boll, I believed he's been mentioned before in this thread.
- Hollywood adaptions of Alan Moore comics, though one could argue which suck and which don't (but League of Extraordinary Gentlemen seems pretty obvious).

Sequels

- Batman & Robin, because it is also a sequel.
- S. Darko, the ungodly sequel to cult classic Donnie Darko.
- Alien 3, after Alien en Aliens, this one made the franchise crumble, and Resurrection didn't do anything to fix it.
- X-Men: The Last Stand, continuity, what's that?
- The New Star Wars Trilogy, obviously, I'm not some big Star Wars nut, but I know a bad movie when I see one.
- The Godfather Part III, compare this to the first two Godfather movies, you'll know why.
- Son of the Mask, I've got nothing to add.

Remakes

Check out Platinum Dunes, a company that specializes in remakes of horror movies. I was co-founded by Michael Bay. Yes, it's a bad as it sounds. They remade Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and many others.