We've seen a variety of franchises that have been "rebooted" lately or are soon to be rebooted, from Star Trek to Spider-Man, but there are a number of films that are generally ignored (perhaps a great number) and should be considered for a significant facelift. This isn't to say that every film or TV series that's 30 years old or older should be given new life and there are some idea s that should have never seen the light of day the first time.
For instance, it's been suggested that a remake of the Don Knotts 1964 film The Incredible Mr Limpet be released, but having seen the original, I'd like to see this particular product given a pass. And while I'm sure many of you will enjoy the new Smurfs film out of a sense of nostalgia, the little blue guys (and one girl) really need to stay on the small screen (just look how horribly the very wonderful Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons were translated into film).
Leaving the realm of fantasy and cartoons, there are a number of older films that deserve to be remade. This article is the first of a series of blogs presenting such films. For your consideration, I'll introduce the first movie: Dirty Harry (1971).
For those of you into the tough, hard-boiled cop film genre, Dirty Harry is at least in the top ten list if not number one. While Clint Eastwood generally came to the attention of American film audiences thanks to his role as the nameless drifter in his spaghetti western trilogy of the 1960s, Dirty Harry cemented his career as a star forever. If I were to say the phrase "Go ahead...make my day" (from Dirty Harry sequel Sudden Impact 1983), you would all immediately recall the line as having been spoken by Eastwood's Magnum toting character. The Dirty Harry series of films is firmly seated as an American cultural icon.
I periodically watch Dirty Harry. It's still a wonderful film with a terrific cast. Andrew Robinson as "Scorpio" was just brilliant and John Vernon's supporting role as San Francisco's Mayor was fabulous (yes, it's "Dean Wormer" from Animal House).
But even a great film can show its age. Dirty Harry, like all other creative works, films are products of their time. Harry came out in the early 1970s, very soon after the U.S. instituted the motion picture rating system. I've noticed in a number of films from this period that, once movies could be rated "R", which would allow for some significant nudity and swearing, suddenly films had just a ton of "tits and ass" and "F bomb" drops. While I'm not opposed to the tasteful exposure of the female form for "artistic purposes" or as a necessary plot device, it seems like Harry suffered from a little too much gratuitous breast and brief pubic hair exposure that had little or nothing to do with the actual story telling.
Also, next year will be Dirty Harry's 40th anniversary and seeing Harry’s story told through more modern eyes would provide the opportunity to explore one of our favorite "anti-heroes" against the backdrop of 21st century political correctness. Harry was already pushing the outside of the envelope with his general misanthropic attitudes, including those about people of color, but how would people today consider his use of his 44 magnum in a city that just a few years back tried to ban handguns. Harry used methods that weren't so different from his adversary in order to stop a mass murder and established (within the film's context) that playing by the rules (and the law) wasn't going to stop a madman. What can we say about this in a film made in 2010?
I've even got the perfect actor to play Harry Callahan: Hugh Jackman. Jackman's about the same age that Eastwood was when he first played Harry and I can see him being able to deliver Harry's sardonic lines with the same maliciously playful smirk Eastwood used. I remember seeing a still from Dirty Harry posted on the web (I can't find it now) of the scene after Harry is wounded by Scorpio. He's lying on a couch in his boss's office and for a split instant; I actually thought it was a photo of Jackman instead of Eastwood. In that moment, I thought it would be a great idea to have the film rebooted with Jackman playing the lead.
If anyone out there is reading this and can do anything about it, please do so.
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