The
Eighties were a great time for movies, and many of them have already been the
foundation for remakes. One in particular that evokes strong emotions is Ghostbusters,
which is on my list of the five best comedy movies of all time. I liked the
female-centric version that came out a couple of years ago, and I’m
tremendously excited about 2020’s next-generation version, Ghostbusters:
Afterlife (watch the trailer...you’ll be excited too, if you’re a fan).
Today’s list consists of really good Eighties movies that would make great
rebooted updates in the context of today’s advanced technologies.
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| "Game Over" means death! |
The Last Starfighter
The premise of this often-overlooked gem of a movie is that
a video arcade “Starfighter” game is actually a recruiting tool for an
interplanetary alliance who needs recruits to defend their planets from an evil
empire. Just think what modern SFX could do with the concept of a VR video game
that the best players get to experience in real-life outer space battles. A
remake has been rumored for years; I’d love to see it actually happen.
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| Everybody wants to rule the world. |
Real Genius
If you missed this hilarious, thoughtful, subversive little
comedy about smart young men and women and the abuses of military overreach,
you missed a young Val Kilmer in one of his sharpest, funniest performances.
Lasers were still an emerging technology when this movie was made. I bet you
could remake it set in 2020 with old Val Kilmer returning to Pacific Tech as a
professor who shakes up the physics department and rattles the cages of the
academic and political establishment. I’ve also thought for years that this
would make a great TV series, if any creative types want to approach it from
that angle.
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| None of them looks like this today... |
Weird Science
Most of the Gen-Xers I know probably saw this movie, a
mostly dumb but sometimes funny version of “horny nerds use computer to create
hyper-sexy girlfriend.” Let’s update the movie for the era of genetic
engineering while taking on the vicious environment of teenage social media. We
can even get Danny Elfman to update the Oingo Boingo-driven soundtrack. For
added fun, we could bring back Anthony Michael Hall to fill the Chet role
originally played by Bill Paxton (RIP).
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| Dabney Coleman = 80s Gold |
WarGames
I can’t think of an Eighties tech-driven movie more in need
of a modern upgrade than this classic. In the original, tech nerd Matthew
Broderick (who looks 12 years old in this) uses a dial-up modem (that he has to
put his landline receiver into!) to break into a Pentagon war games simulator.
In doing so, he accidentally brings the world to the brink of global
thermonuclear war. Let’s update this baby for the modern Internet era, postwar
nuclear anti-proliferation efforts, artificial intelligence, and modern
political conflicts. Our global environment is overflowing with potential ideas
for a new thriller that builds on the forward-thinking ideas of the original.
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| Before Tom got his teeth fixed |
The Outsiders
Another Eighties classic, this movie is likely to get
pushback from those who loved the original, with a Brat Pack who’s who cast of
young stars (L-R, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise) in a mostly
faithful adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s novel. We can keep the same dynamic of the
poor kids versus the rich kids, but we set it in today’s Internet-driven social
media landscape with a reimagination of what today’s high school aged youth go
through. Look, if we can reinvent Archie and Jughead effectively (Riverdale),
this teen classic should be an easy slam-dunk.
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