Maybe recently, but there have been Robin Hood films going back to 1912. I grew up on the 1973 animated Disney version. Likewise, I also grew up on Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_and_television_series_featuring_Robin_Hood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_A_Christmas_Carol_adaptations Romeo and Juliet has been remade, reinterpreted, and re-imagined a bunch of times.
I saw your post, and I was 100% certain you'd say "I'd like for them to remake Purple Rain", Mr. Prince.
They've been retelling the Robin Hood story since at least the 14th century. Hollywood is just one piece in a long line of literary reimagination. There's good, and there's bad, but I'm glad they try it.
"Public Domain" type stories or fairy tales, etc are OK to be remade in my opinion. They've been remade through word of mouth, books, stories, TV, Movies, etc from the beginning when they were created. Heck, Robin Hood was probably taken from earlier Green Man mythos (so in affect, Robin Hood himself is a remake hundreds of years ago.) What bothers me is when there is an original idea created by Hollywood and perfected for the big screen. To remake it crummier 20 years later does no justice. If Hollywood puts out a new Robin Hood take every 10 years, no so much of a big deal. I actually like the newest take on it, about the "creation" of Robin Hood, even if the execution of the flick wasn't the greatest (although I found it entertaining, especially for a netflix rental).
They should stop remaking cartoons into live action/cgi films. Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield...now Yogi Bear. Are you freakin' serious? The filmmakers for Curious George had it right...they made a movie using traditional hand-drawn animation...and you know what..it was actually a pretty sweet movie. In fact I'm getting it for our 3yr old for Christmas.
I'm sort of in your camp as I think some movies need to be remade to reflect changes in what society deems acceptable to be shown on screen. Audie Murphy's autobiography "To Hell and Back" was a gripping tale of war that doesn't pull any punches. It was violent and frightening what he went through, and you feel that in the book. He was also very a very humble man as he doesn't once mention a single award that he received (he was the most decorated soldier in WWII, and a Medal of Honor winner). Murphy was the epitome of a war hero, so much so that I actually feel a little guilty saying that the movie of the same name and starring himself as himself was pretty terrible to watch today. It might have been good for the time in which it was made, but the movie felt like a PSA for the Army or "Disney does WWII." I'd like to see Spielberg redo this one in the same vein as Saving Private Ryan.
I liked it well enough, though I was a bit disappointed, as I've tended to find Ridley Scott movies in the last several years. I've since downloaded the Director's Cut as I heard it was far superior, but I haven't watched it yet. Here's to hoping in that regard. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to it.
Peter Pan (Please, how many times are we going to remake this movie) http://www.hellomagazine.com/film/2014031317496/rooney-mara-pan-hugh-jackman-garrett-hedlund/ Spider-Man (they only rebooted the last one, so they wouldn't lose the rights to it, I don't think anyone was dying to see another Spiderman film seriously), The Incredible Hulk, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hell, I'd have more respect for a film series that voluntarily tore off the Texas part and put another bible belt state in it and wouldn't consider it an awful ripoff, besides you'd think all of hillbillies were reserved for Texas...) Dracula or Frankenstein (The one episode of Rocko's Modern Life said it best...it's been done too DEATH) Why don't filmmakers try to remake movies that were bad, originally and kind of obscure, but had a good concept.
I like the idea of sequels better than outright remakes or "re-imagining" as Hollywood puts it (F-you Tim Burton!). I would love to see a Krull sequel. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/v6i2par2Fv0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
