The 10 Worst Remakes Ever, According To Reddit

It seems like anybody who wants to see anything original has to seek out low-budget, independent movies. The five major studios mostly only release movies based on existing IPs, whether it’s part of a cinematic universe or a sequel. But one of the other ways studios capitalize on their properties is with remakes.

Movie remakes can be great, such as The Departed or 3:10 to Yuma, but other times, they can misunderstand the reason the original was so appealing in the first place. And at worst, they can totally tarnish the originals’ legacy. Redditors think these remakes do exactly that.

10 Point Break (2015)

Point Break is one of the most entertaining action movies of the 1990s, and it was the first example of Kathryn Bigelow’s sublime action directing. However, the sequel replaced the practical effects and thrilling chase sequences with CGI and dull plot twists.

Len24 posits that “The Fast and the Furious is a better Point Break remake than the actual Point Break remake.” Given that the street racing movie is about an undercover FBI agent infiltrating a group of thrill-seekers he suspects of being criminals, there are so many ways the two movies are similar. The only difference is that surfing is traded in for street racing.

9 The Lion King (2019)

The original animated The Lion King is one of the most beloved Disney movies ever made, so much that it’s the highest-rated Disney release on IMDb. Tacoman333 is one of the live-action remake’s biggest critics. The Redditor argues that “it is almost exactly the same as the original except with poor performances from most of the cast and a hyper-realistic animation style that doesn’t allow for much character expression.”

However, while it’s largely considered one of the worst Disney movies ever, the 2019 movie might be more hated than it deserves, as it will always be compared to the original. As a standalone movie and for audiences who have never seen the 1994 classic, the 2019 remake is just as entertaining and just as emotional.

8 The Stepford Wives (2004)

In the original 1975 The Stepford Wives, husbands replace their wives with robot look-a-likes that they can control, which is also the case in the 2004 remake. But at the end of the remake, a brain chip is removed from the wives, showing that they were mind-controlled, which doesn’t make sense considering that, earlier in the movie, a husband was dispensing wads of cash from his wife’s mouth.

The Stepford Wives is a deep pull from Henchman___21, as the movie isn’t exactly recognized as being such a notoriously terrible remake as the other movies mentioned by Redditors. And few people ever saw it, as it barely made back its budget at the box office and isn’t exactly a property that streaming platforms are fighting over for syndication rights. However, the Redditor has a problem with the way the film doesn’t make sense compared to the original. They rhetorically ask, “which is it? Have the women in this neighborhood been replaced by robots, or have they been hypnotized? Either way, bad movie, don’t watch it.”

7 Hellboy (2019)

A lot of fans were campaigning for the third Hellboy movie in the Ron Perlman-led, Guillermo del Toro-directed series, but instead, fans got a complete reboot with the 2019 release. The movie was critically scathed, and almost forwarning people, Mala27369 says, “no one should mess with that movie.”

The remake has a lot of problems, but while it film takes a lot of cues from director del Toro’s first two movies, a lot of it is also based more on the comic book source material too. And between Hellboy being way more short-tempered and taking on a more demon form in the final act, Hellboy is totally underrated.

6 The Mummy (2017)

The Mummy had a lot of promise, and Universal was putting a lot of hope into the 2017 reboot, as it was planned to be the start of a new cinematic universe, the Dark Universe. The universe was going to be based on classic universal monsters such as Wolf Man, Dracula, and Frankenstein.

Unfortunately, the 2017 movie was hated by critics and audiences, even with Tom Cruise in the lead role, and Manderifffic notes that it “killed the Dark Universe in its cradle.” Upon The Mummy’s release, Universal immediately abandoned the franchise. It’s a shame because a Javier Bardem-starring Bride of Frankenstein would have been so fascinatingly weird.

5 The Wicker Man (2006)

The Wicker Man has one of the most fascinating stories for a horror movie, as a man finds himself at the mercy of a psychotic cult when searching for a missing girl. The original movie is terrifying, which is partly thanks to the riveting and unhinged performance from Christopher Lee.

But the Nicolas Cage-starring remake, which came 33 years later, is more uncaged than unhinged. Davidsverse puts it best by saying that “the original was a masterpiece, the remake is an atrocity.” Because of Cage’s performance, the remake resulted in something that felt more like a comedy than a horror flick. But for many viewers, it’s at least one of the most entertaining “so bad it’s good” movies.

4 Robocop (2014)

The original Robocop is a phenomenal satire, as it makes fun of business culture and even action movies, with hilariously over-the-top violence. In another director’s hands, the movie could have been just another run-of-the-mill action movie, and the 2014 remake proves exactly that.

CompetitiveHost7929 details that the film “missed all the nuance and satire from the original that made fun of itself and the entire action movie genre.” 2014’s Robocop completely forgets that the series had always been a satire, and it is instead a mediocre action movie that takes itself too seriously, especially compared to the original.

3 Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

While Space Jam isn’t exactly the pinnacle of cinema, it’s held close to a lot of 90s kids’ hearts. Michael Jordan shooting baskets with Bugs Bunny and Bill Murray is lowkey one of the best on-screen team-ups ever. Unfortunately, Space Jam: A New Legacy didn’t quite capture the magic of the original.

Jurassicanamal is playing fast and loose with the term “remake,” as A New Legacy is technically a sequel even though there are no references to the first movie. But they still have a point when they explain that “it was the first thing South Park made fun of after the COVID-19 hiatus.”

2 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is one of the most beloved children’s films of all time. It has a rich world, is full of wonderful music, and has a career-best performance from Gene Wilder. The 2005 remake, on the other hand, almost ruins the legacy of the 1971 original.

HardcoreHazza lists off all of the worst things about the movie, including the “dialogue that tries to come off as humourful, but actually comes off as janky and sometimes cringy.” In fairness, the 2005 movie is more faithful to the original Roald Dahl novel, but that doesn’t always make for a better movie.

1 The Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

Wes Craven’s original The Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the scariest movies of all time, and it manages to be terrifying without succumbing to cheap jump scares. The only obvious jump scare comes at the very end when Freddy grabs Marge’s throat, and even then, Craven was forced by the studio to include it. However, as 7deuc2e notes, the 2010 remake is made up of one jump scare after the next.

The Redditor explains that “Nightmare on Elm Street was the most miserable movie-going experience I ever had, the movie was all jump scares. I felt like I was having a constant stroke.” Even though there were some decent Elm Street sequels, the remake tarnished the series’ legacy and stopped any more movies from being developed for the foreseeable future.