The problem for me with all these remakes is that they're soulless. Now take the two you guys have been talking about, Total Recall and Red Dawn. Disclaimer, I happen to enjoy both of the originals, Red Dawn moreso, but I admit I have a bias. Anyway, take Total Recall, its not that its great or even a faithful adaptation(though it may be as I haven't read the original story), its just that its main star(Arnie), brings a certain charm to his movies. Love him or hate him, you can't deny that Arnold movies have a very distinctive feel, he gives them flair or cheese depending on your view. Throw in a hot Sharon Stone, an awesome Michael Ironsides, Dick Jones from RoboCop, three-breasted woman, Quaddo, "two weeks", the original is full of moments. Same for Red Dawn, with its pseduo brat pack, ridiculous idea of invasion by Mexico and Russia, being released at the height of the Cold War, Powers Boothe, C. Thomas Howell acting like a bad ass.

And on the other hand you have the remakes, this is more about Total Recall as Red Dawn isn't out yet. Its bland, indistinguishable from any other blockbuster movie nowadays. Loud and flashy and pretty, impressive for the two hours you're there and then quickly forgotten. Twenty years from now, I think most will still remember the Arnie version. The same i think will go for Red Dawn.

Of course, I guess I could just be getting old and starting the "In my day..." phase of my life.

Then I am in that phase too. Remakes are being made to collect money and very little thought is being put into most of them. Directors and studios aren't caring about how to make the remake memorable and/or relevant to modern audiences. They also aren't considering if a remake is even needed.

There may be movies that may need a remake to make the story relevant to current audience. Maybe the original was a flop but there was material for a good story there. So a current director wants to tell that story in a better way. There are good reasons for remakes - the desire to rake in money is not one of them.

But I want to see remake of "The Keep".