Starfleet Academy General Discussion Thread

[flyerdog]

Oppenheimer was an outlier to be sure,

I have not seen 'Sinners' yet, can't comment on that.
In terms of "Political" , I'm not sure that's the right term,
tbh.
ST6 was "political" by nature, it was a metaphor for the fall of the Soviet Union after all.

Ghostbusters was definitely pandering, i agree. That might be another reason for sagging popularities, people can sniff that out and it's often never going to be as good as the original, so why even bother?

has there been a 'remake' that has surpassed the popularity of the original? there might be, but I can't recall one.

luckily Hollywood still knows when to leave well enough alone, which is why we haven't seen a remake of certain classics. At least not yet.

 

[StarTrek1701]

How was DSC political in any way?
It was just boring as fuck but I never saw anything political in it unless we are talking Empress Georgiou things?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Well, Spock did describe their society as artificially balanced.

If Vulcan was nuked so hard, that most of the survivors with money, influence, power and resources fled to Romulan Space, the undesirable dregs left behind to die from heavy fallout exposure figured out quickly how little actual bearable living space they had, and then figured a way to cut their birth by 6/7ths rather then kill everyone on their 30th birthday.

 

[Santa Kang]

has there been a 'remake' that has surpassed the popularity of the original? there might be, but I can't recall one.

Wizard of Oz. (1939)

 

[flyerdog]

Wizard of Oz. (1939)

actually I did think of one: 'A Star Is Born', i think that was considered better than the previous iteration

 

[SantaEddie74]

Cape Fear.

 

[Firebird]

has there been a 'remake' that has surpassed the popularity of the original? there might be, but I can't recall one.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Thing (1982)
The Fly (1986)
Heat (1995)
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
3:10 to Yuma (2007)

 

[Santa Kang]

actually I did think of one: 'A Star Is Born', i think that was considered better than the previous iteration

You'll have to be more specific. There have been a couple of remakes.

 

[Christmas Canon Spock]

there been a 'remake' that has surpassed the popularity of the original? there might be, but I can't recall one.

Dune.

But, popularity is a poor metric. Transformers was popular too.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The Maltese Falcon.

ETA: beaten to the punch by @Firebird

 

[flyerdog]

Dune.

But, popularity is a poor metric. Transformers was popular too.

well 'popularity' CAN be tied to artistic content, I suppose,as well as box office draw...i agree it can be a nebulous distinction

 

[eschaton]

has there been a 'remake' that has surpassed the popularity of the original? there might be, but I can't recall one.

Off the top of my head:

• The Maltese Falcon (1941) was the third movie adapting the 1930 novel.
• Scarface (1983) is more popular than the original 1932 film.
• Ocean's Eleven (2001) is more popular than the original 1960 film.
• The Thing (1982) is more popular than the 1951 adaptation (both of which were based on a 1938 novella).
• The Mummy (1999) is more popular than the original 1932 film.
• Dune (2021) is more popular than the 1984 adaptation.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Howzabout True Grit?

 

[flyerdog]

Off the top of my head:

• The Maltese Falcon (1941) was the third movie adapting the 1930 novel.
• Scarface (1983) is more popular than the original 1932 film.
• Ocean's Eleven (2001) is more popular than the original 1960 film.
• The Thing (1982) is more popular than the 1951 adaptation (both of which were based on a 1938 novella).
• The Mummy (1999) is more popular than the original 1932 film.
• Dune (2021) is more popular than the 1984 adaptation.

add : Lord of the Rings, huge one right there

 

[Turtletrekker]

add : Lord of the Rings, huge one right there

I'll allow it.

 

[flyerdog]

popular or better? that is the question, though the term better can be highly subjective...

 

[Firebird]

Howzabout True Grit?

Ehh, I don't think the Coen Brothers' remake hit the zeitgeist as big as the original. Maybe they're about even.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Ehh, I don't think the Coen Brothers' remake hit the zeitgeist as big as the original. Maybe they're about even.

I just asked ChatGPT (sources are included) to compare box office performance adjusted for inflation, and it seems that the remake actually did do better...

How did the two True Grits compare box office wise adjusting for inflation?

Here’s how the box office performance of the two True Grit films compares — and what we do know (with context about inflation):
True Grit (1969)

• The original grossed about $31.1 million domestically and $37.7 million worldwide in its initial theatrical run. The Numbers
• Adjusting that to modern dollars isn’t straightforward — films from that era don’t have fully standardized inflation-adjusted totals — but a rough estimation based on ticket sales from the year suggests:
  • With ~21.9 million tickets sold, that $31 million gross would equate to roughly $160 million – $170 million in 2010-era ticket-price terms. That’s a common method used for inflation-adjustment based on estimated ticket counts versus modern average ticket prices. The Numbers

True Grit (2010)

• The remake grossed ≈ $171 million domestically and ≈ $252 million worldwide unadjusted. Wikipedia
• Domestic ticket-price adjusted numbers also place it at about $245 million in inflation-adjusted domestic gross. The Numbers

---

Comparison Summary (Domestic, rough inflated comparison)

Film Version	Original Gross (Unadjusted)	Estimated Inflation-Adjusted (to ~2010)	Notes
True Grit (1969)	~$31M domestic	~$160M–$170M (approx.)	Based on ticket sales and inflation estimates The Numbers
True Grit (2010)	~$171M domestic	~$245M (ticket-price adjusted)	Significant box-office hit, especially for a Western The Numbers

---

What This Means

• The 2010 remake substantially outperformed the original in raw dollar terms and also appears to have a higher inflation-adjusted domestic gross. Even accounting for inflation, True Grit (2010) made significantly more at the box office. The Numbers+1
• Part of that is simple market growth — moviegoing and average ticket prices increased a lot between 1969 and 2010 — but even when adjusted, the remake clearly pulled in more revenue.

 

[Mage]

How was DSC political in any way?

I think some people felt it was political because we had a gay marriage, a non binary character and a trans person. To some that isn't a reflection of normal society, but politics. Some people are also biased and bigots.

 

[Kraig]

I think some people felt it was political because we had a gay marriage, a non binary character and a trans person. To some that isn't a reflection of normal society, but politics. Some people are also biased and bigots.

Or maybe because politician (at the time running for Governor of the state of Georgia) and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams was cast as the President of United Earth, in a cameo role, in the season 4 finale.