Just Because We Can, Should We Be Remaking Pop Culture and Pulp Classic Movies?

By: R.A. Rayne

In a summer of reboots, remakes, and sequels, nostalgia is a trend for the first time, not just a midlife crisis. While we haven’t quite yet reached the levels of embracing the 1980s like Ernest Cline portrayed in his Ready Player One and Two books, we are tiptoeing into his world. (In more ways than one.)

While every generation seems to have a nostalgic callback to their parents’ youth, this time things are different. We now live in an age when, in a digital minute, parachute pants, Aqua Net hairdos, and acid-washed jeans can become popular again.

Not only are these old trends popular again, but we’re also seeing a resurgence of the films, television shows, and toys that defined the 1980s. 2026 is bringing us plenty of throwbacks to the 80s and even the 90s. I never thought I would see a day when we would have a He-Man, Mortal Kombat, Star Wars, Supergirl, and yes, a Street Fighter movie all in the same year, and that’s not even counting the sequels.

While this has become the ‘norm’ over the past twenty or so years, it has become the go-to when a studio needs to ‘make a quick buck.’ As we have seen this year, that ‘quick buck’ is not a guarantee. For many of these properties, it takes more than putting out a nostalgic product for audiences to come.

So, what’s the solution? Is it the casting? The writing? Or maybe it’s the property itself. With Hasbro planning to make another G.I. Joe movie and a Jem and the Holograms techno-thriller series for Amazon, both of which have had film adaptations and have failed each time, is it a good idea? Hopefully.

What about a property like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Gremlins, The Neverending Story, or a cult classic such as They Live or Big Trouble in Little China? (Which Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions has been trying to remake since 2017.) Should the movies we loved as kids be remade or rebooted now?

Sure, we would get updated VFX and sound, and they’d be in stunning 4 K resolution, but at what cost? Is it worth seeing a realistic Falkor flying across the grass plains of Fantasia, a Gunstar firing its Death Blossom at the Kodan Armada, or CG Gremlins singing along with Snow White?

While, in theory, remaking these films seems like a good idea, especially to studio executives, many of these movies are as beloved as the toys that made us. Yes, I know we continue to buy remakes of those old toys, and an argument could be made that those toys are better versions of the originals, but the same is not necessarily true for movies and television.

These films and shows are classics, and a classic is a classic and should remain that way. Recently, my daughter and I have been rewatching many of the films I grew up with, and I have found that while some of them have outdated VFX, they still hold up. My daughter has come to find that films like The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, and The Breakfast Club are just as good, if not better, than most of the movies from her generation. In fact, The Neverending Story affected her, just as it did for me as a child. When Atreyu lost Artax to the Swamp of Sadness, she was crying just as hard as I was. When Elliot was saying goodbye to E.T., she told me she hated me for watching it. (Just to be clear, she loved the movie) My point is that these films are just as good today as they were then, and should not be remade.

Classics are classics for a reason. They are good and should be appreciated, not remade for a quick buck.

The same goes for Cult Classics. No one wants Rock Horror remade when they can dance and sing along with the original. No one wants Clerks remade, no matter how many sequels Kevin Smith wants to make. Many of the quote-unquote “Cult Classics” have crossed over to become Classics.

This brings me to another question: Is there a difference between a classic and a cult classic anymore?

It used to be that a cult classic was a film or show that was a guilty pleasure or enjoyed by a niche crowd, but that seems to have changed over time. As pop culture has become mainstream, things that used to appeal to a small majority of us are now embraced by almost everyone. Nowadays, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t know Iron Man’s true identity or the difference between Frodo and Samwise. The things we used to hide about ourselves in high school are now celebrated by everyone. Hell, D&D has become so popular that those of us who played it as kids no longer find it appealing. (Okay, that’s not entirely true… we still love it, but it’s not as much fun when everyone is a level 13 Gish.)

So, what now? Should everything we love be fair game? Should we have remakes of The Never-ending Story, The Breakfast Club, or others? I mean, we have seen many 1980s classics made into hit Broadway shows. Why wouldn’t they be hits as films and television shows? Who wouldn’t want to see more of the A-Team, Blue Thunder, or Ice Pirates? (Yes, Ice Pirates… It’s a stupidly goofy good movie that is so good it didn’t even make it to cult classic, but I love it.)

Okay, so if we don’t want them remade, how about rebooting them as a sequel? It worked for Top Gun… It worked for Star Wars (despite what some may say). Yes, there have been some near misses… Jurassic World, Ghostbusters, and Beetlejuice, but even those made money, so there is a market for them.

In the famous words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, “Your scientists (executives) were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” Just because we can remake, reboot, and reimagine every film and show doesn’t mean we should.

It’s taken Mel Brooks 40 years to make the Spaceballs sequel he joked about at the end of Spaceballs. As much as I am looking forward to this film, as much as I have wanted it, I am not sure I need it. And it pains me to say this, but the same can be said for Firefly. I have been one of the loud voices shouting, “Bring Back Firefly,” but is it going to be as good as the original 13 episodes? Will the animated version make me fall in love with the crew of the Serenity again, or will it tarnish what is there?

Many feel that happened to Star Wars, Star Trek, and so on. Many will say wait and see. But even if it is great, even if Spaceballs: The New One is amazing, even if Harry Potter captures the magic of the originals, are they worth it? Should we keep remaking and revamping all these beloved properties, or make new ones?