REMAKE

Yes. People seem to not think of WWI due to the world wide scale of WWII, the vastly improved technology of warfare, and the impact that WWII had on the US as well as the world we know today. However, WWI was like the prequel to WWII, which really was a war of unresolved issues left over from WWI. WWI was the first war which introduced airplanes, gas attacks, tanks, hand-held automatic rifles, and so on and so on. What made WWI ultimately so different was the clash of the old style of 19th Century warfare with 20th Century technology. Imagine that opening scene from 'Saving Private Ryan' played out in practically every battle for four years of conflict.

Absolutely. I think this would be a fine movie to remake. With the technological advances in movie production today, the special effects would be breathtaking. There was lots of carnage and havoc in WWI, just as horrific as WWII. It could easily rival 'Saving Pvt Ryan.'

No way. Movie is far too good to be ruined by a remake. Let people pull there heads out of the sand and watch great movies instead of weak remakes. While I appreciate the sentiment of it being such a great movie, I have yet to see a good remake of a classic.

Amateurs built The Ark, professionals built The Titanic.

I agree with Keyser, Gator and Les. There are so many reasons that a remake would be a bad idea that it's hard to list them all. First of all, Alvin C. York personally selected Gary Cooper to portray him, and stipulated it in the contract. Plus, Alvin York's family and the families of every real person named in the movie would have to give their permission for a remake, and I don't think they'd give it. BTW, CrushedGirl, there were no "phony Hollywood heroics" shown in the movie. About the only thing in the movie that was "Hollywood phony" was the way they showed men dying, throwing out their arms and spinning around. If anything, they understated York's heroism. Also, Alvin York was fairly happy with the movie. I do agree with you that a new WWI movie about a subject that hasn't been made into a movie would be a good idea. I found a great book in a used bookstore a few years ago. It's entitled "Men at War", and it was edited by Ernest Hemingway. It's a collection of war stories from ancient times up to the start of WWII, and it has several good WWI stories in it that would make good movies. Hollywood does way too many remakes and sequels as it is. Just because a movie is an old classic that was filmed in black and white is no excuse to encourage them. Instead of calling for remakes, we need to be inundating the major Hollywood studios with letters and emails telling them we're TIRED of the endless stream of remakes, sequels, and TV series adaptations, and we want NEW STORIES.

Now, having said all that, what I would like to see is a docudrama style biopic of Alvin York's entire life. He shrewdly used his fame not to enrich himself, but to improve the lives of many people. When asked on numerous occasions how he wanted to be remembered, York often said, "for helping improve education in Tennessee, bringing in better roads, and just helping my fellow man." I think his family would be much more likely to give permission for a movie like that than an inferior remake of this great classic.

A closed mind gathers no knowledge

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - Robert Heinlein