When it comes to science fiction, there are just some movies that never need to be touched. While remakes can be a great way to take a good concept with uneven execution to new heights by improving on the structure, characters, or visual style, they can also be quite horrific if done poorly. Although sci-fi fans are no stranger to the remake, not every attempt to update the material pans out.
Sci-fi is an interesting genre in that, what may have been science fiction at one point in time, quickly becomes science fact in modern day. More than that, what worked in an original context with its original audience may not translate properly to the 21st century. Of course, the most egregious errors that many sci-fi remakes make involve trying to improve on something that needed no improvement in the first place. That’s where we find ourselves with this list of the worst sci-fi remakes out there — so prepare yourself for disappointment.
10
‘Godzilla’ (1998)
After the success of the Jurassic Park films in the early-to-mid-90s, Stargate and Independence Day pair Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin decided to try their hand at Godzilla — and let’s just say that there’s a reason we’ve tried to ignore it. For one thing, the movie essentially turns the Japanese kaiju into a T-rex-like dinosaur that roams around New York City like something out of The Lost World. As the first exclusively American produced entry in the overall franchise, it was beyond a major fail.
When the animated series that spun off from your failed movie is better than the blockbuster itself, there’s a problem. Of the worst Godzilla movies out there, the 1998 film is undoubtedly the worst — and there are some weird ones in the franchise. Perhaps if it weren’t called Godzilla, we would’ve liked it a bit better, but as it stands being a remake (well, technically a reboot), it suffers on all counts.
9
‘Planet of the Apes’ (2001)
It’s hard to see how anyone could fully recreate the magic of the original Planet of the Apes, especially given Charlton Heston‘s fabulous performance in the picture. And yet, after James Cameron failed to revive the franchise, it was Tim Burton who nearly put it in the grave. Burton gave it the old college try in this uneven attempt to bait-and-switch audiences, but it failed to capture the brilliance of the original. At least Tim Roth is great in it…
Heston even returned for the 2001 Planet of the Apes remake, but not even his cameo appearance (this time as a “damned dirty ape”) could save the picture. Planet of the Apes was so poorly received that it took another decade for filmmakers to figure out how to save it from fading into obscurity. When they did, the prequel-boot route gave it new life in a way that both separated it from and honored the original.
8
‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ (2008)
Although director Scott Derrickson has proven himself to be something of a master of the horror genre, his venture into pulpy science fiction didn’t sit as well with audiences. His remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still is notorious among sci-fi fans for its bland attempt to resurrect a film that was already pretty perfect on its own. Although it’s become a hit on streaming in recent years, let’s be honest, most of us bought the home video version because it also came with the original 1951 picture…
The Day the Earth Stood Still replaces the Cold War threat of nuclear war with a climate change-based crisis that simply doesn’t land the same way. While Keanu Reeves was perfectly cast and Derrickson does a fine job at attempting to honor the source material, the final result leaves too much to be desired. Perhaps this was a movie that just didn’t need a remake at all.
7
‘The Invasion’ (2007)
The fourth attempt at bringing The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney to life, The Invasion stars powerhouses like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, yet even they aren’t enough to make this one work. Given that both the Don Siegel and Philip Kaufman versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers are near-perfect on their own, The Invasion doesn’t offer us anything terribly novel to attach our interest to — even if it does change the ending considerably.
Sure, Kidman and Craig are fine, but The Invasion tries too hard to be its own 21st century thing while still coming across as ultimately too derivative. It has its moments, and compared to a lot of movies today, it looks significantly better visually (the new 4K release no doubt emphasizes that), but fans of the originals will ultimately be too disappointed to care. Here’s hoping the inevitable fifth adaptation will be better.
6
‘Total Recall’ (2012)
If you love Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Total Recall, then you should probably avoid the Colin Farrell adaptation. Not only did the Governator openly criticize a remake of one of his beloved ’90s action movies, but the final product leaves much to be desired. Yes, it’s the same familiar idea, but the Mars setting of the original is swapped for Earth and Farrell is nowhere near as engaging as Schwarzenegger in the role. It’s no wonder critics weren’t thrilled.
Total Recall should have been a hit with Underworld director Len Wiseman at the helm (especially if you love his unique style of action), but it feels particularly uninspired when compared to Paul Verhoeven‘s original style. The 2012 remake was stripped of the original’s humor, emotionally distant, and a bit too basic for many who adore the 1990 version. Farrell isn’t bad, he just is no Schwarzenegger.
5
‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ (1996)
Notoriously known as one of the worst movies ever made, The Island of Dr. Moreau is a disaster in every sense of the word. You might think that Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer together would be cinematic magic (and it easily could have been), but this remake is anything but. The third attempt to adapt the famed H.G. Wells tale, this 1996 production is what happens when everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
There’s something poetic about Brando playing a mad scientist who divorces himself from reality by playing God on his own private island — although by all the behind-the-scenes accounts, the Old Hollywood star may not have been acting. The fact that The Island of Dr. Moreau was completed at all is something of a miracle, even if the final product is nothing short of Brando (and maybe Kilmer’s) worst. It’s a shame too, because with such great stars and source material to pull from, this should have been an instant hit.
4
‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2025)
The live-action animated remake of Lilo & Stitch is both redundant and frustrating. For one thing, it doesn’t have the same lovable atmosphere nor is it as imaginative as the original. Some of that is lost in translation between the purely animated 2002 flick and the blended live-action/animated medium of the 2025 remake, but a lot of it has to do with certain ways that the latest attempt reinterprets the material. For fans who grew up with the original, sit this one out.
Despite being one of the 50 highest grossing movies out there, Lilo & Stitch is just another one of Disney’s uninspired cash grabs that attempts to cling to what made the company great years ago. It just doesn’t work, and even with a sequel in development, it’s hard to imagine how this live-action franchise could compare to what audiences loved about the original work and its television sequels.
3
‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ (1983)
While not a remake of another movie, Twilight Zone: The Movie consists entirely of reworked material from Rod Serling‘s original The Twilight Zone television series. That means bigger budgets, bigger stars, bigger directors (Steven Spielberg and George Miller, included), and a much bigger failure. Like The Island of Dr. Moreau, Twilight Zone went through its own fair share of behind-the-scenes tragedy, and the results, sadly, prove that it was a futile effort.
Chief among the big-screen Twilight Zone disappointments was its remake of the iconic “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” The film is split into four vignettes helmed by different filmmakers, and this inferior take on the original 1963 episode closes out the whole thing. The stakes may appear to be higher, but we care far less about John Lithgow‘s fearsome flyer than we did William Shatner‘s take 20 years earlier. George Miller may be a Mad Max master, but his take on The Twilight Zone
2
‘The Thing’ (2011)
Okay, technically, the 2011 version of The Thing is actually a prequel rather than a remake, beginning a long-running (and annoying) trend in the horror world of naming a prequel or sequel the same as the original classic. But even though The Thing is a stealth prequel to John Carpenter‘s film, the whole thing was framed (and billed by many) as a remake — so we’re going to treat it like one. Even if it has its merits as a standalone prequel, it fails to capture most of what made Carpenter’s original so thrilling.
Interestingly, John Carpenter’s The Thing is actually a remake, but it’s a remake that re-imagines the original idea masterfully. The 2011 film, by comparison, doesn’t do anything terribly new. It tries to rehash some of the best elements of the 1982 picture but without the same Kurt Russell-style charisma to make it work. In the end, we know where the story is going anyway…
1
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ (2014)
While not advertised as a remake, Star Trek Into Darkness is a soft reboot of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Due to the time travel present in the 2009 film that preceded it, Into Darkness exists in an alternate Star Trek timeline where Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise find themselves encountering many of their old threats in brand-new ways. In this case, Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch) is chief among them.
Although fans of the Star Trek reboot films likely enjoy J.J. Abrams‘ take on Wrath of Khan, fans of the original were quite frustrated with the results. Not only does Into Darkness flip the ending, but many believed that Cumberbatch was a major miscast as the villain, and felt that the soft remake was unable to deliver on the high expectations set by the original. Given that Wrath of Khan is the Empire Strikes Back of Star Trek movies, there was little hope that Star Trek Into Darkness could measure up on principle alone.
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