Have Your Say: Regale the Reboot?

2016 the Nostalgia Generation

Red Dwarf is back on TV and you may be wondering if it's any good... After an attempt to resurrect/conclude the series by the BBC a few years ago I didn't have much faith. Then a while back it moved to UKTVs Dave channel with a short but welcome return to form. However, this latest series is currently back on Dave and it's got me thinking.... (dangerous I know!)

I've now seen all six episodes and they have all been as close to classic Dwarf as I can imagine... I don't mean the finding-its-feet first series or the this-has-been-going-on-too-long 9th series. Somehow Dave has managed to breath new life into the show without losing what everyone loved about it; at the same time throwing in a bunch of references and call backs to old episodes.

We may live in an age of reboots and remakes but there's signs that the industry is finally delivering what we want. However, there has been so much fallout from films like Total Recall and the latest Fantastic Four movie most fans don't want anything re-imagining and would be happy to see a new lick of paint and modern pacing.

With simultaneous calls for new ideas and to preserve the classics, it has become a bit of an art-form in itself to find the balance at the same time as meeting the demand for nostalgic content.

One of the most successful recent examples would be Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: Rebels, never forget Rebels. Both are great examples of a modern Star Wars but stick close to the feel and themes of the originals. It helps that we seem to have reached an age where we can have actual fans of the franchise producing the newer versions, and they bring a certain respect for the source material; could you imagine the Deadpool movie being made 15 years ago? and without Ryan Reynolds support?

There are even a few more near misses. For example. something like the new Ghostbusters. It wasn't a complete refresh but many felt it wasn't 'Ghostbustery' enough, despite still being good at what it set out to be.

Fans may or may not be upset but films like this are something for a whole new generation to peg their childhoods to. Even the Star Wars prequels seemed to come out at exactly the right time that young naive me thought they were amazing, all that flashy lightsabre twirling was just what I wanted to see. I may not approve of every reboot that comes out but who are we to take that experience away from someone else?

When it comes to gaming things get a little more complicated with the release of remasters as well as remakes and reboots. Generally with remasters not much changes, but I do prefer it when developers put extra work in to refresh the graphics or maybe re-balance game-play a little. The Kingdom Hearts HD collections manage to cram in everything you could possibly want from a remaster.

Reboots and remakes can suffer from the same pitfalls as the movies but there are a few standout examples such as the rebooted Tomb Raider franchise and the Ratchet and Clank game (that was based on the movie that was based on the original game)... which oddly seems to occupy a space in all 3 categories (remaster, reboot, remake).

What do you think? 

Has the entertainment industry finally figured out what we want from these new old properties?

Do you have a favourite reboot or remake? 

Which do you consider to be the worst possible example?

Comment below and once we have enough we can run a feature in the print version of the

 Niche: Treat Your Geek.

Images: Red Dwarf, Start Wars, Deadpool, Tomb Raider, Ratchet and Clank