12 Great Directors Who Helmed Terrible Movie Remakes

When you go about remaking a beloved classic, you're automatically setting yourself up for a panning; critics and audiences don't tend to find remakes to be anything other than unnecessary - unless, of course, the films that they're based upon weren't particularly good in the first place. Then it doesn't matter; there's nothing to screw up.

You'd think that a veteran like Sydney Pollack, writer, director, producer, actor and overall Hollywood legend, would have genuinely believed in his heart of hearts that it was worth his time and effort to remake the Audrey Hepburn classic that is Sabrina, because otherwise what was the point? You should only sign onto a project like this in the firm belief that you can bring something new to the table, after all.

The strange thing about Pollack's remake of Sabrina, which stars Julie Ormond as the titular heroine, Harrison Ford in the Humphrey Bogart role, and updates the setting to the '90s, is that it's so conventional; it's not a shot-for-shot remake, but it might as well be, given the lack of innovation. It's breezy, affable and totally forgettable.

Had the original Sabrina never existed, I doubt we'd look upon this film with much affection; it's okay, but it never feels comfortable in its own skin. And as a remake, it fails to justify itself in almost every capacity. Pollack produced some of the most progressive and inventive movies of the '70s and '80s; Tootsie, this ain't.