13 Biggest Things Road House’s Remake Leaves Out From The 1989 Movie

From missing characters to omitted plot points, the 2024 Road House remake leaves out a lot of details from the original movie. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role of Dalton, Road House (2024) is a re-imagining of the 1989 Patrick Swayze movie of the same name. Although the remake borrows the same basic premise of a bouncer hired to tame a rowdy roadhouse and preserves several core elements of the original, Road House 2024 is also different from the 1989 movie in many ways.

Certain details were altered from the original, such as naming the bar after the movie title instead of “The Double Deuce” and moving the location of 2024’s Road House remake from Jasper, Missouri to the Florida Keys. Some of these changes made the 2024 Road House remake even better than the original movie, while others led to omissions from the original. Some of these exclusions didn’t change the story all that much in the remake but were still noticeable when compared to the original movie.

12

Dalton Wasn’t Already A Cooler In The Road House Remake

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dalton Is A Former UFC Fighter Working The Underground Circuit Instead

By the time the original Road House movie begins, Dalton has already made a name for himself as a no-nonsense cooler, a type of bouncer whose job is to break up bar fights by de-escalating or “cooling down” the tension. When Frank Tilghman (Kevin Tighe) makes Dalton an offer to work at the Double Deuce at the beginning of the movie, Dalton is working as a cooler in a bar called the Band Stand in New York. His notorious reputation, which includes the time he killed a man in self-defense in Memphis, even follows him to the Double Deuce.

However, Dalton’s backstory in the 2024 Road House remake is completely different. As opposed to a career cooler like the original character, the remake’s Dalton is a former UFC fighter who lost his cool in the ring and ended up killing his opponent. When Frankie (Jessica Williams) approaches Dalton, he is making a living as a cage fighter on the underground circuit. Not only has Dalton never worked as a cooler before in the remake, but the term “cooler” is never even used to refer to his role at the bar.

11

Dalton Doesn’t Have A PhD In Philosophy In The Road House Remake

Dalton’s Educational Background Is Not Disclosed In The Road House Remake

Another one of the biggest ways Dalton is different in the 2024 and 1989 Road House movies is that in the original Road House, Dalton has a PhD in philosophy from NYU. Rather than pursuing a particular discipline, he was more generally interested in exploring “man’s search for faith.” Dalton’s philosophical studies serve as a character-building tool that inform his perspective on fighting as a necessary evil to maintain order as a cooler. This is reflected in his stance that “nobody ever wins a fight” and his third rule for the Double Deuce staff: “be nice.”

In the Road House remake, Dalton’s peacekeeping principles are a newfound development that stem from his guilt about killing his opponent. He learned that “nobody wins a fight” the hard way from experience, as his inability to control his temper and rage had fatal consequences. Dalton’s philosophical background is not entirely responsible for informing his outlook on violence in the original, but since Dalton changed from being a professional cooler to a former UFC fighter-turned-bouncer, a PhD in philosophy no longer fit with the character’s backstory in the remake, so it was omitted altogether.

10

Nobody Comments On Dalton’s Size In The Road House Remake

Swayze’s Dalton Was Considered Small For His Profession

In the original Road House, Dalton is always getting comments about his size because he has a pretty small build for a bouncer (Swayze was 5’10 and very lean in the movie). From Frank to Cory to Morgan to Elizabeth, everyone tells Dalton they “thought he’d be bigger” given his line of work. He may not be a big brawny bouncer, but his ability to take down men twice his size is part of Dalton’s mystique and charm in the original movie.

This theme of everyone telling Dalton he’s not as big as they thought is completely absent in the Road House remake. Standing at 6’0, Gyllenhaal is already taller than Swayze was, but it also makes sense that nobody would expect Dalton to be any bigger because he doesn’t have a reputation as an exceptionally good cooler. In fact, it’s common knowledge that Dalton was a UFC middleweight fighter, who are between 171 and 185 pounds, and Gyllenhaal had dropped to 184 pounds by the end of his training for Road House 2024.

9

The Road House Remake Leaves Out A Lot Of The Bar Staff From The Original Movie

No Other Bouncers Work At The Bar Anymore Until Dalton Shows Up In The Road House Remake

When Dalton first shows up in the original Road House, the viewer is introduced to many of the employees at the Double Deuce, including waitresses, bartenders, and ordinary bouncers. In his new role as the bar’s cooler, Dalton mentors the bouncers who have felt overwhelmed and outnumbered by all the rowdy patrons. Although several members of the Double Deuce staff get fired early on, there are still more established characters working at the bar in the original Road House than at any point in the remake.

Many employees can be seen working at the Road House bar, but only a few of them are actual characters in the 2024 Road House remake, and none of them are official bouncers until Dalton shows up. Billy the bartender steps in to help and tries his best to scare off the instigators, but he frequently gets beat up because he’s not actually a bouncer. Just like in the original, Dalton starts mentoring Billy and even recruits Reef from the beach stand to assist him, but neither of them were already working as bouncers when Dalton arrived.

8

Dalton Doesn’t Fire Anyone From The Bar In The Road House Remake

Dalton Is Put In Charge Of All Bar Business In The Original Road House

In the original Road House, Dalton only agrees to take Frank’s offer if he gets to “run the show completely,” which includes having the authority to fire employees. Right away, Dalton fires a bouncer named Morgan (Terry Funk) for not having “the right temperament for the trade,” and a waitress named Judy (Sheila Ryan) for dealing drugs out of the bar. During his first shift, he fires another bouncer named Steve (Gary Hudson) for having a quickie in the supply room on his break and a bartender named Pat McGurn (John Doe) for stealing.

However, in the Road House remake, Dalton is not given the same authority since he doesn’t ask to have any control over the bar operations, including the staff. There are no issues with existing employees that would require intervention from him or Frankie anyway, but he wouldn’t have the power to fire anyone from the Road House even if he wanted to.

7

The Bar Doesn’t Get A Makeover In The Road House Remake

The Double Deuce Gets A Major Upgrade In The Original Movie

In the original Road House movie, Frank hires Dalton as part of an initiative to revamp the Double Deuce and turn it into a nicer, more respectable establishment. Once Dalton starts working his magic by weeding out the weak links in the staff and teaching the bouncers how to properly handle unruly patrons, the Double Deuce gets a full makeover. The employees all wear official uniforms, the chain-link fence is removed from the front of the stage, and the interior is upgraded.

In the Road House remake, Frankie only hires Dalton to help her restore the bar’s welcoming atmosphere by fending off Brandt’s goons and preventing further damage. The Road House doesn’t even need a makeover since it’s already nicer than the Double Deuce initially was. Of course, Road House 2024’s ending leaves the bar in ruins, so Frankie will have to do some remodeling anyway, but during the movie, its appearance doesn’t change.

6

Dalton Doesn’t End Up With His Love Interest In The Road House Remake

Dalton Doesn’t Stay In Town At The End Of The Remake

One of the major subplots in the original Road House is Dalton’s budding romance with Dr. Elizabeth Clay (Kelly Lynch). Dalton first meets Elizabeth, who is given the nickname “Doc” by Dalton’s friend Wade Garrett (Sam Elliott), when she’s attending to his wounds at the hospital. They show mutual interest in one another and start spending more time together, which eventually develops into a relationship. When Dalton refuses to back down from Wesley, Elizabeth appears to have given up on him, but Road House 1989’s ending shows them skinny-dipping in the lake together, indicating that they end up together.

However, Dalton’s romantic storyline is not nearly as prominent in the Road House remake. Although Elizabeth has a character replacement in Road House 2024 named Ellie (Daniela Melchior), she and Dalton aren’t “endgame,” nor do they ever really become a couple to begin with. It’s clear they care about each other, but they don’t actually spend much time together after making out at the end of their first date on the beach halfway through the movie. Although they might’ve officially gotten together had things gone differently, because Dalton leaves town, their flirtation was never able to develop into anything more.

5

Dalton Doesn’t Share His Love Interest With The Villain In The Road House Remake

Wesley Was Also Interested In Elizabeth In The Original Road House

The main villain in the original Road House is Brad Wesley, an older, wealthy man who built a lot of Jasper and goes to great lengths to remind the townspeople. After Dalton and Elizabeth get together, it is revealed that Wesley once “had a thing” for Elizabeth and “went nuts” when she left town, although she doesn’t seem to have ever returned the feeling. He had already started targeting Dalton and the Road House, but Dalton getting involved with Elizabeth only fuelled the fire of Wesley’s disdain for him and drove him to go after Dalton and his allies even harder.

In the Road House remake, Wesley’s role is split into two characters: Gerald Brandt and his son, Ben Brandt. Since Gerald is in prison for unknown crimes (though it’s implied they’re drug-related), Ben serves as his mouthpiece, instructing his henchmen to do his family’s dirty work by going after the Road House. However, neither Ben nor Gerald ever had any romantic interest in Ellie. Ellie does have a cop ex-boyfriend named Dex whose boat she often borrows (and Dalton later steals), but he’s a pretty inconsequential character who does not interfere with Ellie and Dalton at all.

4

Dalton Doesn’t Rip Out Anybody’s Throat In The Road House Remake

Jimmy Reno’s Absurd Cause Of Death In The Original Road House Is Not Repeated In The Remake

In the original Road House movie, Dalton allegedly killed the man in Memphis by ripping his throat out, which is the same way he eventually kills Wesley’s right-hand man, Jimmy Reno (Marshall Teague). In the Road House remake, Jimmy’s role is occupied by Knox (Conor McGregor), an enforcer whom Gerald calls on to finish the job after getting word behind bars that Ben was proving to not be up for the task. Dalton seemingly stabs Knox to death at the end of the movie, but the post-credits scene in Road House 2024 reveals that Knox survived.

Since the fate of Jimmy Reno’s counterpart was changed, the 2024 Road House remake couldn’t have recreated Dalton’s throat-ripping fight scene. There are still plenty of ridiculous deaths in the 2024 Road House remake, but nobody gets their throat ripped out. However, there is an Easter egg in 2024’s Road House that references this particular method of killing from the original movie, when Gyllenhaal’s Dalton fatally punches another one of Brandt’s henchmen, Vince, in the throat.

3

There Is No Wade Garrett Counterpart In The Road House Remake

Charlie Is The Closest Replacement For Sam Elliott’s Character In The Remake

The most prominent character from the Road House original movie that the remake leaves out is Wade Garett, an “aging” bouncer (although Sam Elliott was only 7 years older than Patrick Swayze in the original Road House movie) and Dalton’s mentor. Wade’s reputation as the best cooler in the business precedes him at the Double Deuce, and he plays a key role as Dalton’s spiritual guide. Wesley killing Wade drives Dalton to finally take matters into his own hands and seek vigilante justice by taking out Wesley and his crew.

Because Gyllenhaal’s Dalton was never a cooler before working at the titular bar, there couldn’t have been an exact replacement for Sam Elliott’s Wade Garrett in 2024’s Road House. The character who comes closest to filling Wade’s role in the remake is Charlie, a teenage girl who runs a roadside bookstore with her dad Stephen. Of course, Charlie couldn’t be more different from Wade as a person, but she does somewhat fill the role of Dalton’s companion. However, Charlie has a much better fate than Wade as she (thankfully) survives the movie even after the bookstore is blown up.

2

Dalton Does Not Have A Friend In The Bar Band In The Road House Remake

There Is No Counterpart For Cory In The Remake

Upon his arrival at the Double Deuce at the beginning of the original Road House, Dalton greets his old friend Cody (Jeff Healey), the blind frontman of the bar’s house band played by the real-life Jeff Healey Band. Dalton and Cody used to work together at a different bar in Dayton, Ohio, and Cody is the one who warns Dalton about Wesley and Elizabeth. Although there’s still a chain-link fence at the front of the stage in the Road House remake, a variety of real-life acts play onstage at the Road House instead of a house band.

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Because none of the bands at the Road House were permanent employees, it didn’t make sense for Dalton to be friends with any of the band members. Not having a house band was a great way to showcase a wider range of lesser-known talent on the 2024 Road House remake’s soundtrack, but unfortunately, it resulted in the erasure of Cody’s character. With the absence of Sam Elliott’s Wade and Jeff Healey’s Cody replacements in Road House 2024, Dalton was much more of a lone wolf in the remake.

1

Dalton’s Landlord Is Not A Separate Character In The Road House Remake

Dalton’s Boss Frankie Just Lets Him Stay On Her Houseboat In The Remake

In the original Road House, Dalton rents the upstairs room of a barn from a farmer named Emmet, whose property is across the lake from Brad Wesley’s mansion. This gives Wesley a clear view of Dalton and Elizabeth canoodling on the roof together, which sets him off. Emmet’s house is eventually burned down by Jimmy Reno under Wesley’s instruction as yet another warning to Dalton, but Emmet gets his revenge by shooting Wesley to death along with the other locals.

However, in the Road House remake, Dalton stays on his boss Frankie’s houseboat, cheekily named “The Boat.” Frankie tells Dalton that the houseboat “came with the bar” and lets him stay on it for free but warns him that it’s not in great condition. Sleeping on the houseboat also makes Dalton have bad dreams about killing his opponent in the UFC fight, which Frankie later explains are caused by the “rocking of the ocean.”

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  Road House (2024)

  Road House is a remake of the original 1989 film, which followed protagonist Dalton, a Ph.D. educated bouncer at the roughest bar in the south known as the Double Deuce. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Dalton, with two major changes including Dalton being a retired UFC fighter and the bar locale being in the Florida Keys.

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  Road House

  With a story and screenplay by David Lee Henry and direction from Rowdy Herrington, Road House is a 1989 Action release starring Patrick Swayze in the lead role. Swayze steps into the shoes of James Dalton, a bouncer that is hired by a club owner to provide security for the establishment.