Remakes That Are Better Than The Originals?

Hank_Jones

I think about these spate of remakes that are coming out in Hollywood a lot and I really dislike the whole process.
Come up with some original films you lazy gits, take chances on new projects.
It's not as if there isn't loads of new material out there for them to adapt, why go back to the same feckin stories over and over again?

In the time since this series of remakes started about 10-15 years ago, I honestly can't think of one film that was better than the original.

Can anyone else?

Also, remakes are the devil.

Ridley

I wouldn't say it's better but The Departed (remake of Infernal Affairs) is a good film in its own right.

I also hear good things about The Magnificent Seven to Seven Samurai and know people who like both versions of The Fly before Fincher Cronenberg ruins his own movie.

Little Shop of Horrors

omahaid

The Thing?

mrgardener

Cape Fear.

tony1kenobi

The Bourne Identity.

johnny_ultimate

This is quickly turning into another list thread, please give reasons if you are going to name a film.

I'd kind of agree on the Departed. Now, a lot of the core greatness was laid down by Infernal Affairs, but Scorcese but his own slant on the story too which made it fun to watch, and built upon many of the characters and situations. Also, it had the Shipping Up To Boston opening montage, which is win.

Does Evil Dead 2 count? Maybe not, more of a sequel. But it takes the set up of the first and then goes totally insane with it, creating an entirely new tone out of similar material.

krudler

Off the top of my head:

The Thing, turned a 50s b-movie into a genre defining 80s classic.
The Fly, same thing really.
The Departed, woudlnt say its better than IA, but its a goo film in its own right.
The Hills Have Eyes, really enjoyed this, well wouldnt say enjoyed, but it was a good modern horror/slasher.
Dawn of the Dead: yeah, I went there :P

Hank_Jones

I cringe when I watch The Departed.
Nicholson is absolutely terrible in it and if it wasn't for the great performances from the other actors, he would fall flat on his face.
Di Caprio is fantastic, but Infernal Affairs is still a better film.

arsenallegend

Ocean's 11 although the oringinal has Sinatra, Martin and Sammy the remake is ten times better and more fun with Pitt and Clooney having that Redford and newman 70's cool act although the sequel's suck it doesn't sour this old fashioned romp.

Insomnia Christopher Nolan's remake is far better shot although Stellan Skarsgard's performance in the original is far better then al Pacino's i think Robin williams performance is far more sinster and Photography is amazing(what do you expect from a Nolan film)

SB-08

Hank_Jones wrote: »

I cringe when I watch The Departed.
Nicholson is absolutely terrible in it and if it wasn't for the great performances from the other actors, he would fall flat on his face.
Di Caprio is fantastic, but Infernal Affairs is still a better film.

Seriously? Nicholson's performance was terrific and one of the many highlights of the film for me. And among those many highlights most certainly was not Leo's performance, which by any standard was pretty unremarkable considering he;s usually alot better. He was acted off the screen by not only Damon but Mark bloody Walberg (who surely gave his only convincing performance of his career hence the Oscar nomination - mainly due to Scorsese's huge talent as a director though I bet).

Staying on Scorsese though, as it has already been mentioned - the remake of 'Cape Fear' was excellent in too many ways to mention. The casting was pure perfection (I loved how both Mitchum and Peck both made appearances as well), the score was legendary and De Niro''s performance in particular was astonishingly brilliant and is often overlooked despite being easily as good as many of his classic performances over the years. Loved the original as well (especially the uncut version) but the remake was vastly superior on so many levels.

Hank_Jones

Nicholson's performance was lazy and he completely disrespected Scorsese by choosing not to learn his lines.
I wouldn't say that Di Caprio was acted off the screen.
Wahlberg and Damon did give great performances, but Di Caprio did also.

Watch Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or The Shining and then re-watch The Departed.
He's not giving his all and to me that's a bad performance.

The Departed is a truly great film and one remake which really works due to how it respects the source material but isn't slavishly reliant upon utilising every scene, line of dialogue, etc. Like a great adaptation it takes what was great about the ource material but makes it its own. The weakest link in it is Jack Nicholson, in fact it's been a long time since he's be anything but the weakest link in a film he's starred. Every time I watch him of late I'm constantly reminded that I'm watching Jack Nicholson which is the worst thing an actor can do.

Hank_Jones

I was thinking about this new series of remakes that is happening.
Obviously over the history of cinema there are going to be some remakes that are better than the originals.
The Thing being an obvious one.

But this new series that started about 15 years ago, where there has just been a barrage of remakes over and over again.
I don't think there has been one in this series which has been better than the original.

I think people are just reading the thread title...

faceman

Heat is a far superior film to its original, L.A. Takedown. Goes to show how having decent actors and a few quid makes all the difference.

As mentioned already, the remake of The Thing is fantastic but I guess the original is a different film altogether.

rednik

The Last of the Mohicans by Michael Mann. This was filmed several times but a long time ago. Mann's film is an excellent portrait of that era, the action scenes are filmed brilliantly. The violence is quite vivid but yet it does not feel out of place. The cast is superb with Day Lewis brilliant.

Handsome Bob

krudler wrote: »

The Fly, same thing really.
Dawn of the Dead: yeah, I went there :P

I think Cronenberg's achieved something that the original didn't; it was a genuine horror that left you freaked out and sick to your stomach. It is absolutely class, one of my favourite horrors of all time.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) is another I would agree with. It's not about having "ADD" (which is the accusation purists like to throw at us fans of the 2004 remake). It's a genuinely quality plot with quality acting (for a horror film these days).

Poly

The Thomas Crown affair

uncleoswald

krudler wrote: »

Dawn of the Dead: yeah, I went there :P

Well you can stay there by yourself and think about what you've done....


Its not a classic but Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven is a lot more fun the the original.

And Abel Ferrara's Body Snathers from 1993 is at least underated.

krudler

uncleoswald wrote: »

Well you can stay there by yourself and think about what you've done....


Its not a classic but Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven is a lot more fun the the original.

And Abel Ferrara's Body Snathers from 1993 is at least underated.

Well Romero's DOTD is a classic, no doubt, but its aged horrifically, the message is still relevant but the cheapness of it all makes it hard to take seriously, the remake is more enjoyable imo, and its not purely because its new, its got some genuinely great moments in it

uncleoswald

krudler wrote: »

Well Romero's DOTD is a classic, no doubt, but its aged horrifically, the message is still relevant but the cheapness of it all makes it hard to take seriously, the remake is more enjoyable imo, and its not purely because its new, its got some genuinely great moments in it

I certainly enjoyed bits of it but just find Snyder thin on substance. And while he knows his pop culture I think he simply doesn't have the talent to create his own.

jaykhunter

Dang, a couple of my examples have already been mentioned.

I'm gonna state one of my personal favourite films, The Ring (US; 2002) was much better than Ringu. I loved the art style, plot progression, imagery and music of the film. It really struck me as beautiful. I watch a lot of horror films so i don't really find things scary or gross (except for The Thing, that is) so actually being scary isn't a factor for me. I also felt that the Japanese version of tension (i.e. techno pop music) is far less effective than traditional orchestral strings; that might just be my wired brain though.....

I thought Charlton Heston's "The Omega Man" (1971) was much better than Vincent Price's "The Last Man on Earth" (1924); I loved the cloaks and the film was quite enjoyable; although Charlton Heston plays Charlton Heston in the film. Gun-toting Heston being a scientist is quite hilarious. (Both are better than the limp Will Smith edition)

I believe Scarface is a remake as well.

I could make a case for Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 remake) which goes for a different vibe than the '56 original.

Has anyone mentioned Casino Royale? I haven't seen the original but I've never heard anyone say a good thing about it!

jill_valentine

I wouldn't say the DOTD remake is better, as such, but it's certainly pretty great. I wish it just had a different name.

As for the US Ring remake - I'd very heartily agree. I think it's the perfect example of how to do a remake properly - it makes the best of the original premise and then brings something to it. It's a genuinely effective and very, very pretty piece of American Gothic. Naomi Watts is great in it, and it holds up really well.

I think it's a shame that when we think of recent American horror, it tends to get overlooked because stuff like Hostel and Saw make more headlines - I'd have liked to see far more of it's ilk and quality.

But my God, the sequel was dire.

faceman

jaykhunter wrote: »

I'm gonna state one of my personal favourite films, The Ring (US; 2002) was much better than Ringu. I loved the art style, plot progression, imagery and music of the film. It really struck me as beautiful. I watch a lot of horror films so i don't really find things scary or gross (except for The Thing, that is) so actually being scary isn't a factor for me. I also felt that the Japanese version of tension (i.e. techno pop music) is far less effective than traditional orchestral strings; that might just be my wired brain though.....

Id have to disagree. The US version was too glamourous and CGI heavy. Whereas the original was starker, more grounded with regular folk just like most of us. The scene of her coming out of a portable TV into a flat was far more affective, and frightening than her coming out of a huge 50 inch plasma in a posh, pretentious condo for some high flying pretty boy executive.

wrote:

I thought Charlton Heston's "The Omega Man" (1971) was much better than Vincent Price's "The Last Man on Earth" (1924); I loved the cloaks and the film was quite enjoyable; although Charlton Heston plays Charlton Heston in the film. Gun-toting Heston being a scientist is quite hilarious. (Both are better than the limp Will Smith edition)

The Omega Man is (loosely) based on the book I am Legend which was released in the 50's. I havent seen The Last Man on Earth tho.

wrote:

I could make a case for Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 remake) which goes for a different vibe than the '56 original.

+1 whole heartedly agree, good call.

wrote:

Has anyone mentioned Casino Royale? I haven't seen the original but I've never heard anyone say a good thing about it!

The original starred David Niven and was a comedy. very different film and it sucked.

Skerries

i think a worthy mention is the remake of Assault on Precint 13 which isn't as good as the original for me but it comes very close and itself was a reworking of Rio Bravo
Flight of the Phoenix - i felt the newer one had more tension and was a better film
Man on Fire - Denzel was just brilliant in this as well as Dakota Fanning
Twelve Monkeys - the original La Jetee was just the story told over static pictures so this supasses it massively

Sleazus

The modern Casino Royale was much better than the Woody Allen one...

Seriously, I think the usual suspects have all been named. I think if you're going to do a remake, at least take it in a semi-original direction. Keep the themes and core storyline, but everything else can be changed. There's nothing worse than a beat-by-beat retread.

JP Liz V1

Wasnt Heat a remake of another Michael Mann film

Sleazus

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Wasnt Heat a remake of another Michael Mann film

"Remake" is a strong word, but his TV movie L.A Takedown was the basis of it, as far as I'm aware.