Remakes That Were Better Or Just As Good As The Originals

[Cena's Little Helper]

Which remakes have you seen that are better or just as good as their direct inspiration? I ask this question because remakes rarely outdo originals. I have seen three exceptional remakes:

Sabrina (1995) - This is a sentimental favorite of mine that I watch every Christmas Eve because that is when I first saw it on one of the American premium cable channels (either HBO or Showtime). Sabrina is meant to take place in an opulent setting. Furthermore, while Sabrina is meant to be charming and witty, I always thought the she was also meant to be relatively plain looking (even after her transformation in Paris). The coloring of the remake does justice to the lavish Long Island estate where the majority of this film takes place while Julia Ormond, in terms of physical characteristics, was a much better Sabrina than Audrey Hepburn was.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) - Another remake that greatly benefited from color. Furthermore, Thomas Crown was meant to be suave and urbane, and Pierce Brosnan could pull this off a hell of a lot more credibly than Steve McQueen could. Also, this one is so much more tense and suspenseful than the original.

The Ring (2002) - I unfortunately didn't have the chance to see Ringu before I saw The Ring in theaters. However, even if I had seen Ringu beforehand, something tells me that I would have still felt disappointed. While tense and suspenseful, Ringu failed to confirm our worst fears with heart-jumping scare tactics. On the other hand, The Ring did just this, and, in my opinion, this is what makes it superior to Ringu.

 

[NSL]

Ocean's Eleven. Without a doubt. The cast was great, but I wouldn't put it in the same league as the Rat Pack. I just think the movie is better. The story is better, and easier to follow, and the acting is probably done better than the first one.

There's also The Hulk. I don't anyone that would say Eric Bana's Hulk is better than Ed Norton's. The movie is clearly better, and tells the story a lot better. The cast is on about the same level, but the acting is still done better in the new one also.

Another remake that's at least on the same level as the original is Halloween. I'll never say the new one is better than the original, but it was definitely more modern, and told the same story from a different view, that I liked.

 

[latinoheat8979]

American Pie 2. I loved the original but the 2nd was even better. The pushed the envelope in that movie even more than in part 1. Stifler was the man in that series.

 

[Lee]

He said remake, not sequel, there is a difference.

For me it's Scarface, not many people have seen the original 1930s version, whilst I think it's quite a decent film, the one we all know and love is much better. Whilst the original was violent at the time, it pails in comparison to the 83 version...One of a few films where adding shed loads of violence in actually adds to the overall quality!

 

[jmt225]

Cape Fear

While the original was very good, Martin Scorsese's version was tremendous. It's one of my favorite movies of all time, with De Niro's performance being one of my favorite performances of all time in cinema. Juliette Lewis was damn good in it to.

Anyway, besides the acting by the two names above, I thought what made it really better was what Scorsese decided to do with Nick Nolte's character, Sam Bowden, and Juliette Lewis' character, Nancy. In the original, Sam Bowden was the perfect little husband, and his daughter Nancy was an innocent little angel. But, of course, by the time this remake was made, hardly any family was that perfect and I absolutely love the fact that Scorsese decided to give these characters flaws and make them like real people. In the sixties you could put these flawless families in film and on television and have it still be believable, but by the early eighties… to keep it realistic, every “normal” character needed flaws in their personality, and Sam and Nancy having those flaws in the remake made the film so much better and more dramatic, in my opinion. You could relate to those characters more so than the originals. Not because you have the same flaws they do, but because you know a lot of people who have those kinds of flaws, yet you like them anyway. Whereas I doubt hardly anyone in today’s society knows any “Brady Bunch” perfect little family, so it’s hard to buy and get behind those kind of people in film.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Tdigs, great call with Thomas Crown Affair. Highly underrated movie.

I am going to throw out the remake of Manhunter, which was, of course, Red Dragon. Brian Cox's version of Hannbial Lecter (spelled Lecktor in Manhunter) was admirable, and he did it a few years prior to Anthony Hopkins getting his hands on it in Silence of the Lambs. William Petersen's version of Will Graham was also not bad, though Ed Norton did it a bit better.

The biggest difference, to me, was the role of Francis Dollarhyde, the main antagonist. Unknown Tom Noonan, a creepy looking man, was not bad in Manhunter, but Ralph Feinnes showed the world what a terrific villain he could be in Red Dragon. It was the role I felt launched him into being Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter 4-7.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

My pick would have to be Dawn of the Dead. I felt the remake had that added level of tension with running zombies. I also loved the references to the original such as the repetition of the 'When there's no more room in hell....' line, even said by the same actor as in the original.

The sniping of look-a-like zombies was pretty funny as well. Also the final ending during the credits of the survivors getting to that island only to find...... well, like i need say more.

 

[Leeds Guy]

My pick would have to be Dawn of the Dead. I felt the remake had that added level of tension with running zombies. I also loved the references to the original such as the repetition of the 'When there's no more room in hell....' line, even said by the same actor as in the original.

The sniping of look-a-like zombies was pretty funny as well. Also the final ending during the credits of the survivors getting to that island only to find...... well, like i need say more.

Have to agree with Ag3nt i thought the Dawn of The Dead Remake was great, the fear increased with the threat of zombies that could run at you. The first DOTD was great and the remake imo was better, granted the actors could have perhaps been cast better as i wasnt too keen on Ving Rhames (as bad ass as he is) as the lead.