Ghost in the Shell. Ben-Hur. The Mummy. What do all of these masterpiece movies have in common? They should have never been remade. While bad Hollywood remakes are about as common as warts on frogs, truly well-done remakes are few and far between. Rare is the day when a good story gets better the second time you tell it, but exceptions do exist, and each of these 10 films qualifies. From good movies made great through a fresh reinterpretation, to bad films turned into solid-gold blockbusters with a little TLC, these are 10 movie remakes that are better than the original.
True Grit
While the 1969 version of True Grit is hailed as a classic, the original John Wayne Western leaves something to be desired. Both films follow a young kid and their gruff surrogate father figure in a The Last of Us-style Odyssey across a morally grey world, but the Coen Brothers’ 2010 reinterpretation feels darker and more authentic than the rootin’-tootin’ original. The story of Joel and Ethan Coen’s version is far closer to the original novel than the John Wayne film, and the decision to gender swap Rooster Cogburn’s gunslingin’ young ward adds a layer of complexity that older film lacked. And let’s be real, Haliee Steinfeld’s acting blows the original kid’s performance out of the water. Meanwhile, Jeff Bridges is every bit the tenderhearted badass that John Wayne wished he could be. Combine that with gorgeous cinematography and high-octane action sequences, and you’ve got yourself an all-time great western.
It
We all love Tim Curry, don’t get me wrong. But the 1990s interpretation of what is arguably Stephen King’s darkest novel borders on goofy rather than scary. The 2017 remake, on the other hand? Absolutely bone-chilling. Bill Skarsgård’s performance as Pennywise the Dancing Clown was a cultural landmark, catapulting the actor into the public eye and turning the red balloon toting antagonist into a full-blown internet meme. One need only compare poor Georgie Denborough’s death sequence in the 1990 version — creepy but not truly terrifying — to the nightmare-inducing horror of watching the kid get dragged into a sewer and devoured in the remake. Curry is eerie, but the 2017 film’s elevated scares made it one of the most sublime horror movie experiences in history. You had to see it in theatres; it was a whole pop-cultural moment.
The Wizard of Oz
Wait, there was a Wizard of Oz before The Wizard of Oz? Believe me, I’m just as shocked and aghast as you. Unbeknownst to modern-day pop culture, there actually was an earlier version of the film made in 1925 — a silent film that was received about as quietly as it came. The original version is forgettably fine, there’s a reason that pop culture doesn’t remember it. The remake? It’s one of the most (if not the most) iconic American films ever made: a masterpiece of music and color that changed the collective brain chemistry of a generation. And the impact that MGM version had on queer culture? Forget about it. This film is arguably the blueprint for mainstream queer media, one that shaped LGBTQ+ identity in both life and art. Queer people used the term “friend of Dorothy” to discreetly refer to each other after this film came out — name another movie that contributed as much to gay culture? I’ll wait.
King Kong
One look at Pirates of the Caribbean or The Lord of the Rings proves that CGI hit different in the early 2000s, and few filmmakers understood its impact better than Peter Jackson. While the stop-motion effects of the 1933 version of King Kong were groundbreaking for the time, the special effects of Jackson’s 2005 reimagining of the film will be seen as groundbreaking for all time. Brought to life by the GOAT character actor Andy Serkis, the 21st-century version of the skyscraper-climbing ape was a stunning blend of pathos and danger. Kong felt like a real living, breathing, feeling being, a misunderstood protector instead of a woman-snatching monster. In the Jackson remake, humanity is proven to be the real monster in the end, making this film a poignant exploration of exploitation that — given the way mankind continues to manhandle Mother Nature — still feels painfully relevant today.
The Fly
Another remake that everyone forgot had an original version, David Cronenberg’s The Fly transformed a forgettable 1950s creature feature into one of the most disturbing and tragic works of body horror. The original? It’s still about a dude who turns into a bug, but all it asks of the audience is to collectively gasp and say “gross!” The remake? It’s essentially an exploration of the internet-famous “would you still love me if I was a worm?” question, played out in the most excruciating, nasty, horrifying, and unexpectedly touching way. Seth Brundle’s agonizing decline from man to insect makes the viewer question what they would do in a situation like this. Would they stick by their buggy lover to the bitter end? Or would they flee from the Brundlefly like everyone else? It’s a hard question, and this film, unlike the original, isn’t afraid to ask it.
The Thing
Another 1950s creature feature elevated into an all-time great work of horror, John Carpenter’s The Thing may be the greatest remake in remake history. With a far more forboding title than The Thing From Another World, The Thing proves that it understands true terror by reveling in paranoia and dread rather than hokey scares. When it comes to monster design, the remake is light-years ahead of the original. One is a scream-inducing body-horror masterpiece created with meticulous practical effects, and the other is a guy in a plant/vampire suit running around going “boo.” It’s like comparing a Michelin-star meal to dinner at Applebee’s, which, not knocking Applebee’s, but it’s not exactly what the food critics would call the very pinnacle of high-brow culinary art. Meanwhile, Carpenter’s The Thing raises eyebrows, alright. In abject fright when the skin-stealing monster finally reveals itself.
Heat
When it comes to remakes, Heat is a bit of an odd duck. It’s the only film on this list whose original version was created by the very same director. Yes! The script that would become Michael Mann’s Heat was actually once pitched by the director as a TV pilot for an unmade series called L.A. Takedown. After NBC passed on the project, Mann turned it into a TV film with the same title — the results were “meh” at best. A few years later, Mann revisited the script, gave it a more succinct and sexy title, and made movie history. With heart-in-mouth action and an all-star cast, Mann turned his made-for-TV mid-sterpiece into a bona fide masterpiece crime film.
A Star is Born
Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born is far from the first remake of this musical drama, but because it’s also the best version, hopefully it will be the last. It’s the story of a drug addicted country star who falls hard for a younger singer. Unlike Ally Maine, Lady Gaga was at the height of her career when the film hit theaters, and elevated the star to ludicrous new heights of fame. It also helped that “Shallow,” the original song written for the film, was a total banger, making the whole project a chart-topping, block-busting triumph. Great music + great performers = a recipe for greatness that made movie history.
Casino Royale
Daniel Craig did for James Bond what Frank Miller did for Batman, took a hokey 1960s story about a monied crimefighter and elevated it into a dark, sexy, and cerebral action thriller. Casino Royale ushered in a new era of Bond films, championed by one of the suavest actors to ever grace a high roller card table. The other debonair daddy that made this film great was Mads Mikkelsen, who played the leaky-eyed Le Chiffre — one of the greatest Bond villains in franchise history. The gunfights, the glamour, the gambling, all of it combined into a dark and decadent remake that upped the ante on the original and forced it to fold.
War of the Worlds
H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds nearly caused a mass panic when it was first aired as a radio drama. When the 1953 film version came out, the obviously fake flying saucers assured audiences they were in no actual danger of an alien invasion. The remake? It looked like the terrifying real deal. While Tom Cruise gave this film a star to build itself around, the true meat of the movie is the horrifyingly good special effects. The people-distegrating heat rays, the mechanical tentacles grabbing helpless victims off the ground, the bone-chilling sound design of the alien tripod vehicles, all of it combined to make an all-time great horror film masquerading as sci-fi. If clips of this film had been shown on CNN rather than in movie theaters, you can bet that history would have repeated itself with a panicked populace prepping to battle extraterrestrials like they did in 1938.
(featured image: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
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