Movie remakes that got it right!

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

A thread for your input on movie remakes that you feel worked, as opposed to the many that just plain didn't.

For instance, two that come to immediately to mind here are War of the Worlds(2005) and John Carpenter's The Thing(1982). Both are preceded by versions that were acclaimed for their time, but both were able to successfully bring the story to the screen with a fresh approach. Hell, to those, I'll add Texas Chainsaw Massacre(2003), which I had at first thought was nothing short of blasphemy to attempt, but damned if it wasn't as unnerving and horrifying as the original.

I'm well aware that others may feel differently about these choices, but I'm more interested in hearing about movie remakes that worked for you!

 

[the_jimmy_james]

War of the Worlds was great. I was very impressed by it. Cruiser delivered a great performance, and he was the one element I was most worried about. Enjoyable, exciting, all of it.

Lost In Space was also nice. A different take on some elements, and a different ends, though it wasn't stupid or bad at all. I liked it!

 

[melanie2]

^ yikes i hated the movie Lost In Space..i was so disappointed..

hmm ok ok most won't know what i'm talking about..but there was a remake of Bird of Paradise which was much better than the original..

and Ben Hur with Charlton Heston was a remake of a silent movie..

 

[Mercury1]

I liked War of the Worlds in theory. Good story, good premise... But I hate Tom Cruise with such a devout passion that if a movie has his name on it, it just makes me want to vomit. However, my brother convinced me that since Steven Spielburg was directing, it was worth my money to give it a chance, and thus, I did. And I loved everything about it except Tom Cruise. (Dakota Fanning is a great little actress, too).

Another movie I thought was worth the film stock was the remake of Flight of the Phoenix. So many critics thought it was trash, but I honestly loved it. In fact, I bought the book it was based on because I loved it so much. Granted, there were lots of things in the book that should have been in the movie, but most movies based on books have that problem due to time constraints. On the other hand, the climax of the movie, when the crew found out the truth behind Elliot, I thought that was done a LOT better than the book, and that is mighty hard to do.

 

[Excess]

I guess I have to agree with WotW, and despite being either batshit crazy or a damn genius, Tom Cruise can still be a good actor.

 

[Mercury1]

Oh, yeah, well, on screen, Cruise is okay. I mean, I couldn't act better than him, and I've seen a LOT worse... I guess it's just his off-screen personality/attitude that makes watching him on-screen not worth it...

 

[firewindwater1]

i thought both versions of Cape Fear (1962/1991) were exceptionally well done, even though the remake was way over the top. another one that springs to mind is Scarface (1932/1983)

 

[jts963]

I agree with John Carpenter's The Thing being a big improvement over the first film, in no small part because Carpenter adhered to the original story whereas the first film had little to do with the story.

The best remake of all IMO has to be Batman Begins, which got rid of most of the flaws of the Burton films.

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

i thought both versions of Cape Fear (1962/1991) were exceptionally well done, even though the remake was way over the top. another one that springs to mind is Scarface (1932/1983)

Ooo! Two excellent calls, firewindwater1!

 

[Sockstickler]

I agree with John Carpenter's The Thing being a big improvement over the first film, in no small part because Carpenter adhered to the original story whereas the first film had little to do with the story.

The best remake of all IMO has to be Batman Begins, which got rid of most of the flaws of the Burton films.

Excellent calls here. To be honest, I didn't really care as much for War of the Worlds. I mean, granted, it had the aliens and the tripods and stuff, but the angst and drama in the family just kind of yanked me out of it. That and it wasn't really all that true to the actual book. Granted it might have been going on at the same time as the events in the original story for all we know, but it just didn't really grab me.
I did, however, like The Thing and Batman Begins. Cape Fear was another good remake. Another I liked was King Kong, the new one. I had a chance to watch it a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say that it did keep a lot of the general feel of the original, though I HATED those giant worms and bugs. ><

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

Excellent calls here. To be honest, I didn't really care as much for War of the Worlds. I mean, granted, it had the aliens and the tripods and stuff, but the angst and drama in the family just kind of yanked me out of it. That and it wasn't really all that true to the actual book. Granted it might have been going on at the same time as the events in the original story for all we know, but it just didn't really grab me.
I did, however, like The Thing and Batman Begins. Cape Fear was another good remake. Another I liked was King Kong, the new one. I had a chance to watch it a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say that it did keep a lot of the general feel of the original, though I HATED those giant worms and bugs. ><

I have to admit, I haven't gotten around to the new Kong, as the original is one of my ultra-all-time-favorites, and is one that I felt shouldn't have been touched. Still, I have it here, and will eventually get around to it.

I was surprised by the War of the Worlds retelling. The original H.G. Wells story was set around the turn of last century, and the first movie was a modernized retelling set in what was at the time present day(`60's). This new one was actually true to some of the key moments of the original novel(while still being set in current times), and quite suspenseful and downright horrific, which I give the producers credit for, as they could have sugar-coated it for a wide audience base(as so many movies these days do, to sell trinkets and geegaw's). Both Cruise and Fanning give me hives, but they gave decent performances in this movie.

 

[AmiMizuno]

Funny Games was a great remake

the upcoming Quarantine which is the Remake of REC

=D

 

[PlutoBum]

i think a lot of modern remakes of jane austen books are well done. like the pride and prejudice with colin firth is very well done. it's truest to the book. not the one with keira knightly though...she sucks.
and the newest version of persuasion i like better than the one with amanda root (although even that one's not too bad...) and also the newer versions of jane eyre are much better than any of the old ones..

 

[firewindwater1]

Ooo! Two excellent calls, firewindwater1!

hehe thanks :super_hap

some others:
Ransom (1956/1996) - the remake was a lot more exciting than the original
3:10 to Yuma (1957/2007) - both very good films
Man on Fire (1987/2004) - havent seen the original, but i'm assuming it really sucked, because i'm yet to hear a good review. tony scott was denied directing rights to the original, so he remade it 17 years later. good movie, but filmed like a music video
Blowup/Blow Out (1966/1981) - cant decide which is better, I liked them both. the remake was more of a political paranoia thriller.

 

[melanie2]

Oh, yeah, well, on screen, Cruise is okay. I mean, I couldn't act better than him, and I've seen a LOT worse... I guess it's just his off-screen personality/attitude that makes watching him on-screen not worth it...

the thing is...i don't care a bit how they are off screen...i have no interest in their personal lives.. Cruise was and is a fantastic actor..i just look at the character he plays...

 

[melanie2]

i think a lot of modern remakes of jane austen books are well done. like the pride and prejudice with colin firth is very well done. it's truest to the book. not the one with keira knightly though...she sucks.
and the newest version of persuasion i like better than the one with amanda root (although even that one's not too bad...) and also the newer versions of jane eyre are much better than any of the old ones..

holy crap....a jane austen fan..yippee

however love..i must disagree with you about Jane Eyre..there is an old version...with Orson Welles as Rochester...that is and was my favorite..damn i can't remember who played Jane..as an adult..

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

There's alot of contention on this one, but personally, I dug the Dawn of the Dead remake. As someone mentioned in another thread, though: They should have simply called it something altogether different, and then the many fans of the original Dawn wouldn't have been so upset, I think.

Also, I dug Man on Fire, and I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't even know it was a remake.

 

[alf1]

for me it's "The fly"

as about the War of the worlds, i've seen the original one, see it then you'll hate the remake 🙂

 

[PlutoBum]

holy crap....a jane austen fan..yippee

however love..i must disagree with you about Jane Eyre..there is an old version...with Orson Welles as Rochester...that is and was my favorite..damn i can't remember who played Jane..as an adult..

thank you...i'll look into that one!

 

[FeatherDaemon1]

I think that The Invasion of the Body Snatchers [78 / 56] was a good remake. They had a good cast, nice effects, the plot was good. All around good flick. That ending with Donald Sutherland at the end was a classic.

I would have to say that The Magnificent Seven was a good homage to Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai. Exchange samurai for gunslingers. Then of course there was Battle Beyond The Stars guilty pleasure sci fi cheese.

Concerning War of the Worlds I felt that it was OK. I could have done without the whole rebellious kid angle. That had nothing to do with the book. I wanted so badly for that movie to be set back in the 1800's with cannons and iron clads fighting the crawlers. The original story is so freaking amazing for the date when it was written. Wells is a genius.

Concerning Dawn of the Dead I both loved and hated that movie. I am a die-hard fan of the original. Zombies... don't... run. *takes a breath* *calms down* You can have them go at a decent shamble, but not run. Aside from that, I did enjoy the movie. It should have been called something else, another monster movie, not DotD.