Remakes (the few better than the original films and the numerous which are only a pale shadow of them)
How many remakes in 2010! Among them, all but one were much worse than the original film! It is also remarkable that, while the United States use to copy films from other countries, it generally results in worse versions of them.
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- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsOctavie HuvierGaston MélièsGeorges MélièsIn what is considered to be the first remake in the history of cinema, the grand French director, Georges Méliès, directs his very first short film, influenced by the Lumière Brothers' original story in "Partie d'écarté (1896)".The first film of Georges Méliès is also considered as the first remake ever, of a Louis Lumière's film.
Original movie: 1896.
1896 = 1896 - DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceWesley RugglesCharles Chaplin, a convict, is given $5.00 and released from prison after having served his term. He meets a man of the church who makes him weep for his sins and while he is weeping takes the $5.00 away from him. Chaplin goes to a fruit stand and samples the fruit. When he goes to pay for it he finds his $5.00 is missing. This results in a battle with the fruit dealer, but Chaplin finally escapes. He is held up by a footpad and finds it is his former cellmate. He is inveigled into joining him in robbing a house. They put a police officer out of commission with a mallet and stack up the silverware. They then start upstairs to search the upper rooms, but are met by a young woman who implores them to leave because her mother is ill and fears the shock will kill her. Chaplin's heart is touched but the footpad insists on ransacking the house. This results in a battle between the footpad and Chaplin. While they are fighting, a squad of police arrives. The footpad makes his escape, but the police capture Chaplin. The woman of the house, however, saves him by telling the police he is her husband. She gives him a dollar and he leaves. He goes to a lodging house and in order to save his dollar from thieves puts it in his mouth, swallowing it while he sleeps. A crook robs all the men in the lodging house but Chaplin takes the money away from him, and also the rings his "pal" had stolen. This starts a battle in which all join. Chaplin flees. In order to do a good turn to the woman who had saved him from the police, he takes her rings back.It is a comedic remake of a Western (although I don't think the film fits the genre very well) called "His regeneration" in which Chaplin appears in a cameo as a customer in the saloon. The only interesting scene in the original film is exactly the one starred by Charlie Chaplin. Both films are very different in spite of having basically the same general plot.
Original movie: 1915.
1916 > 1915 - DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsDavid WayneHoward Da SilvaMartin GabelIn this Americanization of the 1931 German thriller, both the police and the criminal underworld stalk a mysterious serial killer who preys on little girls.Both movies are nice, but the original one, a classic directed by Fritz Lang, is much better. Not only it has the merits of the originality, what the remake obviously lacks (and the screenplay is particularly similar, very true to the version from the 30's), but also the filmmaking of the German movie is much richer and more interesting.
Original movie: 1931.
1951 < 1931 - DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartDoris DayBrenda de BanzieAn American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.Two films with the same title from the same director, master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. Like him, and differently from Truffaut, I considered this remake with James Stewart and Doris Day as a worse movie than British older film with Peter Lorre.
Original movie: 1934.
1956 < 1934 - DirectorWerner HerzogStarsKlaus KinskiIsabelle AdjaniBruno GanzCount Dracula moves from Transylvania to Wismar, spreading the Black Plague across the land. Only a woman pure of heart can bring an end to his reign of horror.Klaus Kinski, the villain in so many Westerns, plays Count Dracula here. This is a tribute to F.W. Murnau and Max Schreck's classical film. Both are very nice, but made with very different resources as the original one was silent and unsurprisingly filmed with worse deffiniton.
Original movie: 1922.
1979 > 1922 - DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsJon VoightFaye DunawayRicky SchroderBilly Flynn is an ex-champion boxer who was KO'd by booze and gambling. When the wealthy, estranged mother of his young son begins trying to lure the boy away from him, Flynn must return to the ring to provide for his child.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsAl PacinoMichelle PfeifferSteven BauerIn 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.Both Brian De Palma's remake and the original noir movie are very nice. In the original film, Tony Camonte (played by Paul Muni) is an Italian American mafia mobster, while in the remake Al Pacino plays Cuban gangster Tony Montana. Both are funny, kitsch, greedy and have the scar on the cheek, but perhaps Pacino's violent character is slighly better. Though, Michelle Pfeiffer makes her Elvira Hancock a more interesting character than Karen Morley's Poppy.
Original movie: 1932.
1983 = 1932 - DirectorNeville de AlmeidaStarsCláudia RaiaLouise CardosoAlexandre FrotaIn Rio de Janeiro, after an altercation with his father and mother, a young man named Bebeto kills his family and goes to a movie theater, where he watches four weird vignettes. The first one is about a wealthy woman, Márcia, bored with her marriage, who decides to spend a couple of days alone in her house in Petrópolis. When her best friend Renata unexpectedly arrives to stay with her, they get drunk and something tragic happens. The second one is about a loser who arrives home upset and drunk, and kills his family. The third one is about a tragic repressed lesbian relationship. The last one is about a man addicted to stealing women's underwear.
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosKevin JarreStarsKurt RussellVal KilmerSam ElliottA successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.I think we may consider "Tombstone" as a remake of "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral", although its story is a bit broader, as the main characters are pretty the same and both show a version of that famous shooting. John Sturges's film with Burt Lancaster is nice but the revisionist Western with Kurt Russell in the role of moustached Wyatt Earp is considerably better. Even the best thing in the 50's movie, the gunman and bohemian gambler Doc Holliday portrayed by Kirk Douglas, has a better version in "Tombstone" with Val Kilmer in the best work of his career.
Original movie: 1957.
1993 > 1957 - DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsAntonio BanderasSalma HayekJoaquim de AlmeidaFormer musician and gunslinger El Mariachi arrives at a small Mexican border town after being away for a long time. His past quickly catches up with him and he soon gets entangled with the local drug kingpin Bucho and his gang.This is at the same time a sequel and a remake. While the first version had a lower budget, the sequel/remake was made for Hollywood, with famous actors. The latter has some elements borrowed from Westerns which the former does not.
Original movie: 1992.
1995 = 1992 - DirectorDavid HoganStarsPamela AndersonAmir AboulElaAdriana AlexanderDuring the Second American Civil War in 2017, Barb Wire owns a nightclub called the Hammerhead. Things become complicated when her ex-lover Axel Hood, who is married to the fugitive Corrina Devonshire, re-enters her life."Barb Wire" keeps the core elements of classical "Casablanca" but adapts it to a distopic sci-fi action futuristic movie. Pamela Anderson plays Barb, a role similar to Bogart's Rick. The gender of the love affair from the past and of the third part of the love triangle have also been changed. The ficcional town of Steel Harbor in the United States replaces Casablanca and the story is held during a futuristic Second Civil War rather than in the beginning of World War II. Both protagonists own a bar/nightclub, but Barb Wire is also a bounty huntress. As this remake is a sci-fi film, special contact lenses that cheat retinal scans substitute the letters of transit kept with Rick.
Off course "Casablanca" is much better, but surprisingly "Barb Wire" is not bad.
Original movie: 1942.
1996 < 1942 - DirectorGus Van SantStarsVince VaughnAnne HecheJulianne MooreA young female embezzler arrives at the Bates Motel, which has terrible secrets of its own.The remake is relatively good. Its pace is slower than would be desirable. The original version directed by Hitchcock is much better, by far: you get much more involved with what happens in the story and it is much more psychological.
Original movie: 1960.
1998 < 1960 - DirectorHarold RamisStarsBrendan FraserElizabeth HurleyFrances O'ConnorHopeless dweeb Elliot Richards is granted seven wishes by the Devil to snare Allison, the girl of his dreams, in exchange for his soul.Neither better, nor worse. Both movies are very nice. The one with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, from 1967, is extremely funny. This remake with a silly guy well played by Brendam Fraser and the astonishingly sexy Liz Hurley follows the same idea, but with diferent situations. It is obvious which devil is more beautiful, but how can we decide which one is the best?
Original movie: 1967.
2000 = 1967 - DirectorTim BurtonStarsMark WahlbergHelena Bonham CarterTim RothIn 2029, an Air Force astronaut crash-lands on a mysterious planet where evolved, talking apes dominate a race of primitive humans.I don't think that it is a bad film, as it is very often rated. Though, it is clearly much worse than the excellent original "Planet of Apes". While the movie from 2001 is just a nice action film, the one from 1968 is a remarkable distopic story, with important political and sociological reflections.
Original movie: 1968.
2001 < 1968 - DirectorJames MangoldStarsRussell CroweChristian BaleBen FosterA small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.Both are nice films, but the remake has better action scenes (the final chase, for example) and a much stronger acting. The relation between both main characters and the tension have been much more deeply explored in the more recent movie.
Original movie: 1957.
2007 > 1957 - DirectorGustavo Nieto RoaStarsReynaldo GianecchiniPaolla OliveiraRicardo PradoTwo strangers meet in a nightclub and end up spending the night together in a hotel.Globo Filmes tries to transform Brazilian cinema in a TV show. Generally it happens with poor stories. This is not exactly the case here: the idea is fantastic. Unfortunately, it was stolen from the innovative Chilean film "En la cama", by far better than this pale copy (which I think that is unauthorized).
Original movie: 2005.
2008 < 2005 - DirectorJulio MedemStarsElena AnayaNatasha YarovenkoEnrico Lo VersoA hotel room in the center of Rome serves as the setting for two young and recently acquainted women to have a physical adventure that touches their very souls.Another remake for "En la cama", a movie from Chile. Differently from Brazilian unofficial one (see above, in 2008), though, this Spanish remake is quite good and acknowledges that it is based in the Chilean film. The greatest differences are that the European film is a lesbian remake and also shows much more sex and (beautiful) nudity than the Andean original movie. I consider the latter better, but the former is also nice.
Original movie: 2005.
2010 < 2005 - DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsJeff BridgesMatt DamonHailee SteinfeldA stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.The first version, with John Wayne, is nice, but this is a rare case in which a remake is better than the original film. What a Western! In my opinion this is the best of the many good films by brothers Coen.
Original movie: 1969.
2010 > 1969 - DirectorLouis LeterrierStarsSam WorthingtonLiam NeesonRalph FiennesPerseus, a demigod and the son of Zeus, battles the minions of Hades and the Underworld in order to stop them from conquering Olympus and Earth.The same mess within Greek mythology but without the charming stop motion: a hero called Perseus mounts Pegasus (which was mounted by Belerephon and not by Perseus in the Greek legend) to save Andromeda from the sea monster Kraken (which is Nordic! The monster from whom Perseus saved her in the legend was Cetus). Oh, the remake also adds Arabian djinns, who were fortunately absent in the original film!
Original movie: 1981.
2010 < 1981 - DirectorJoe CarnahanStarsLiam NeesonBradley CooperSharlto CopleyA group of Iraq War veterans look to clear their name with the U.S. Military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed.Although true to the original four characters (what is a great merit) and having two of the leading actors from the old TV series making cameo appearences (what would be nice if it had taken much more time), the film is bad. Original TV series was by far funnier too.
Original TV series: 1983-1987.
2010 < 1980's - DirectorHarald ZwartStarsJackie ChanJaden SmithTaraji P. HensonWork causes a single mother to move to China with her young son; in his new home, the boy embraces kung fu, taught to him by a master.A Karate Kid movie in which the characters fight kung fu (with mortal jumps and all that stuff) instead of karate is bizarre. That is not the only problem. Remember Cobra Kai guys disguised as skeletons running after Daniel? Or the training in which Miyagi makes Daniel work for him in his house? And the final fight in the tournment ending with a special kick? Everything is worse in the new version. Besides that, we can see the old arrogance of chosing an American character to go to the East and beat all the Easterns in a fight tournment.
Original movie: 1984.
2010 < 1984 - DirectorMatt ReevesStarsKodi Smit-McPheeChloë Grace MoretzRichard JenkinsA bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.Not a bad film but, please, forget it! Watch the brilliant Swedish original movie "Låt den rätte komma in" (Let the right one in)! The story is identical, but the American one is an inferior and unnecessary copy.
Original movie: 2008.
2010 < 2008 - DirectorPaul T. ScheuringStarsAdrien BrodyCam GigandetForest Whitaker26 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.The original German movie is breathtaking. I have not watched this remake full, but, in spite of great actors such as Forest Whitaker and Adrien Brody, it was enough to notice that I cannot say the same about it.
Original movie: 2001.
2010 < 2001 - DirectorCraig GillespieStarsAnton YelchinColin FarrellDavid Tennant"Fright Night" - A new neighbor moves in next to Charley, who discovers that he is an ancient vampire who preys on the community. Can he save his neighborhood from the creature with the help of the famous "vampire killer", Peter Vincent?It is hard to say which one is better. It is fair to put both as equaly good. I consider Colin Farrel's version in the remake of Jerry Dandrige, the vampire, much better than original one, and I also think that the newest Evil Ed was the best version of Charley Brewster's friend. The way the blood-sucking neighbor enters Charley's house is also more sophisticated in the remake, although the former was not bad either. Though, besides the merit of originality, the first film plays in a very charming way with B horror films in television, shows nice special effects (particularly the metamorphosis), also has an extremely nice Peter Vincent.
Original movie: 1985.
2011 = 1985 - DirectorKimberly PeirceStarsChloë Grace MoretzJulianne MooreGabriella WildeA shy girl, outcast by her peers and sheltered by her religious mother, unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom.This remake is a pale, superficial and boring version of the original horror one, which has been well directed by Brian De Palma. You don't feel anything when you watch it, while the 1976 version makes you nervous, as it is highly psychological. In the 2013 remake, all the characters are unconvincing, including Carrie (who looks more like a Force user from a Star Wars reboot) and her mother (good actress Julianne Moore does a bad job here, just like in another unsuccessful remake, "Psycho" from 1998). In the original one, you feel deeply Carrie as a victim of bullying and her mother's fanatical religious-influenced behavior is truly disturbing. In this one, nothing impacts.
Original movie: 1976.
2013 < 1976