Remakes that are better than original

[8893]

Agree. Goldie beats Kate at the same ages. Kate's eyes are too far apart.

I think it's easy for people to forget what certain celebs once looked like. Teri Garr in Young Frankenstein for example.

LOVED Teri Garr then.

 

[Bliss]

Thomas Crown Affair - finally saw Steve McQueen version. Solid movie, and Faye Dunaway is better than Rene Russo, but Steve McQueen does not pull off the refined millionaire doing heists for fun nearly as well as Pierce Brosnan. In fact, I think McQueen is really mediocre overall in the movie, which is weird because it accelerated his career and helped solidify him as an A list actor. If the Crown character is not believable, then the rest of the movie doesn’t hold together nearly as well. I also think the detective in the original sucks.

Any others?

Magnificent Seven (way more action - actor difference is questionable)

 

[G0UCONN]

Few more:

The Fly

Heaven Can Wait

The Italian Job

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The second movie was more true to the book's ending.

It was a floutist in the beginning of Red Dragon, not a cellist. My bad.

 

[whaler11]

She was good (and went on to become pretty hot). But Bridges was no John Wayne. The original Mattie was probably not someone who translates well to our modern ere. I'm a big fan of the Cohen Brothers and they did a good job, I just give an edge to the original, which also featured Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper. And yes, Glen Campbell was better than Matt Damon too.

Pretty hot? The I Love Myself music video is unholy.


And anyone trying to claim Hawn over Hudson is as Mike would say... is lawst.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Pretty hot? The I Love Myself music video is unholy.


And anyone trying to claim Hawn over Hudson is as Mike would say.. is lawst.

You exaggerate a bit. But I'd never heard any of her songs. I only know her name because she's in my daughter's teen beat type magazines and she has mentioned her.

Neither Hawn nor Hudson are great beauties. It's a close call, but Kate's eyes are too far apart for me.

 

[Bliss]

Yeah, no. Campbell's performance might have been the worst acting in a major motion picture I've ever seen.

I agree that it was terrible. "You'll push that saucy line too far," for example.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It wasn't technically a remake (despite having almost exactly the same plot), but The Town was a little better than Heat, in a large part because, surprisingly, Jon Hamm was so much better than Al Pacino in the same role. Pacino is distracting screaming his way through the second half of the movie, but Jon Hamm was excellent as the FBI agent willing to do anything to get the gang.

 

[businesslawyer]

The second movie was more true to the book's ending.

The second movie was more true to the book from beginning to end. The book was an early piece of feminist fiction -- not politically, and downplayed, but with the girl being the real hero. That was totally lost in the original movie, and picked up in the second version.

 

[superjohn]

It wasn't technically a remake (despite having almost exactly the same plot), but The Town was a little better than Heat, in a large part because, surprisingly, Jon Hamm was so much better than Al Pacino in the same role. Pacino is distracting screaming his way through the second half of the movie, but Jon Hamm was excellent as the FBI agent willing to do anything to get the gang.

The Town isn't at all a remake of Heat, they both deal with bank robbers but The Town is loosely based on Anthony Shea's Charlestown crew. Heat is a far superior film and is Michael Mann at his best. The Town was overrated and terribly cliche-ridden, Affleck did a much better job with Gone Baby Gone.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The Thin Red Line, decent ensemble cast. Good if you like WWII movies.

 

[nwhoopfan]

While both are good, I'd give a nod to The Departed vs. the foreign film Infernal Affairs it was adapted from.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Thought of another. The Al Pacino/Robin Williams/Hillary Swank thriller Insomnia was vastly superior to the Norwegian film of the same name it was based on, IMO.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Town isn't at all a remake of Heat, they both deal with bank robbers but The Town is loosely based on Anthony Shea's Charlestown crew. Heat is a far superior film and is Michael Mann at his best. The Town was overrated and terribly cliche-ridden, Affleck did a much better job with Gone Baby Gone.

Gone Baby Gone sucked. It was a pretentious and predictable thriller that was not nearly as smart as it thought it was.

 

[Travelman6]

It.

 

[intlzncster]

The Thing, The Fly.

The original The Thing (John Carpenter's) is one of the best horror slash sci fi movies of all time.

 

[G0UCONN]

The original The Thing (John Carpenter's) is one of the best horror slash sci fi movies of all time.

Agree and assume he meant John Carpenter version with Kurt Russell.

The real original was in 1950s.

 

[superjohn]

Agree and assume he meant John Carpenter version with Kurt Russell.

The real original was in 1950s.

Yes, honestly didn't even know about the orignal Howard Hawks film. The John Carpenter one is a personal favorite, so is The Fog and They Live. Carpenter was awesome in the 80's, made some amazing stuff on shoestring budgets.

 

[intlzncster]

Agree and assume he meant John Carpenter version with Kurt Russell.

The real original was in 1950s.

ahhh ok. They remade the thing AGAIN in 2011, which is what I thought he was referring to. Mildly confused at this point.

 

[huskyrob1]

Showboat....the 1950's remake is better than the 1930's version.






Show Boat - Ava Gardner 's own voice - Can't Help Lovin' That Man


17 Why Do I Love You Kathryn Grayson And Howard Keel

 

[superjohn]

ahhh ok. They remade the thing AGAIN in 2011, which is what I thought he was referring to. Mildly confused at this point.

Howard Hawks made the original in early 50's which I didn't know about. I was talking about the Carpenter one in the 80's.

 

[G0UCONN]

ahhh ok. They remade the thing AGAIN in 2011, which is what I thought he was referring to. Mildly confused at this point.

I never saw 2011 version. I assume it sucked.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Here's one where the remake is better by default. "The Big Bounce" based off an Elmore Leonard novel. The 2004 version was lackluster, but the original 1969 version was terrible! Apologies to any Ryan O'Neal fans. Leigh Taylor-Young looked nice but that didn't even come close to saving this pointless, plotless clunker.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Great Gatsby remake was better than the original. Baz Luhrmann's movies are always visually interesting, and this was no exception. While a bit over-the-top in terms of activity and the music, the era and the world that Gatsby and Daisy lived in was over-the-top. The original is a bit boring and kind of empty.

Leonardo DiCaprio was born to play this role, and was a lot better than Redford. The only minor complaint I had with the two leads in the remake was that both Decaprio and Maguire were at least 5 years too old for their roles, but they still pulled it off. Redford was too old for that role in 1974 too. I wasn't crazy about Carey Mulligan or Mia Farrow as Daisy, so that is a wash. I think both movies should have gone for a better actress rather than focusing on what Daisy looked like.

There was also just something wrong with the original movie's script. It didn't catch the scope of the book, and felt too much like a generic love triangle than a bigger story of class, greed and ambition.

 

[superjohn]

The Great Gatsby remake was better than the original. Baz Luhrmann's movies are always visually interesting, and this was no exception. While a bit over-the-top in terms of activity and the music, the era and the world that Gatsby and Daisy lived in was over-the-top. The original is a bit boring and kind of empty.

Leonardo DiCaprio was born to play this role, and was a lot better than Redford. The only minor complaint I had with the two leads in the remake was that both Decaprio and Maguire were at least 5 years too old for their roles, but they still pulled it off. Redford was too old for that role in 1974 too. I wasn't crazy about Carey Mulligan or Mia Farrow as Daisy, so that is a wash. I think both movies should have gone for a better actress rather than focusing on what Daisy looked like.

There was also just something wrong with the original movie's script. It didn't catch the scope of the book, and felt too much like a generic love triangle than a bigger story of class, greed and ambition.

To each is own, I thought The Great Gatsby remake was horrendous. One of the few movies I had to shut off before it even ended. Dreadful film.

Baz Luhrmann should be a music video director, all style with zero substance.