Discuss: What's Your Favorite Remake?
Filed under: Fandom, Remakes and Sequels
We often bash the neverending flurry of remakes, and frankly, it's hard not to. Nestled in between the possible gems are many projects that wrench the magic out of the original they're supposed to love. But luckily (especially in this remake-laden movie world) they're not all bad. In fact, sometimes they can be downright delightful, thought-provoking, or even awe-inspiring.One of the top contenders, of course, is The Fly. The 1958 version was wildly popular and loved, yet David Cronenberg was able to sweep in and concoct a film that people rave about to this day. It remains one of the only movies able to rip through my adoration of the original and find a secure spot on the appreciation shelf. Beyond that, there are further remake chills with memorable projects like Dawn of the Dead and Cape Fear, plus a bunch of more mainstream-friendly, and beloved, remakes. Ocean's 11, anyone? Oh, and who can forget the foreign inspiration? If not for The Hidden Fortress, we'd never have Star Wars; if not for Yojimbo, we'd never get Fistful of Dollars.
Over the years, Cinematical has written about the best science fiction remakes, horror re-do's that don't suck, and even remakes that are better than the original, but I wanted to hand the reigns over to you. What remakes do you love? They could be as good as the original, better, or even be loathed by the general population. That's the thing with taste -- it's wonderfully subjective and there's always someone out there who will disagree with you. Are you a fan of Goldblum becoming a buzzing insect, or do you bravely hold onto an appreciation of the latest Planet of the Apes, Willy Wonka, or -- egads -- Gus Van Sant's Psycho?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-02-2009 @ 12:10PM
Adam said...
"The Departed" was pretty brilliant and is a great companion piece to "Infernal Affairs".
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10-02-2009 @ 12:20PM
Wexler said...
King Kong
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10-02-2009 @ 12:28PM
brasstacks said...
The Thing
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10-03-2009 @ 1:05AM
MrA said...
I second "The Thing."
10-02-2009 @ 12:29PM
Mangorilla said...
Wizard of Oz of course, but that's kinda cheating.
And I liked Rob Zombie's remake of the first Halloween. (Yes yes, I know; let the verbal beatings commense...)
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10-02-2009 @ 12:42PM
PBar said...
Taxi Driver
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10-02-2009 @ 12:44PM
Jessica Dillon said...
For good remakes, I always think of His Girl Friday.
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10-02-2009 @ 12:45PM
ML said...
The Maltese Falcon - of course!
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10-02-2009 @ 12:46PM
Carla said...
The Hitcher
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10-06-2009 @ 1:14PM
Holly said...
Yay, I'm not alone on that!
10-02-2009 @ 1:09PM
MovieGoods said...
Favorite is tough...there have been some great remakes made. Ben-Hur has been made three times, with the Charlton Heston version being the most recent.
Chicago, with Renee Zellweger, is a remake of Roxie Hart (1942) and was a great movie.
And one of my favorites is 12 Monkeys. It was a "remake" of the very famous French film La jetée - which was also incredibly powerful.
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10-02-2009 @ 1:08PM
Rementis said...
The Thing.
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10-02-2009 @ 1:29PM
Chris said...
Turkish Exorcist
But in all seriousness, probably Zatoichi (2003) or Chushingura (with Mifune).
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10-02-2009 @ 2:30PM
Tim said...
2004 Dawn of the Dead
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10-02-2009 @ 3:30PM
garan said...
The Thing, by a mile. Probably John Carpenter's best film-- and that's saying something coming from a huge John Carpenter fan.
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10-02-2009 @ 6:29PM
paul said...
The movie, Jaws, is better than the book, Jaws, y'all.
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10-02-2009 @ 11:55PM
spamstratagem said...
Scarface is probably my favorite remake.
Scrooge (1951) is my personal favorite version of A Christmas Carol. I loved Alastair Sim's Scrooge.
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10-04-2009 @ 10:16PM
Luis said...
I don't know if this counts as a remake but "Airplane!" was a comedic reinterpretation of the B-movie airplane disaster flick "Zero Hour!"
They borrowed characer names, plot, and dialogue from the original. Even the exclamation point and the end of the movie's title.
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10-06-2009 @ 1:14PM
holly said...
I'd say Peter Jackson's King Kong. Andy Serkis and Naomi Watts took that relationship to such a hearbreaking place that I don't think the original even thought of.
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