Favorite Remakes

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I am curious if you all have a favorite movie remake or a movie remake that really stunk...I really loved the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street", am a big Freddy Fan--I saw the trailers for the remake for this movie that they did and it appeared to me that it was so cheesy, I decided not to watch the remake of "A Nightmare On Elm Street"--It makes me think sometimes that the original movie is usually better, you can't improve a classic sometimes..Sorry to ramble...8-]]
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I’m not a fan of horror remakes at all. They usually amount to bad CGI (I’m old school when it comes to effects), have no atmosphere and insist on explaining every detail to “spell” things out to the viewer. I have yet to see a remake that has impressed. A few which I recall being bad were The Fog (2005), Black Christmas (2006) and Halloween (2007). The originals were far superior. I think it’s creepier to not have a detailed back story about the characters and to leave a bit of mystery.



There were some quality remakes of 50s films like The Thing, The Blob, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Fly. The Fly in particular is a favorite of mine.

I enjoyed The Departed, but preferred the original Infernal Affairs.

I really liked the most recent True Grit, though I haven't seen the original to compare. Ocean's 11, 3:10 to Yuma, Funny Games fall into the same category of "liked it, but haven't seen the original".

Though they are really different in tone I enjoy both versions of Hairspray. Ditto for Insomnia. Both versions of Gaslight are quite good.

While I've seen the original and am really fond of it, I was impressed with the remake of Fright Night.

Wicker Park (yes, the one starring Josh Hartnett) was surprisingly good. Especially once I watched the original film (a French film called The Apartment), I appreciated how they adapted the story.

I agree that there are a lot of underwhelming horror movie remakes. Things like The Hitcher. I was also totally unimpressed with The Vanishing and specifically with the way that they smacked a
WARNING: spoilers below
hilariously over-the-top happy Hollywood ending on the story
.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
The Fly, and King Kong 2005 are the two very best remakes of all remakes in my opinion.



I remember Fright Night---both versions were very good in my opinion--@Thunderbolt: I don't like movies where you can pretty much tell how it is going to end..I like to be surprised...Sorry you don't like horror movies, they are my favorites because I always feel such drama and suspense when a good scary flick is on..To each his own...8-]]



I remember Fright Night---both versions were very good in my opinion--@Thunderbolt: I don't like movies where you can pretty much tell how it is going to end..I like to be surprised...Sorry you don't like horror movies, they are my favorites because I always feel such drama and suspense when a good scary flick is on..To each his own...8-]]
I love horror and have masses in my collection. My point was that most of the slasher remakes suck. Takoma 11 does make a good point of the 50’s Sci Fi remakes however. The ones mentioned are well worthy of repeated viewings.



I agree that there are a lot of underwhelming horror movie remakes. Things like The Hitcher. I was also totally unimpressed with The Vanishing and specifically with the way that they smacked a
WARNING: spoilers below
hilariously over-the-top happy Hollywood ending on the story
.
Oh, yes, that was just absurd. The whole point of The Vanishing is
WARNING: spoilers below
the bad ending.


The two versions of Funny Games are both Haneke’s, so they’re quite similar. I quite like the Naomi Watts version and recently rewatched it, but I think the original is more disconcerting.



Oh, yes, that was just absurd. The whole point of The Vanishing is
WARNING: spoilers below
the bad ending.
So I think that you misspoke and meant that the point of The Vanishing is that
WARNING: spoilers below
they kill the bad guy and laugh and kiss and go to dinner at a fancy restaurant and get offered a huge book deal to tell their story. That's what you meant, right? Such a shame that the original totally botched this much better ending.


Ironically, I caught like the last 30 minutes of the remake on TV when I was a kid, so you can imagine my surprise when I got to the end of the original film!

The two versions of Funny Games are both Haneke’s, so they’re quite similar. I quite like the Naomi Watts version and recently rewatched it, but I think the original is more disconcerting.
I just haven't gotten around to watching the original, partly because it's the same director. I happened to catch the remake on TV one night, so it wasn't about preferring one version or snubbing the other. I mean, it's an intentionally frustrating and harrowing experience. I feel like I understood what Haneke was saying. I'm sure I'll watch the original at some point, it's just not a high priority for me.



According to the voting on the Westerns countdown, a majority of MoFos prefer the remakes of True Grit and 3:10 to Yuma to the originals. I concur on the Coen Brothers version of True Grit.
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@Thunderbolt--Sorry I misunderstood...8-]]



You’re the disease, and I’m the cure.
The Thing (1982), Death Race (2008), Scarface (1983) and The Fly (1986) are my favourite remakes.
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Does the 2016 Ghostbusters count? That was really good.Better than the original in my opinion.
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Does the 2016 Ghostbusters count? That was really good.Better than the original in my opinion.
I don't know if this was a remake or a sequel but I could not stand the 2016 version of Ghostbusters. The characters annoyed me so much I felt like I needed to attend an anger management class within the first 15 minutes. For me it was another example of Hollywood desperation. "Hmm, let's milk some money out of a successful movie. Which one shall we ruin next." But hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.



I do not like non-English speaking films remade into English speaking films. I prefer them to be in their original language. However, The Snowman with Michael Fassbender is based on a Norwegian Euro-crime novel and it should have been made in the same language. It lost a lot of translation into English.



Usually I despise remakes, reboots and many sequels but there are certainly great ones. The ones that are actually better (Most of which have already been mentioned)



The Fly (Brilliant film and far better than the very good classic)
The Thing (Same situation, a very good classic but this is not only one of my favorite horror films but a favorite film period)






Some that were very close

The Mechanic
Sorcerer (The French original "The Wages of Fear" is an all time classic and this isn't as good but it's a very underappreciated film)








And the absolute worst
Ben Hur (I can't freaking believe they greenlit this and it was even worse than you could imagine)
Arthur (I seem to be one of the few people that like Russell Brand, but this was soul killing torture)



Ghouls, vampires, werewolves... let's party.
I enjoyed the remakes of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Halloween (2007), The Fly (1986), The Thing (1982), War of the Worlds (2005), and Cape Fear (1991). One remake I hated was The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008).



Not a fan of remakes but True Grit and The Fly have to be at the top of any greatest remake list. Also think The Blob with Kevin Dillon & Shawnee Smith is an underrated remake. I hate when they try to redo a true classic (Ben Hur, Total Recall, etc.) Remakes should be movies that are okay or good but should have or could have been better for whatever reason


Some others I like are: The Crazies, Dawn of the Dead, The Wicker Man, I Spit on Your Grave, Cape Fear, Little Shop of Horrors, and Father of the Bride