GOOD Movie Remakes (?)

Naughtykitty suggested this as a new topic actually, spinning off the Tiki Rat Pack thread. Everyone agrees most remakes of classic or even popular cult movies are worthless and pointless ripoffs, but there are exceptions. Here're a few remakes that are worth seeing, though only one actually improves and even eclipses its predecessors. My two cents:

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) - Bogey's version, the definitive one, is actually the THIRD adaptation of Hammett's hardboiled literary landmark, though the first two didn't make the mark on our culture other original versions have

THE THING (1982) - one of Carpenter's best, I think

SCARFACE (1983) - F*** You, mang - one of the all time greatest "guy flicks"

CAT PEOPLE (1982) - it's the nudity and sex, man - sorry

PAYBACK (2000 or whatever) - I was highly skeptical this remake of the classic "Point Blank" could work at all, given the original had all time tough guy Lee Marvin and this one had non-lethal weapon Mel Gibson in the vengeful hit man role, but I was proven wrong - it works, baby. Great look and soundtrack, too.

There might be others I could list, but I gotta go now.

These are kind of a stretch since it's pretty hard to overcome the inherent stinkiness of a remake, but...

Evil Dead 2, the remake-as-a-sequel of the original.

Kurosawa flicks remade in the west as westerns, like Seven Samurai to Magnificent Seven, and Yojimbo to Fistful of Dollars.

Never Say Never Again, remade from Thunderball. Not that NSNA was exactly the zenith of the Bond series though.

-Randy

SABRINA!

One of my top fav movies is High Society (starring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly)...
it was the musical remake of The Philadelphia Story (starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn)

Another good remake was Mutiny on the Bounty - the 2nd one starring Marlon Brando whose aritocratic take on the character was wonderful - although I think that Clark Gable was the most believable seaworn and swashbuckling Fletcher Christian.
The 3rd movie sucked - Mel was one wimpy Fletcher in my opinion.

[ Edited by: Futura Girl on 2003-08-17 23:28 ]

Never thought of "Evil Dead 2" as a remake - I guess because it was the same cast, director and crew - but you're right, it is basically a more hysterical re-do of the first one, so if that qualifies it as a remake even though it was marketed as a sequel, it's one of the best of all time (it's also one of the funniest movies ever, in any genre). "Night of the Living Dead" was remade in 1990 by special effects guru Tom Savini (who did the zombie makeup for "Dawn" and "Day") and while it was competent, it was still pointless, especially compared to the groundbreaking impact of the original. The upcoming remake of "Dawn" - which Romero has nothing to do with - will likewise be a waste of undead flesh.

"Mutiny on the Bounty" with Brando - that's a good flick, too, I forgot about that one. So is "High Society," with Sinatra and Crosby, it just played the Paramount here in Oakland but I missed it. I kinda liked the fact they changed the title, too - gives it its own identity that way. If you're gonna remake something, a new title at least gives the new version some distinction apart from the original, and reduces the rip-off factor. Of course, most remakes are remakes in name only, like "Mission: Impossible," cynically designed to cash in on the reputation and popularity of the tried and true original.

Favorite remake was "Reservoir Dogs"

If you didn't think this movie was a remake go rent a Hong kong movie called "City On Fire", basically Resrvoir Dogs is the last third of City On Fire. I saw an interview with Tarantino where they asked him if Resrvoir Dogs was his homage to City on Fire and he responded, "Artists don't pay homage, artists steal."

"Magnificent Seven", remake of Kurusawa's "Seven Samurai". Both WONderful.

I think any or all silent movies should be remade - as silent movies (and use the original actors - even if they're dead).

(either that or 'Hot Oiled Fist')

Star Wars (the first movie, 1977) is supposedly a pretty close remake of Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" (Kakushi toride no san akunin, 1958). Anyone seen it? I'd be curious to know how similar they are.

Just thought of another one. The Road warrior is a loose remake of a movie called a "A Boy And His Dog" In which in a post apocalyptic future a young amn and his dog drive around and deal with those scummy enough to have survived. Major difference in this movie is that in this movie our hero played by a very young Don Johnson actuall talks to his dog. By this I mean the dog talks back and they have converstaions.

Also "Road to Perdition" was a very loose remake off of "Lone Wolf And Cub". I read an interveiw with the guy that mad eup the story sauing he just wanted to tell Lone Wolf And Cub in Al Capone times.

Oh yeah, another good one is Hit Man, the blaxploitation remake of Get Carter (the original with Michael Caine, not the other remake with, I think, Stallone).

-Randy

another of my top top favs is Billy Wilder's Ball of Fire (1941) starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyk. if you've never seen this film - rent it it's a real treat. look for "matchstick boogie" played by Gene Krupa!

the film was re-made in 1948 as a musical starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo??? in my opinion it totally sucked compared to the original - although the musician supporting cast was amazing - tommy dorsey, louis belson, charlie baqrnet, lionel hampton, satchmo, et al.
both were directed by Howard Hawks.

Bridget Fonda in "Point of No Return" ... remake of "La Femme Nikita"

Personally, I'd rather see a movie that "steals" from another than outright tries to cash in on the title without doing the source any justice or even paying it any respect (like "Ocean's 11"). A lot of the movies just listed here are like that. Like I said, as long as they at least change the title, the concept could be up for grabs - hell, nothing's THAT original. Even AIP remade a lot of its own 50s monster classics for TV in the 60s (courtesy of bargain basement filmmaker Larry Buchanan):

INVASION OF THE SAUCERS MEN=THE EYE CREATURES

THE SHE CREATURE=CREATURES OF DESTRUCTION

IT CONQUERED THE WORLD=ZONTAR, THE THING FROM VENUS

They also remade TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000 in the 60s but I can't remember the name of that one.

I mean, for all of these, they used the same exact story, but the monsters were different (even cheaper)!

Recently Showtime remade some of these AIP classics but they were REALLY bad, not "good" bad, totally MTV'd out of recognition - and again, they used the title ONLY. If you see any of the following on video or DVD or listed on cable, avoid at all costs or at least be prepared to be disappointed (the classic originals are out of print on video and hardly ever show up on TV anymore, sigh):

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER (just AWFUL!)
EARTH VS THE SPIDER (so-so)
DAY THE WORLD ENDED (not totally worthless, perhaps the best of this lot)
TEENAGE CAVEMAN (the absolute WORST!)
SHE CREATURE (at least it has a sexy nekkid babe)

Some are more watchable than others as indicated, but again, they just stole the title and insulted the originals by totally ignoring their content. Of course, they were produced by AIP co-founder Sam Arkoff's son, Lou. The really sad thing is, most people don't even remember the originals - all drive-in legends and staples of horror host TV shows from the 60s and 70s (like "Creature Features" and "Jeepers Creepers")

The Tarantino steal of "City on Fire" is infamous and he STILL hasn't totally acknowledged the obvious (any more than Disney had admitted totally ripping off the Japanese TV series "Kimba" for "The Lion King"). For more on this story, pick up Joe Bob Briggs' new book PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING and read his in-depth essay on "Reservoir Dogs" - the whole book is fascinating reading for cult film fans.

One of my all-time faves:
Flash Gordon (1980)
Musical score by Queen (one of their greatest works)
Directed by Dino DeLaurentis (crazy sets and costuming)
With Timothy Dalton as Prince Baron and Topol as Dr. Zarkov and of course, the inimitable Max Von Sydow as Ming the Merciless.
Cheese factor (on a scale of 1-10) : 15

AquaZombie,

I'm my humble opinion Mel Gibson's "Payback"
pales in comparison to "Point Blank"."Payback" would not even rate as a "Kojack" episode.

Mel's made some real stinkers lately.

Hey, Would not the "Patriot" qualify as a remake of "Braveheart"?

I think "Stalingrad" is a pretty good remake of "Italiano Brava Gente" with Peter Falk.

You have to understand that if a modern film doesn't make me completely nauseous, I give it a shaky thumbs up, only because my expectations are so low and I'm grateful and relieved no vomit was induced by the viewing. I book a movie theater for a living and aside from the classic cult stuff I host in "Thrilville" (including "Point Blank" a few years ago - of course that's the vastly superior version) I am forced to book contemporary crap as our bread and butter, since it is primarily a second run theater (where you can sit on couches and eat and drink beer and wine, which helps the movie go down, too.) "Payback" was a better remake than, say, the dreadful "Get Carter" with Stallone. But that doesn't mean it surpasses or even equals its predecessor, not even close. But it didn't make me throw up my pizza, either. That's the standard I go by. It's all relative. Hope I made that clear now.

Here are two of my favs...

Flesh Gordon

and

Shaving Ryan's Privates

dats some goooooood actin'

"...my expectations are so low and I'm grateful and relieved no vomit was induced by the viewing..."

I agree with ya there!

There are a ton of bad remakes as hollywood runs out of ideas. My favorite Good remakes would be:
"Alien"-Update of "It!Terror From Beyond Space"And while I like the original "The Thing" ,John Carpenter's remake was true to the original short story "Who Goes There?"

Kudos to you for recognizing that "Alien" is an uncredited remake of "It!The Terror From Beyond Space"! You know your stuff.