Top Ten Remakes
Better Than the Original
A saying I use all the time when talking about movies: “You
can’t beat the original.” In this case, it’s not true.
Here are ten remakes Hollywood got right, with rankings
based on the quality of the actual movie, plus the level of improvement when
compared to the original.
A few honourable mentions: King Kong (2005), Scarface
(1983), and Hammer Horror Series (includes Horror
of Dracula, Curse of Frankenstein,
The Mummy, etc.)
10. The Jungle Book (2016), remake of The Jungle Book (1967/1994)
This is the most recent remake on this list, but it still
deserves a spot. The animated adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s series of
adventure stories is definitely one of the best classic Disney movies, but it
isn’t without some questionable components (recycled animation, extremely
simple plot, short runtime, questionable character motivations, etc.). You can
easily shrug that off and say “it’s just a kid’s movie”, but that’s not the
case with Jon Favreau’s live-action(ish) remake. This isn’t the first attempt
to remake The Jungle Book, but it
exceeds the Disney classic and all other remake attempts in several ways. First
and foremost, the visual effects are astounding—you really believe Baloo the
Bear and Bagheera the Panther and all the other animals are real and talking
and interacting with Mowgli—but the voice cast that helps bring the characters
to life is also hugely impressive. What really puts it over the top is the
improvement to the story; by fleshing out more of Mowgli’s back story and
giving more time to the villain, Shere Khan the Tiger, the stakes become higher
and the excitement increases. It’s a fun-filled adventure, without any
corniness, goofiness, or schlocky elements.
9. Red Dragon (2002), remake of Manhunter (1986)
A lot of movie-goers enjoyed Michael Mann’s take on Thomas
Harris’ novel, the first-ever on-screen appearance of Hannibal Lector, but I
was not among those who liked it. I think it’s too slowly paced, too dull, and
the portrayal of Hannibal by Brian Cox was off-point. Of course, while most
critics appreciated Manhunter when it
was released, it was the next film, The Silence
of the Lambs, which blew everyone away, largely thanks to Anthony Hopkins
as Dr. Lector. Lambs feels in no way connected to Manhunter, mainly because of the different casting and directing
style, but the source material for Manhunter
was remade and re-titled to that of the novel, Red Dragon, and saw the return of not only Anthony Hopkins as
Hannibal Lector, but Ted Tally, who wrote the screenplay for Lambs. The sequel that followed Lambs, 2001’s Hannibal, was completely inferior, and Red Dragon’s director, Brett Ratner, has made some pretty bad
movies in the past, but luckily, Red
Dragon turned out pretty great—definitely not as great as Silence of the Lambs, but still
significantly better than Manhunter
(and Hannibal, for that matter).
Hopkins is of course fantastic, but Edward Norton too is a more engaging Will
Graham than the original, and Ralph Fiennes as Francis Dolarhyde is also
terrifically creepy. It feels much closer to Lambs, and is significantly more enthralling than Manhunter.
8. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011),
remake of Conquest of the Planet of the
Apes (1972)
The filmmakers behind Rise
of the Planet of the Apes insist this series reboot is just that, a reboot, and in no way a remake of the fourth film in the
original Apes series, Conquest for the Planet of the Apes.
Well I’ve got news for you: this is the definition of “remake” from
Merriam-Webster: “to make a new or different version of (something, such as a
movie, song, etc.)” Conquest and Rise have the exact same plot: an
intelligent ape, named Caesar, who learns how to speak, leads a revolt against
humankind, and apes battle humans for control of the planet. It’s a remake,
despite everyone insisting it’s a reboot, but that doesn’t change the fact that
it’s one of the best remakes ever, because Conquest
of the Planet of the Apes is
definitely weak when compared to the original 1968 Planet of the Apes, and it becomes so silly at points you can’t
take it seriously, even though it is the most serious of the sequels (as well
as the most violent). Viewers are supposed to believe actors in ape costumes
are portraying apes like you’d see in the wild, not evolved apes like what was
featured in the original. On this very basic level, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is better, simply for having
realistic-looking apes on-screen, but the performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar
is superior to Roddy McDowell’s performance, and the plot overall is more believable
and engaging. Definitely a remake, but its sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, is a lot less a remake of Conquest’s sequel, Battle for the Planet of the Apes.
7. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
(1993), remake of The Incredible Journey
(1963)
The Incredible Journey
follows two dogs (Luath and Bodger) and a Siamese
cat (Tao), as they journey
together through the Canadian wilderness to get back home. It’s narrated by Rex
Allen, and is largely a dialogue-free affair. The animals perform well, and the
music is upbeat, but the pacing is slow and it hasn’t aged well. I even
remember watching this movie as a kid and just feeling like it was boring.
Conversely, the remake moves at a terrific pace, features animals trained just
as well if not better as in the original, and best of all, the narrator this
time around is one of the dogs, and the animals speak, so there’s lots of fun
dialogue throughout, and the voice cast is great, with Sally Field as the cat
and Michael J. Fox as one of the dogs. The plot overall is the same, and there
are some scenes very close to those from the original, such as the cat being
swept down river and the trio encountering a bear, but something added that
makes it much better than the original is giving the human family more screen
time, which makes the ending more powerful and emotional. What’s weird is these
two movies have the exact same scores on Rotten Tomatoes, but take it from me,
you can skip the original, and definitely give the remake a watch.
6. Piranha 3D (2010), remake of Piranha (1978)
The original Piranha
was a cash grab from veteran B-movie producer Roger Corman and first-time
director Joe Dante that opened in close proximity to Jaws 2, and was a satire of the killer animal movie craze that
followed after the success of the original Jaws.
It’s purposefully campy and over-the-top, but it’s actually not a bad movie,
and even Steven Spielberg called it the best movie to rip off his own
man-eating Great White Shark film. Piranha
had a sequel (infamously directed by James Cameron, who took the reins of the
film after the original director left) and it was remade in the 90’s, but then
out of nowhere came Piranha 3D, which
keeps the general premise of killer piranhas eating teens, but changes some
things up and dials the sex, violence, and gore up to 11. Both movies are good,
but the 2010 remake is just such a perfect update on the material, and pushed
the boundaries of what can be shown in an R-rated horror-comedy, I have to give
it the upper hand. For more on both of these movies, check out my reviews here:
http://cccmovies.blogspot.ca/2015/10/piranha-1978-review.html
http://cccmovies.blogspot.ca/2015/10/piranha-2010-review.html
5. Ocean’s Eleven (2001), remake of Ocean’s 11 (1960)
4. The Thing (1982), remake of The Thing From Another World (1951)
Many people don’t realize John Carpenter’s terrifying alien
horror film The Thing is actually a
remake, while also a retelling of the story upon which the original film is
based, Who Goes There? By John
Campbell. The major improvement here from original to remake is the creature
itself. In the original, it’s basically just a Frankenstein-type monster
stomping around trying to kill everyone. It’s not bad for the 50’s, and there
actually are a couple pretty frightening scenes where the monster shows its
brutal strength, but it’s nothing compared to the mind-boggling effects
Carpenter puts on display. The thing takes on many strange, grotesque forms,
instead of taking on just one, and 
3. The Fly (1986), remake of The Fly (1958) 
The original The Fly
is something of a horror classic, but the update from director David Cronenberg is a classic all in its own. In the original, Dr. Andre Delambre is a happy
family man working on a teleportation device, but his experiment goes awry and
he teleports himself along with a fly, and his head and left arm become swapped
with those of the fly, so there’s a fly with a human head and arm, and a man
with a giant fly head and bristly fly hand. It’s a bit of a cheesy premise, but
it works, despite the story being told mainly in flashback and the effects not
all holding up today (the shots of a fly with a tiny human head are
particularly funny looking). But the remake goes for hard R-rated blood and
gore, and is more of a tragic love story, with the main character, now named
Seth Brundle and living alone, developing a romance with a reporter who
chronicles his discovery of teleportation and his eventual hybridization. In
this version, the two beings become fused, and his human form slowly begins
taking on more insect-like features, until he becomes a new horrific organism
altogether. It’s more serious and darker than the original, but the effects
hold up better, and the characters are more fleshed out. This is one of those
cases where the original and the remake are both good, but the remake is still
superior.
2. One Million Years B.C. (1966), remake of
One Million B.C. (1940)
In the 60’s, the British Production Company Hammer Films
produced several movies featuring cavemen and dinosaurs together in a fictional
world of stop-motion monstrosities and scantily-clad prehistoric beauties, and
none were so enduringly popular as One
Million Years B.C., which features Raquel Welch in her now-famous fur
bikini being chased by all matter of creatures, animated using stop-motion
techniques from the legendary Ray Harryhausen, who did dinosaur effects for
other movies including The Valley of
Gwangi and The Beast from 20,000
Fathoms. The movie is nothing special in terms of plot or acting, but as an
old-fashioned fantasy adventure, it’s still entertaining, thanks to the great old-school
effects. Something that in no way holds up is the original One Million B.C. (notice the lack of “Years” in the title, for no particular reason) which used crude
methods of depicting dinosaurs. Plastic horns and frills were glued on to
lizards and alligators, and the creatures were actually pitted against each
other and fought in real-life, even killing each other on-screen. Not only is
it grotesque to watch, it was a primitive method even back then; The Lost World had come out over a
decade earlier, and used stop motion effects that were better. It’s a case of
simply having not aged well, but the remake, despite similarly retro effects,
is still a fun watch, and at least no animal cruelty laws were broken in the production.
1. Dredd (2012), remake of Judge Dredd (1995)
This has got to be the definitive example of a remake far
superior to the original. It’s almost not a remake, kind of like Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a
sort-of-reboot, but like that movie, Dredd
still has the same overall premise as the original movie: in the dystopian
future of Mega-City One, judges act as judge, jury, and executioner, saving the
world from bad guys, and no one does it better than Judge Dredd. The original,
starring Sylvester Stallone as the title hero, was so horrible (I consider it
one of the best so-bad-its-good movies, but mostly it’s just bad), the remake
had to distance itself from it as much as possible. Like the Stallone version,
it was an adaptation of the comic book character, and not so much a particular
story arc, so for the remake, the setting was changed to almost exclusively an
apartment block, and the filmmakers were much more faithful to the character.
In the original, Sly insisted on having his helmet removed in most scenes, even
though Dredd almost always wore a helmet, and removed it only
on rare occasions, but Karl Urban, who took on the role in the remake, wore the
helmet the entire movie. This movie wins as best remake, simply because it is
the greatest improvement over the original. There really is no comparison
between the two. I’m not over the moon in love with Dredd, but I thoroughly liked it, and it deserves its cult status.
The original just sucks. 
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