Top 10 remakes that are better than the original

In recent years, remakes and restarts of popular (and sometimes cult) films have gained unprecedented popularity, and more and more studios, instead of searching for and implementing new ideas, decide to take the once proven material as a basis.

It is difficult to reshoot a favorite picture in a new way, so it is not surprising that not everyone succeeds.

Today we will remember 10 successful cases when the new film turned out even better than the original, or at least not worse.

10 Let’s dance, 2004 / 1995

The romantic comedy, released in 2004 and filmed by Peter Chelsom, turned out to be successful from all sides: it tripled its budget at the box office, did not cause rejection by viewers and critics, and also pleased with an excellent acting trio in the person of Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Sarandon.

The original film was shot in 1996 by Masayuki Suo and it was also a success: for example, in 1997, US film critics recognized it as the best work in a foreign language. Everyone liked the story so much that in 2006 another remake was filmed, this time in Egypt.

9. Vanilla Sky 2001 / Open Your Eyes 1997

Alejandro Amenabar, director and screenwriter of the original melodrama Open Your Eyes, came up with this story inspired by the nightmares he suffered during his flu illness. It is not known what he dreamed about there, but the plot turned out to be good, as was its rethinking by Cameron Crowe in 2001.

He invited the main stars of those years to the main roles: Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, Tilda Swinton, and Jason Lee. The soundtrack for the film was written by Paul McCartney, who received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Vanilla Sky.

8. Scarface, 1983 / 1932

The original film by Howard Hawks is a classic of gangster films: filmed in 1932, it served as a model and benchmark for everything that was filmed in the genre for the next decades.

Brian De Palma, half a century later, decided to reshoot the picture, taking into account the realities of another time, and he did it no less cool than it was in the original. The new film has become an equally classic, but for a different generation of viewers and directors, and Al Pacino’s career, at its peak since The Godfather, soared even higher.

7. Insomnia 2002 / 1997

In this case, the Hollywood remake was based on a Norwegian film directed by Erik Sköldbjerg and starring Stellan Skarsgård.

This is not to say that the picture was very successful, but it inspired Christopher Nolan, who conceived the remake. He invited Al Pacino to play the lead role, accompanied by Hilary Swank and Robin Williams. Considering that 46 million dollars were spent (the Norwegian original was several times cheaper), it turned out more colorful, interesting and richer.

6. The Departed 2006 / Infernal Affairs 2002

The Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs garnered a string of awards in Asia in 2002, so it’s no wonder it got noticed in Hollywood. More impressive is that Martin Scorsese himself wanted to reshoot it, calling Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson for the main roles.

If such a value as Scorsese is taken for production, then it cannot turn out badly by definition.

5. Only Girls in Jazz, 1959 / Fanfare of Love, 1951

One of the last acting works of Marilyn Monroe is widely known even after 60 years, becoming a classic of world cinema.

This musical was based on not one, but two films: the original French film Fanfares of Love and its German remake of the same name. Director Billy Wilder changed the plot and brought in a lot of his own, but the main thing he did was to guess with the choice of actors. Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn together made one of the best screen trios of the 20th century.

4. Ono, 2017 / 1990

For the first time, Tommy Lee Wallace took on the screen version of a Stephen King novel in 1990, filming a mini-series of just 2 episodes based on it. The project received several Emmy nominations and even won one for best composition.

Now it seems a little strange that the remake had to wait almost 30 years, because the film was prophesied in absentia the success that it ultimately expected. “It” collected 700 million on a budget of 35, and in the United States it became the highest-grossing horror movie in the history of American film distribution.

3. The smell of a woman, 1992 / 1974

Another cult picture with Al Pacino, which has already been mentioned several times. The original was filmed in Italy in 1974 and starred Vittorio Gassman. In this version, instead of a school graduate, there was an ordinary soldier, and instead of a blind retired lieutenant colonel, there was a captain. Otherwise, the plots are very similar: charismatic main characters, deep dialogues, consistently smooth narrative.

Despite all the coolness of Al Pacino, it cannot be said that he definitely surpassed Gassman: each of them is good in its own way, so if you are only familiar with the Hollywood version, then we recommend that you take the time to watch the Italian tape of Dino Risi.

2. Ocean’s 11, 2001 / 1960

Steven Soderbergh’s crime comedy is also not a new story, as you probably thought: for the first time a team of robber friends ransacked a casino more than half a century ago in a Lewis Milestone film.

It starred Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, who made the film an immortal classic. Soderbergh made certain changes to the story in his work: for example, in the original Ocean and his friends were veterans and planned robberies as a military operation, and the modernized Danny and Co. became just criminals.

1. The Talented Mr. Ripley, 1999 / In the Bright Sun, 1960

The painting “In the Bright Sun” became one of the first big roles of the young Alain Delon, who at that time was not yet a universally recognized sex symbol. The film itself was based on the novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, and the director of the remake, Anthony Minghella, decided not to invent his own title, but left the book version.

The fact that the restart turned out to be successful is evidenced by at least the fact that the tape received 5 Oscar nominations, as well as BAFTA, Saturn, etc. nominations and awards.