Re-makes that are better than the originals

[gsv]

I watched the original Mancurian Candidate on the weekend. I'd heard it was so much better than the 2004 one (which all agree isn a pretty damn good thriller), but I was really disappointed. It's run through with clumsy American jingoism, the ending just doesn't make sense, and the fact that it was and was made after On the Waterfront, Psycho and NxNW is an absolute inditement. OK - Angela Lansbury's performance is terrific, but that's the only way it beats Jonathan Demme's re-make.

Of course the classic Better Remake is The Thomas Crown Affair.
Any other personal favourites or controversial punts?

GS(v)

ps. I'm sure there've been threads on this in the past, but a search threw up nothing so...

 

[May Kasahara]

The Thing.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Ocean's 11 is better.

The original swings cool, but it's a lousy film really.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

The Thing.

Oooh yeah - good film

 

[The Octagon]

The Departed is better than Infernal Affairs (I realise this may be a point of contention)
Likewise the US version of The Ring is better than Ringu.

 

[gsv]

Ocean's 11 is better.

The original swings cool, but it's a lousy film really.

The re-make's a lousy film. If it's really better, the original must be truly gobshite

GS(v)

 

[Maurice Picarda]

The Fly

 

[debaser]

Likewise the US version of The Ring is better than Ringu.

pfft, no way!

 

[gsv]

pfft, no way!

Right then boyos. Justify!

GS(v)

 

[DotCommunist]

The Thing.

Kurt Russels finest hour. Better than him as Snake Plissken even, and I don't say that lightly.

 

[cybertect]

Battlestar Galactica FTW

e2a: I'm often tempted to think that the Donald Sutherland version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is better than the 1950s original.

 

[The Octagon]

Right then boyos. Justify!

GS(v)

US Version - Better Special Effects (compare 'scared to death faces' on both films), Superior Acting (IMO, of course) and an overall feeling whilst watching of a more cohesive story.

Kind of like El Mariachi vs Desperado, the former is gritty and imaginative, but the latter is the better film (building on the other's success).

 

[Griff]

e2a: I'm often tempted to think that the Donald Sutherland version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is better than the 1950s original.

Yep.

 

[ch750536]

Battlestar Galactica FTW

e2a: I'm often tempted to think that the Donald Sutherland version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is better than the 1950s original.

you do realise you missed the best one.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427392/

 

[isitme]

Likewise the US version of The Ring is better than Ringu.

absolutely no way

the japanese one has tension and is scary, the US one is just lame

and the fact that you already know what's gonna happen cos it's the same film ruins it

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

The Departed is better than Infernal Affairs (I realise this may be a point of contention)
Likewise the US version of The Ring is better than Ringu.

Has there also been another English language version? Or was it released as Infernal Affairs in the UK? I thought I'd seen an American remake of Infernal Affairs in the UK, and it definitely wasn't as good as the original HK version.

 

[Orang Utan]

The American remake of Infernal Affairs is The Departed.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

The Departed is better than Infernal Affairs (I realise this may be a point of contention)

Wha?

Likewise the US version of The Ring is better than Ringu.

Wha?

You are insane.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Battlestar Galactica FTW

e2a: I'm often tempted to think that the Donald Sutherland version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is better than the 1950s original.

A million times better. The 50s one is lame with it's 'hope' ending.

 

[Badgers]

Bauhaus 'remake' of Ziggy Stardust?

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

It'[s not strictly a remake, but Jackson's LOTR Is 1 zillion times better than Bakshi's shite.

 

[Sabu]

I thought the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 was better than Carpenter's.

 

[DaveCinzano]

I think that The Road Warrior is, if not 'better', certainly more enjoyable overall than Mad Max.

I would agree that the Kaufman's 1978 Invasion has a more satisfyingly dark arc than the Siegel original, but I'm not sure that either is inferior to the other.

 

[DotCommunist]

I thought the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 was better than Carpenter's.

What fucked me of about Carpenters on was the silence. The assaulters didn't even raise a squeak when they were getting toasted by fire

 

[cybertect]

Yep.

mrs cybertect and I have been known to do that at each other when wandering round supermarkets

 

[kittyP]

Likewise the US version of The Ring is better than Ringu.

So so wrong (but you are entitled to your opinion like ).

The Japanese version is far far more chilling in my opinion.
The US version does what most western films do, in over explaining stuff.

They both work but in different ways for different reasons (and the US is much worse).

 

[Artaxerxes]

Dawn of the Dead

 

[kittyP]

I thought I had one but all I am thinking of is 'cover albums'. Damn!

I'll be back as I am sure there is something.

 

[Orang Utan]

Dawn of the Dead

bollocks

 

[TheDave]

Dawn of the Dead

The original is a masterpiece, the remake is a hollywood crapathon.