Can anybody think of one movie remake which was better than the original?

[ansel12]

Dawn of the Dead.

[Blue Ink]

“The Wizard of Oz.” They tried it in 1910 and 1925 It took ‘em till 1939 to get it right.

[Elle Bee]

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968): In Norman Jewison's 1968 crime caper, Steve McQueen stars as Thomas Crown, a rich and charming businessman--and the last person to be suspected as a bank-robbing mastermind. Faye Dunaway is Vicki Anderson, the insurance investigator assigned to the case. As Anderson proceeds in her search for the criminal, her sights become set on the millionaire thrill-seeker. The film captures McQueen near the height of his powers and popularity and was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Original Score and Best Song ("The Windmills of Your Mind").

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)

The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 movie by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with "Windmills of Your Mind". A remake was released in 1999.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 film)

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1999): Thomas Crown (Pierce Bronsnan) is a self-made billionaire who can buy anything he wants and is irresistible to women. But there are some things that money can't buy. Thomas Crown has run out of challenges. When an alarm sounds at a a world class museum and someone walks out with a priceless Monet, Crown is the last person the New York police suspect. Who would steal something he could easily afford to buy and why would he? But one person suspects him: Catherine Banning (Renne Ruso), the brilliant female investigator hired to retrieve the painting no matter what it takes. Catherine loves the chase as much as he does and she's on to his game. Crown has found his challenge.

The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 heist film directed by John McTiernan. It is a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo and Denis Leary star.

McTiernan accepted a number of echo references to the 1968 version of the film. The most obvious is casting of Faye Dunaway as Crown's psychiatrist; in 1968, Dunaway played Catherine Banning's counterpart, insurance investigator Vicki Anderson. A second is the use of the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" in the ballroom scene, a song popularized by the earlier film.

If you enjoy this film I would also recomend "After The Sunset"

After The Sunset Trailer

Two master thieves, Max Burdett (Brosnan) and his beautiful accomplice Lola, (Hayek) are finally retiring. Fresh from their final score – and with their financial future set – the couple has come to Paradise Island in the Bahamas to relax and enjoy their hard-earned riches. But Stan (Harrelson), the FBI agent who has spent years trailing Max, refuses to believe that his nemesis is actually calling it quits. He thinks that Max and Lola are actually plotting to steal the third Napoleon diamond that is coincidentally scheduled to arrive on Paradise Island as part of a touring cruise ship exhibition. While Lola is busy settling into their new life and trying to find ways to keep busy, Max is contemplating whether or not to steal the diamond. Now the question is, will he get back into the heist game – and will Stan finally catch him?

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[csvset]

Perhaps it's best not to mention The Wiz?

[EveningStar]

The screenplay in Carpenter's version of "The Thing" is far closer to the original story, "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell Jr, than the Hawks version.

However, I found the gory special effects in the Carpenter remake to be sickening rather than scary. I also thought the Hawks version was a better overall movie.

[NautiNurse]

They seek him here.
They seek him there.
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?
Or is he in hell?
That damned elusive Pimpernel!

Saw the 1982 version first. It's my fav.

[aculeus]

You need an agent!

Answering the original question, the Maltese Falcon that we all love was a 1941 remake of an earlier version made in 1931. I happened to catch this oddity on tv some time ago and found it fascinating. Sidney Greenstreet acting was an imitation of the guy who played that part in the earlier version.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022111/

[aculeus]

See #107.

[Joe 6-pack]

"One being “Cape Fear”. DeNiro completely steals this move!"

I was going to post, "Arguably the case could be made for Cape Fear."

[Joe 6-pack]

"One being “Cape Fear”. DeNiro completely steals this move!"

I was going to post, "Arguably the case could be made for Cape Fear."

[djf]

It could also be argued for “The Postman Always Rings Twice”

Now Lana Turner is stunning in the original, but the guy who plays the drifter and the husband himself are such drips that I felt they kinda let it down.

Nicholson is one of a kind no matter what he does!!

[NautiNurse]

Beautiful!

[fieldmarshaldj]

“Lolita.” The original version was too comical.

[Jack Deth]

Hi, Evening Star!

Hawk's The Thing From Another World has been a favorite of mine since I first saw the film on TV around age 6. It's a perfect example of what a 1950s 'Red Scare' B-Movie should be and has held up surprisingly well throughout the years.

I agree that Carpenter's version is far closer to Campbell's original, "Who Goes There?". Which I'd listened to on a late-night radio show called East Of Midnight while stationed at Little Rock AFB in the early 1970s. Then later read for my own edification

Carpenter couldn't match Hawk's jumbled, overlapping dialogue and opted for shocking, 'Gross Out' special effects, instead.


Jack.

[MinuteGal]

Oh, my......I'm speechless!

(.....which is highly unusual for ME!)

Thank you so much for the very unique compliment. I'll hang it on my dressing room door.

Where's my huge flower arrangement?

LOL

Leni

[Mr Rogers]

I agree. Hepburn was great, but Bogart was poorly cast. OTOH, I can’t imagine a remake of “Roman Holiday”

[allmendream]

I found the sickening and scary special effects of “the Thing” remake to be a realistic depiction of a parasitic alien organism whose every part would strive to survive.

It was ugly, it was scary, and it was a WAY better movie IMO, the original had nothing that was a standout performance to me. I will always remember the Oatmeal guy's haunting scene.

[allmendream]

Agree completely with everything you said.

Big Bump to “Cape Fear” (DeNiro)
“The Fly”, “The Thing” (Wilford Brimley)

[x]

I am so sick of Pierce Brosnan's smug mug and stupid accent that I can't see his Thomas Crown Affair as better than Steve McQueen's.

Somebody on the net said that by the standards of the time, McQueen had to play the role as tormented or conflicted -- had to show internal conflict or turmoil -- and Brosnan could just do it "flat-out cool" and his version benefited from that. It's an interesting view.

There can be a trade-off between authenticity and improved quality. Sometimes the original is just a sketch -- something thrown together -- and the people who remake it can bring more to their new version.

The original rat pack were the Ocean's Eleven gang. You can't take that away from them, but their movie was quite slight. It was something they knocked together for fun and a few bucks. Not much really happened and you didn't see that much on the screen.

You were expected to really feel for Frank, Sammy, and the other loveable losers, but you could see that the sentimentality was overdone and phony.

Even if you can't stand George Clooney and thought his version too slick and polished, too phony or too sensational, there was more on the screen to love or hate than in the original.

In both cases, it's partly a matter of pacing. The originals took too long to set things up. The remakes could assume that you knew the story and take off from there. A lot also depends on whether you prefer the "cooler" modern attitude or the older "conflicted" or "sentimental" one.

The Fifties version of War of the Worlds was a classic if you grew up with it. If you didn't you might prefer the Tom Cruise version. And soon enough new generation comes along for whom that version is the classic, and the Robert Stack version a lumbering curiosity from the remote past.

[Borges]

The Maltese Falcon (1941)(the one with Bogart was actually a remake).

Showboat(1936) (the version with Paul Robeson was a remake).

Imitation of LIfe (1959).