# In which a remake, or new version, is better than the original **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115 "2019-08-23T16:22:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/41 "2019-08-24T10:14:36Z")
[Ester Ofarim - Suzanne](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aarjtK4V_8M) by Leonard Cohen ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/42 "2019-08-24T10:47:24Z")
The film of The Princess Bride was a wonderful romp - full of quotable lines. The book was just boring. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/43 "2019-08-24T11:49:29Z")
I agree with Jaws. Although I liked the novel, I thought the original movie version of _The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three_ was much better than the book. I think _Frankenstein_, the 1931 movie, is damn near infinitely superior to the book. mbh: I have read the novelization of _The Wicker Man_. I thought it was the novel upon which the movie was based. It was excellent. I like the original movie so much I refuse to watch the remake. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/44 "2019-08-24T12:23:55Z")
The film _To Have and Have Not_ is a vast improvement on Hemingway’s book. But, hey, Ernie didn’t have Lauren Bacall. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/45 "2019-08-24T13:03:39Z")
The Camel album _The Snow Goose_ is better than the Paul Gallico novella that inspired it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/46 "2019-08-24T14:03:01Z")
> [@Rough\_Draft](#): > > I know I’ll get bashed for saying this, but I think the Coen Brothers’ version of _True Grit_ is arguably better than the 1969 Henry Hathaway film. > > But they’re both very good westerns. I have no idea if it’s better, because for me, the Coen **True Grit** was the perfect cinema experience, so good that I’m loath to see the original. Yeah, I’ve heard it’s good, but I’d go into it with such sky-high expectations that it could only disappoint. I read the novel and had just that experience. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/47 "2019-08-24T14:46:27Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > I have read the novelization of _The Wicker Man_. I thought it was the novel upon which the movie was based. > [@](#): > > [The Wicker Man (novel) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man_(novel)) > > The Wicker Man is a 1978 horror novel written by Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer. It was based on the 1973 cult horror film The Wicker Man, directed by Hardy and written by Shaffer. The novel includes a foreword by Allan Brown. The film itself is loosely based on the novel Ritual by the actor and novelist David Pinner. > > The novelisation was written primarily by Robin Hardy, the director of the film, but Anthony Shaffer is credited as co-author, as Hardy re-used much of Shaffer’s dialogue verbatim. Hardy has said that he began writing the novel before Shaffer had even finished the screenplay. One can argue over the best cinematic Zorro (I am partial to Tyrone Power. The Alain Delon version was pretty cheesy, but it had a fun theme song.), but I think most of them are better than the book. In the book, Zorro wears a purple cape, and a mask which covers his entire face. McCulley does not say what type of sombrero the hero wears, but I got the impression that he was thinking of a broad-brimmed mariachi-style hat. the sombrero de Cordoba of the movies is much better for swashbuckling. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/48 "2019-08-24T14:51:36Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Battlestar Galactica ^^^ Yep, hands down. Even with the awful final season. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/49 "2019-08-24T17:22:32Z")
Wilson Pickett owns Hey Jude. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of The Opera beats all the movies. ---
**Author:** ![SuperAbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@SuperAbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperAbe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/50 "2019-08-24T18:06:39Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Pit me if you must, but the film _Battlefield Earth_ was an improvement on the book of the same name. I’m not saying it was good, mind you, just gooder. That is - quite possibly - the lowest bar I have even considered. But that doesn’t mean I disagree… I tried to read the book on a bet years ago - couldn’t do it. Did technically make it through the movie, but I may have zoned out for large sections of the middle since a review I’ve read since referenced scenes I don’t recall. Still, technically-finished does beat didn’t-finish. Touche. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SuperAbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@SuperAbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperAbe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/51 "2019-08-24T18:08:34Z")
> [@glee](#): > > The film of The Princess Bride was a wonderful romp - full of quotable lines. > > The book was just boring. 😕 What quotable lines were in the movie that weren’t in the book? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/52 "2019-08-25T05:47:59Z")
Any song written and originally recorded by Bob Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/53 "2019-08-25T08:32:49Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > _Walk Like an Egyptian_: Bangles over obscure 50s novelty group It was written back in the '80s, and first recorded in 1985. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/54 "2019-08-25T16:30:05Z")
I thought the film version of **Coma** (1978) was a classic and much better than the dated novel. **The Dogs of War** (1980) is also more entertaining than the novel, but the book is still a classic in its own way. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/55 "2019-08-25T16:31:54Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It was written back in the '80s, and first recorded in 1985. OK, sorry about that. Does the earlier recorded version at least sound like the 50s? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/56 "2019-08-25T22:34:57Z")
Looks like the version by the Bangles was the first one released (although it was first recorded by Lene Lovich.) Perhaps you were thinking of _Istanbul (Not Constantinople)_ which was a novelty song from the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/57 "2019-08-25T23:16:33Z")
The book _The Bridges of Madison County_ was an abomination. It was made into quite a good movie with Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. The book \*Rebecca \*by Daphne duMaurier was okay, but the Hitchcock film tightened up the plot timeline, got rid of some extraneous characters (and one too many dogs), trimmed out some unnecessary detours, and just streamlined the whole thing into a very good movie. It won the Best Picture Oscar for 1941, beating out _The Philadelphia Story_, _The Grapes of Wrath_, and seven other nominees. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/58 "2019-08-25T23:33:43Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Looks like the version by the Bangles was the first one released (although it was first recorded by Lene Lovich.) Perhaps you were thinking of _Istanbul (Not Constantinople)_ which was a novelty song from the 50s. You know what? I think you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/59 "2019-08-26T13:13:14Z")
I found _Soylent Green_ better than _Make Room! Make Room!_ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115/60 "2019-08-26T13:20:42Z")
Anyone who has tried to read the book Forest Gump will wonder how anyone could make a movie from it. Ditto Kiss of the Spiderwoman. I tried to read an English translation, and I can’t image getting through the original in Portuguese. Yet both the movie and the musical were excellent. The movie version of One Flew Over The cuckoo’s Nest gets kudos for not revealing the Chief’s secret till the second half. Jaw dropping moment for McMurphy, and anyone who hasn’t read the book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-a-remake-or-new-version-is-better-than-the-original/839115.md?page=4)