# Movie Remakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-remakes/357645 "2006-05-21T16:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![2MuchTrivia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e9bcb4/32.png) [@2MuchTrivia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2MuchTrivia)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-remakes/357645/21 "2006-05-22T12:05:46Z")
_True Lies/La Totale_ IMDB was running slow…sorry. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-remakes/357645/22 "2006-05-22T12:35:50Z")
There were a lot of remakes better than the originals, especially when some of the remakes were siloent productions that gutted the originals. For instance **The Sea Beast** was a version of Moby Dick that ended with a triumphant Captain Ahab (!!) returning to his Sweetheart(!!!). That’s wrong on so many levels that it’s amazing. Yet this was a mahor Hollywood production at the time. As mentioned above, **The Maltese Falcon** was a remake, but the Huston version was actuallt the _third_ one made. similarly, the 1939 **Wizard of Oz** follws a succession of silent versions, mlostly really short ones. The Larry Semon version is the longest of these, but I’ve read recently that it’s not really indicative of his work (Semon was really popular in his day, and, like Jerry Lewis, was especially popular in France). The movie was a late effort of his, and flopped even at the time. I thin that **House of Wax** was overall better than its predecessor **Mystery in the Wax Museum** , even without its 3D, but there are some aspects about the original that were better. A lot of people think **His Girl Friday** was better than the Adolphe Menjou version of **The Front Page**. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-remakes/357645/23 "2006-05-22T13:33:19Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I offer a challenge to name a movie remake that was at least as good as the original. _The Fly_. > [@DMark](#): > > Take a crap film based on a good book and try it again. > … > The Stepford Wives You realize, I hope, that the recent shitty _Stepford Wives_ movie with Nicole Kidman was itself a remake. I hope that’s the one you’re talking about here. The original with Katherine Ross was very good and very faithful to the novel. Also, I don’t think another faithful (or unfaithful) adaptation of the book would really be appropriate because its themes are pretty dated by now. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-remakes/357645/24 "2006-05-22T15:59:01Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I offer a challenge to name a movie remake that was at least as good as the original. \*\* _The Thing_\*\* - John Carpenter’s version vs the walking carrot. Not even a fair fight. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-remakes/357645/25 "2006-05-22T17:01:58Z")
I’ve already tried to start a recast the classic TV show as a movie with Have Gun, Will Travel starring Nathan Fillion as Paladin Bonanza would make a great movie: (with Hop Singh recast somewhat as less embarassingly stereotyped) Ben: Jonathan Frakes [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000408/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000408/) Adam: Hugh Jackman [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413168/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413168/) Little Joe: Nicholas Brendon [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107183/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107183/) Hoss: Abraham Benrubi [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0072344/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0072344/) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-remakes/357645/26 "2006-05-22T17:33:34Z")
> [@2MuchTrivia](#): > > IMHO, most remakes from foriegn films suck: > _The Grudge/Ju-on_ > _Insomnia/Insomnia_ > _The Ring/Ringu_ > _The Vanishing/Spoorloos_ > etc…etc… _Point of No Return_ was pretty near as good as _La Femme Nikita,_ IMO. What was, notably, was **more.** More plot twists, bigger explosions, a couple more characters, better/more expensive production values, more over-the-top acting . . . That seems to happen whenever Hollywood remakes a foreign film. **More.** More, of course, is not necessarily better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-remakes/357645.md?page=1)