# Remakes that were better than the original? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709 "2018-01-15T19:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709/21 "2018-01-16T02:30:01Z")
I find Branagh’s Henry V vastly superior to Oliver’s. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709/22 "2018-01-16T02:56:44Z")
This may be unpopular, but I prefer William Friedkin’s **Sorcerer** to the original _The Wages of Fear_. TWoF was a movie of its time. We don’t see the suspenseful events happening so much as we’re supposed to read the tension on the faces of the actors. And the ending pretty much comes out of nowhere. The remake was apparently a very difficult shoot, but when the trucks are driving over creaking bridges or past yawning chasms, we actually get to see it. And the ending is equally downbeat, but is a direct consequence of what happened earlier in the film. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709/23 "2018-01-16T10:33:09Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Casino Royale On that note, **Never Say Never Again** is better than **Thunderball** but not by much. There’s better acting and it erases some of plot snags of the original Thunderball but suffers from the fact it literally didn’t know if it wanted to be a spoof of Bond or a straight Bond film so you get scenes that are completely serious to scenes that are so self-referential they literally break the fourth wall. If the next Daniel Craig Bond film was just another remake of Thunderball I actually think they could pull it off well. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709/24 "2018-01-16T11:20:37Z")
The 2001 anime, [Metropolis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(2001_film)), keeps a few thematic elements from the 1927 film, but otherwise allows itself to go its own way. The original is to socialism as The Fifth Element is to love and war - about as deep as a kiddie pool, but looking fine while doing it. The latter has some decent story and thoughtful moments, color, sound, and a decent soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Mavic\_Chen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709/25 "2018-01-16T12:33:44Z")
> [@Arizona\_Mike](#): > > The Thing is such a different take, going back to Campbell’s original novella, that it’s hard to compare. (There was a remake in between that’s not too bad, either.) What is “the remake in between”? As far as I know there have been three cinematic versions of the story: 1951 - The Thing from Another World 1982 - John Carpenter’s The Thing 2011 - The Thing The 2011 version is a prequel to the 1982 film and inferior in every respect. The one that goes back to Campbell’s original short story is the 1982 version. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709/26 "2018-01-16T15:04:32Z")
> [@Mavic\_Chen](#): > > What is “the remake in between”? As far as I know there have been three cinematic versions of the story: > > 1951 - The Thing from Another World > 1982 - John Carpenter’s The Thing > 2011 - The Thing > > The 2011 version is a prequel to the 1982 film and inferior in every respect. The one that goes back to Campbell’s original short story is the 1982 version. **Horror Express** with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709/27 "2018-01-16T16:46:51Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > Gone in 60 seconds with Cage is better than the 1974 version (though the old one has some great 70s camp to it). > > [Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187078/?ref_=tt_rec_tti) > > vs > > [Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071571/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt) I have to disagree with you on this one. The original was a B movie, car heist flick with pretty much no story other than the bad guys trying to make their quota. The whole movie builds toward one of the greatest chase scenes ever filmed, with escape after escape resulting in totalling the target car…with the big save at the end ! The remake was a more glitzy, intended to be grittier “man forced to do one last job” angle, with ridiculous stunts. And I thought it missed the mark, and was not all that entertaining. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remakes-that-were-better-than-the-original/806709.md?page=1)