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Remakes - the good, the bad & the ugly! (30 titles)

A selection of remakes that are better than the original, worse than the original and others that are neither!

by: A customer

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80
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The Thing

GOOD - This remake is far superior to the original, and made at the time when it was possible to faithfully portray the shape-changing alien that featured in the original novel, instead of a guy in a suit! The benchmark for how remakes should be made!

The Thing on DVD (1982)
Starring: T.K. Carter, Kurt Russell, Richard Masur
Director: John Carpenter
Certificate:
John Carpenter's ice-bound sci-fi horror is a special effects-laden update of the 1951 Howard Hawks classic 'The Thing From Another World'. A research team in the Antarctic discovers a spaceship buried beneath the ice, and becomes terrorised by the shape-changing monster that is housed within.
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- 70
- from 23,808 members

The Wicker Man

BAD - This is an absolutely atrocious remake, and film in general, that should never have been allowed to be made! This is 'a remake too far' for Hollywood, they should take note and start coming up with their own ideas! A complete travesty!

The Wicker Man on DVD (2006)
Starring: Frances Conroy, Kate Beahan, Ellen Burstyn
Director: Neil LaBute
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Reworking of Anthony Shaffer's 1973 cult classic. Upon receiving a letter from his one-time fiancee, Willow (Kate Beahan), imploring him to search for her missing daughter on the secluded island of Summersisle, California highway patrolman Edward Malus (Nicolas Cage) quickly makes his way to the ..read more »
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- 50
- from 28,103 members

Planet Of The Apes

UGLY - I don't think that Tim Burton is capable of doing anything bad, but he does get things wrong from time to time, this film being one of them. I think the producers had more say about this one than Burton did and it's more of a 're-imagining' than a remake. Not necessarily a bad movie but compared with the original it's pretty pointless really!

Planet Of The Apes on DVD (2001)
Starring: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Luke Eberl, Michael Clarke Duncan
Director: Tim Burton
Certificate:
Tim Burton's 're-imagining' of the 1968 sci-fi classic.The year is 2029, and Capt. Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) is aboard a spaceship trying to teach apes how to become space pilots. During a routine reconnaissance mission outside the mothership, Leo is sucked into a space-time hole and minutes ..read more »
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- 50
- from 12,083 members

The Fly

GOOD - One of Cronenberg's best films, this version of the 1958 film is given a big budget make-over with a more plausible and emotionally engaging storyline and truly horrific make-up effects. Jeff Goldblum delivers an amazing performance! Apparently though another remake is in the works, they're now remaking the remakes!

The Fly on DVD (1986)
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
Director: David Cronenberg
Certificate:
Prepare yourself to witness a fusion of man and insect that has to be experienced to be believed! Dr Seth Brundle plays fast and loose with the laws of nature. Experimenting with "live" matter transmission. The day comes to test the ultimate guinea pig... himself! But that's the day the fly gets ..read more »
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- 70
- from 15,890 members

The Fog

BAD - Another awful and completely pointless remake! Gone are the atmospheric elements of John Carpenter's original, instead you have another bubblegum (teen) horror film with huge plot holes, inconsistencies and terrible acting! Jeez, the amount of money they must waste on these remakes!

The Fog on DVD (2005)
Starring: Kenneth Walsh, Tom Welling, Mary Black
Director: Rupert Wainwright
Certificate:
Horror based on the 1980 John Carpenter movie. Exactly one hundred years ago, off the rocky shore of an isolated Northern California town, a ship of lepers seeking refuge is betrayed by the town's founding fathers and burned, killing everyone aboard. Now the ghosts of the long-dead mariners have ..read more »
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- 50
- from 18,615 members

The Grudge

UGLY - Although directed by original creator Shimizu Taksahi, only four years after his original Japanese version, this American version is completely unnecessary. It's basically the same film with a bigger budget, but of course this doesn't necessarily mean it's a better film! It has some nice new special effects and additional frights here and there but that's it - why did we need it?

The Grudge on DVD (2004)
Starring: William Mapother, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Clea DuVall
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Certificate:
'The Grudge' is the curse of one who dies in the grip of a powerful rage. Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is an exchange student working for a Japanese medical centre. Covering for another nurse she attends to an old American woman, Emma, and while there unknowingly uncovers the source of the curse. ..read more »
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- 60
- from 39,546 members

Insomnia

GOOD - Chris Nolan's brilliant and under-rated remake of the Norwegian film of the same name with only a few changes to the plot and the characters. A tense film-noir style thriller with amazing performances from Pacino and Robin Williams and some great cinematography of Alaska.

Insomnia on DVD (2002)
Starring: Maura Tierney, Al Pacino, Martin Donovan
Director: Christopher Nolan
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
A sleep-deprived detective is sent to a small Alaskan town to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. Forced into a psychological game of cat-and-mouse by the primary suspect, events escalate and the detective finds his own stability dangerously threatened.
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- 60
- from 21,665 members

The Omen

BAD - Remaking classic horror films seems to be a tick-box exercise for Hollywood at the moment - none of them are safe! No foreboding creepy atmosphere here, instead this is a nice and fluffy 'safe' version made for the 12A-15 audience!

The Omen on DVD (2006)
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Mia Farrow
Director: John Moore
Certificate:
Remake of Richard Donner's 1976 horror classic. Katherine (Julia Stiles) and Robert (Liev Schreiber) Thorn are as loving parents as any young boy could ask for, but as fate would have it, their new son Damien is far from the typical child. Now, as the mysterious boy's growth begins to share ..read more »
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- 60
- from 20,558 members

The Italian Job

UGLY - For a remake this isn't as bad as you might expect but it's mired by the fact that it is a remake when it could so easily have been a sequel or spin-off and therefore been received much more favourably! This version has little to do with Italy and would have benefited from a different title (The L.A. Job for example), but it still has some great Mini action at the end, and Edward Norton, oh and Charlize Theron!

The Italian Job on DVD (2003)
Starring: Olek Krupa, Mos Def, Seth Green
Director: F. Gary Gray
Certificate:
The plan was flawless...the job was executed perfectly...the escape was clean. The only threat mastermind thief Charlie Croker never saw coming was from a member of his own crew. After pulling off an amazing gold bullion heist from a heavily guarded palazzo in Venice, Italy, Charlie and his gang -- ..read more »
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- 60
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The Blob

GOOD - This is another great remake from the eighties with improved visual effects that do the whole concept justice. I think by the time the eighties came around special effects had reached the point where they were able to greatly update and improve the old sci-fi horror movies of the 50's and 60's, or maybe it's just because they knew how to make a good film during that decade!

The Blob (1988)
Starring: Kevin Dillion, Shawnee Smith, Candy Clark
Director: Chuck Russell
Certificate:
The Blob has returned in this horrific tale about a vile, malignant life-form that crashes to earth in a cozy, rural American town called Arborville. Untroubled by conscience or intellect, the Blob does only one thing - and it does it well. It eats anything and everything that moves: men, women, ..read more »
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- 60
- from 381 members
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