It’s no surprise why film remakes get immediately criticised upon their release. Understandably, many viewers are fed up of seeing their all-time favourites regurgitated for the frothing mouths of the next generation, while others are depressed by the drying up of Hollywood’s creative well. But remakes aren’t always a bad thing, which the following films show:
1. Ocean’s Eleven: Steven Soderbergh
I’m not killing any sacred cows in saying that the original Ocean’s Eleven was a terrible film. It was mostly an excuse for the Rat Pack to hang out in Vegas, get rich, and call it a movie. But director Steven Soderbergh knocked that concept right on the head, crafting the ultimate heist film and fathering the redemption of George Clooney after the outright debacle that was Batman & Robin. Then the cast made Ocean’s Twelve, which was mostly an excuse for them to hang out in Europe, get rich and call it a sequel. Oh well.
2. The Thing: John Carpenter
Back in 1982, Universal Pictures shocked audiences with a grotesque extraterrestrial lifeform, which completely eclipsed the original (The Thing from Another World) and built its own unforgiving world with elaborate special effects that remain as some of the most nauseating I’ve ever seen. Even 30 years later, it stands on its own two legs. Granted, they are growing out of its head.
3. The Hills Have Eyes: Alexandre Aja
The latest take on Wes Craven’s classic was a real nugget of the noughties. After seeing it, I swore that I’d never put myself in any situation where I could get stranded in the desert surrounded by sexually aggressive mutant cannibals. It seemed like such a mood killer.
4. The Departed: Martin Scorsese
Based on the Japanese film Infernal Affairs, this film was brash and explosive where its predecessor was slick and understated. Whether throwing clouds of cocaine in the air with two prostitutes or idly playing around with a severed hand, Jack Nicholson was compulsively watchable in yet another classic from the gut-punching Martin Scorsese.
These films are hardly arthouse favourites, but they are evidence that not all remakes are soulless ventures by money grabbing executives. It’s time for film fanatics to get over their fears, realise that the sky isn’t falling down, and recognise that if it does, someone will be along shortly to fix it up.
