Remakes That Are Similar to the Original (Hollywood, actors, classic)

[Exitus Acta Probat]

I know of very few. Most remakes do not recreate the genius if the original, simply with new actors, new settings, better effects, more robust video, timely jokes, etc. Most remakes I've seen need to turn the original on its head and usually make it a very different movie than the original. Why? I only like remakes that do not discount what made the originals good, such as The Hustle (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake). OTOH, remakes such as The Italian Job, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Red Dawn, etc., lose a lot of the magic the originals had, and may as well be called something else.

[Creekcat]

3:10 to Yuma. While very different endings, the essence, IMO was the same. A very different era of movie making, from the original to the remake.

[Mark S.]

I am not one of those movie-lovers who is inherently opposed to remakes. There have been some great remakes. But here is the thing: If you're going to remake an older movie, make it your own. Put your own vision to the story. Don't just re-shoot the original.

Example: Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN had a lot of problems. It wasn't a great movie. But most of the criticism directed toward it entirely missed the point. Fans got mad that it made changes to the original. That's dumb. A remake should make changes. Otherwise, why do it?

[Rumann Koch]

I am also not usually a fan of remakes - seems like Hollywood has run out of new talent and just 'updates' old classics!

But, the following are among my favorite remakes that stick to a similar storyline... and most are actually as good, if not better than the originals:

• The Thing (1982) / The Thing From Another World (1951)
  
  
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) / Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
  
  
• The Fly (1986) / The Fly (1958)