The Departed is great, but better than the original ? no.
The Departed is great, but better than the original ? no.
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I’m going to see The Wolfman when it comes out later this month, and I’m trying to decide whether I should see the 1941 original first. I’m sure it’s vastly different, coming from a different time and a different sensibility. My question is, will seeing the original somehow deepen my appreciation of the remake? Or will it just spoil it for me, either by giving away plot points, or by creating a nagging association with an older, cheesier, less atmospheric movie?
Any thoughts?<<
Good question.
I’m reading the novelization of the new movie now & so far oit seems to follow the original plot but with some variations in the characters (Larry Talbot is now an actor rather than an engineer) and a more filled-in backstory (the death of Larry’s brother goes unexplained in the original, here we learn he’s an early victim of the werewolf that infects Larry). The 1941 isn’t any great shakes as a film – for one thing it assembles one of the greatest cast of a classic horror film & puts them in negligable, throwaway roles – so there’s every possibility it can be improved upon. (Though I’d never call it cheesy or less atmosphereic – it’s got atmosphere to burn.) And given that it’s the standard werewolf story, told time & again, I doubt there’s any real spoiler possibilities.
aren’t you all bored of fuckin’ remakes? sheesh…..enough already, we’ve had plenty of Scents of a Woman and Three Men and a Bay in the past, so now Hollywood is repeating itself?
Coens will remake True Grit
I’ll watch that one :)
Remakes are hardly limited to the US, Dimitrus. You should become more acquainted with films made outside Hollywood.
I thought The Quiet American made about 10 years ago was much better than the version made back in the 1950s. Of course, intervening, ah, events, put a bit more bite into the story, making it something more than an interesting Graham Greene fable in a tropical backwater of empire.
I retort to some of the comments.
Bullshit! Matt Parks, Seance on a We Afternoon is way better than the cheesy Japanese one.
Anubhav Bist, Murnau’s Nosferatu is by far better than Herzog’s.
vellaem, Tarkovsky’s Solaris transcends cinema, while the new version is good, but nothing great.
i’ve just seen La jetee. and while i think it was one of the best short film i’ve ever seen. just brilliant. but the great part is, i gave 12 monkeys more respect ( though still, not better than La Jetee).after that. It’s just, that’s how a remake should be. not plain immitates the original, but creates something new into the story.
The Maltese Falcon was made two or three times, if I remember correctly, and I think the Bogart version was fantastic. I saw the new Woflman last night, and thought it was really well done. Was it greater than the original? Well, that’s up to you to decide, but I definitely think it’s worth seeing.
THE FLY (1986)
IMITATION OF LIFE (1958)
But as for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD trivia? Nothing, but nothing tops that original, made in grainy B&W in 1968. The “amateurishness” or “roughness” of the 1968 version is part-and-parcel of the horror.
The original 1930’s KING KONG is still the definitive one for me, too.
A list of remakes that IMHO are at least as good as the original.
Waterloo Bridge (1940) dir. Mervyn LeRoy / Waterloo Bridge (1931) dir. James Whale
The Ten Commandments (1956) dir. Cecil B. Demille / The Ten Commandments (1923) dir. Cecil B. Demille (See Ben Hur below)
The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) dir. Anthony Minghella / Purple Noon (1960) dir. René Clément
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959) dir. Joseph M. Newman (MUCH better than the original!) / Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) dir. W.S. Van Dyke
Ripley’s Game (2002) dir. Liliana Cavani / The American Friend (1977) dir. Wim Wenders (American Friend was my favorite movie for years! It introduced me to Ripley. I still love the picture… but the “remake” is also quite good)
Nosferatu (1979) dir. Werner Herzog / Nosferatu (1922) dir. F.W. Murnau
My Fair Lady (1964) dir. George Cukor / Pygmalion (1938) dir. Gabriel Pascal (I HATED My Fair Lady until I’d seen it enough to sing along with my wife, who love it… my voice is at least as good as Rex’s! But how can you beat Wendy and Leslie! Sigh)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) dir. Alfred Hitchcock / The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
His Girl Friday (1940) dir. Howard Hawks / The Front Page (1931) dir. Lewis Milestone
Great Expectations (1946) dir. David Lean / Great Expectations (1934) dir. Stuart Walker
The Good Thief (2002) dir. Neil Jordan / Bob le flambeur (1955) dir. Jean-Pierre Melville (At first I did not think The Good Thief could hold a candle to Bob, but on repeated viewings I find much to enjoy in both.)
Floating Weeds (1959) dir. Yasujirō Ozu / A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) dir. Yasujirō Ozu
Cape Fear (1991) dir. Martin Scorsese / Cape Fear (1962) dir. J. Lee Thompson (I know I’m gonna take some gunfire on this one!)
Ben-Hur (1959) dir. William Wyler / Ben-Hur (1925) dir. Fred Niblo / Ben Hur (1907) dir Sidney Olcott (The original and the first remake were captivating, but Chuck is my generation and as such closer, mythologically at least, to my heart.)
The Magnificent Seven (1960) John Sturges / Shichinin no samurai (1954) dir. Akira Kurosawa
Speaking of Cecil B. DeMille, I thought the version of THE BUCCANEER directed by DeMille’s son-in-law, Anthony Quinn, in 1958, was a little better than DeMille’s 1938 film of the same name. The remake showed a larger slice of the multicultural fabric of the time and gave good parts to black and ethnic actors, most notably Woody Strode and Sir Lancelot. Not to mention Yul Brynner as Jean Lafitte.
“Are there any remakes that are better than the original film?”
Better NO!
Equal yes.
The 1941 Maltese Falcon is better than the 1931 Maltese Falcon.
^ But that’s an adaptation from a written material. Maybe we need to establish which types of remakes we’ll be discussing.
If that’s the case, Kozintsev’s Lear rendition is the best of them all but it wasn’t even the first!
I humbly need to change something I wrote above: The 1959 Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959) dir. Joseph M. Newman is NOT… repeat… NOT better than the Tarzan the Ape Man of 1932 dir. W.S. Van Dyke. Sorry… my mistake. (How embarrassing.)
That said there still remain a couple of remakes on my list that, in my opinion, are better than the original including:
Ben-Hur (1959)
Great Expectations (1946)
As Dimitris indicates many of the rest on my list are either debatable or equally as good as the previous version(s).
I’d be interested to read other people’s comments and/or ideas of remakes that are better than previous versions.
The Blob. The first was just diwnright silly.
Herzog’s “Nosferatu” is very good and a beautiful hommage to the original which is better. I like “The Magnificent Seven”, but saying it’s as good or even better than “The Seven Samurai” is to me a total aberration.
Sorry, Dimitris, both The Fly and The Thing are better than the originals. Both take large steps away from the progenitors into deeper waters, both psychologically and as commentaries on society—but they’re also better directed, better acted, better scored, just more well executed all the way around.
They’re both still horror/sci-fi films, but they’re examples of the best of them, and I’ll debate any point between the films you’d like (just be prepared to lose ;)
xoxox
HoL
Carlos: “Herzog’s “Nosferatu” is very good and a beautiful hommage to the original which is better.”
In what ways is the original better? I kinda think they are about equal.
Also Carlos: “I like “The Magnificent Seven”, but saying it’s as good or even better than “The Seven Samurai” is to me a total aberration.”
Not sure what you mean by “aberration” here, but I think M7 qualifies as a remake. Both films seem very strong for me, in different ways.
Sorry House I beg to differ on Fly & Thing. Goldblum & the makeup department almost had me but they essentially went too far over the top. Sometimes I prefer my monsters to be invisible. On the other hand, the original is the one I’ve viewed multiple times… the “Help me” bit at the end can’t be beat!
In the original Thing I just love the discovery scene. Almost like a newsreel. Lovely black & white. Takes me back to elements of the paranoia of the times. Nothing in the remake does anything like that.
Dimitris: I agree “… Kozintsev’s Lear rendition is the best of them all …” It’s the one I wanted to own (and do).
Lester… you’re absolutely correct about the Blob.
Yeah, just on the point of Carpenter’s remake, The Thing, not all remakes are worthless and boring (though most are).
Although I haven’t seen the 1961 version, I would probably think that Kurosawa’s version of Dersu Uzala is better.
House wrote “…but they’re also better directed, better acted, better scored, just more well executed all the way around.”
You know that’s very likely true BUT aren’t there times when all of this detracts from the (say) horror of the story? Some of the best (say) horror stories I recall were “told around the campfire” NOT seen at the feelies in 3d, Living Color, surround sound, etc, etc….
Which, of course, is not to say that a film must reject all the technology to be any good… just that it is not always a good thing.
I have the feeling that the Coen Bros. True Grit, out this December, will be better than the original, only because I love the Brothers and despise John Wayne.
The 1958 remake of Maedchen in Uniform starring Romy Schneider and Lili Palmer is better than the 30’s original.
I think True Grit wont even touch the original
Evil Dead 2 is better than Evil Dead (2 was basically a remake)
Lang remade on of his films to better effect if I recall correctly.
“I have the feeling that the Coen Bros. True Grit, out this December, will be better than the original, only because I love the Brothers and despise John Wayne.”
Wayne may not be much in my opinion but how will a western improve Coens’ bad streak recently? (Starting with No Country) They’re getting worse as years go by and their filmography isn’t stellar to begin with!
David: I haven’t seen the 58 version of Maedchen (didn’t much like the original)… aside from Romy & Lili what make’s it better?
Bret
The Departed
King Kong (Peter Jackson version the better one)
Cape Fear