To celebrate the remake of Movies.ie we take a look at some of our other favourite remakes. From Scarface to The Fly…. What are your favourite remakes?
3:10 to Yuma’ (2007)
Based on Delmer Daves’ 1957, James Mangold delivers a thriller tribute to the golden ages of Wester. Propelled by the amazing duo of Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, the action and dialogue between the leading men makes this remake even better than Daves’ original.
Scarface (1983)
“Say hello to my little friend!” screams a gun-toting Al Pacino before blasting a hole in one of the goons trying to execute his coke-addled crime lord at the climax of Brian De Palma’s bloody thriller. Chicago’s Al Capone inspired the 1932 original, but De Palma’s update cast the other Al as a Cuban immigrant who kills his way to the top in 1980s Miami. Throughly shockings this remains one of the greatest crime epics since The Godfather.
True Lies (1994)
Long before James Cameron’s Avatar, James Cameron made another “most expensive movie of its time”: True Lies. Cameron and star Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gift for effects-heavy action theatrics plus Jamie Lee Curtis’ crack comic timing as Arnold’s on-screen wife was a formula for box office success.
Cape Fear (1991):
In this creepy remake of the 1962 original, Martin Scorsese boosted the suspense and sexual tension, while Robert De Niro put more than a little Travis Bickle into his turn as sinister and vengeful ex-con Max Cody (he also put more than a little awesome ink on his back).
The Fly (1986)
David Cronenberg applied his signature attention to the gory details in this teleportation-gone-wrong remake of a 1958 film about a mad scientist/fly.
The Ring (2002)
Gore Verbinski’s gothic American take on the outrageously popular Japanese original doesn’t have the “best of horror” credentials of ‘The Exorcist’ or ‘The Thing,’ but it’s chilling enough to elicit audience-wide yelps from even genre aficionados. Without a crazy body count or masked murderers, this is the epitome of scary minus the gore.
Ocean’s 11 (2001)
The 1960 original is better known for its “Rat Pack” cast – Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford – than for its actual content, so well done to Steven Soderbergh for reinventing it with a new roster of Hollywood talent. Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon head an all-star cast in a massively enjoyable heist caper that sees George Clooney’s ex-con plotting to rob all three of Andy Garcia’s Las Vegas casinos on the same night.