Remakes That Were Better Than Their Predecessors - By: Rhonda Mitchel

It seems lately that Hollywood is lacking in creativity due to the fact that major studios keep going back to the well to remake films that were already classics. It is kind of hard to pinpoint just where the craze began, but the effect that remakes have had on the film industry have been less than a positive change, often with people thinking that the remake ruined the original version. However, there are some remakes that have worked out very well that many say were even better than the original. Some are even saying the upcoming remake of the Wolfman may even outdo its predecessor. Here are some other films that were remakes, and were also good.

The Departed: The Departed was a star studded remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. Infernal Affairs was a police drama about an undercover cop who is working the Triads, all the while the Triads have placed a mole into the police department as both men try to out each other. The film was remade in 2006 by acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. It received much critical praise, including winning Scorsese his first Academy Award for Best Director, and Best Picture of the Year.

Scarface: Scarface was a film directed by Brian DePalma, and based on the life of Al Capone, whose nickname was Scarface. The film was a remake of a previous film of the same title, but the movies actually bear little resemblance to each other in terms of story, setting and characters, with the character's name being Tony Montana instead of Al Capone. The film went on to become a classic in its own right, and the phrase “Say hello to my little friend,” has become one of the most widely used quotes in movie history.

The Thing: The 1950s film The Thing From Another World was fairly straight forward science fiction fare. It was based on a short story by John W. Campbell, but did not follow the story exactly. However, John Carpenter's remake borrowed much more from the original short story and has become a modern day horror classic, featuring some of the best, and most frightening special effects ever put on screen, even rivaling some of today's horror films. Almost unfortunately, another remake is being planned, but hopefully it will not come to fruition.

So it just goes to show that it is possible for a good remake of a film to be done, but there needs to be as much, if not more, work put into it as there was in the original.

Most remakes are less than good, but some really explode and rise above the origionals.

Rhonda Mitchel is an avid writer for the Coty Geek Movie Reviews industry and would like you to check out the movie previews