I thought this would be an easy list to make, but I realized that this list shouldn't include movies based on books, because they get re-made all the time. This should be remakes of films that were just films.
Ones I want to mention for various reasons:
Planet of the Apes... Tim Burton's retelling was magnificent: epic story, epic scale, and all with Tim Burton's style (which as far as directors' style goes, his is one of the coolest and most unique). So many people bash this movie, and I can't figure out why. Maybe it's because, though I like the entire series, I thought the originals were kind of corny, both in the way they were carried out and the basic story. Burton's film explained it so well, and so realistically considering the subject, that I think it's one of the best remakes ever. I didn't include it on the list only because the ones listed stuck closer to the originals and didn't piss off fans of the originals as much as this one.
Thirteen Ghosts... another one that I get tired of hearing arguments against. I'm gonna say this now, and hopefully I won't have to say it again on this website: Almost every single horror movie ever made is never going to scare you, unless you're a child or just can't handle it. Girls don't handle the horror genre very well, and I don't say that to piss any girls off, it's just something that's known. The only movie sthat are scary I don't count as horror movies anyway, they are suspense-thrillers. Horror films involve big creatures and gore and such, and the only way I think films can be scary is if they are more psychological. They have to be able to get in your head before they can convince your mind it's real, and horror films just don't do that. What they can do, though, is entertain you with a story that involves darker subjects. Just because Thirteen Ghosts didn't scare you, doesn't mean it wasn't a fun movie to watch, and if you're watching a horror film for any other reason than to be entertained, you're wasting your time. If they don't scare you or entertain you, and you feel like all horror movies suck, then it's probably because you just don't like horror movies, so go watch something with soem suspense that might get to you more. STOP BLAMING THE MOVIES! It's not that this is a bad movie, it's your fault for thinking it would be something outside of what it is supposed to be. Just wait and see what people think of Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses. General audiences are gonna hate it because they don't like the genre he wants to bring back. They just don't understand what horror movies are. Thirteen Ghosts was great, I loved it, and it was really fun to watch. The way they integrated the 3D technology that made the original a classic into the story of the new one was brilliant. Oh yeah, one more thing... Matthew Lillard IS a good actor. So HA!
And last but certainly not least, one of the most artistically brillaint movies ever made:
Psycho (1998)... Why would I think this was artistically brilliant? Why would I even put it on my website in the first place? Because THIS IS A GOOD MOVIE!!! This is one of the ballsiest movies ever made, and when director Gus Van Sant got his idea to re-make (the only real remake of a movie ever, because everything on this page are really reimaginings of the original story, this one's re-made using the exact same script, exact same shots, everything) this classic of American cinema, he probably didn't think he'd be able to do it. But he did, he suceeded with flying fucking colors. And the acting, holy mother of God. Do people realize how hard it must've been to portray a character, not the way you want to, but the way another actor did. Get into the actor's mind as that actor gets into the character's mind, and mimic not just the way the lines were said and the way the scene was played out, but also the small little gestures the original actor did. Vince Vaughn was amazing. People can say all this is just a copy of a classic, but that was kind of the point. Hitchcock is called The Master of Suspense, so the challenge here was to see if it could be done, to test Van Sant's skills as a director and see if it could be done. To bring Hitchcock's classic to modern day, but without changing anything but the setting, the costumes and props, the type of camera used (color), and the actors. Everything else, including the director's vision, will be the same. Brilliant, and it's awesome. It just doesn't fit on any list because it's the only one of its kind. (How does someone in the year 1998 do something no one else has done before?) Van Sant is a great director, I just hope that someday this film is appreciated for what it is, and not ripped apart for what it isn't.
Page design by GARTH-ART.
Salty Cracker Pictures c. 2002. All rights reserved.
Contact The Salty Cracker Team