However, there are the exceptions. The films that, when remade, happens to be better than the original. Those occurrences are VERY rare indeed, but they do happen once in a blue moon. I've comprised a list of those blue moon films.
1. The Departed. (2006) Let's face it. There really isn't that much originality in Hollywood anymore. So when Martin Scorcese decided to make this film, I'm guessing he just looked to the Chinese hit, Internal Affairs. Granted, The Departed did win Scorcese an Oscar for best director and best film, as well as Mark Wahlberg's first Oscar nod. Leo and Matt didn't do so bad themselves, as also this is actually the second pairing for Wahlberg and DiCaprio--Basketball Diaries, anyone? Matt, coming from the success of Jason Bourne and Linus Caldwell, goes on to earn his Actor Oscar nod (his first Oscar was for screenwriting Good Will Hunting) in the inspirational Invictus with Morgan Freeman, who costarred with Jack Nicholson in The Bucket List. I much rather have Nicholson starring in movies like The Departed than The Bucket List. He doesn't do sweet very well, but he does thrive in action thrillers.
2. The Fly. (1986) Sci-Fi thriller remade from the 1958 classic directed by Kurt Neumann. But director David Cronenberg had something else in mind for Jeff Goldblum when he directed this version, and to date, happens to be one of the best makeup designs and prosthesis in its time. To be honest, in 2011, too. It did win Oscar for best makeup. With movies like this, if the makeup isn't top notch, then the movie in itself will suck.
3. Heat (1995) In The Godfather series, they worked together, but in different settings of the film, so you never saw them on screen at the same time. This director, Michael Mann, thought, "Hey. Two incredible screen legends. What would it be like to have them working together?". And bam. Heat was created and it just is a piece of art. Re-created from the TV show, LA Takedown, this film focuses on a cop, Al Pacino, and a thief, Robert DeNiro. Brief mention--recent Oscar winner Natalie Portman is in this film.
4. The Magnificent Seven (1960) Akiro Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai is legend. Kurosawa's legend. This whole genre created by Kurosawa's freaking legend. Now the remake in and of itself is legend. Yul Brynner is just brilliant, Steve McQueen is awesome and Eli Wallach is just fist-pumping good. My God, CHARLES BRONSON. The sheer magnitude of this movie's just electrifying.
5. Ocean's Eleven (2001) Clooney. Pitt. Damon. Roberts. Garcia. Really? I mean, do I need to say more? It's like, Sinatra. Martin. Davis, Jr. Lawford. That's it. There's nothing more I need to say about this movie.
6. The Manchurian Candidate (2004) How machiavellic is Meryl Streep?!?! I LOVE her. She's hateful in this movie, and she doesn't really do hateful movies because we all want to love her. But I just want to beat the crap out of her character for brainwashing!!!! But it's Meryl Streep so of course we love to hate her!!! Plus, not to mention the original role of Eleanor Shaw played by Meryl was Angela Lansbury, but her character's name was Mrs. Iselin. Can you believe it? Brilliant.
7. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) Now this is a controversial one--this really kind of has you asking, which version really is better? Because if you've seen one, you're not going to like the other, but they're equally as good. That's how confusing it gets. Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen will always be the it couple for me. Dunaway looked exquisite in every single one of her outfits, and McQueen is just silky smooth. But I watched the remake, and it's a really big toss-up. Renee Russo's fiery temper matched her luscious red hair, and this is Pierce Brosnan here. There's no describing the level of smooth this man can bring. So that's why it's up in the air with this one.
8. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Ok. The Invasion was a weak remake of the remake. We all can agree to that. But seriously, this movie still gives me the willies just remembering it. I mean, I watched the first version because it's iconic, but the second one just creeped the heck out of me. I mean, the credits have no music, no score. It's just silence, and that is just scary creepy. I mean, Leonard Nemoy is the spokesperson for the alien invaders. That's just brilliant to do that. Special effects in this version completely rocked, and so did Donald Sutherland rocking out a curly haired 'fro.
9. Casino Royale (2006) I respect all the original films, except this one. I hated this original film, playing light on Sir Ian Fleming's creation of 007. I couldn't possibly believe what I was watching. And then, just then, Martin Campbell rescued this film and introduced to us an incredibly sexy blonde James Bond in Mr. Daniel Craig. His voice is dark velvet, his body is rock hard, and his drinks are always shaken, not stirred. He's a lady's man, a man's man, a man about town, and he just rescued this movie from the abyss of movie-dom and gifted us with the joy of Bond again after the way the studio fired poor Pierce Brosnan. Rawr, Mr. Craig. Rawr....
10. Scarface (1983). Brian DePalma, the FREAKY GENIUS that he is, graced us with this gem of a movie, this icon of an actor in Pacino, and this brilliant writer in Oliver Stone. We can NEVER have a combination of this trio of incandescent masterminds ever again. It's too much for the human brain to even comprehend the astounding idea of creating an Al Capone gangster movie into modern day Cuban gangster. There are no words for me to describe the role this movie plays in modern society. It's brilliant. There's really no way around it. No words to pretty it up. Brilliant pretty much sums it all.
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