By Ross Bonaime, Staff Writer
Hollywood is always ready to look to its past for inspiration for its future. In fact, this month alone, we will see remakes of Clash of the Titans, Death at a Funeral and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Since it is growing frequently popular to remake older films, here are the top 10 modern film remakes.
10. Hamlet (2000)
While not as great as Laurence Olivier’s Shakespeare adaptation, this modern retelling of one of The Bard’s greatest stories is almost as inventive as Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet revamp.
9. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Zack Snyder’s first film is a surprisingly good modern take on George Romero’s classic horror film. With it, Snyder creates one of the only decent horror reboots recently made.
8. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
After several film adaptations of the play, Tim Burton took his own turn and made a very effective take on this morbid story.
Using his usual go-to guy Johnny Depp, Burton creates a gothic, yet touching story.
7. The Mummy (1999)
One of the great Universal monsters came back to life with this guilty-pleasure remake. The Mummy brought Rachel Weisz to the public’s attention and the furthering of the story, while staying true to the original, makes this remake a silly, but fun retelling.
6. King Kong (2005)
No one can beat the 1933 classic, but Peter Jackson did his best by utilizing all the special effects he could to bring the world’s most famous ape into the 21st century.
5. Funny Games (2007)
Director Michael Haneke’s shot-by-shot remake of his own film for American audiences is a chilling and unconventional horror film, which also comments on viewers’ love for violence in this overlooked gem.
4. Insomnia (2002)
Before Christopher Nolan was the guy who revitalized the Batman franchise, he remade the Norwegian classic of the same name. Featuring an ensemble cast starring Oscar winners Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank, this film is a great showcase of Nolan’s talents.
3. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
The 3:10 to Yuma remake took an already fantastic Western, added some great depth to it and cast two of the greatest actors of the 2000s — Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. This created a film that is as great, if not better, than the 1957 original.
2. The Departed (2006)
Many people prefer the original Hong Kong Infernal Affairs to Scorsese’s American remake The Departed. However, The Departed shows why Scorsese is considered one of the greatest living directors with his staggering directing, the performances he gets from his fantastic cast and one of the most surprising endings in a modern Hollywood film.
1. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
A remake should take an original film and make it better in every possible way. This is exactly what director Steven Soderbergh did with the Las Vegas caper film Ocean’s Eleven.
The film oozes style, with a cast, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts to name a few, that is even greater that The Rat Pack who starred in the original.
Soderbergh delivers a film that is leaps and bounds greater than the mediocre film it was originally based on and, in the process, made one of the greatest remakes of all time.
Comments