From brainwashed sleeper agents to a witches' coven disguised as a dance studio. These movie remakes are way better than everyone remembers!
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00:00From brainwashed sleeper agents to a witch coven disguised as a dance studio, these movie
00:06remakes are way better than everyone remembers.
00:09The original 1968 sci-fi classic Planet of the Apes was more than just an action-packed
00:15adventure.
00:16Starring Hollywood legend Charlton Heston, it was capped off by one of the greatest twist
00:21endings in cinema history, written by the master of surprise twists himself, Rod Serling.
00:26A thoughtful and thought-provoking film with unsubtle layers of social commentary, its
00:32thrills and spills were punctuated by a powerful anti-war message at a time when fears of nuclear
00:37annihilation were very real.
00:40Nearly 50 years later, Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves would launch a well-received reboot
00:44series starring Andy Serkis.
00:47No!
00:49But somewhere in the middle, Planet of the Apes became the subject of a 2001 remake by
00:54Tim Burton, and did solid numbers at the box office, but was quickly forgotten.
00:59Burton's effort was dragged by critics' poorly-produced action schlock with thinly written characters,
01:05and felt almost nothing like the original.
01:08Though some of the criticism was valid, the film is seen very differently if you can separate
01:13it from the Heston original.
01:15On its own merits, Burton's version isn't bad at all, it's just a very different movie.
01:20Forgoing the more cerebral, slow-paced drama, for fast-paced, big-budget action.
01:25When viewed as a blockbuster extravaganza, one can overlook its flaws and enjoy it much
01:30more as a rollercoaster adventure with top-notch special effects and impressive action sequences
01:35and makeup.
01:36One could argue the film may have been better off as an original story, but as it stands,
01:41Burton's Planet of the Apes is a sorely underrated remake, largely forgotten by time as a one-off
01:47between the original Apes films and the 2010's rebooted franchise.
01:53An iconic 80s war movie, the original Red Dawn pitted a group of American fighters against
01:58Russian soldiers.
02:00Set in a world where the Soviet Union has grown its influence, the film begins with
02:04a Russian assault of the United States.
02:07But as armies of Soviet soldiers parachute into Colorado, one group of young men and
02:12women, led by actor Patrick Swayze, rise up to fight back against their commie invaders.
02:17In 2012, fresh off of his Marvel debut in Thor, emerging action hero Chris Hemsworth
02:23starred in a long-delayed remake of Red Dawn.
02:26The film boasted an equally eyebrow-raising supporting cast that included Jeffrey Dean
02:31Morgan, Josh Hutcherson, Adrian Palicki, and Josh Peck.
02:36Instead of the Soviets this time around, though, the invaders are Russian-backed North Korean
02:40soldiers, and Hemsworth stars as a young Marine who pulls together friends and allies to fight
02:45them.
02:46Roasted by critics for its lack of depth, many seem to completely miss the point of
02:51this remake of Red Dawn.
02:53Though the original may offer somewhat better characters, this 2012 version is everything
02:58a fan of the genre could want.
03:00High-octane action, run-and-gun fight scenes, and a briskly paced, ridiculous war story.
03:06As much as diehard fans of the original will tell you it doesn't compare, if you can remove
03:11your rose-colored nostalgia goggles, you'll find the remake is a silly, old-school action
03:16movie worth watching.
03:19Some remakes become underrated not because the critics whiffed on them, but because they
03:23are remakes of long-forgotten films.
03:25Such is the case with the 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring Steve Martin and
03:31Michael Caine, which received good reviews and did reasonably well at the box office,
03:35but rarely makes anyone's list of best remakes.
03:38"...Pretend to enjoy yourself.
03:40Laugh out loud."
03:41The film was rejiggered from the premise of a 1964 film called Bedtime Story.
03:48That film starred Marlon Brando and David Niven as womanizers and con artists who set
03:53their eyes on the same target, a wealthy heiress played by Shirley Jones.
03:58The 80s version, directed by Frank Oz, had Martin and Caine in the same roles.
04:03Caine was scamming unsuspecting women out of their fortunes through various high-concept,
04:07long-con-type schemes, and was repelled by Martin's crude, lowbrow, common conman tactics.
04:14Taking Martin's character under his wing, the two eventually agreed to team up and work
04:19on a rich heiress named Janet, played by Glenn Headley.
04:22But after some clever twists, the question becomes, who's conning who?
04:26The comedic chemistry between Martin and Caine was terrific in this clever 80s comedy.
04:32Years later, it's still remembered as one of Martin's best, even if it rarely gets the
04:36recognition it deserves.
04:39A spiritual sequel to George Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, his 78-flick
04:45Dawn of the Dead brought zombies back to theaters with a bit more focus on violence and gore.
04:51A highly influential film, it set the action within the confines of a shopping mall, with
04:56a group of survivors in a zombie apocalypse under siege by the undead.
05:01Uncopied, few could hold a candle to its sheer audaciousness and social commentary.
05:06But more than 25 years later, writer James Gunn and director Zack Snyder took a crack
05:11at a straight-on remake.
05:13Starring MacKay Pfeiffer, Ving Rhames, Sarah Polley, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, and Matt Frewer,
05:19it was faithful to the original in terms of its overall plot progression, but with solid
05:23action and over-the-top amounts of gore that displayed the talents of Gunn and Snyder just
05:29before they broke through to become superhero auteurs, it took the premise to new places.
05:34Although it can be argued that it lacked the deeper meaning that made Romero's original
05:38so substantive, nevertheless, those looking for all-out zombie action got exactly what
05:43they were looking for, and Snyder has never made any apologies for his focus on spectacle.
05:48Unfairly held up against Romero's masterpiece, the 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead was largely
05:55unloved upon its release, but over time has earned a following.
05:59Today, it's seen as one of Snyder's best films, with Bloody Disgusting going as far as to
06:04call it one of the greatest horror remakes ever.
06:08If you're simply looking for big-budget action and state-of-the-art special effects, there's
06:13a great Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Keaton film from 2014 perfect for you.
06:19Unfortunately, it was titled RoboCop, so nobody wanted anything to do with it.
06:24Criticized for missing the point of the 1987 classic, this is one remake that seriously
06:29suffers from unjust comparisons.
06:32The original film was directed by Paul Verhoeven, starred Peter Weller, and examined a nihilistic,
06:37cold near-future where private enterprise had taken over law enforcement, employing
06:42over-the-top gore, language, and violence.
06:45The remake had, well, practically none of that, but what it kept was the always-cool
06:50image of a robot cop, and who wouldn't want that?
06:53I'd buy that for a dollar!
06:56While the original had its tongue firmly planted in its cheek, with razor-sharp political satire
07:01and gut-bursting violence, the remake took a different route.
07:05The crux of the story remains the same, with Detroit cop Alex Murphy mortally wounded and
07:11resurrected as a robot cop, but it has an entirely different tone and largely drops
07:16the original's lust for graphic violence.
07:19Instead, the plot serves as more incisive commentary on drone warfare, and a more serious
07:25take on the premise.
07:26Unfortunately, the remake didn't land with audiences or critics.
07:31Script leaks and costume dissection killed the film before it even hit theaters, and
07:35inevitable comparisons with the original finished the job.
07:38But 2014's RoboCop does what a remake should, taking a time-tested idea and trying to do
07:44something new and different with it.
07:46In this case, the remake uses sci-fi to offer a takedown of modern military politics, and
07:52it works better than most were willing to give it credit.
07:56One of Hollywood's seminal political thrillers, John Frankenheimer's 1962 drama The Manchurian
08:02Candidate defined the genre.
08:04With tensions between the United States and Russia at their highest, the film landed in
08:08theaters smack dab in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis, making it all the more timely
08:13and topical.
08:15In the film, a politically connected war veteran is unknowingly brainwashed into carrying out
08:20an assassination of a key figure in an upcoming presidential election.
08:24Shortly afterwards, the assassination of John F. Kennedy would make the film feel even more
08:29prophetic.
08:30Some may have felt that the timeliness of The Manchurian Candidate made it an unlikely
08:35choice for a remake, but it was remade in 2004 by director Jonathan Demme.
08:40This time starring Denzel Washington, the remake was released during a period of similar
08:45unrest and heightened paranoia in the United States following the events of 9-11.
08:50In this new version, we meet Gulf War veteran Bennett Marco, whose fellow soldier Raymond
08:56Shaw is now running for vice president.
08:58But recent nightmares and an odd implant found under his skin reveal a sinister conspiracy
09:04that may be hiding a horrifying truth.
09:06Bringing the story up to date for the 21st century, the 2004 version of The Manchurian
09:10Candidate brings a new angle that helps it stand out while still living up to the ideals
09:16of the original.
09:17Though well-reviewed, it is rarely discussed among great modern remakes.
09:21But with political tensions on the rise at home and abroad, perhaps the time has come
09:26to yet again remake one of the best thrillers of the 1960s.
09:31How do you remake one of the greatest, most iconic westerns of all time?
09:36Well, John Sturgis' The Magnificent Seven was in fact a retelling of the Akira Kurosawa
09:41film Seven Samurai that moved the action from Japan to the Wild West.
09:45So perhaps people shouldn't be so skeptical.
09:47Then again, Sturgis' Magnificent Seven is a classic for a reason.
09:52It presented Yul Brynner at his best and made stars out of Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn,
09:57Charles Bronson, and James Coburn.
10:00But Antoine Fuqua's remake was less about its direction and genre-defying innovation,
10:05but instead it boasted a diverse dynamic cast and some solid suspense.
10:10Telling the story of a drifter and gunslinger hired by the people of a small town to help
10:15defend against a marauding villain and bringing in six more outlaws to help him with the cause,
10:20the plots of both the original and the remake are fairly similar.
10:23But smartly choosing not to emulate the style and tone of the Sturgis classic, the remake
10:29goes for a Western thriller vibe.
10:31Some key changes to the story made it more of a tense character drama with a focus on
10:36the hero's personal scores and tragic backstories.
10:39Co-starring Ethan Hawke, Peter Sarsgaard, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Chris Pratt, the talent
10:45in front of and behind the camera is undeniable.
10:48And coupled with the Manchurian Candidate and the taking of Pelham 1-2-3, clearly Denzel
10:53doesn't shy away from lending his talents to challenging remakes.
10:57The newer Magnificent Seven delivers the goods in very different ways than the original,
11:02and taken together, they would make an excellent double feature.
11:05All right, let's do it.
11:08A cult classic of supernatural horror, 1977's Suspiria was directed by Italian filmmaker
11:16Dario Argento, and was famous for its striking visuals and overwhelming synth score.
11:22More about its look and feel than its story, it followed a young student arriving at an
11:26elite dance academy run by a coven of otherworldly witches.
11:31In the midst of a power struggle, the witches are working to resurrect an ancient evil known
11:36as Mother Suspiriorum.
11:38The story plays out as a suspenseful mystery, as murders pile up to reveal supernatural
11:44secrets.
11:45The 2018 remake, starring Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson, is nearly the polar opposite,
11:51though it retells the story practically beat for beat.
11:54Instead of a mystery, the audience now knows the school's secret right off the bat.
11:59But watch as its newest student is recruited into their blood cult.
12:03While the original was a strikingly colorful extravaganza, the remake is a beautifully
12:08shot but otherwise more grounded, gritty film focused more on character than shock value.
12:14With a strange, disquieting tone that escalates as the film progresses, reviews of 2018's
12:20Suspiria were decidedly mixed, with some critics describing it as shocking and others bold
12:25and daring.
12:26Though divisive, the remake is an unmissable movie for anyone who loves the art of film.
12:31Be warned, however, as it's not for the faint of heart.