Directors Remakes: Master List and Quality Poll (1 Viewer)

Various discussions and arguments about the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dawn of the Dead remakes got me to thinking about this recent deluges of "re-imaginings" we've been offered. And by "recent" I mean over the past several years. Say, the last 10-15 years.

Mostly everyone (including myself) scoff when each new remake is announced, mainly because so many of 'em are worse than unnecessary; they're just plain old bad. Then there's the added annoyance of a New Bad Movie trying to make some coin off of a film/TV show that's clearly well-remembered enough (name recognition) to warrant a remake.

So I'm looking to build a big list of modern remakes, after which the participants will vote on each film's relative quality. And them maybe a tournament or something. I'm makin' this up as I go...

The smaller year represents the release year of the original film of the same name. If the title's been changed, I'll include the original.

13 Ghosts (2001) (1950)
Always (1989) {Remake of A Guy Named Joe (1943)}
Bedazzled (2002) (1967)
The Birdcage (1996) {Remake of La Cage aux folles (1978)}
The Blob (1988) (1988)
Body Snatchers (1993) (1956/78)
Born Yesterday (1993) (1950)
Cape Fear (1991) (1962)
Carnival of Souls (1998) (1962)
Cat People (1982) (1942)
City of Angels (1998) {Remake of Dir Himmel uber Berlin (1987)}
D.O.A. (1988) (1950)
Desperate Hours (1990) (1955)
Diabolique (1996) {Remake of Les Diaboliques (1955)}
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) {Remake of Bedtime Story (1964)}
Doctor Dolittle (1998) (1967)
Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) {Remake of Boudo sauve des eaux (1932)}
The End of the Affair (1999) (1955)
Father of the Bride (1991) (1950)
Father of the Bride Part 2 (1995) {Remake of Father's Little Dividend (1964)}
Father's Day (1997) {Remake of Les Comperes (1983)}
Flubber (1997) {Remake of The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)}
The Fly (1986) (1958)
Freaky Friday (2003) (1976)
Get Carter (2000) (1971)
The Getaway (1994) (1972)
Gloria (1999) (1980)
Godzilla (1998) (1954)
Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) (1974)
The Good Thief (2003) {Remake of Bob le flambeur (1955)}
The Haunting (1999) (1963)
The House on Haunted Hill (1999) (1959)
The In-Laws (2003) (1979)
Insomnia (2002) (1997)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) (1977)
The Italian Job (2003) (1969)
The Jackal (1997) {Remake of The Day of the Jackal (1973)}
Jungle 2 Jungle (1997) {Remake of Un indien dans la ville (1994)}
Just Visiting (2001) {Remake of Les Visiteurs (1993)}
Kiss of Death (1995) (1947)
Last Man Standing (1996) {Remake of Yojimbo (1961)}
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) (1960)
The Man with One Red Shoe (1985) {Remake of Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire (1972)}
Mean Machine (2002) {Remake of The Longest Yard (1974)}
Mighty Joe Young (1998) (1949)
The Money Pit (1986) {Remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)}
Mr. Deeds (2002) {Remake of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)}
The Mummy (1999) (1932)
My Father the Hero (1994) {Remake of Mon pere, ce heros (1991)}
Narrow Margin (1990) (1952)
Never Say Never Again (1983) {Remake of Thunderball (1965)}
Nightwatch (1997) {Remake of Nattevagten (1994)}
The Nutty Professor (1996) (1963)
Ocean's 11 (2001) (1960)
The Out-of-Towners (1999) (1970)
The Parent Trap (1998) (1961)
Payback (1999) {Remake of Point Blank (1967)}
A Perfect Murder (1998) {Remake of Dial M for Murder (1954)}
Planet of the Apes (2001) (1968)
Point of No Return (1993) {Remake of Nikita (1990)}
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) (1946)
Psycho (1998) (1960)
Pure Luck (1991) {Remake of La Chevre (1981)}
The Ring (2002) {Remake of Ringu (1998)}
Rollerball (2002) (1975)
Sabrina (1995) (1954)
Scarface (1983) (1932)
Shaft (2000) (1971)
Solaris (2002) {Remake of Solyaris (1972)}
Swept Away (2002) {Remake of Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto (1974)}
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) (1974)
That Darn Cat (1997) {Remake of That Darn Cat! (1965)}
The Thing (1982) {Remake of The Thing From Another World (1951)}
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) (1968)
Three Fugitives (1989) {Remake of Les Fugitifs (1986)}
Three Men and a Baby (1987) {Remake of 3 hommes et un couffin (1985)}
The Time Machine (2002) (1960)
The Toy (1982) {Remake of Le Jouet (1976)}
The Truth About Charlie (2002) {Remake of Charade (1963)}
Twelve Monkeys (1995) {Remake of La Jetee (1962)}
Unfaithfully Yours (1984) (1948)
Vanilla Sky (2001) {Remake of Open Your Eyes (1997)}
The Vanishing (1993) {Remake of Spoorloos (1988)}
Village of the Damned (1995) (1960)
Willard (2003) (1971)
You've Got Mail (1998) {Remake of The Shop Around the Corner (1940)}

Though obviously they can't yet be included for discussion, I'm also working on a list of remakes currently in the works. Let me know if you can think of any I'm missing.

Billy Jack
Cheaper by the Dozen
Dawn of the Dead
The Eye
King Kong
The Ladykillers
Love Don't Cost a Thing {Remake of Can't Buy Me Love (1987)}
The Manchurian Candidate
Porky's
Scanners
The Stepford Wives
Walking Tall
War of the Worlds
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Porky's? They're remaking Porky's?

That's insane.

A Perfect Murder (1998) - remake of Dial M for Murder

You've Got Mail (1998) - remake of Shop Around the Corner & In the Good Old Summertime

Treasure Planet (2002) - remake of Treasure Island

Tarzan (1999)

City of Angels (1998) - remake of Wings of Desire

Born Yesterday (1993)

The Money Pit (1986)- remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

I dont know if Tarantinos "Inglorious Bastards" is a remake or is just using the name of the older film.It starred Bo Svenson and Fred Willamson.I remember watching it in the older days of HBO.

Also:
DePalmas Scarface is a remake and 1990s Night Of The Living Dead.

Fistfull of Dollars was pretty mch a remake of Yojimbo and Magnificent Seven a remake of Seven Samurai.

Does it matter if the films are based on books?

The Thin Red Line (Based on a book. I believe the first film was make in 1964).You also have numerous takes on classic literature like like King Kong,Of Mice And Men,Lord Of The Flies,Dracla,Hamlet,Frankenstein,etc

I read the other day a big screen version of Moby Dick is also in the works.

Yeah, but they weren't made in the last 10-15 years. Neither was the Money Pit, but the original list actually went back to 1982 with The Thing.

I'll just go back til 1980


Payback (1999)
The Truth About Charlie (2002)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
The Blob (1988)
The Mummy (1999)
Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1994)
The Bounty (1984)
Greystoke The Legend of Tarzan (1984)
Cape Fear (1991)
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1992)
Island of Dr Moreau (1996)
Mask of Zorro (1998)
Red Dragon (2002)
Hamlet (1990)
Narrow Margin (1990)
Body Snatchers (1993)
Point of No Return (1993)
Last Man Standing (1996)
Scarface (1983)
D.O.A. (1988)
Always (1989)
The Three Musketeers (1993)
Mary Reilly (1996)
Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
A Perfect Murder (1998)
Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
Four Feathers (2002)
Flash Gordon (1980)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
Cat People (1982)
Unfaithfully Yours (1984)
Desperate Hours (1990)
The Bride (1985)
Phantom of the Opera (1989)
Messenger The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

Coming soon

The Alamo
Scanners

In development:

The Hills Have Eyes
The Eye
King Kong

OK, when I get back from mega-football Sunday, I'll tweak the master list so as to reflect these two parameters:

1980-present

remake of an original screenplay

...cuz let's face it; Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet is hardly a remake of Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.

It's a sequel.

Sorcerer - Remake of The Wages of Fear.

How can they remake Billy Jack? If even a single blow appears to actually make contact with its target, they will have lost the whole essence of the piece.

I'm guessing this won't have a shred of political content and will be just another adventure and/or crime movie. Maybe I could see it working if they give it the Austin Powers treatment.

They remade Carnival of Souls? How'd I miss that?

Sorcerer - Damn good movie but it was released in 1977 and therefore misses the cutoff by three years.

Desperado - I believe is considered more of a sequel than a remake, though one could argue it either way. I'm counting it as a sequel.

Carnival of Souls - Unfamiliar with the remake? Consider yourself very fortunate indeed.

Inglorious Bastards - Although it does share a title (and actor Bo Svenson, apparently) with an earlier film, QT has mentioned that it is NOT a remake.

Porky's - Along with Rock & Roll High School, a film being remade by executive producer Howard Stern. No I'm not kidding.

I'm going to update the big list. Please offer any more additions you can think of. The paramters are:

Not based on a literary work/remake of an original screenplay

Must have been released from 1980-2003 or is in the works for a future release

No TV movies or mini-series. They ain't movies.

I've decided to lax up with the "no literary inspiration" rule because it would chop off way too many eligible movies.

Example: the Father of the Bride remake would be ineligible as the original was based on a novel -but- Father of the Bride Part 2 would be eligible because it is a remake of an original screenplay (Father's Little Dividend).

So remakes of movies based on other sources can be admitted, but not like Shakespeare and stuff because they're obviously based on the source material and NOT the earlier adaptations.

nevermind

There's also the 1999 remake of The End of the Affair.

Jim,

Take a look at my post above yours and you'll see I agree with you!

I've updated the list, leaving off several titles that I don't think "fit" with what I'm working on here.

Frankensteins and Bountys and Lord of the Flies and Tarzans and stuff like that.

Further suggestions are of course welcome.

No problem Scott,

I was busy typing my post when your were posting yours.

Added a handful of titles, all of which have something to do with Francis Veber, Touchstone Pictures, or Martin Short:

Jungle 2 Jungle
Three Fugitives
Three Men and a Baby
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
The Man with One Red Shoe
The Toy
Father's Day
Pure Luck
My Father the Hero