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With 3:10 to Yuma out and the great debate as the best of the two, I was wondering what do you think is the best or some of the best remakes you've seen?
There are plenty out there, I guess they are running out of originals. I can't think of any right this minute, but maybe you can. I do know they made different versions of Robin Hood, but I am not sure if it was better than the original. What are some of yours?
Cheers 
Hondo
Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of Cape Fear was infinitely better than the original.
I was trying to think of some of the ones I have seen and just can't seem to pull to many out of the old brain this morning, but I can say that I think most remakes have fallen short of the original.
"The Bishops wife" was much better than "The Preachers wife"
I would say "The parent trap" with Lindsay Lohan was as good as "The parent trap" with Hayley Mills.
It seems like "The brave one" is a remake of "Deathwish" and I would bet that it is no where close to the later.
Oliver Stone's Alexander was better than the boring original with a terribly miscast Richard Burton.
I think the trick for a better remake is to pick an okay movie and improve on it.
The Magnificent Seven a remake of the Seven Samurai is much more universally known than the original. John Carpenter's The Thing surpasses the original Hawk movie.
Also, Cronenberg's The Fly is much better than the original 1950's movie.
George Clooney's Ocean 11 is a much better caper movie than the original Sinatra movie.
Although, I grew up with Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor and as a child thought it was funny it now looks so flat and Eddie Murphy's movie is way more funnier.
Murphy also didnt have to do much to surpass the original AWFUL Doctor Dolittle with Rex Harrsion. Why were we taken to the cinema to see that!!
I am also a fan of Peter Jackson's King Kong and it easily tops the 1976 movie. It is unfair to compare it to 1933 movie and both versions in my opinion are classics.
Hammers first Dracula easily beats the original Bela Lugosi Dracula.
However, the two remakes that would top my list would be Hollow Man which is a remake of The Invisible Man and Brendan Frazer The Mummy which both blow away the originals.
Mike
The recent (past few years) make of The Four Feathers, I thought was much better than the one made around 1939.
Also, The Count of Monte Cristo (the one with Sir Richard Harris in it) I thought was the best version so far.
John Carpenter's The Thing surpasses the original Hawk movie.
I still like the original movie. The main attribute of Carpenter's "The Thing" is that it much more closely adhered to John W. Campbell's original story, "Who Goes There?," on which both movies were based.
Cheers - Jay
I just thought of a few.
What is your opinion of Father of the Bride the first staring Spencer Tracy and the modern version staring Steve Martin? Father's Little Dividend was the same version of Father of the Bride. Part 2.
The second one is Cheaper by the Dozen the first staring Clifton Webb and the modern version staring Steve Martin?
Yours, Mine and Ours with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball (the first), and Dennis Quaid and Renee Rusico (the second)?
The Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra (the first) and Denzel Washington (the second).
What is your opinion of Flight of the Phoenix with James Stewart (the first) and Dennis Quaid (the second).
And how about The Searchers with John Wayne and The Missing with Tommy Lee Jones?
These are a few that I ran across and was interested in your opinion. I will say that only one out of 7, I thought was better than the original. Can you guess which one?
Cheers Hondo
For me remakes are hard to watch I spend to much time compareing the old with the new. Like STAGECOACH, Duke in the first, then we have 2 more, the later of the 2 being closer to the story line(w/Cash,Jennings,Nelson & Khristopherson). Then we have RED RIVER, Duke first, then with James Arness, and then we have the ALAMO same two actors stared in it. But thats just the way I am!
I must echo erthomp's sentiment regarding the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, with Lindsay Lohan. I thought it was very well done, with some sly little nods to the original (girl friend in the original was the mother of the bride-to-be in the remake, just one example).
There is no comparison between the two Cheaper by the Dozens. What I mean is that the second one is only the same in title, and there is a brief reference to the original family name (Gilbreth), and yeah, both families have twelve kids. After that, there is really no connection, so I don't really consider it a remake. The original is based on the book by the same name, which is about the real Gilbreth family. All that being said, I really enjoyed both movies very much, but not because of any connection between the two.
How about Flubber with Robin Williams, compared to The Absent-Minded Professor with Fred MacMurray? I would have to say it was a pretty decent remake, with a pleasant updating of technology.
I didn't care as much for Freaky Friday with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, compared to the original of the same name with Jodie Foster (the original one was pretty hokey, but I didn't care much for the remake, either).
Mrs. C 
The most pointless remakes are those that copy the original scene by scene. Psycho is the one that comes to mind straight away but there are others.
Also, how many films have been made from the Bronte Sisters books and Shakespeare. it seems like there is one every year rehashing the same old territory.
Another remake that I actually enjoyed more than the original would be The Alamo. I actually prefer the Billy Bob Thornton version to John Wayne's which I think he was too emotionally involved with and is over long and sentimental to most viewers.
I suppose this should be another thread but my favourite TV to Film adaption would be The Fugitive which took elements of the TV series but improved /enhnced it for the big screen.
Mike
I don't hink the remake of the Parent Trap is anywhere nearly as good as the original. Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson can't begin to compare to Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara and Lilo is no Hayley Mills.
I liked the Magnificnet Seven but Seven Samuari is a classic film known world wide.
Three Godfathers was a remake wasn't it?
My kids, love
A Bug's Life
the Seven Samurai version for them,
exactly the same story line!
Also, Cyrano de Bergerac starring Gerard Depardieu was far better than the studio-bound, black & white original with Jose Ferrer.
Brian De Palma's 1983 remake of Scarface starring Al Pacino was better, despite its dated soundtrack, than the original with Paul Muni.
I'm sure there are better remakes, but I can't think of any right now. I suppose I also avoid remakes if I've liked the first, and probably in most cases I'm not aware there is another version. From the here mentioned I only remember both versions ot the Scarface and liked the Hawk's original better.
Three Godfathers was a remake wasn't it?
It was the third version (and not the last), and even second time Ford did it.
Magnificent Seven better universally known than Seven samurai? No chance.
This is very interesting. Reading comments on this thread has me asking this question here on this thread. Do you base your comments on remakes being better due to technology? I really base it on the acting more than anything else. We see many movies today that are computer animated and it is really impressive, but where is the performance? Seeing a movie like King Kong which I haven't seen the latest version, is based more of the special effects than the story or acting. The classic King Kong (1930's) with Fay Wray was advanced in its day due to the technology they had at the time. You can't fault the movie for that, so looking at the acting in that movie as well as the story line, which is better?
Now going back to my questions:
Cheers
I might step on toes. But here goes.
Miracle on 34th Street with Maureen O'Hara in the early 40's and the remake in I think the late 1990's.
It's A Wonderful Life in the 1940's and the 1970's.
Cheers Hondo
The sound remake of "The Ten Commandments" was better than the silent original. I'm not sure whether the 1959 remake of "Ben Hur" was better though because although it had sound it was also overlong, and had a poor sea battle using very obvious models.
There' is a remake of the Heartbreak Kid coming out very soon. The early review say its better than the original.
Also the 1973 remake of the Three Musketeers starring Oliver Reed and Richard Chamberlain was better than the earlier Gene Kelly version.
