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Sometimes, there’s not a lot of time that passes between an original film and its remake or reboot. Other times, though, a movie is remade decades after it came out.
It can be a fascinating event when this happens. With an evolution in storytelling and filmmaking techniques, and a completely different context surrounding the making of the reboot, the result can be a cult classic that outshines its predecessor (such as Scarface) or a completely different experience with a charm of its own (like The Mummy).
‘True Grit’ (1969 and 2010)
While less of a remake of a film and more of a second adaptation of the novel of the same name by Charles Portis, in both its versions, True Grit is a fun Western about a teenage farm girl who sets out to capture her father’s killer, with the help of the toughest U.S. Marshal she can find.
Both films, which are 41 years apart, have various similarities. For instance, the overall layout of the plot and a talented cast, the former featuring the likes of John Wayne and Robert Duvall, the latter with stars like Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld. However, the Coen brothers (who directed the remake) crafted a grim and idiosyncratic tone that makes their version of the story a considerably different experience and one of the best Westerns of the 21st century.
‘Planet of the Apes’ (1968 and 2001) and ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ (2011)
The original Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston is undoubtedly one of the greatest sci-fi films of the ’60s, an enthralling story about a team of astronauts who crash-land on a planet where apes are the dominating species.
Tim Burton directed a widely disliked remake 33 years later, but Rupert Wyatt‘s reboot/prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes was almost as popular as the original, sparking a successful trilogy. Despite their differences, all three films have something for everyone to enjoy—even Burton’s version, which has absolutely impressive masks and makeup.
‘The Jungle Book’ (1967 and 2016)
Based on the books of Rudyard Kipling, both of Disney’s versions of The Jungle Book follow a boy named Mowgli, who was raised by wolves in the jungle, as he sets out on a journey of self-discovery while fleeing a bloodthirsty tiger.
Disney’s practice of remaking their beloved animated classics in live-action has become increasingly controversial, but it’s hard to deny that 2016’s The Jungle Book turned out fantastically. It captured the magic and charm of the original and put a darker, more mature spin on it a whopping 49 years after it had come out.
‘Scarface’ (1932 and 1983)
In both its iterations, Scarface sees an ambitious and violent gangster climb the ladder of success in the mafia, but his weaknesses slowly become his downfall.
The 1932 version of the film directed by Howard Hawks is phenomenal and criminally underrated, a thoughtful and violent film about the rise and fall of a complex character. The Brian De Palma remake that came 51 years later, however, managed the feat of surpassing it in popularity, becoming a must-see cult classic with one of Al Pacino‘s best performances.
‘Nosferatu’ (1922) and ‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’ (1979)
Unauthorized adaptations of Bram Stoker‘s Dracula, both Nosferatu and Nosferatu the Vampyre, are astonishing works of art about a vampire who shows interest in a real estate agent’s young wife as he searches for a new home.
The 1922 version was one of the first horror movies ever made, with a long-lasting impact on the genre that can still be seen today. The great German filmmaker Werner Herzog took a stab at the story 57 years later, and both versions are eerie and haunting films led by one of the scariest horror movie protagonists of all time.
‘West Side Story’ (1961 and 2021)
Based on a Broadway musical of the same name, which was itself inspired by William Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story is the story of two youngsters from rival New York gangs who fall in love despite tensions between their friends.
While the 10-time Oscar-winning original version of the movie has a much more colorful and theatrical feel to it, Steven Spielberg‘s remake 60 years later (the director’s first incursion into the musical genre) brought to the table a grittier, more raw feel to the story, characters, and visuals. Both versions are equal must-sees for movie fans.
‘Seven Samurai’ (1954) and ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (1960 and 2016)
Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa made multiple masterpieces, but perhaps none as acclaimed as Seven Samurai, a film about a group of samurai recruited to protect a village from violent bandits.
The backbones of the story have been imitated and paid homage to multiple times in movies and TV, perhaps most notably in 1960 with The Magnificent Seven, which takes the basic plot of Seven Samurai and takes it to the Western genre. The film was remade 62 years after Kurosawa’s magnum opus—certainly not to the same acclaim as the 1960 version, but both are fun and charming.
‘The Mummy’ (1932 and 1999)
Starring Frankenstein‘s Boris Karloff, the 1932 black-and-white version of The Mummy is about an Egyptian mummy searching in Cairo for a girl he thinks is his lost princess.
Being one of the beloved Universal monster movie classics, it would be hard to top The Mummy in terms of popularity, yet 67 years later came a remake of the same name starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. Its cult classic status grew over the years as audiences fell in love with the incredibly fun twist it put on the amazing 1932 story.
‘King Kong’ (1933, 1976, and 2005)
The story of King Kong is about a film crew who discovers a giant prehistoric ape and brings him back to New York, where he wreaks havoc.
The creativity and passion in the 1933 original have helped it age like fine wine. It was remade 43 years later to a not-so-pleasant reception, but 29 years after that came Peter Jackson‘s version of the story (which is one of his best works), with jaw-dropping visuals and a more entertaining story.
‘A Star Is Born’ (1937, 1954, 1976, and 2018)
A film being remade three times sounds like it would have soon become a trite idea, yet you can find something to love in each version of A Star Is Born, a story about an artist helping a young woman find fame while his career goes on a downward spiral due to age and addiction.
The original was a self-aware critique of Hollywood; the 1954 version is a moving and contemplative story of great complexity; the 1976 remake, though definitely the weakest, has some amazing performances; and the most recent retelling of the film, which came out 81 years after the original, ups the ante in nearly every way to deliver a beautiful but gut-wrenching tale of addiction and love. It goes to prove that an updated version of an old film can sometimes be quite a good idea.
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