Remakes: Good or Bad?

[Nighthawk]

OK, so I wanted to expand a little bit upon what I posted in the Metropolis thread. Here is what I posted:

That said, there are times when remakes work. For example, John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) was a remake of The Thing from Another World (1951). The the 1982 version follows the source material far better than the 1951 version. Both stories were based on John W. Campbell, Jr.'s 1938 novella titled "Who Goes There?" originally published under the pseudonym Don A. Stuart in Astounding Stories.

It would probabally be hard and expensive to get ahold of the Aug. '38 issue of Astounding, but the story was reprinted in the classic anthology Adventures in Time and Space and The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two. It was also reprinted in Campbell's own collection, titled the same as the story. I am pretty sure it has been reprinted elsewhere, but offhand I couldn't tell you.

So what other movies that are remakes are superior to the originals? What comes to mind immediately is the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon starring Bogart, superior to the '36 and '31 versions.

As for terrible remakes, let's start with Barb Wire, that awful remake of Casablanca.

NH

 

[Charlie Noodles]

I preferred The Omega Man to The Last Man on Earth. I still haven't gotten around to seeing Will Smith's 'I am Legend' and I couldn't sit through 'I am Omega' so I can't judge those. I haven't read the book either, so I wouldn't know how close any of them are to the source.

And maybe I'm just completely tasteless, but I preferred Pacino's Scarface.