There's nothing like a remake of a much-loved film to get everyone stomping the streets with pitchforks, screaming for blood. Or at least sending an sngry tweet.
But while there are plenty of these that we know about, there are also some lesser known occasions of classic films being remade without anyone really paying attention. We refuse to let anyone get off that easy though so we have eight examples of remakes you might not be aware of.
(Images: YouTube, All Star)
Carrie
While you might be all too aware of the recent remake with Chloe Moretz and Julianne Moore, you'll probably have no clue that it was adapted for TV back in 2002. It stared Angela Bettis as Carrie and Oscar-nominee Patricia Clarkson as her sadistic mother. It didn't go down all that well. It did however boast a different ending to either of the theatrical versions with Carrie faking her own death and disappearing with Sue Snell.
____________________________________________________________
Get Carter
Again, regretfully, you may know of the 2000 travesty that saw Sylvester Stallone take on, and murder, the role of Jack Carter but chances are this one passed you by. The Hit Man was a 1972 blaxploitation take on the same novel that the Caine classic was based on but the action was moved to California. Pam Grier cropped up and that wasn't the only cliché that was covered with the NAACP condemning the film at times for conforming to African American stereotypes.
____________________________________________________________
Groundhog Day
Known as È già ieri, or its English title Stork Day, this Italian film was a rare example of a foreign remake of an American film, rather than the other way around. It only cost the producers a fairly reasonable $150,000 for the rights yet many critics wondered why they even bothered. Changing the snowy Pennsylvanian setting to the, slightly less awful, sunny Canary Islands, the central conceit of spending every day in the same godawful place became somewhat ruined...
____________________________________________________________
High Noon
Another TV remake that came and went without a trace, this 2000 take on the 1952 western wasn't the first time that someone has tried to get more mileage out of the Gary Cooper classic. There was a TV pilot in 1966, a TV sequel in 1980 and a sci-fi remake in the shape of Outland in 1981 but this was a full-on remake, starring Tom Skerritt in the lead role, with support from lots of people you'll have never heard of.
____________________________________________________________
It's A Wonderful Life
Remember how angry everyone got when it was revealed that a sequel to Frank Capra's 1946 Christmas classic was in the works? Well, if more people knew about the 1977 TV movie It Happened One Christmas, there would be rioting in the streets. It's a gender-reversed remake with most of the original dialogue, which led Capra to call it "plagiaristic." The worst thing about it? It co-starred Orson Welles...
____________________________________________________________
Blood Simple
Right, now stick with us on this one. Acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou, best known for Hero and Raise the Red Lantern, decided to take the breakout Coen Brothers hit and do something rather radical with it. A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop was the result: a part-comedy, part-thriller film which was like nothing the director had done before. It went down well with critics, and with the Coens who wrote to Yimou to say they were pleased with the changes he'd made.
____________________________________________________________
Rear Window
Although the argument didn't hold up in court, the pre-insanity Shia LaBeouf thriller Disturbia was a rather thinly disguised take on Hitchcock's classic. Unlike this 1998 TV movie which was an actual proper remake. It starred Christopher Reeve, in his first role after the accident which paralysed him, and Daryl Hannah, who used to be a thing. Despite praise for Reeve's performance, which scored him a Golden Globe nomination, the film was generally seen as a misfire.
____________________________________________________________
Sideways
A Japanese re-do of the Oscar-winning comedy drama about wine and male bonding, this was notable for also being set in California. Saidoweizu was created by Fox and does list original director Alexander Payne as an executive producer although he didn't have any direct involvement. Paul Giamatti was asked to appear in a small role but turned it down. Trivia: the film does star Rinko Kikuchi, best known for Babel and Pacific Rim.
Latest
Related Reviews and Shortlists
