- Casino Royale: The first version of Casino was a 1954 episode of a television anthology with Barry Nelson as American ex-CIA operative "Jimmy Bond.” Think that was odd? Try 1967's theatrical release featuring three James Bonds (played by David Niven, Peter Sellers and… Woody Allen). The 2006 film reinvents Bond by taking him closer to his literary roots. (Those who say they are Bond fans usually have never read a Bond novel: the James Bond in print bears only a passing resemblance to the one(s) on film; there are no mini helicopters or amphibious cars and the man himself is not a rapier but a "blunt instrument," more enforcer than seducer.)
- The Manchurian Candidate: My only problem with the original was Janet Leigh's Rosie. She meets an obviously distressed stranger on a train and (1) helps him, (2) moves him into her apartment, (3) breaks off her engagement for him and (4) falls in love with him, not necessarily in that order. It was a tribute to Ms. Leigh's acting ability that she managed to make the character not come across as someone in desperate need of a session with Dr. Phil. Kimberly Elise's Rosie, an undercover FBI agent assigned to report on Marco's activities, makes more sense. While the latter film lacks some of the original’s most stylish set pieces (like the brainwashing sequence where the point of view alternates between the actual procedure and a ladies' garden party the soldiers "believe" they are attending), the performances are all first rate, particularly Meryl Streep as Eleanor Shaw (as if following performances by Leigh, Sinatra, and Laurence Harvey were a walk in the park). Modeling her character on contemporary politicos (an amalgam of Donald Rumsfeld and Hilary Clinton, it's been said), she managed to create a Mommy Dearest just as creepy as Angela Landsbury's.
- The Thing: The original provided one of cinema's all time iconic moments, when the search party fans out to determine the shape of the frozen spacecraft and they stare at each other with "WTF" expressions when the realize they have formed… a circle. (No miniatures or CGI needed to inspire a sense of wonder.) The 1951 film was fast, funny and scary but we never really doubted the good guys (here the Army Air Corps) would win. Jon Carpenter's 1982 version captures the claustrophobia of the original story and ratchets the tension up with the question of who is or is not a "thing." While some felt the movie was unnecessarily gory, it actually showed restraint, even by the standards of the day, with an ensemble cast of reliable TV and movie veterans including a pre-pitchman Wilford Brimly, TV mainstay David Clennon (who had perhaps the movie's most memorable—or at least most oft-quoted—line), T.K. Carter and voiceover king Keith David.
- War of the Worlds: Even average Spielberg is better than the vast majority of directors out there, and this 2005 film was one of his most underrated. Spielberg has often said he could not make Close Encounters of the Third Kind today because he could never envision leaving his family, even to explore the mysteries of the universe. (Of course, alien abduction may seem like a more pleasant alternative to spending time with our loved ones, especially during the holiday season, but I guess it all depends on your family.) The 1951 original fit comfortably in with the monster movies of the period, with intrepid scientists on the front lines puzzling out a way to defeat the invaders—except this time, they don't. Spielberg’s version neatly blends the source material (a personal account of an average guy trying to survive the attack) with one of his own personal themes, trying to keep your family together at all costs. The movie is also Spielberg imitating/satirizing himself, a sort of anti-ET and Close Encounters: contrast the invader's clumsy examination of the bicycle with Elliot’s ride with ET, or the aliens coming for Cary Guffey verses them coming for Dakota Fanning.
As multi-Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman pointed out, nobody in Hollywood knows anything (or to be more precise, they don't learn anything), so we can expect more unnecessary bad remakes of movies we used to like. But every now and then, there is an acorn among the slop.
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