In the age of endless remakes, reboots, and re-what-have-yous, you probably didn’t know that these remakes existed.
A great movie is a great movie. And most great movies are never touched. There’s just something about them that makes them un-remake-able. But then there are great movies that WERE remade in some capacity, even if you didn’t know about it.
Some simply flew under the radar, and you didn’t have a chance to even learn about it. Some are foreign remakes that either weren’t released in Western markets or didn’t gain enough traction to signify attention.
Either way, these are ten great movies that have remakes you never knew about.
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is one of the all-time greatest Westerns. It’s probably one of your grandfather’s favorite movies! Released back in 1966, the movie had an incredible impact on the Western genre, and it helped make Clint Eastwood a bona fide movie star. And wouldn’t you know it, it has a Korean remake. It’s called The Good, the Bad, the Weird, or Jo-eun nom nappeun nom isanghan nom. It’s certainly not a shot for shot remake or anything, but there’s no denying that it was heavily inspired by Sergio Leone’s masterpiece.
Cellular
Do you remember that Jason Statham movie Cellular? No, probably not. To refresh your memory, Cellular starred Jason Statham, Chris Evans, and Kim Basinger, and it tells the story of a young man who receives a random call from a woman who claims to have been kidnapped. The movie came and went without much attention. But it was obviously interesting enough to warrant the attention of China, who remade the movie and re-titled it Connected. It received positive reviews and won Best Editing at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards.
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day is an absolute classic. It’s arguably one of Bill Murray’s finer films, as it is both uproariously hilarious, brutally sad, and surprisingly existential and philosophical. At a time when Bill Murray was known mainly for his comedic roles, Groundhog Day was a massive surprise.
It was eventually remade in Italy under the name È già ieri (or Stork Day), and it follows a nature documentary presenter who misses his ferry and is forced to relive the same day on a Spanish island. It was released in 2004, long after the OG Groundhog Day had come and gone.
Unforgiven
Turns out that Clint Eastwood is REALLY big in Asia! Unforgiven is another Western of his, and it couldn’t be further in tone than The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Where that movie was fun, adventurous, and rather goofy, Unforgiven is a solemn affair that looks to re-contextualize the Western and paints the traditional Western heroes in a new light. His 1992 masterpiece was remade in Japan in 2013, and it stars Ken Watanabe in the leading role. It was screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
Sideways
Sideways was one of the great movies of 2004. It stars the brilliant duo of Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church as two depressed and past-their-prime middle-aged men who decided to go wine tasting in Santa Barbara County. Well, it turns out that Japanese love their quaint little wine tasting movies just as much as they do their somber Westerns. The Japanese remake is known as Saidoweizu and was a co-production between Fox International and Japan’s Fuji TV. This one deals with a middle-aged Japanese man traveling to America for the wedding of his friend and embarking on a wine tasting tour through Napa Valley.
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is one of the most acclaimed and exciting debut movies. It heralded the arrival of Quentin Tarantino, a bizarre and idiosyncratic filmmaker who has since gone on to change cinema forever. Reservoir Dogs is arguably his most subdued creation, aside from maybe Jackie Brown. Reservoir Dogs was remade in India under the name Kaante, and it has received validation from Tarantino himself, who has called it his favorite foreign language remake.
The Godfather
Is remaking The Godfather sacrilegious? After all, it’s one of the rare movies in the Great Movie pantheon that will never be argued. Even people who don’t really like the movie show respect for its undeniable quality! So, yes, it is sacrilegious. But India did it anyway! The Hindi-spoken remake is called Sarkar, and it was released in 2005. It is an “unofficial” remake of the movie, and it introduces a political element into the story. It is also the first entry in the Sarkar series, a series which has since grown to three movies. Just like The Godfather! That can’t be a coincidence…
Assault On Precinct 13
This story has been told and retold seemingly endless times. John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 is a classic, and that in turn was greatly inspired by the Western movie Rio Bravo. John Carpenter’s movie was then remade in 2005 and starred Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne.
But that isn’t the remake we’re talking about. No, we’re talking about The Nest, a 2002 action movie that was released in France under the name Nid de guêpes. It was largely successful, and it even helped influence the cinematography of the 2005 American remake!
Day Of The Dead
Everyone remembers the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake. It helped give rise to the concept of fast zombies, and it helped revitalize the film career of the legendary George A. Romero (his long-awaited sequel, Land of the Dead, was released the following year). But did you know that Romero’s 1985 dark masterpiece Day of the Dead ALSO received a remake? It actually received TWO remakes - 2008’s Day of the Dead and 2018’s Day of the Dead: Bloodline. We wouldn’t recommend either.
Kramer Vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer is the ’70s version of Marriage Story. It stars Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep as a divorcing couple who need to balance the complexities of their divorce with the happiness of their young son. So, yeah, exactly like Marriage Story. But we’re not talking about Marriage Story. We’re talking about the 1995 Indian remake known as Akele Hum Akele Tum. By all accounts, it is very good. But hey, if you want even MORE marriage-based drama in your life, seek it out!
