People often decry Hollywood for lacking new ideas and simply remaking and rebooting well-known properties. Others might say there is no such thing as an original idea, and every story is merely a rehash of a well-known narrative. The films below might have been celebrated and revered in their day, but many might not realize that they are remakes of popular foreign films.
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The change in setting and time period might be enough to differentiate it from the original, though. After learning about the original versions of these American remakes, any reader can now pompously tell people, “well, I much prefer the original foreign film.”
9Brick Mansions - District 13
This action moviestarring Paul Walkerand David Belle features an impressive amount of Parkour action. It is appropriate because David Belle is one of the pioneers of the way of movement, having learned it from his father. The athlete also starred in a French movie calledDistrict 13(along with its sequel) which follows the same narrative. Both are good choices for anyone looking for some intense stunts mixed in with light humor.
8Dinner For Schmucks - Le Diner de Cons
Paul Rudd and Steve Carell star in thiscomedy filmabout businessmen who find bumbling fools to bring to a dinner for the sole purpose of poking fun at them. It sounds mean-spirited, but the movie clearly criticizes high society’s penchant for making fun of the socially abnormal. Le Diner de Cons, or The Dinner Game, is the original French version. Though there are some differences in the characters and the way events play out, the setup is almost identical.
712 Monkeys - Le Jetee
Le Jetee is an experimental short film consisting almost exclusively of black and white photos. It tells the story of atime traveler returning to the presentafter a nuclear apocalypse. He falls in love and eventually completes his mission but is eventually hunted down by the scientists who sent him to the past.
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If this sounds a bit like12 Monkeys, that is because Terry Gilliam’s film is directly inspired by the short movie. No one can call it a lazy recreation dumbed down for a new audience because it is similarly thought-provoking and makes the story unique due to the director’s signature flair.
6Last House On The Left - The Virgin Spring
Wes Craven took horror to a new levelwith his contributions to the genre. Before the supernatural slashers of theNightmare on Elm Streetseries, he made a brutal revenge movie calledThe Last House on the Left.
A family enacts grotesquely violent justice upon the people who murdered their daughter. The film was remade in the 2000s, but many might not realize that Wes Craven’s movie took heavy inspiration from Ingmar Bergman’sThe Virgin Spring. The plot is similar, only it takes place in the distant past in Sweden and is more of a drama than a horror film.
5Last Man Standing - Yojimbo
Some of the best stories start with a stranger wandering into a town and getting involved in a conflict in which he has no stake. He ends up saving the day and going along his merry way.This is the 1996 filmLast Man Standing, starring Bruce Willis, and also the legendary Samurai movie from Akira Kurasawa,Yojimbo.
The former takes place during the prohibition era in the United States, andYojimbois set in 1860 in Japan. It was wise forLast Man Standingto differentiate itself with a new setting becauseYojimbois still considered one of the best movies ever made.
4Taxi - Taxi
Before becoming a talkshow host, Jimmy Fallon tried his hand at movies. One attempt wasTaxi, where he was a cop in need of wheels who received help from a cabbie played by Queen Latifa.
She isn’t just any taxi driver; she likes to drive fast and has an extravagant taxi cab. A French movie of the same name uses the exact same setup, only both leads are men. The FrenchTaxiis immensely popular and spawned numerous sequels.
3Magnificent Seven - Seven Samurai
Seven Samuraiis a story that’s been told and adapted numerous times throughout the ages.Even an episode ofThe Mandaloriantakes inspiration from the movie.
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The movie was originally released in the west asThe Magnificent Seven. Knowing this, it makes more sense to find out that the western starring Yul Brynner is a remake of the Akira Kurasawa classic. It simply moves the action from Japan to the American west.
2Point Of No Return - Le Femme Nikita
Luc Besson has a plethora of directorial credits in both his native France and the United States. He doesn’t always handle an American movie when it is a remake of his original, though. Such was the case withLe Femme Nikita. Both it andPoint of No Returnare about a woman sentenced to death who is saved and turned into an assassin.
Both movies do a lot with the concept and deal with the character’s reluctance towards killing and desire to have a full life after being turned into an agent. The original French film also has the distinction of inspiring one of Luc Besson’s most popular films,Leon: The Professional.
1Funny Games - Funny Games
Michael Henneke is not a horror movie director,so one can already guess thatFunny Gamesis not a typical home invasion flick. It is supposed to be a commentary on pointless violence in media and the audience’s fascination with it.
Maybe the American remake lends to this theme. It is a shot-for-shot recreation of the original Austrian production coming from the same director. Both are equally dour, unfair, and hard to stomach. However, if one goes into it knowing the subtext, they can appreciate it better without being turned off by the violence and depravity.
