English Film adaptations of International Films

[COMaestro]

Along with Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven, there's also Yojimbo adapted into A Fistful of Dollars and (though not as good) Last Man Standing. Haven't seen all of the last one but I swear there are numerous bits of AFoD that are almost identical to Yojimbo as far as cinematography goes.

Some remakes do make sense, as it adapts the material in a way that will be more familiar for the intended audience. American viewers at the time were much more comfortable with a Western film than they would have been with a subbed/dubbed Samurai film, so adapting Kurosawa's films into Westerns is a logical solution for someone wanting to bring those stories to an American audience.

 

[Vanilla ISIS]

True Lies is an good adaptation of an old French movie that nobody remembers.
The Departed is, in my opinion, better than the original Infernal Affairs from Japan. The acting is better, it looks better (probably because of the budget difference) and the ending is solid and conclusive, unlike the sequel baiting original.

 

[Samos205]

and I only heard bad things about the recent Ghost in the Shell.

Rest assured that if you heard bad things, you heard them correctly.

What was it that you think was bad about it?
Personally, i quite enjoyed it aside from the obvious reveal they hinted at half way through. Would've been good if they'd just stuck with a remake/adaption of the original rather than switching it up half way through and doing a pick and mix of scenes from through out the franchise, but atleast those scenes were well done. With that being said, its been awhile since i last saw it so maybe i never noticed/can't remember the issues

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

The Departed is, in my opinion, better than the original Infernal Affairs from Japan. The acting is better, it looks better (probably because of the budget difference) and the ending is solid and conclusive, unlike the sequel baiting original.

Came here to say this.
"Departed" might be the exception to the rule, solely due to Scorsese directing it, though.

Along with Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven, there's also Yojimbo adapted into A Fistful of Dollars and (though not as good) Last Man Standing. Haven't seen all of the last one but I swear there are numerous bits of AFoD that are almost identical to Yojimbo as far as cinematography goes.

Was about to mention Yojimbo/AFOD as well, but i remembered it was made by an italian director in Spain, so not sure if it qualifies entirely.

 

[Tanis]

I kind of like 'Let The Right One In'.

It wasn't better than the original, but it wasn't horrible as well.

 

[stroopwafel]

Frankly, I've always found the entire concept confusing and infuriating [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9eyr5P9qaQ].

I mean, if you think a movie is worth adapting, then certainly you think it's good enough that people would be interested in in the first place, so really... what's the point? And if it's simply a language problem, then certainly subtitles or dubbing over the original would be a far more cost-effective solution than making what's essentially a whole new movie?

I always have the impression they remake movies to strip them of their cultural influence. No matter the genre American movies are stylistically very recognizable so these studios probably have the assumption that if they remake(or 'americanize') a movie that it connects better with the audience. Which might or might not be true considering foreign films are a fairly niche market compared to Hollywood productions.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I haven't seen the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo but I liked the David Fincher version.
People already mentioned Let Me In or however it was called as well, good movie.

Something that doesn't work in this case is 'The Secret in Their Eyes'. Part of why the original works is that it takes place in Argentina decades ago, where its plot ties in heavily with the class divide within the country. People can get away with certain things easily due to their higher social status. In contrast, the US adaptation falls short, because it tries to recontextualize it in the context of the early post-9/11 era. However, it just doesn't work. It doesn't work as social commentary, nor does it keep within credulity.

Yup.

 

[cathou]

i think most of the time, when people that are aware of the orignal material see a hollywood adaptation of that movie, it feel just wrong. often the americans just keep the base idea and base everything that made the movie a good movie in the first time.

Delivery Man (original movie : Starbuck) with vince vaughn was nowhere as funny as the the original movie starbuck

Ed TV (original movie : louis 19 le roi des ondes) just completly scrap the original movie idea. the original movie was about a complete looser, who have the only dream to be on tv win a contest that will show his life 24/7, but now that he's on tv, suddently he become popular, but most people just want to share his fame, and have no real interrest in him. the tv show production even staged a few drama to happen to him, without him knowing this. and all the suddent he realised his life is now a nightmare and do everything he can to get the show cancel, to regain his former life.

Dinner for Schmucks (original movie : le diner de cons) was a fantastic french movie, but again, the remake with steve caroll was not as funny.

maybe it's just a cultural thing. but i can list plenty of american remake that i think that fall short of the original. 3 men and a baby (original movie : 3 hommes et un couffin), jungle 2 jungle (original movie : un indien dans la ville), point of no return (original movie : Nikita), taxi (original movie : Taxi (but in french))... but i must admit the birdcage (original movie : la cage aux folles) i did appreciated the remake more...

"International films"?
Pretty sure there's no such thing as "international" films.
Is this just for Hollywood adaptations?

Well, the Netflix genre categories beg to differ. I don't know what a better term would be, though - "Foreign"?

I mean - if you can think of non-Hollywood / US reboots of foreign films / series', feel free to suggest them. I was struggling to think of any.

i know a couple of french canadian movies that were remake in France. so a french remake of a french movie... La grande s?duction, Starbuck (that was also remake by the USA), de p?re en flic are three movies i can think of.

 

[Chewster]

The Departed is, in my opinion, better than the original Infernal Affairs from Japan. The acting is better, it looks better (probably because of the budget difference) and the ending is solid and conclusive, unlike the sequel baiting original.

Infernal Affairs was made in Hong Kong, boyo.

And IMHO it is much better than The Departed if only because the latter was sloppily edited, way too melodramatic and overwrought and basically did nothing to change the story aside from setting it in Boston. It added very little and was way too "Hollywood-ized" if that makes any sense. It did have a better soundtrack, though.

It's an all right film but Scorsese has made way better crime films and, in my opinion, better films in general.