10 Famous Movies That Ruined The Reputations Of Classic Films

3. True Grit (2010) Is So Good Everyone Assumes The Original Was Bad

The well-documented rule with remakes is that they tend to be bad. And when there's an exception its either good, but not better (Let Me In, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), or the original wasn't that good in the first place (Ocean's 11). True Grit falls into neither category, but don't let that stop audiences trying.

The Coen Brothers' 2010 new version of the western novel was better than anyone ever expected it to be. Not just a great entry in a genre rarely touched by modern cinema, but a unique one at that, it had a sucker punch of an ending that put a rightful downer on the whole thing.

Ten Oscar nominations came, with victory in none likely coming from the Academy having awarded the directors and star in recent years. The original came at the tail end of the western's dominance of Hollywood and thus contains many of the genre's traditional aspects; it's does star John Wayne after all. More by the numbers, it adapts the basic plot rather than providing a nuanced piece. `

So yeah, True Grit 1969 is certainly the weaker film of the two; its not got the epic scale of the Coens' version and John Wayne plays Rooster Cogburn like every other John Wayne character (he's just short of wishing the pilgrims happy thanksgiving). The readaptation of the book brought some modern day attention to the film, but a lot of it was as curio of its time. Which it is, but that doesn't make it a bad film.