10 Film Remakes That Are Better Than The Original

The Original

Yes, I know, this was the film that earned John Wayne his Oscar. His Unforgiven moment, as the hard-drinking lawman with a heart of stone, who actually finds he has a bit of compassion lurking within his whiskey-soaked soul.

The problem with the film is that John Wayne was never able to stop being John Wayne. Whatever departure this was from previous western characres in his back catalogue, it's not that much of a departure. Eye-patch aside, it's the same John Wayne voice, the same John Wayne gait.

If you're a Wayne fan, then you'll love it. If not - and he was nothing if not divisive as a figure - then your reaction is likely to be less warm.

The Remake

The Coens and Jeff Bridges are a match made in Dude heaven.

Bridges is simply spell-binding as the curmudgeonly old gunslinger and begrudging antihero Rooster Cogburn, immersing himself into the character in the exact same way that Wayne didn’t. A man as far removed from Tron, Starman or The Big Lebowski as it's possible to be.

The Coen brothers deliver a film that's closer to the source novel than the original. Sweeping landscapes pay homage to classic Western era Hollywood while offering a west that was indeed wild, and harsh and seemingly unforgiving.

A genuine modern classic.