10 Film Remakes That Are Better Than The Original

The Original

Yojimbo is rightly considered a cinematic classic from legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. The story of a Ronin (a samurai warrior without master) who finds himself in the middle of a gang war, ultimately having to play both sides off against the other in a battle for survival.

It’s a set-up which Kurosawa takes straight from genre Westerns of the forties and fifties, majestically transposing the action into nineteenth century Japan.

The Remake

Making the decision by Sergio Leone to ‘borrow’ the story back from Kurosawa to create one of seminal Westerns of the sixties, all the more ironic.

It’s saying something that the remake stands up against such a revered and influential original, especially as there was only three years between them. Helped, without doubt, by the towering presence of Clint Eastwood, as the ultimate strong, silent type.

Leone uses sweaty close-ups and dusty landscapes to pitch us into the harsh and violent Western world, aided by Ennio Morricone’s evocative soundtrack and a tense , iconic final act that would come to the aid of Marty McFly in Back to the Future 3.