"Remake." Is there any word more primed to irk a cinephile than "remake?" Remakes, after all, are generally considered to be the scourge of the movie world. Why take a product that is already good and spend the time, effort and money trying to replicate its successes all over again? For many, such an act symbolises Hollywood at its worst. Because there's something inherently futile about the idea of a remake. It's near impossible to "capture" what, exactly, has made something popular in the first place; despite what Hollywood seems to think, taking an existing film and updating it for a new audience rarely works. And it's not as though the majority of remakes ever turn out to be worthwhile. Occasionally you'll get a tolerable remake; rarely will it turn out to be any better. That said, some remakes get a hard time purely on the basis that they're remakes. Sometimes, then, it's worth trying to separate yourself from the original movie and trying to appreciate said film on its own merits. Nostalgia can play a huge part in our reactions to remakes and - as a result - some recent movies in this vein have been treated unfairly. To reinforce this point, here are the 10 most underrated remakes since 2000, none of which were anywhere near as bad they were made out to be. Some, even, are rather great...
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
