10 Movie Remakes With Better Endings Than The Original
8. 3:10 To Yuma (2007)
Whichever version of this classic western story you watch, you're getting a great movie, but James Mangold's 2007 remake edges an advantage with its decidedly less-neat, Hollywood-style ending.
In Delmer Daves' 1957 original, rancher Dan Evans (Van Heflin) manages to successfully complete his mission by getting outlaw Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) on the train to the Yuma jail. Evans gets paid and Wade implies that he'll be able to break out of Yuma, so everyone wins.
But the 2007 film ditches this overly happy finale for a more realistic one, with Evans being shot dead by Wade's psychotic right-hand man Charlie Prince (Ben Foster).
Wade then kills Prince and boards the train to ensure that Evans' son will receive the money, and as in the '57 film, it's suggested that he'll make his escape before long.
In the film's DVD commentary, Mangold stated that he "didn't buy" the original ending and didn't think that modern audiences would either, so opted for a more tragic one instead. A smart decision, for sure.