4. Solaris
Steven Soderbergh's remake of Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece is a strange affair. Tarkovsky's original is about as un-American as cinema can get - it's very long and features lots and lots of exposition in a language that isn't English. A spell-binding film that takes a few watches to truly absorb, it was always going to be a unique challenge to remake, and Soderbergh would not have been everyone's first choice to accept the challenge. To give him his credit, he makes a damn good go of it and is pretty faithful to the original and indeed the source material. He attempts to inject humour into the film, something Tarkovsky neglected and the casting of George Clooney is spot on, but it's ultimately missing something. Soderbergh's version isn't as nice to look at - but that's barely a criticism as Tarkovsky movies are amongst the most stunning and immaculately framed in all of cinema. Both films can be difficult watches, and Soderbergh's film is definitely more in tune to an American audience, but it just lacks the poetic soul of Tarkovsky's vision. That's not to dismiss it entirely , and it's a bold effort, but it's not a film you find yourself caring for.