People often reject Hollywood because it has no new ideas and just re-creates and reboots familiar features. Others might say that there is no such thing as an original idea, and that every story is just a repetition of a well-known story. The films below may have been celebrated and revered in their time, but many may not realize that they are remakes of popular foreign films.
However, the change in setting and time period may be enough to distinguish it from the original. Having learned about the original versions of these American remakes, any reader can now pompously say, “Well, I prefer the original foreign film.”
9 Brick Townhouses – District 13
This action movie starring Paul Walker and David Belle packs in an impressive amount of Parkour action. It is fitting because David Belle is one of the pioneers of the way of moving, which he learned from his father. The athlete also starred in a French film called District 13 (along with the sequel), which follows the same story. Both are good choices for anyone looking for some intense stunts mixed with light humor.
8 Dinner for Schmucks – Le Diner de Cons
Paul Rudd and Steve Carell star in this comedy film about businessmen who bring clumsy fools to dinner for the sole purpose of fooling them. It sounds mean, but the film clearly criticizes high society’s tendency to mock the socially abnormal. Le Diner de Cons, or The Dinner Game, is the original French version. While there are some differences in the characters and the way events play out, the setup is almost identical.
7 12 Monkeys – Le Jetee
Le Jetee is an experimental short film consisting almost exclusively of black and white photographs. It tells the story of a time traveler who returns to the present after a nuclear apocalypse. He falls in love and eventually completes his mission, but is eventually hunted by the scientists who sent him to the past.
If this sounds a bit like 12 monkeysThat’s because Terry Gilliam’s film is directly inspired by the short film. No one can call it a lazy recreation stunned for new audiences, as it is similarly thought-provoking and makes the story unique due to the director’s signature flair.
6 Last House on the Left – The Virgin Well
Wes Craven took horror to a new level with his contributions to the genre. Before the supernatural slashers of the Nightmare in Elm Street series he made a brutal revenge movie called The last house on the left.
A family carries out grotesquely violent justice against the people who murdered their daughter. The film was remade in the 2000s, but many may not realize that Wes Craven’s film is heavily inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s The virginal spring. The plot is similar, except it is set in the distant past in Sweden and is more of a drama than a horror movie.
5 Last Man Standing – Yojimbo
Some of the best stories start with a stranger who walks into a city and finds himself embroiled in a conflict he has no interest in. In the end, he saves the day and happily carries on. This is the 1996 movie Last Man Standingstarring Bruce Willis, and also Akira Kurasawa’s legendary Samurai movie, Yojimbo.
The first takes place during the Prohibition era in the United States, and Yojimbo is set in 1860 in Japan. It was wise for Last Man Standing to distinguish itself with a new setting because Yojimbo is still considered one of the greatest films ever made.
4 Taxi – Taxi
Before becoming a talk show host, Jimmy Fallon tried his hand at movies. One attempt was: Cabwhere he was a cop who needed wheels and got help from a taxi driver played by Queen Latifa.
She’s not just a taxi driver; she likes to drive fast and has an extravagant taxi. A French film of the same name uses the exact same set-up, except that both lead roles are male. The French Cab is immensely popular and spawned countless sequels.
3 Magnificent Seven – Seven Samurai
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seven samurai is a story that has been told and adapted countless times over the centuries. Even an episode of The Mandalorian takes inspiration from the movie.
The film was originally released in the west as The beautiful seven. Knowing this, it makes more sense to find out that the western starring Yul Brynner is a remake of the Akira Kurasawa classic. It just moves the action from Japan to the American west.
2 Point of No Return – Le Femme Nikita
Luc Besson has a plethora of directorial credits in both his native France and the United States. However, he doesn’t always deal with an American film if it’s a remake of his original. That was the case with Le Femme Nikita. Both it and Point of no return are about a woman on death row who is rescued and turned into a hit man.
Both films do a lot with the concept and deal with the character’s reluctance to kill and the desire to have a full life after turning into a cop. The original French film also stands out as one of Luc Besson’s most popular films, Leon: the professional.
1 Funny games – Funny games
Michael Henneke is not a horror film director, so you can guess that Funny games is not a typical home invasion movie. It should be a commentary on senseless violence in the media and the public’s fascination with it.
Perhaps the American remake lends itself to this theme. It is a shot-by-shot recreation of the original Austrian production by the same director. Both are equally strict, unfair and hard to bear. However, if one goes into it, knowing the subtext, they can appreciate it better without being turned off by the violence and depravity.
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