6 Sci-Fi Movie Remakes That Actually Don’t Suck

Sci - fi movie remakes are a genre constant . safe sci - fi remakes , however , aresurprisingly hard to come by . While you nervously hold back to pass judgment on in - the - plant projects likeDuneandEscape From New York , though , here are eight movies that try out sci - fi remake can be amazing .

6. Godzilla (2014)

After Roland Emmerich ’s 1998 attempt at make for the fabled Japanese monstrosity stateside crashed and burned , it took 16 years before an American studio apartment dared make another attempt . yield , it would n’t take much to meliorate on that universally - turn down calamity , but the 2014 version — with Gareth Edwards ( who ’d go on to make Rogue One : A Star Wars Story ) at the helm , a more carefully - considered and orbicular story , and much - sophisticated CGI — managed to deliveran entertaining fauna featurethat did n’t grossly affront the source material .

In fact , Godzilla was such a success that it cleared the way for Legendary ’s “ MonsterVerse , ” which also includes 2017’sKong : Skull Island , this year’sGodzilla : King of the Monsters , and next year’sGodzilla vs. Kong . The post - war poignancy of the 1954 O.G. big yard will never be substitute — and there ’s a sure charm attached to the “ man in suit of clothes ” portrayal that gets mislay in the spectacle of advanced peculiar effects . But at least Hollywood ’s take on Godzilla is finally stomping in the correct direction .

5. 12 Monkeys

In 1962 , Gallic movie maker Chris Marker releasedLa Jetée , about a prisoner who ’s inscribe to be a sentence traveller in post - atomic war Paris . The man is specifically choose because he ’s holding so tightly to a foggy retention involving a beautiful woman and a crimson incident he witnessed as a child at an airport , a quirkiness of his mind that scientists hope will make him a good subject for their experiment , and hopefully the possible savior of the human race . La Jetée take to the woods just under 30 minutes and it is n’t a traditional film — it uses mostly ignominious - and - white-hot still picture , along with music and an bear on voice - over , to tell its tale .

Three decennary later , the man ’s haunting quest began again in the word form of Terry Gilliam ’s sci - fi noir 12 Monkeys . In this version , rather of nuclear war , humankind ’s being is jeopardise by a pestilent computer virus , and Gilliam ’s signature tune optic style ( and willingness to embrace over - the - top elements , like Brad Pitt ’s performance as a psychiatric patient ) contrasts acutely with the utterness of La Jetée . But 12 Monkeys — which went on to inspire the also excellent Syfy idiot box serial publication — manages to both honor and heighten Marker ’s prison term - loop tragedy , and well map a best - shell - scenario issue for the rare data-based shortstop that finds itself transformed into a Hollywood characteristic .

4. Dredd

In 1995 , Sylvester Stallone vehicle Judge Dredd was lukewarmly received , but the nominal character , a futurist “ street judge ” who chases felon ( and then seals their fate ) in a dystopian metropolis , was compelling enough to inspire another attack at bad - screen resplendence . With that in intellect — and with the assistance of a script by Alex Garland ( 28 Days by and by , Ex Machina , Annihilation)—2012 ’s Dredd is less a remake of Judge Dredd the movie than it is a fresh take onthe John Wagner - Carlos Ezquerra mirthful book founding .

Karl Urban ( charismatic despite never taking his helmet off ) plays Dredd , task with infiltrating a high - rise apartment building that ’s controlled by a drug kingpin named “ Ma - Ma ” recreate by Lena Heady , who was then just a yr into her villainous turn as Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones . The drug of option in Mega - City One is call “ Slo - Mo , ” the consequence of which are depicted literally by director Pete Travis in a movie that ’s otherwise drive bypropulsive and often brutal military action . Not to mention a foxy sensory faculty of liquid body substance that was painfully lacking in the first motion picture .

3. The Fly

The same 1957 George Langelaan short story inspired both the 1958 and the 1986 photographic film reading of The Fly . The 1958 version is plenty ugly for its meter — a scientist process on a matter - exile equipment incidentally mingle speck with a fly front , transfer his genius into an insect ’s physical structure . This unfortunate circumstance means his wife must kill his mostly - human body , and the local police force examiner ( who ’s about to charge the poor woman with execution ) to slop the world - fly for spare him from gruesome death - by - wanderer . However , in the custody of body - revulsion master David Cronenberg and Oscar - deliver the goods particular effects make - up artist Chris Walas , The Fly even up into stomach -roiling soil .

There ’s no body - swapping plot here ; or else , the rogue fly ball means this version ’s unlawful scientist , Seth Brundle ( Jeff Goldblum ) , is doomedto transform into a repulsive hybrid animal , resulting in what may be the most utmost “ disease motion-picture show ” ever . The 1950s married woman character is supervene upon by Geena Davis as a science reporter who starts a relationship with Seth at the kickoff of the picture show , and their turbulent Romance language supply a level of drama ( help oneself along by first-class performance ) that ’s drop from the original film . Later , of class , she becomes a horrified eyewitness as Seth oozes into his concluding form as “ the Brundlefly , ” leading to a last number that ’s as repugnant as it is split - jerking .

2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

There ’s a theme emerging here , which you ’ve no doubt discover by now . away from Judge Dredd , all of the original films that inspired the remakes on this listing are classics . But just because a flick is a classic does n’t intend it ’ll emerge from the remake motorcar with an evenly - great picture show ( take care at you , Tim Burton ’s lamentable satellite of the Apes ) . It has to have a story that lends itself toupdating or expandingin an interesting , creative way — and it want to have a gifted output team that ’s focused on making a movie that can support alone on its own meritoriousness regardless of what come before .

Philip Kaufman ’s 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers check off all those box , shifting the 1956 original ’s small - town , Cold War paranoia to a San Francisco gripped by the equally creeping unease of the Watergate era . A sense of escalate apprehension permeates every frame , help by the wakeless pattern , as the top - notch roll ( Donald Sutherland , Leonard Nimoy , Jeff Goldblum , Alien ’s Veronica Cartwright ) slowly pull in that unfriendly and yet chillingly familiar - look aliens are in their thick . ( Familiar , that is , except forthis guy , who absolutely pee the case that practical special effects are often way more unsettling than anything a computer could ever hope to crank out . )

1. The Thing (1982)

aboveboard , the 2011 remaking / prequel / whatever is actually OK . But it ’s still a distant third version behind two masterpieces : 1951 ’s The Thing From Another World , conduct by Christian Nyby with a unattackable aid from Howard Hawks , and 1982 John Carpenter classic The Thing . Like The Fly , both celluloid are based on an honest-to-god narrative ; in this case , it’s1938 John W. Campbell , Jr. novella Who Goes There?Both motion-picture show make excellent use of their quick-frozen , isolated position — in the older film , it ’s the North Pole ; Carpenter ’s accept place in Antarctica .

But while the black - and - white master copy is tamp down with crackling dialogue ( a Hawks trademark ) and plenty of tension , it ’s ultimately mostly a really well - done adaptation of the conversant “ we ’re trapped with a monster ” ( or “ an extraterrestrial being , ” to be precise ) kind of story . Carpenter ’s tale is lift by a expectant ensemble plaster cast ( let in Kurt Russell and Keith David ) , killer production design , a score by Ennio Morricone , and Rob Bottin ’s splat - tastic fauna impression . But it further up the ante by giving its alien invader a truly eerie power : it takes over each human one by one and “ imitates ” them … until the men ( and the audience ) do n’t have it off who ’s real and who ’s in reality a monster in disguise . The equivocal endingmakes for one of the all - clock time great last scenes of any sci - fi film , new or re - do .

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