Hollywood Movies Remakes of Foreign Films:
Hollywood has bestowed us with numerous great movies that we didn’t know were taken from other countries. Once an unpopular original movie comes under a big production house, it is no surprise that the remake gets more critical and commercial success for the heavy budget, star cast, and marketing. Even A-List directors like Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese have been inspired by a foreign movie. While the polished remake versions are still popular and remembered, it is high time that we gave credit to the original ones.
1. The Birdcage
This epic comedy that made the audience fall in love with the pairing of Robin Williams and Nathan Lane was inspired by a French play and a French-Italian film titled La Cage aux Folles. It focuses on a gay couple leading a blissful life until one of the partners’ son decides to get married to a conservative Senator’s daughter.
2. Insomnia
Christopher Nolan is a legendary director who has gifted us with the greatest movies of all time like Inception, Interstellar, The Dark Knight trilogy, Dunkirk, and more. It is hard to buy that an imaginative and creative director like Nolan would take up someone else’s idea. Insomnia was inspired by a Norwegian movie of the same title. Nolan’s Insomnia starred Al Pacino as a detective who visits an Alaskan town to investigate a teenage girl’s murder case. It’s a psychological mystery and though they are barely different, you can enjoy watching both.
3. Scent of a Woman
The Al Pacino movie that earned him an Academy Award was inspired by Profumo Di Donna. However, the remake had additional elements in the story, unlike the original one that solely focused on the bond between the 2 lead characters. Scent of a Woman is about a school student who takes up a part-time job as a caretaker of a visually challenged man who was once a military officer. Little did the young man know that the former colonel had devised a plan to take his own life. Unlike the original one, the Al Pacino and Chris O’ Donnell starrer paid attention to the young man’s school life in the second half.
4. True Lies
Another big name on this list is James Cameron who is well-known for his out of the box imaginations and blockbuster films. James Cameron has helmed the most iconic movies like Titanic and Avatar. But even an ingenious director like him has had experience with a remake. The classic action-comedy was a remake of a French film La Totale! Cameron’s version wasn’t different in any way except for the high-scale budget. The remake didn’t attempt to infuse even a bit of novelty and had the exact plot and the same characters.
5. Scarface
Another Al Pacino movie that wasn’t an original is Scarface. But to be fair, both the remake and the original were adapted from the novel of the same title by Armitage Trail. It depicts the adventures of a gangster who fights his way to reach the top of the mob world. If the remake starred the titan Al Pacino, the original also starred the Oscar winner, Paul Muni as Tony. Even though both the 1932 and 1983 versions were crafted brilliantly, the original one had a higher critical rating.
6. The Departed
Considering the great Martin Scorsese’s masterpieces like Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, Taxi Driver, and The Irishman; it is a big deal to call The Departed one of his best works. However, the crime thriller about a crime lord’s spy and an undercover agent attempting to infiltrate each other’s team is traced from a Hong Kong movie, Internal Affairs. Even though the two thrillers have some differences, you can easily spot how parallel they run. The Departed turned out to be a bigger hit for obvious reasons like the budget and star cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg.
