Remakes sometimes seem like a necessary or inevitable evil in the world of film. While some do end up matching the original when it comes to quality - and occasionally, some actually manage to be an improvement - most of the time, they're not as good as the movie they're redoing. There are too many inferior remakes out there from the history of film to count, at this point.
Even if they're critically disappointing, remakes will continue to get made for the mere fact that they seem to make money. And when it comes to films that get remade, most classics are apparently fair game. There's very little that won't get touched, but there are a select few classics that are iconic, intrinsically tied to the time of their release, and already close enough to perfect that they're likely safe from ever getting remade.
12 'Sátántangó' (1994)
Director: Béla Tarr
A mammoth 7.5-hour film about the residents of a small town in Hungary struggling to survive and find meaning in life, Sátántangó is an unfathomably bleak and hopeless film. Director Béla Tarr wants the viewer to feel the despair and boredom experienced by its characters, and in that regard, Sátántangó succeeds.
While Sátántangó wouldn't have felt fast-paced in 1994, a remake nowadays would likely gain even less traction, given the state of attention spans at the moment. And the length and how it impacts the viewer emotionally is the most legendary (or infamous) thing about Sátántangó, so what could a remake do to top it? Be 8.5 hours instead of 7.5? We'll never know for sure, because it'll never happen, and maybe that's for the best, when all is said and done.
11 'Apocalypse Now' (1979)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
There have been plenty of great war movies made throughout cinema history, and so Apocalypse Now can’t claim to be entirely unique. It is also a loose adaption of the novella Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, and so other movies have a comparable premise, following one character as they journey into both the physical and psychological unknown in a haunting quest to locate an enigmatic figure.
Apocalypse Now does stand out, however, for doing all this against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, capturing the horrors of that conflict while also being faithful to the themes and overall sense of unease present in its source material. The journey to make Apocalypse Now was a notoriously arduous one, though it turned out miraculously well and is one of Francis Ford Coppola’s best films… it’s just hard to imagine someone trying to repeat the magic, as well as go through the sorts of ordeals everyone experienced that first time around.
Apocalypse Now
- Release Date
- August 15, 1979
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Cast
- Marlon Brando , Martin Sheen , Robert Duvall , Frederic Forrest , Sam Bottoms , Laurence Fishburne
- Runtime
- 153 minutes
- Main Genre
- Drama
10 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)
Director: Frank Darabont
The Shawshank Redemption is perhaps the best (or at least most widely loved) Stephen King movie adaptation, and one of the best movies released in a year full of great ones. It tells a timeless story of a lifelong friendship between two prisoners, and how they find hope in an otherwise cruel and uncaring environment.
Because of how well The Shawshank Redemption adapted King's novella, it's difficult to imagine how a remake would justify its existence. The Shawshank Redemption is among the most popular movies of all time - and is ranked number 1 on the IMDb Top 250 - meaning it's a pretty safe bet no other movie will ever attempt to re-adapt King's story. It would be a difficult film to top, and indeed, director Frank Darabont himself probably hasn't made anything quite as great in the years since.
The Shawshank Redemption
- Release Date
- September 23, 1994
- Director
- Frank Darabont
- Cast
- Tim Robbins , Morgan Freeman , Bob Gunton , William Sadler , Clancy Brown , Gil Bellows
- Runtime
- 142
- Main Genre
- Crime
9 'Ran' (1985)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
While it’s unlikely people will ever stop adapting Shakespeare’s King Lear again and again to the medium of film, it’s pretty easy to assume that no one will ever do it quite like Akira Kurosawa did with Ran. This is one of many great films by the legendary director, and not only takes inspiration from the aforementioned tragic play but also Japanese history, merging its influences in a thrilling way.
Ran is a colorful, bold, patiently paced, and ultimately devastating movie, and could well stand as the greatest (or at least the biggest/most epic) film Kurosawa ever made. It’s one of those singular artistic achievements where it’s generally accepted that, if done again, it couldn’t feasibly be topped, and so it will surely remain that Ran goes remake-free.
8 'Jaws' (1975)
Director: Steven Spielberg
It's hard to get more classic than Jaws. In terms of the original blockbusters, it's this and Star Wars that feel responsible for taking things to the next level when it came to entertainment and excitement at the movies. Each would be very unlikely to get remade, but at the same time, some have argued Star Wars: The Force Awakens itself was almost a remake of the original Star Wars.
Jaws might then be even less likely to get remade. The story is so simple and perfect that sure, filmmakers can take inspiration from it and make their own shark movies, and some movies like Jaws have proven to be pretty good, in all honesty. But to take the premise of a sole killer shark with three people doing all they can to hunt it down and trying to tell it the way Jaws already flawlessly did? There's no way it could seem like anything but a pale imitation.
Jaws (1975)
- Release Date
- June 20, 1975
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
- Cast
- Roy Scheider , Robert Shaw , Richard Dreyfuss , Lorraine Gary , Murray Hamilton , Carl Gottlieb , Jeffrey Kramer
- Runtime
- 124 Minutes
- Main Genre
- Thriller
7 'Back to the Future' (1985)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Back to the Future was far from the first time travel movie, but it's arguably the most popular and beloved one of all time, as well as a highlight within the vast and unpredictable filmography of Robert Zemeckis. It tells the story of a teenager who gets transported to the past and meets his parents, has to make sure they meet and fall for each other - to ensure he's even born - and then work out how to get, well, back to the future.
It's certainly possible that Back to the Future could see itself getting a half-reboot/half-sequel in the future, perhaps in the way other landmark franchises like Ghostbusters or Jurassic Park have received. But the original Back to the Future is too much of a classic to directly clone, and the limitless possibilities of time travel mean filmmakers would be better off coming up with their own take on a time travel adventure, anyway.
Back to the Future
- Release Date
- July 3, 1985
- Director
- Robert Zemeckis
- Cast
- Michael J. Fox , Christopher Lloyd , Lea Thompson , Crispin Glover , Thomas F. Wilson , Claudia Wells
- Runtime
- 116
6 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1969)
Director: George Roy Hill
Perhaps one of the most likable and entertaining Westerns of all time, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is about its two title characters evading the law all the way down to South America, wisecracking and getting out of perilous situations all the while. As far as Westerns about outlaws go, it's hard to imagine many getting much better than this.
Paul Newman and Robert Redford have incredible chemistry as the two main characters, and it's a partnership that likely couldn't be recaptured, let alone improved upon. Also, for a movie that's over half a century old, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid holds up incredibly well, meaning it doesn't feel like there's much that needs updating or re-energizing for younger audiences. It's already tons of fun and compelling as is.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Release Date
- September 24, 1969
- Director
- George Roy Hill
- Cast
- Paul Newman , Robert Redford , Katharine Ross , Strother Martin , Henry Jones , Jeff Corey
- Runtime
- 110 minutes
5 'Blazing Saddles' (1974)
Director: Mel Brooks
A hilarious and biting comedy set in the Old West, Blazing Saddles is about a Black sheriff (Cleavon Little) being asked to look over a deeply racist town with precisely one sane inhabitant (Gene Wilder). Naturally, chaos ensues.
Blazing Saddles never makes jokes at the expense of its main character, instead poking fun at the townspeople and their racist attitudes, but the humor might still seem inappropriate for some modern viewers. It's gotten to the point where it's even part of a meme, with people making fun of the idea that it couldn't be remade. For that reason, Blazing Saddles might be the go-to example for "un-remakeable" movies, but that's okay, because the original will always exist, and it's great (but that being said, 2022 saw the release of a kid's movie called Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank which could be regarded as a very loose remake of Blazing Saddles, though the tone and content prove rather different).
Blazing Saddles
- Release Date
- February 7, 1974
- Director
- Mel Brooks
- Cast
- Cleavon Little , gene wilder , Slim Pickens , Harvey Korman , Madeline Kahn , Mel Brooks
- Runtime
- 93
4 'Citizen Kane' (1941)
Director: Orson Welles
Telling the story of the rise, personal downfall, and mysterious final words of Charles Foster Kane, Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece, Citizen Kane, is unlikely to ever be touched and remade by any other filmmaker. It's hard to imagine a Citizen Kane remake, as the original's legacy as one of the most important and best movies of all time is simply too strong, at this point, over eight decades on from its release.
The closest we'll ever come to a remake of Citizen Kane will likely be 2020's Mank. That story focuses on a larger-than-life central figure, too - the writer of Citizen Kane, Herman J. Mankiewicz - and replicates the look and feel of Citizen Kane with Mank's setting and visuals, but the 1941 original will almost certainly never be replicated.
Citizen Kane
- Release Date
- April 17, 1941
- Director
- Orson Welles
- Cast
- Orson Welles , Joseph Cotten , Dorothy Comingore , Agnes Moorehead , Ruth Warrick , Ray Collins
- Runtime
- 119
- Main Genre
- Drama
3 'Die Hard' (1988)
Director: John McTiernan
Die Hard is just about as perfect as an action movie can get. It has a relatable, underdog hero, a charismatic and threatening villain, a great premise, a memorable setting, fantastic pacing, and satisfying action. It made Bruce Willis a star, spawned several sequels, and changed the way action movies were made for good.
Because of its influence, there are plenty of movies that feel comparable to Die Hard, or take a considerable amount of inspiration from it. But no movie has dared to copy it beat for beat, nor would anyone dare remake it as it is, because it's already so great. Die Hard was a lightning-in-the-bottle kind of movie, and the best that can be done is to take lessons from its success. To just blatantly redo would feel borderline disrespectful, at this point.
Die Hard
- Release Date
- July 20, 1988
- Director
- John McTiernan
- Cast
- Bruce Willis , Bonnie Bedelia , Reginald VelJohnson , Paul Gleason , William Atherton , Hart Bochner
- Runtime
- 132 minutes
2 'The Godfather' (1972)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
The Godfather did for crime films what Back to the Future did for time travel films. Neither invented their respective genres, but they might have each been the first to really perfect them. And perfect is a reasonable enough word to use when it comes to The Godfather, because it really is that hard to fault.
The first Godfather introduces viewers to the Corleone family, focusing on Vito, the patriarch, played by Marlon Brando. It's hard to imagine any actor even playing that role the way Brando did (Robert De Niro did play a younger version of the character in the film's sequel, though), and there are similarly iconic performances from the likes of Al Pacino and James Caan that would be nearly impossible to attempt for any other actor. It's also a film almost everyone agrees is fantastic; why bother remaking it?
The Godfather
- Release Date
- March 14, 1972
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Cast
- Marlon Brando , Al Pacino , James Caan , Richard S. Castellano , Robert Duvall , Sterling Hayden
- Runtime
- 175 minutes
- Main Genre
- Crime
1 'Pulp Fiction' (1994)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Undoubtedly the movie that made director Quentin Tarantino a household name, there should never be a Pulp Fiction remake simply because the 1994 film is already perfect, and one of the most iconic films of the 1990s. Funny, quirky, and ridiculous in the best way, the multi-strand crime film follows three primary storylines that are all interwoven in some way.
It introduced the iconic hitmen duo Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), their gangster boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), his charming but dangerous wife Mia (Uma Thurman), troubled boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) and a hilariously poor imitation of Bonnie and Clyde, Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer). The stellar cast is flawlessly matched with the wild twists and turns the wholly unique film takes, which are just two of the several reasons it should never be remade.
Pulp Fiction
- Release Date
- September 10, 1994
- Director
- Quentin Tarantino
- Cast
- John Travolta , Samuel L. Jackson , Tim Roth , Amanda Plummer , Eric Stoltz , Bruce Willis
- Runtime
- 154