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10 best movie remakes of all time, ranked

Table of Contents Table of Contents 10. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) 9. A Star Is Born (1954) 8. Ben-Hur (1959) 7. The Fly (1986) 6. The Departed (2006) 5. Casino Royale (2006) 4. Dune (2021) & Dune: Part Two (2024) 3. The Thing (1982) 2. Scarface (1983) 1. The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Movie remakes have long been a Hollywood staple, with directors taking old classics or hidden gems and adding their own spin, often opting for bold creative risks. While not all remakes hit the mark, some manage to outdo their source material. The best movie remakes prove that some stories deserve to be retold and can shine even brighter the second (or third) time around.

From The Wizard of Oz (1939) to Scarface (1983), the greatest movie remakes ever breathe new life into forgotten or familiar tales, almost always introducing incredible stories to a new generation. These often become even more popular than their predecessors, praised for the way they reinvent old ideas and use fresh perspectives to transform genres, deepen narratives, modification visuals, or all of the above. Even cinephiles may be surprised to learn that some of their favorites are actually remakes of lesser-known films.

Based on Patricia Highsmith’s eponymous 1955 novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a psychological thriller that follows Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), a young man and known con artist, who is sent to Europe to retrieve the spoiled and much wealthier Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law). When he fails to convince Dickie to return home, he soon comes up with a plan driven by jealousy of Dickie and his expatriate girlfriend Marge Sherwood’s (Gwyneth Paltrow) lavish lifestyle.

An earlier adaptation, Purple Noon (1960), attempted to stick close to the source material but failed to achieve the same psychological complexity of director Anthony Minghella’s version. The 1999 remake explores Ripley’s sociopathic tendencies in a more explicit way, largely succeeding thanks to an incredible performance by Matt Damon. The film also more effectively depicts class envy and forbidden desires, which all play out against a lush 1990s aesthetic.

Since its 1937 version, A Star is Born has been remade four times, but none surpass the 1954 musical directed by George Cukor. Featuring Judy Garland in one of her most acclaimed performances, it follows Esther Blodgett (Garland), a gifted singer with big dreams discovered by fading idol Norman Maine (James Mason). As Esther’s career rises under the stage name Vicki Lester, Norman’s falls mostly due to the weight of his alcoholism and growing insecurity. The two are caught in a passionate yet ultimately tragic love story.

The 1954 remake of A Star is Born introduced the musical format, emphasizing Garland’s talent through unforgettable songs. Garland and Mason were at the peak of their powers, and their chemistry was easy to see through the ups and downs of the characters’ relationship. Vibrant set pieces and groundbreaking cinematography also ensured that memorable scenes felt larger than life, complementing the truly emotional and iconic narrative that would continue to be told across generations.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) was a commendable attempt at telling a sweeping tale, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the 1959 version, which stands as a monumental achievement in filmmaking. Director William Wyler’s Ben-Hur transports viewers to ancient Rome, where a wealthy Jewish prince in Roman-occupied Jerusalem, Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), is devastated when his childhood friend turned Roman officer, Messala (Stephen Boyd), betrays him. Judah endures grueling hardship after being condemned to slavery, which fuels his desire for revenge. This leads him to the world of chariot racing, where he finally gets his shot.

With its 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Ben-Hur cemented itself as a landmark in cinema history. It’s a technically brilliant film, best remembered for its legendary chariot race in the Circus Maximus, which became one of cinema’s most thrilling sequences. Ben-Hur remains one of the greatest epics ever made, and its impact on the genre and filmmaking as a whole cannot be overstated.

In a classic story of a science experiment gone wrong, Jeff Goldblum stars as eccentric scientist Seth Brundle, who is unveiling a cutting-edge teleportation device. However, during an experiment, a common housefly enters the teleportation pod with him, splicing their DNA. At first, Seth is elated to be experiencing seemingly positive physical enhancements like superhuman strength, agility, and stamina. This excitement soon turns into horror when he transforms into a grotesque human-fly hybrid.

The Fly‘s 1958 version is a campy product of its time, telling the same narrative with more rudimentary practical effects. Director David Cronenberg’s remake is considered the more impactful retelling, thanks to its highly detailed and disturbing body horror makeup work, one of the filmmaker’s trademarks. Aside from being more visceral, Cronenberg’s The Fly also takes a more psychological approach as it chronicles the protagonist’s grueling transformation.

Director Martin Scorsese’s The Departed is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs and is loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang. The 2006 movie remakes the Hong Kong thriller into a Boston crime saga that follows two men living double lives: Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), an undercover cop infiltrating the Irish mob, and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a mob mole embedded within the Massachusetts State Police. In the background, mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) and Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) control their respective operations, which don’t go as planned.

The Departed is an excellent example of an American remake done right. It seamlessly adapts the story and tension while creating something totally new in a familiar setting. Every scene crackles with the tension of lives hanging by a thread, especially since the protagonists’ true identities are always on the verge of exposure. This all leads to an explosive breaking point that is still among the most shocking endings in the crime genre, immediately cementing the film as one of Martin Scorsese’s best works.

Featuring a magnetic performance by Daniel Craig in his debut as the British super-spy, Casino Royale marked a tonal shift for the James Bond franchise. The 2006 film centers on Bond’s early days as a newly minted “00” agent, during which he’s tasked with dismantling a terrorist network. In order to do so, Bond enters a high-stakes poker game at Montenegro’s Casino Royale to bankrupt Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a financier for global terrorism. The British Treasury official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) works alongside Bond, and their partnership soon turns into a complicated romance.

Far from the 1967 spoof version of Casino Royale, the 2006 adaptation of Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel is a reinvention of the film series. Directed by Martin Campbell, it strips the iconic spy of his usual gadgets and bravado to reveal a grittier, more human 007. This remake jettisoned the camp of earlier films, offering a darker and more emotional take on the world’s most famous secret agent.

Acclaimed filmmaker Denis Villeneuve turned out to be the perfect match for the notoriously “unadaptable” sci-fi novels by Frank Herbert. 2021’s Dune and its 2024 sequel, Dune: Part Two, weave a saga of epic proportions that primarily follows a young nobleman, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). Paul is thrust into a dangerous political game as his family takes control of Arrakis, the universe’s sole source of the invaluable spice melange. He begins to suspect a conspiracy as he learns more about the mysterious Bene Gesserit, the local Fremen, and his father’s enemies.

When comparing the films to David Lynch’s dense and uneven 1984 version, it’s clear that Villeneuve’s modern storytelling and spectacular visuals beautifully translate Herbert’s vision onto the big screen. The recent Dune movies depict a mesmerizing universe set far into a strange and fascinating future. For sci-fi fans, especially, these modern Dune adaptations might be the pinnacle of the genre and represent how much has changed.

Set in Antarctica, director John Carpenter’s The Thing centers on a team of researchers at a remote outpost who encounter a shape-shifting alien capable of perfectly mimicking its victims. Led by the helicopter pilot [website] MacReady (Kurt Russell), the group struggles to maintain control as they distrust each other. With the alien infiltrating their outpost one individual at a time, things get messy as the pressure mounts to find out who is no longer human.

The Thing from Another World (1951) used John W. Campbell’s novella to present a Cold War allegory, but Carpenter takes a different approach by fully embracing the source material’s horror. With its pioneering special effects, it showed body horror and grotesque scenarios in an unprecedented way. This is also why it wasn’t a hit when it first premiered, and The Thing only later came to be appreciated as an influential cult classic that reshaped the sci-fi and horror genres.

Al Pacino stars as the ruthless Tony Montana in one of the greatest gangster movies of all time, 1983’s Scarface. Set in 1980s Miami, the film chronicles Tony’s rise and fall as he goes from being a penniless Cuban refugee to a violent, larger-than-life kingpin of the city’s drug empire. As Tony’s success and control of the cocaine-fueled industry grow, so does his obsession with wealth and status. His paranoia and ego soon get the best of him, and his blunders eventually add up and lead to one of the bloodiest climaxes in film history.

Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983) is a gloriously over-the-top reimagining of Howard Hawks’ 1932 version, which many fans may not even know about. De Palma’s direction is unapologetically bold, portraying the excess and moral decay of the era with a dramatic flair. Though it was initially criticized for its excessive violence, Scarface has since become a cultural phenomenon celebrated precisely for this unflinching perspective.

Director Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz (1939) is a cinematic marvel is a universally adored adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s classic novel. Judy Garland delivers a career-best performance as Dorothy Gale, a Kansas farm girl swept away by a tornado to the magical land of Oz. Alongside her dog Toto, she goes towards the Emerald City to seek help from the titular wizard who might grant her wish to return home. She also befriends the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), the Tin Man (Jack Haley), and the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr). Even as the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) plots to stop them, Dorothy perseveres in her quest to escape.

The film’s earlier 1925 silent adaptation is seldom associated with Dorothy’s story, as it’s the dazzling 1939 film that came to redefine modern fantasy cinema. The Wizard of Oz wasn’t the first to use Technicolor, but it popularized it through a legendary moment where Dorothy opened the door to a colorful world, marking a key change in cinema. Several decades later, The Wizard of Oz remains a cultural touchstone, with its legacy felt in the genre and in recent hits like Wicked.

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10 best World War II movies of all time, ranked

Table of Contents Table of Contents 10. Fires on the Plain (1959) 9. Dunkirk (2017) 8. Casablanca (1942) 7. The Cranes are Flying (1957) 6. The Pianist (2002) 5. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 4. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) 3. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 2. Schindler’s List (1993) 1. Come and See (1985).

War has always been one of the most consistent information of inspiration for filmmakers around the globe, with World War II, in particular, becoming the subject of numerous movies showcasing a variety of perspectives. These films attempt to capture one of the most devastating conflicts in history in historically accurate and often deeply personal ways, with many being hailed as timeless pieces of cinema that have gone on to educate and move countless viewers.

From the unbelievably disturbing Come and See to the heart-wrenching Schindler’s List, the best WWII movies portray unimaginable atrocities with profound sensitivity. These award-winning works successfully depict critical stories and moments from one of the most pivotal periods of the 20th century, ensuring that the cost and horrors of war are never forgotten.

Set in the final days of World War II, Fires on the Plain tells the story of a tubercular Japanese soldier who, after being dismissed from his unit and hospital, wanders the desolate Philippine island of Leyte. Private Tamura (Eiji Funakoshi) struggles to survive during the waning period of the war, and he meets fellow soldiers with much worse predicaments, including insanity and starvation that leads to cannibalism. Tamura flees his own troop in a desperate bid to stay alive, only to find more horrors as he wanders around the foreign country.

Directed by Kon Ichikawa based on Shōhei Ōoka’s 1951 novel titled Nobi, the 1959 Japanese war film initially received mixed reviews but has been re-evaluated as a critical entry in the genre. Fires on the Plain asks what happens when the dust settles and the soldiers find themselves dying far from home, with the slow-burn drama film‘s focus on Tamura’s story making it a standout WWII movie that deserves more recognition.

Dunkirk chronicles the titular evacuation of World War II, using three perspectives — land, sea, and air — to tell various stories about the chaos unfolding across France. The 2017 film doesn’t use the typical narrative structure, choosing instead to show a variety of situations to capture the soldiers’ collective struggle for survival. These moments include desperate characters trapped in a sinking boat as well as RAF pilots risking their lives to protect soldiers on the beach.

Primarily relying on music and cinematography and featuring little dialogue, director Christopher Nolan masterfully builds suspense and dread over the film’s nearly two-hour runtime. Hans Zimmer’s Oscar-winning score helps heighten that tension, with the composer’s work on Dunkirk among the greatest in his career. The film thrusts audiences into the mess and unpredictability of war, with its overlapping timelines intentionally crafted to highlight the raw fear and confusion the soldiers felt during the evacuation.

In director Michael Curtiz’s legendary romantic drama Casablanca, Rick Blaine’s (Humphrey Bogart) life changes when his former lover Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) unexpectedly enters his bar in the titular Moroccan city. Ilsa arrives with her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a Czech resistance leader being hunted by the Nazi regime. Initially reluctant to help, Rick is soon roped into their predicament when he has a passionate affair with Ilsa. He soon has to make an iconic, difficult choice at the airport.

Casablanca is a beloved classic for a reason, with its flawless screenplay and mesmerizing performances still discussed and referenced today. Aside from being one of the best romance movies of all time, the 1942 film is also an critical work in the war genre. Beyond being filmed and set during World War II, Rick’s final decision underscores a powerful message about refusing to stay on the sidelines, even if it is the more comfortable choice.

The Cranes Are Flying is a Soviet war film that follows the young couple Veronika (Tatiana Samoilova) and Boris (Aleksei Batalov), whose lives are shattered when Boris volunteers for the army. As war devastates Moscow, Veronika’s life is upended amidst the bombings and other emerging threats, notably from Boris’ opportunistic cousin, Mark (Aleksandr Shvorin). After years of hardship, a guilt-inducing relationship, and an unexpected new family member, Veronika learns the terrible truth she didn’t want to accept about Boris’ fate on the front lines.

Georgian-born Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov captures the war’s widespread damage to the Soviet psyche, which was known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union. A critical haunting scene from the film contrasts the overhead flight of cranes, symbolizing hope, with Veronika’s despair, questioning the cost of victory in the war. The Cranes Are Flying would have a historic win at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the only Soviet film to take home the Palme d’Or.

Based on the harrowing true story of Holocaust survivor Władysław Szpilman, director Roman Polanski’s adaptation of the autobiography recounts how the gifted Polish-Jewish pianist (played by The Brutalist’s Adrien Brody) lived through the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. The Pianist portrays how Szpilman, once a celebrated musician, barely survives after his family is sent to the death camps. The protagonist then scrapes by in the ruins of the ghetto that was once a thriving community, getting by on what he can find, with some help from kind-hearted individuals around him.

There are no overt heroes in The Pianist, with the film avoiding sentimentality in favor of a raw and intimate glimpse into one man’s struggle for survival amidst overwhelming odds. Szpilman’s journey is heartbreaking, especially given the stark change in his position as a beloved pianist in his city who is then forced into dehumanizing circumstances. Adrien Brody took home the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance, which he prepared for by isolating himself for months, breaking up with his girlfriend, letting go of his apartment and car, losing 30 pounds, and even taking piano lessons for four hours per day.

The Bridge on the River Kwai tells the gripping story of British POWs forced to construct a railway bridge over the titular river by their Japanese captors in Burma. The stoic British officer Colonel Nicholson (Star Wars’ Alec Guinness) leads his men with the same discipline and rigor they trained for to be in the military, all while clashing with the equally determined Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa). Despite their captor-captive relationship, Nicholson becomes obsessively committed to building the bridge as a symbol of British strength, inadvertently aiding the enemy. Meanwhile, Shears (William Holden), an American prisoner who escaped the camp, is coerced into returning with a mission to destroy the bridge, leading to a tense showdown.

Nicholson’s final realization — accompanied by a dramatic “What have I done?” — reflects his loss of perspective, which the film builds up to with its almost three-hour runtime. Director David Lean is a master of epics, and he infuses the 1957 movie with the ambitious sets and meticulous attention to detail he became known for. The Bridge on the River Kwai may tell a fictional story, but it’s a riveting one that explores the madness and obsession that comes with war, especially before an inevitable defeat.

The most recognizable animated film in the war genre, Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies tells the heart-wrenching story of two siblings, Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) and Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi). Directed by Isao Takahata, the movie depicts the siblings’ experiences during the final months of World War II in Japan, where they’re left to fend for themselves after their mother dies in an air raid. As they move from one frightening location to the next, the siblings can only rely on each other. But with food becoming more scarce and structures collapsing around them, things look grim.

Grave of the Fireflies has earned a reputation for being among the saddest animated movies ever, especially thanks to its unforgettable and tear-jerking ending. Ghibli’s signature hand-drawn gorgeous frames make the emotional events in the film even more hard-hitting, easily cementing it as the studio’s most tragic tale. The 1988 movie points out the human cost of war, especially those young innocent lives who are left forgotten in the destruction.

Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan starts with one of the most brutal and realistic depictions of war ever captured on film: the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach. Amid the deaths and disarray, Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) and his team survive, only to be given the daunting task of tracking down a lone survivor somewhere in war-torn France. Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) is alone in hostile territory after his three brothers died in combat, and it’s up to Miller’s squad to find and rescue him before the enemy combatants run into him first.

Saving Private Ryan is among the most popular war movies that showcased painfully accurate graphic portrayals of D-Day and what it’s like to be a soldier. Spielberg would spend a considerable amount of time and money perfecting that infamous opening sequence, using $12 million of the $65 million production budget and employing around 1,500 to get it right. The 1998 movie would be a massive success, becoming a box-office hit and influencing numerous subsequent works in the genre.

Another masterpiece from Spielberg that’s never absent from any discussion of the best war movies of all time is Schindler’s List. Based on the astonishing true story of Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), the film follows the German industrialist’s transformation from a war profiteer into a brave humanitarian. Schindler is horrified by SS-Untersturmführer Amon Göth’s (Ralph Fiennes) cruelty in the Płaszów concentration camp. The protagonist decides to help, and Schindler saves more than a thousand refugees by having them work in his factories during the Second World War.

The film’s unsettling story is fittingly told in black-and-white, with Spielberg approaching it like a documentary to make it feel more authentic. Neeson is impeccably cast as the courageous Schindler, whose performance became a worthy tribute to the real-life figure. After its premiere in 1993, the film would shock the world, with countless tears shed for the young girl in the red coat and several other moments that underscored both the unbelievable loss and awe-inspiring bravery in Schindler’s story.

Come and See is a one-of-a-kind anti-war film centered on the Nazi German occupation of Belarus. Directed by Elem Klimov, it follows a boy named Florya (Aleksei Kravchenko), who discovers a rifle and naively joins the Soviet resistance against his family’s wishes. Florya then finds himself in one traumatizing situation after another, including a ruthless massacre of a village where people are burned alive, as well as the demise of his own family.

Aside from exploring a side of World War II not often seen in cinema, Come and See stands out for its use of hyper-realism and surrealism to create a visceral viewing experience that replicates the deep fear and helplessness Florya experiences. His torturous arc that reveals the jarring ways his youth and naivety are ripped from him is almost too disturbing to watch at times, driving home the film’s anti-war message. The Soviet-era movie was banned for eight years before Klimov could fully produce it, and time has done nothing to take away from the provocative and powerful work that any fan of the genre should see at least once.

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Texas brings the ban hammer down on DeepSeek and RedNote

If you’re a government worker in Texas, you can’t use DeepSeek or many other Chinese-developed applications on your state-issued device. Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, has instated a ban, preventing state employees from downloading, installing, or using several notable Chinese apps on government-sanctioned devices.

Sighting data privacy and national security concerns, the Governor decreed that state workers are prohibited from interacting with Chinese AI and social media apps including DeepSeek, RedNote, and Lemon8 on state-owned devices. Additionally, the ban includes Chinese stock-trading platforms such as Moomoo, Tiger Brokers, and Webull.

“Texas will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-harvesting AI and social media apps. Texas will continue to protect and defend our state from hostile foreign actors,” Governor Abbott noted in a proclamation on the Texas state website.

The ban comes as several Chinese apps become more popularized in the [website] and globally. The open-source AI chatbot DeepSeek has become the top competition for similar brands in the West. At the same time, the app’s legality and data collection protocol was quickly brought into question. Notably, Texas is the first state in the [website] to ban DeepSeek. The [website] Navy, Congress, the Pentagon, the Finance Ministry, and NASA have also banned the use of the AI app, all similarly sighting privacy and security concerns.

Several countries have also moved swiftly to ban DeepSeek. Italy was first, with the app disappearing from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store not long after being questioned by the Italian data watchdog group, the Garante, .

Taiwan and Australia have also restricted the app from being used in their countries. Some other countries are currently weighing the risks of keeping DeepSeek legal for use, including Ireland, some EU members, the UK, and South Korea.

Texas was also ahead of the game in banning TikTok on state-sanctioned devices in 2022. Since then thirty states put similar TikTok bans in place for government workers, ahead of the federal ban in mid-January, which saw millions of [website] clients take to the Chinese app, RedNote. However, interest in the app has waned after access to TikTok was quickly reinstated.

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