The art of the remake: 10 films that rival the original

It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to remake a film that is already considered a peerless masterpiece. Netflix was roundly trashed for attempting it with Rebecca. ‘Superficial and slapdash’ was the New Yorker’s verdict (one of the kinder ones): ‘somewhere between a lukewarm retread of Hitchcock’s original and a glossy Instagram feed’. As for the BBC’s Christmas three-part adaptation of Black Narcissus, not even Diana Rigg in her final role could save it from coruscating comparisons with the 1947 Powell and Pressburger film. 

This year will see remakes, prequels and sequels of Top Gun, Cinderella and 101 Dalmations to name but three. But for a remake to be successful, it needs a different approach to the original, a new way of telling the story — or else at best it’s pointless, at worse, treasonable. Here are some that got it right. 

The Wizard of Oz (1939) 

There’s a perception that Hollywood is obsessed at the moment with reboots, with The Witches, Dune and West Side Story some of the latest.