Best of Movie Reboots/Remakes

For decades, Hollywood's biggest money-making movies have been reboots of domestic movies, as well as foreign ones. A general rule of thumb is that reboots are usually not as good as their original counterparts and are just cash grabs. But, occasionally, Hollywood churns out something of quality and at times improves upon the original. It's not a long list of good ones, but there a few that made this list. After watching hours and hours of reboots and remakes, this list was made to prove that Hollywood does not just turn out movie turds.

Released in 2006 and starring some of the biggest names in Hollywood, The Departed was a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong crime-thriller Infernal Affairs. Both are great movies, but The Departed went on to win four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Not too shabby for a remake.

Making its way to theaters in 2010, True grit was a fantastic surprise. Top notch direction, casting and acting, this remake of the 1969 original John Wayne classic went above and beyond to create an homage to the original and also make it very original at the same time.

Another western that did justice to to the original was 3:10 to Yuma in 2007, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Both are fantastic films and deserve accolades.

King Kong, brought to us in 2005 by Peter Jackson, was wonderfully made movie that deserves to be on this list. Exciting and fun, this film improved upon all that came earlier.

Evil Dead (2013) was an awesome surprise. Very scary and a great remake of a classic. It could have gone badly, but was done with care and a real respect for the original material.

Star Trek hit theaters in 2009, and was more of a reboot, than a remake, but deserves mention here. It was a great movie done with the care and quality that any movie deserves, whether reboot or remake.

Released in 2011, director Rupert Wyatt brought forth the reboot of Planet of the Apes. He did a great job, the movie won many awards and the critics loved it. The special effects were phenomenal and the story was gripping and loaded with action. It spawned a sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in 2014, and that was a great movie too.

Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale brought the caped crusader back in a spectacular reboot of the iconic character. Batman Begins in 2005 was a fantastic return to form for the Batman. On Rotten Tomatoes, Batman Begins received an approval rating of 84% based on 264 reviews. Batman Begins was brooding and dark, it definitely was not the campy Batman that came before. This was an adult movie Batman, Christopher Nolan nailed it!

No list of the best reboots would be complete without adding Casino Royale. Ian Fleming's James Bond was back and better than ever before. Martin Campbell and Daniel Craig were perfect choices to get the job done right. Craig took the role and made it his very own, bringing a swagger that previous Bond's did not have. He handled the intense action with ease. Never before had a Bond film been so realistic and violent. Movie-goers and critics loved it.

After X-Men: The Last Stand left a sour taste in the mouths of comic book movie fans everywhere, the X-Men seemed like they could never recover from that poor movie. X-Men: First Class proved to be the movie that the X-Men were back and better than ever. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence...Enough Said!

Hollywood is more than ever going to bring old movies back in the form of reboots. The lack of creativity in Hollywood means that the movies they remake are actually not that old, but more recent than you would think. For example, Memento, which came out in 2000 is being remade already.

Many more movies will be rebooted over the next few years:

• Flatliners 1991
• The Birds 1963
• Don't Look Now 1973
• Cliffhanger 1993
• Three Men and a Baby 1987
• IT 1990
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure 1989
• Ace Ventura 1994
• Big Trouble In Little China 1986
• The Black Hole 1979
• Blade 1998

The list goes on and on. Hollywood just does not have as many fresh new ideas as they used. Originality is going the way of the Dodo bird. For movie-goers, as long as the quality of the movies is at least as good as the original, they should be happy. If people pay to see the movies, Hollywood will be happy and probably continue the trend of rebooting or remaking movies.

One more exciting reboot that is on this list is Kong: Skull Island, which is on a movie screen near you at the moment, is a reboot of a remake of a remake of a remake of the monstrous Kong. After this movie, we will see him go up against another rebooted monster, Godzilla. Set to be in theaters in 2020, Godzilla Vs. Kong should be the film movie monster buffs have been waiting for. Who will win? We will have to wait and see but until then there are many other rebooted movies to watch.