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The closing part of the feature. The top ten movie remakes of all time are revealed, as well as five remakes that deserve mention but didn’t make the top 25.

10. King Kong (2005)

Peter Jackson’s epic “homage” to the ’33 classic is a larger-than-life vessel of entertainment and wonder, and won three of four nominated categories at the 2006 Oscars (Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects), besting its predecessor, which was completely shunned at the ceremony in 1934—an exclusion many believe to be one of the Academy’s greatest mistakes over the years.

9. Heat (1995)

This 1995 crime-thriller, of no relation to the same-titled 1979 Andy Warhol-produced disaster, stars a walloping ensemble cast (which includes Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman, to name a few) and is directed, produced, and written by Michael Mann. A remade, better, more expensive version of a 1989 TV-movie called L.A. Takedown, Heat features a dazzling script that is of classic caliber and epic proportions, and career-elevating performances from all involved. Yet, despite its grand quality, it was rejected a single Oscar nomination.

8. Scarface (1983)

Despite its director, Brian De Palma, being nominated for the 1984 Razzie Award for Worst Director, this vague remake of Howard Hawks’ 1932 gangster movie (also called Scarface)—which starred Paul Muni and was inspired by the life of Al “Scarface” Capone—is a sure-fire favorite of most men and includes a haunting performance by Al Pacino (as one of Hollywood’s most celebrated, notorious characters, Tony Montana), a perfect, ghastly ending, and enough quotable lines to prevent anyone from ever having to compile their own sentence again.

7. Insomnia (2002)

The original film, a 1997 Norwegian gem that stands as director Erik Skjoldbjaerg’s debut, stars Stellan Skarsgard as police detective Jonas Engstrom, the character that detective Will Dormer (played superbly by Al Pacino in this phenomenal version) is based off of. In Chris Nolan’s remake, an incredibly peculiar Robin Williams plays the film’s antagonist—a tranquil writer named Walter Finch and the lead suspect in the homicide case of a teen girl—while Hilary Swank delivers as a young, eager police officer whose naivety proves advantageous. But the brightest light shone in Nolan’s Insomnia is that which is placed on Pacino and his resonating performance as a man unable to sleep due to both the constant glare of the Alaskan sun and the overbearing regret of his past mistakes.

6. The Departed (2006)

The Departed is an American version of the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, which swept all five categories it was nominated in at the 2003 Golden Bauhinia Awards in Hong Kong (the Chinese equivalent of America’s Academy Awards). This film, too, was a major awards winner, as it won four Oscars out of five nominations and marked the first time that previously Oscar-nominated director Martin Scorsese took home the award for Best Director, and the first time that his film won Best Picture.

5. Cape Fear (1991)

Directed by one of American cinema’s most influential personalities, Martin Scorsese, this disturbing, gripping remake of the very classic 1962 horror-thriller of the same name (a film that cast the inimitable Robert Mitchum as the haunting lead) includes two Oscar-nominated performances—one by Robert De Niro as the notorious film villain Max Cady, and the other by then-18-year-old Juliette Lewis, who plays Danielle Bowden, daughter of a public defender on which Cady looks to seek revenge—and unnerving homage to the original, slightly better film.

4. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

This Steven Soderbergh-directed remake of the 1960 heist film, which starred The Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, among others), includes a hip soundtrack and a cast that is cooler than a nude run on an autumn day. George Clooney plays Danny Ocean (originally Sinatra’s role), the leader of the 11-man team of thieves that gives the film its title, and Brad Pitt and Matt Damon co-star as his two right-hand men (or, if you’d prefer, Danny’s right- and left-hand men). A box-office success and popular millennium favorite, Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven spawned two good sequels, neither of which, however, could top its well-rounded quality.

3. The Fly (1986)

This remake of 20th Century Fox’s 1958 Vincent Price-starring masterpiece The Fly—which includes many influential scenes and concepts seen in today’s films of the sci-fi and horror genres—is directed by gore-master David Cronenberg and infuses grossness with genuine suspense and terror. It also includes one of star Jeff Goldblum’s most famous performances—his act as Seth Brundle, a genius scientist whose unrealistic ambition ultimately leads to tragedy—and a fine display of makeup, for which it won an Academy Award in 1987.

2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

This film, starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldblum, and directed by Philip Kaufman, has set a precedent for how a remake should be: advanced, though respectful to its predecessor. Not taking anything from George Siegel’s ’56 version, which still stands as one of American cinema’s most monumental achievements, Kaufman’s deft writing ability heaves his version of Jack Finney’s paranoid novel to the top of the ’70s’ sci-fi “best” list—in an era shared with definitive masterpieces such as Ridley Scott’s Alien and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker.

1. The Thing (1982)

Starring Kurt Russell and directed by horror expert John Carpenter, this film follows more closely to the events of the novella Who Goes There? than it does to Howard Hawks’ 1951 film The Thing From Another World, which this film is a loose remake of. Nevertheless, where Carpenter’s film lacks similarities to Hawks’, it fills up the screen with innovative scare tactics, creepy special effects and masculine action that one won’t find in many other genre spectacles of the early ’80s or before, especially in the RKO Pictures-distributed original.

Notable Mention:

12 Monkeys (1995)

Based on La Jetée (The Pier), a painfully artistic 1962 French short film (which is presented in black & white as a still photograph slideshow with voiceover narration), director Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys brings the aforementioned mini-masterwork to vivid life while molding industry allures to fit the shape of his assorted storytelling techniques.

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

John Sturges’ The Mag Seven, a loose American remake of Akira Kurosawa’s ’54 epic, Seven Samurai, is a tremendous Western that made national stars of its cast, most notably Eli Wallach (who’d be given roles in the Sergio Leone flicks The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West) and Charles Bronson (who eventually costarred with Wallach in Once Upon a Time in the West).

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

Lewis Milestone’s abundant remake of the 1935 Best Picture-winning film, which starred Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, clocks in at right around three hours (nearly twice as long as the original), though is hoisted by a compelling (if but not typical) performance by Marlon Brando, who surprisingly wasn’t included in the movie’s seven Oscar nominations.

The Pledge (2001)

The latest and best of Sean Penn’s first three directorial efforts (The Indian Runner, The Crossing Guard), The Pledge, a remake of the 1958 German film It Happened in Broad Daylight, manages to sneak its renowned cast by viewers, whose attention is preoccupied with the film’s gut-churning story and remarkable performances.

Scarlet Street (1944)

This exposé in film noir, directed by field master Fritz Lang, is actually the second interpretation of the French novel La Chienne, which was previously adapted into a very good dramatic production in 1931 by legendary filmmaker Jean Renoir. Though it’s definitely not a remake of Renoir’s picture, it’s one of Lang’s forgotten rubies—and I mean to shed some light upon it so that it is forgotten no more (basically, I’m cheating).

Let your comments rain down! And check out Part I if you have yet to do so.