Remakes with different titles, etc.

[AndyC]

I think reinterpretation might be a better term for what this thread is about.

One example of a true remake would be Psycho, a shot-for-shot copy. Although, I think an updating of a story would count too. The new versions of old William Castle flicks come to mind.

To be a remake, a movie would at the very least have to be, as Freep has suggested, the same title and basic story as an earlier movie. But I also think it has to be based on that movie.

If, for example, John Carpenter had made The Thing about a giant killer vegetable that gets electrocuted in the end, I would call that a remake. Instead, he had a shape-shifting monster that replaces the characters. In that case, it is a newer and more faithful adaptation of the original story, not a remake of the earlier movie. Nobody would argue that Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings is a remake of Ralph Bakshi's animated version from the 70s (exceept possibly Bakshi). It's a new adaptation of the literary work.

[The Burgomaster]

So, SNOW WHITE AND THE 3 STOOGES is not a remake of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES?

[B-grade]

Well almost 50% of b-movies copy or steal. But there are a few that are more than just  rip-offs and are almost exact copies.  I love these movies because of it.

#1 Carnosaur 2.  The ultimate scene by scene remake of Aliens.
#2 Watchers 3 and DNA .  Very close to Preditor
#3 The warrior and the sorceress. is a remake of Yojimbo

They are worth watch just to watch the similarities.

There are many others that are not quite as pure

Note: Terminator 2 is almost a scene by scene remake of the original.  Just change the vechicles in the chase scene.