21 Great American Remakes of Foreign Language Films

Few things rile a genuine cinephile’s feathers like the news of a remake, because the irony is, if a movie is good enough to be worth remaking, it’s probably good enough to stand on its own. And heaven knows that we’ve all been burned by lousy remakes in the past, and over and over again, like The Wicker ManThe HauntingClash of the TitansAll the King’s MenCharlie and the Chocolate FactoryAlice in Wonderland, the list goes on and on and on.

But lately, Hollywood has been leaning towards a different sort of remake. It’s hardly new that American filmmakers would try to remake movies from other countries but in the last few weeks we’ve already had announcements about a U.S. version of the new, Oscar-nominated German comedy Toni Erdmann as well as a new director for the English-language remake of the acclaimed Indonesian action thriller The Raid. We’ve also got an American remake of the Japanese classic Ghost in the Shell coming out next month.

Also: The Top 50 Best Romance Movies of the Decade (So Far)

In an increasingly global marketplace, American remakes of foreign language films probably seem unnecessary, or even condescending. It’s easy to access many of the original films via online stores and streaming services, and it arguably speaks ill of American audiences to suggest that they can’t handle the daunting task of reading subtitles. Complaints about American remakes of foreign language films are rampant, and not without some cause. Did you ever see the American versions of DiaboliqueThe VanishingMirrors or Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla? They’re not good.

But just because some American remakes of foreign language films are awful doesn’t mean they all are. In fact there is a very long tradition of translating material from other countries and cultures into funny, scary, exciting and deeply moving English-language milieus. So if you’re still fuming about The Raid or Toni Erdmann or Ghost in the Shell, take a look at these great movies and try to remember that it’s POSSIBLE to do this the right way.

I mean, there’s no guarantee, but it’s POSSIBLE, right…?

21 Great American Remakes of Foreign Language Films:

Top Photos: Warner Bros. / Warner Bros. / RKO Radio Pictures

William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.

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