Remakes and Sequels That Were Better Than the Originals

As moviegoers, we all intuitively understand that the main reason a sequel or a remake gets made is because a studio senses an opportunity to earn some money. (As moviegoers, we also intuitively understand this as the motivation behind most non-sequels and remakes from Hollywood too. Hollywood is generally not in the business of producing things out of the kindness of executives’ hearts.) The holders of the rights to a classic movie or show believe there is an audience for a new version of something, and so they produce one. And that’s how we get a new Predator or a new Star Wars or a new Avengers or a new The Equalizer or a new Dumb & Dumber and so on and so forth.

But the mercenary motivations behind most remakes and sequels do not preclude them from occasionally producing a worthy work of art. Get the right script, the right director, the right cast involved in a project, and they can take artistic lemons and make cinematic lemonade. As the old saying goes, it’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it’s about it.

Case in point: The movies and sequels listed below, which were not only good, they actually surpassed the films that inspired them in the first place. While it’s a relatively rare phenomenon, it does happen occasionally. And here are the sequels and remakes that prove it...

10 Sequels That Are Better Than The Original

While it’s not easy for a sequel to surpass the original film in terms of quality, it does happen every once in a while. Here are 10 sequel films that are better than their predecessors.

Gallery Credit: Claire Epting

10 Movie Remakes That Were Better Than The Original

Sometimes, a reboot of a movie turns out to be an improvement on the one before it. Here are 10 movies whose remakes were better than the original film.

Gallery Credit: Claire Epting