Famous films you didn’t know were (sort of) remakes

When it comes to film remakes, it’s easy to be cynical. Modern updatings, reboots, and adaptations have quite the poor reputation - and deservedly so given claims they’ve ‘ruined’ everything from video games, to foreign favourites, to even childhoods. But the much-hyped Bradley Cooper-directed A Star is Born is proving negative assumptions around remakes wrong.

A Star is Born is the third remake of the 1937 film, switching out actors for singers who fall in love while in a mentor-like relationship. Since its release, it has been surrounded by Oscar buzz, and, as expected from the Internet, memes.

Wow ANOTHER remake? pic.twitter.com/3eKheaY1OY

— Kevin TERROR Porter (@KevinTPorter) September 19, 2018

A Star is Born is only the latest reminder that remakes can equal or surpass their predecessors (Cooper's version is second only to the 1954 Judy Garland interpretation on Metacritic at time of writing). Some of Hollywood’s most famous and critically-acclaimed films are actually remakes, such as The Departed, Scarface and The Thing (the good one from the 80s). But anyone can find that out with just a quick scan of Wikipedia (which I totally did, no lie). Instead, I'm here to give you the lowdown on the more sneaky remakes - the modern classics that, while never officially confirmed as remakes, lean just a little too much on their influences and veer into adaptation territory.

Kill Bill Vol. 1/Lady Snowblood

It’s only fitting I start this piece with the modern king of homage, Quentin Tarantino. Whether you view him as an appreciative fanboy or “thief” is up to personal opinion. But whatever your stance, there is little denying his habit of borrowing from other films - especially when it comes to the ultra-violent Kill Bill Vol. 1.

The list of films Kill Bill borrows from is extensive, with this wiki page showing just how far its influences span. But the blueprint and entire climax of the film is ripped straight from one film in particular, Lady Snowblood.

The 1970s Japanese revenge flick sees assassin Yuki murder her way through a list of assailants who wronged her family (sound familiar?). Sure, you could claim Tarantino is just using the basic tropes of the revenge genre, but viewing both films’ final acts should put any doubts to rest that Kill Bill is basically an American Lady Snowblood. A showdown at a masquerade ball, numerous close-ups on the heroine’s eyes, and brutal stabbings in snow-filled Japanese gardens - it all comes from Lady Snowblood’s much more concise and low-key final chapter.

To top things off, the song that plays following O-Ren and the Bride’s showdown was made specifically for a Lady Snowblood scene where a bloody Yuki (played by Meiko Kaji, who also performs the song) collapses in the snow. You can compare the two moments below:

Black Swan/Perfect Blue

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan took the Academy and critics by storm with its tragic tale of a ballerina whose journey towards perfection leads her down an increasingly dark path. But for Asian film fans, Black Swan’s story of the mental breakdown of an entertainer was a little too similar to Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue. The 90s anime film follows Mima (which on its own sounds like Black Swan’s "Nina"), a pop-star turned actor who has trouble telling what is real after traumatising experiences with a stalker and an imposter trying to become her. It’s not just the overarching characters and confusion between reality and delusion which invites comparison between the films - certain shots are near identical, including many of Perfect Blue’s reflection scenes.

According to a supposed transcript of a now deleted interview, Aronoskvy has denied that Perfect Blue influenced his movie. However, his long history with the Japanese film suggests otherwise. Not only did he re-create the bathtub scene from Perfect Blue in his 2000 film Requiem for a Dream after buying its North American remake rights, but producer Masao Maruyama says Aronofsky met with director Kon to discuss making a live-action adaptation. While it doesn’t definitively prove Black Swan is a remake of Perfect Blue, it does highlight that Aronofsky is at least aware, if not is a fan, of the Japanese original.

Star Wars/Hidden Fortress

Unlike Aronofsky’s denial, director-writer George Lucas acknowledges that Star Wars based its story structure on the samurai classic The Hidden Fortress. That’s right - the film credited with popularising the space opera genre and spawning a four-decade franchise has its roots in (yet again) Japanese cinema.

While this article from the BBC gives a detailed overview of the story similarities (and how Hidden Fortress is actually more feminist), Lucas himself has highlighted the massive influence of Akira Kurosawa’s film on his work:

“The one thing that really struck me about The Hidden Fortress was the fact that the story was told from the [perspective of] the two lowest characters. I decided that would be a nice way to tell the Star Wars story, which was to take the two lowest characters, as Kurosawa did, and tell the story from their point of view, which in the Star Wars case is the two droids.” (source)

Even Lucas’ editing style seems to have been influenced by Kurosawa. Star Wars’ use of wipes is so famous that there are many YouTube compilations of its scene transitions. But 25 years earlier wipes were considered a signature of Kurosawa’s work, with this scene from Ikiru showing just how frequent and effective wipe transitions were in his films.

This isn’t to say that Kurosawa was wholly original. Three of his most renowned films are Shakespeare adaptations, while his Academy Award-winning Rashomon is based on the short story In a Grove. Lucas, then, is just continuing the tradition of nearly all famous directors, taking influence (albeit heavy influence) from the greats who came before.

Fast and the Furious/Point Break

A young FBI agent goes undercover into the world of extreme sports. Along the way, he crushes on a waitress, suspects his new-found group of adrenaline junkie friends are robbers, and gets involved in a big heist gone wrong. There's also a tonne of male gaze. What movie is this?

Depending on what decade you were born in, you might say either Point Break or The Fast and the Furious. Either way, you are probably right.

Claims of the Fast and the Furious being a “rip-off” of Point Break are far from rare, and it’s easy to see why when you compare their stories. In fact, they are so similar that there’s a flow chart to help you decide which one you are actually watching (what isn’t there a flow chart for?).

Are you watching Point Break or The Fast and the Furious? pic.twitter.com/T8GDjKxV6H

— Andy Ryan (@ItsAndyRyan) August 13, 2018

According to entertainment writer Vince Mancini, the similarities go even deeper. Mancini points out the “Corona connection” - noticing that The Fast and the Furious’s Brian doesn’t just have the same taste in alcohol as Keanu Reeve’s Johnny Utah, but they also both order tuna sandwiches. Well that seals it - I’m convinced!

As for ‘actual’ evidence that the Fast and the Furious knowingly copied Point Break, Mancini acknowledges that (like most on this list) any proof is circumstantial and unconfirmed. However, the screenwriter of the original Fast and the Furious has name dropped Point Break when explaining how the film’s story changed after Columbine (apparently adding an undercover cop to the story, and not the literal race war aspect, was the tipping point for acceptability). But whether you prefer the extremely 2000s vehicle carnage of The Fast and the Furious or the comparatively chill surfing of Point Break, I think we can all agree to thank the latter for this Keanu reaction gif: