Worst American Remake of a Non-English Movie
by urbanemovies | created - 25 Jan 2016 | updated - 11 Feb 2023 | PublicMaking an American remake of a great foreign language film into an English spoken version usually is a good idea. After all, sharing a great story with as wide an audience as possible makes a lot of sense. However, despite having bigger stars, larger budgets and the full resources of Hollywood behind them, it is often not enough. These adaptations, more often than not, pale in comparison to the masterwork and magic of the original telling.
Which of these select American remakes* is by comparison the most unworthy of its foreign non-English language original? * IMDb rated 6.9- (as of June 2019)
Take the companion poll: Best American Remake Non-English Movie
Discuss the topic here.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Grudge (2004)
PG-13 | 91 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.
Director: Takashi Shimizu | Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jason Behr, Clea DuVall, William Mapother
Votes: 150,901 | Gross: $110.36M
Original: Ju-On: The Grudge (2003) from Japan in Japanese
2. The Upside (2017)
PG-13 | 126 min | Comedy, Drama
A comedic look at the relationship between a wealthy man with quadriplegia and an unemployed man with a criminal record who's hired to help him.
Director: Neil Burger | Stars: Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman, Aja Naomi King
Votes: 63,586 | Gross: $108.25M
Original: Les Intouchables (2011) from France in French
3. Oldboy (2013)
R | 104 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Obsessed with vengeance, a man sets out to find out why he was kidnapped and locked into solitary confinement for twenty years without reason.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharlto Copley
Votes: 80,836 | Gross: $2.19M
Original: Oldeuboi (2003) from South Korea in Korean
4. Diabolique (1996)
R | 107 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
The wife and mistress of the sadistic dean of an exclusive prep school conspire to murder him.
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik | Stars: Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Chazz Palminteri, Kathy Bates
Votes: 15,381 | Gross: $17.10M
Original: Les diaboliques (1955) from France in French | English
5. Godzilla (I) (1998)
PG-13 | 139 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
French nuclear tests irradiate an iguana into a giant monster that heads off to New York City. The American military must chase the monster across the city to stop it before it reproduces.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria
Votes: 203,673 | Gross: $136.31M
Original: Gojira (1954) from Japan in Japanese
6. The Tourist (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 103 min | Action, Thriller
Revolves around Frank, an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart. Elise is an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton
Votes: 256,477 | Gross: $67.63M
Original: Anthony Zimmer (2005) from France in French
7. Ghost in the Shell (2017)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In the near future, Major Mira Killian is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.
Director: Rupert Sanders | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche
Votes: 227,981 | Gross: $40.56M
Original: Kôkaku Kidôtai (1995) from Japan in Japanese
8. The Uninvited (2009)
PG-13 | 87 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Anna returns home after a stint in a mental hospital, but her recovery is jeopardized by her father's new girlfriend and ghastly visions of her dead mother.
Directors: Charles Guard, Thomas Guard | Stars: Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, Elizabeth Banks, David Strathairn
Votes: 85,094 | Gross: $28.57M
Original: Janghwz, Hongryeon (2003) from South Korea in Korean
9. Point of No Return (1993)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A government fakes the death of a criminal to turn this young woman into a killer on its service.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Bridget Fonda, Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney, Miguel Ferrer
Votes: 30,173 | Gross: $30.04M
Original: La Femme Nikita (1990) from France in French
10. Funny Games (2007)
R | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Two psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet
Votes: 103,875 | Gross: $1.29M
Original: Funny Games (1997) from Austria in German | French | Italian
11. Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
PG-13 | 114 min | Comedy
After he finds out that his work superiors host a dinner celebrating the idiocy of their special guests, a rising executive questions the merits of his invitation just as he befriends a man who would be the perfect guest.
Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Stephanie Szostak, Zach Galifianakis
Votes: 111,127 | Gross: $73.03M
Original: Le Diner de Cons (1998) from France in French
12. Quarantine (2008)
R | 89 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC, after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers.
Director: John Erick Dowdle | Stars: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Columbus Short, Jay Hernandez
Votes: 77,405 | Gross: $31.69M
Original: [REC] (2007) from Spain in Spanish
13. No Reservations (2007)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a top chef changes when she becomes the guardian of her young niece.
Director: Scott Hicks | Stars: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Clarkson
Votes: 78,832 | Gross: $43.11M
Original: Bella Martha (2001) from Germany in German
14. The Eye (2008)
PG-13 | 98 min | Horror, Mystery
Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister Helen when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing dead people.
Directors: David Moreau, Xavier Palud | Stars: Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola, Parker Posey, Rade Serbedzija
Votes: 56,140 | Gross: $31.42M
Original: The Eye (2004) from Hong Kong in Catonese
15. Delivery Man (2013)
PG-13 | 105 min | Comedy, Drama
An affable underachiever finds out he's fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic 20 years ago. Now he must decide whether or not to come forward when 142 of them file a lawsuit to reveal his identity.
Director: Ken Scott | Stars: Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders, Jack Reynor
Votes: 82,837 | Gross: $30.66M
Original: Starbuck (2011) from Canada in French
16. Dark Water (2005)
PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A mother and daughter, still wounded from a bitter custody dispute, hole up in a run-down apartment building, where they are targeted by the ghost of a former resident.
Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Ariel Gade, John C. Reilly, Tim Roth
Votes: 65,391 | Gross: $25.47M
Original: Honogurai mizu no soko kara (2000) from Japan in Japanese
17. Secret in Their Eyes (2015)
PG-13 | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A tight-knit team of rising investigators, along with their supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered.
Director: Billy Ray | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Dean Norris
Votes: 51,318 | Gross: $20.18M
Original: El Secreto de sus Ojos (2009) from Argentina in Spanish
18. Premonition (I) (2007)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A depressed woman learns that her husband was killed in a car accident the previous day, then awakens the next morning to find him alive and well at home; then awakens the day after that to find that he's dead.
Director: Mennan Yapo | Stars: Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Amber Valletta, Shyann McClure
Votes: 81,744 | Gross: $47.85M
Original: Yogen (2004) from Japan in Japanese
19. Solaris (2002)
PG-13 | 99 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Ulrich Tukur, Viola Davis
Votes: 86,285 | Gross: $14.97M
Original: Solyaris (1972) from the Soviet Union in Russian
20. The Vanishing (1993)
R | 109 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
The boyfriend of an abducted woman never gives up the search as the abductor looks on.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, Sandra Bullock
Votes: 28,037 | Gross: $14.54M
Original: Spoorloos (1988) from Netherlands in Dutch
21. Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
R | 99 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A hitman who's in Bangkok to pull off a series of jobs violates his personal code when he falls for a local woman and bonds with his errand boy.
Directors: Danny Pang, Oxide Chun Pang | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Charlie Yeung, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Panward Hemmanee
Votes: 58,319 | Gross: $15.28M
Original: กรุงเทพมหานครอันตราย (2000) from Thailand in Thai
22. Death Note (I) (2017)
TV-MA | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A high school student named Light Turner discovers a mysterious notebook that has the power to kill anyone whose name is written within its pages, and launches a secret crusade to rid the world of criminals.
Director: Adam Wingard | Stars: Nat Wolff, LaKeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, Shea Whigham
Votes: 90,501
Original: Desu Nōto (2006) from Japan in Japanese
23. Brick Mansions (2014)
PG-13 | 90 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An undercover Detroit cop navigates a dangerous neighborhood that's surrounded by a containment wall with the help of an ex-con in order to bring down a crime lord and his plot to devastate the entire city.
Director: Camille Delamarre | Stars: Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA, Goûchy Boy
Votes: 44,107 | Gross: $20.40M
Original: Banlieue 13 (2004) from France in French | Spanish
24. Taxi (I) (2004)
PG-13 | 97 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A mouthy and feisty taxicab driver has hot tips for a green and inept cop set on solving a string of New York City bank robberies committed by a quartet of female Brazilian bank robbers.
Director: Tim Story | Stars: Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Gisele Bündchen, Henry Simmons
Votes: 44,870 | Gross: $36.61M
Original: Taxi (1998) from France in French
25. Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986)
R | 103 min | Comedy
A rich but troubled family find their lives altered by the arrival of a vagrant who tries to drown himself in their swimming pool.
Director: Paul Mazursky | Stars: Nick Nolte, Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss, Little Richard
Votes: 20,227 | Gross: $62.13M
Original: Boudu sauvé des eaux (1932) from France in in French
26. Shall We Dance? (2004)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A romantic comedy where a bored, overworked Estate Lawyer, upon first sight of a beautiful instructor, signs up for ballroom dancing lessons.
Director: Peter Chelsom | Stars: Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci
Votes: 49,604 | Gross: $57.89M
Original: Shall we dansu? (1997) from Japan in Japanese
27. Martyrs (2015)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A woman and her childhood friend seek out revenge on those who victimized and abused them.
Directors: Kevin Goetz, Michael Goetz | Stars: Troian Bellisario, Bailey Noble, Kate Burton, Caitlin Carmichael
Votes: 6,920
Original: Mártires (2008) from France | Canada in French
28. My Sassy Girl (2008)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A sweet Midwestern guy with his life planned out for himself is wooed, groomed, and ultimately dumped by a complicated, elusive gal.
Director: Yann Samuell | Stars: Elisha Cuthbert, Jesse Bradford, Austin Basis, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 20,479
Original: Yeopgijeogin geunyeo (2001) from South Korea in Korean
29. Miss Bala (2019)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength.
Director: Catherine Hardwicke | Stars: Gina Rodriguez, Thomas Dekker, Vivian Chan, Barbarella Pardo
Votes: 12,743 | Gross: $15.01M
Original: Miss Bala (2011) from Mexico in Spanish | English
30. After the Wedding (2019)
PG-13 | 112 min | Drama
A manager of an orphanage in Kolkata travels to New York to meet a benefactor.
Director: Bart Freundlich | Stars: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Billy Crudup, Abby Quinn
Votes: 8,627 | Gross: $1.45M
Original: Efter brylluppet (2006) from Denmark in Danish | Swedish | English | Hindi
31. Last Man Standing (1996)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken
Votes: 61,015 | Gross: $17.60M
Original: Yojimbo (1961) from Japan in Japanese
added 10 April 2021
32. Downhill (I) (2020)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Drama
Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.
Directors: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash | Stars: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell, Zach Woods, Zoë Chao
Votes: 13,823
Original: Turist (2014) aka Force Majeure (2014) from Sweden in Swedish | Norwegian | English | French | Italian
added 10 April 2021
33. The Guilty (2021)
R | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A demoted police officer assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Riley Keough, Peter Sarsgaard, Christina Vidal
Votes: 148,866
Original: Den skyldige (2018) from Denmark in Danish
added 25 January 2022
34. Cold Pursuit (2019)
R | 119 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A grieving snowplow driver seeks out revenge against the drug dealers who killed his son.
Director: Hans Petter Moland | Stars: Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Micheál Neeson, Michael Eklund
Votes: 78,099 | Gross: $32.14M
Original: Kraftidioten (2014) from Norway Denmark Sweden in Norwegian | Danish | Swedish | English | Serbian | German Languages
added 25 January 2022
35. Memory (I) (2022)
R | 114 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An assassin-for-hire finds that he's become a target after he refuses to complete a job for a dangerous criminal organization.
Director: Martin Campbell | Stars: Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Taj Atwal, Harold Torres
Votes: 35,116
Another American Remake of a Non-English Movie Not Listed
Original: De zaak Alzheimer (2003) from Belgium in Dutch | French | Flemish | Languages (with Memory (2022) as the pictured example)
added 10 February 2023
Tell Your Friends