Best American Remake of a Non-English Movie
by urbanemovies | created - 24 Feb 2016 | updated - 11 Feb 2023 | PublicAn American remake of a great foreign language film into an English version makes a lot of sense. Sharing a great story with as wide an audience as possible is always a good idea. These remakes are often done with the full resources of Hollywood with bigger stars and larger budgets. Despite this, these adaptations face the same issues that most sequels and remakes have when compared to the original.
Which of these select American remakes* is by comparison the most worthy of the foreign non-English language original? * IMDb rated 6.0+ (as of July 2017)
Take the companion poll: Worst American Remake Non-English Movie
Discuss the topic here.
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1. 12 Monkeys (1995)
R | 129 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Joseph Melito
Votes: 646,243 | Gross: $57.14M
La Jettée (1962) from France in French
2. The Departed (2006)
R | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg
Votes: 1,420,713 | Gross: $132.38M
Infernal Affairs (2002) from Hong Kong in Catonese
3. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,274 | Gross: $25.00M
Fanfare d'Amour (1935) from France in French
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
R | 158 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for 40 years by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 494,445 | Gross: $102.52M
Män som Hatar Kvinnor (2009) from Sweden in Swedish
5. Scent of a Woman (1992)
R | 156 min | Drama
A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn, Gabrielle Anwar
Votes: 328,316 | Gross: $63.90M
Porfumo di donna (1974) from Italy in Italian
6. The Ring (2002)
PG-13 | 115 min | Horror, Mystery
A journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone one week to the day after they view it.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox, David Dorfman
Votes: 374,648 | Gross: $129.13M
Ringu (1998) from Japan in Japanese
7. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 260,523 | Gross: $163.21M
Die Trapp-Famile (1956) from West Germany in German
8. Godzilla (2014)
PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The world is beset by the appearance of monstrous creatures, but one of them may be the only one who can save humanity.
Director: Gareth Edwards | Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 440,277 | Gross: $200.68M
Gojira (1954) from Japan in Japanese
9. True Lies (1994)
R | 141 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton
Votes: 280,617 | Gross: $146.28M
Le Totale (1991) from France in French
10. Insomnia (2002)
R | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan
Votes: 318,831 | Gross: $67.36M
Insomnia (1997) from Norway in Nowegian
11. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Approved | 128 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Seven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach
Votes: 102,437 | Gross: $4.91M
Shichinin no Saurai (1954) from Japan in Japanese
12. Let Me In (I) (2010)
R | 116 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.
Director: Matt Reeves | Stars: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloë Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Cara Buono
Votes: 127,225 | Gross: $12.13M
Lât den RätteKomma in (2008) from Sweden in Swedish
13. Brothers (I) (2009)
R | 105 min | Drama, Thriller, War
While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, Sam Shepard
Votes: 146,380 | Gross: $28.50M
Brødre (2004) from Denmark in Danish
14. The Parent Trap (1998)
PG | 128 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Identical twins Annie and Hallie, separated at birth and each raised by one of their biological parents, discover each other for the first time at summer camp and make a plan to bring their wayward parents back together.
Director: Nancy Meyers | Stars: Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Elaine Hendrix
Votes: 154,652 | Gross: $66.31M
Das doppelte Lottchen (1950) from West Germany in German * Parent Trap (1961) 1st American remake
15. The Next Three Days (2010)
PG-13 | 133 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A married couple's life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder.
Director: Paul Haggis | Stars: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Michael Buie
Votes: 206,495 | Gross: $21.15M
Pour Elle (2008) from France in French
16. The Debt (I) (2010)
R | 113 min | Drama, Thriller
In 1965, three Mossad Agents cross into East Berlin to apprehend a notorious Nazi war criminal. Thirty years later, the secrets the Agents share come back to haunt them.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson, Jessica Chastain
Votes: 71,840 | Gross: $31.18M
The Debt (2007) from Israel in Hebrew
17. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
R | 139 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In late 1950s New York, a young underachiever named Tom Ripley is sent to Italy to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 240,874 | Gross: $81.30M
Plein Soleil (1960) from France in French
18. 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: 86,240 | Gross: $14.97M
Solyaris (1972) from the Soviet Union in Russian
19. The Guardian (I) (2006)
PG-13 | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's "A" School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and self-sacrifice.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, Sela Ward, Melissa Sagemiller
Votes: 97,955 | Gross: $55.01M
Umizaro (2004) from Japan in Japanese
20. Vanilla Sky (2001)
R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell
Votes: 285,510 | Gross: $100.61M
Abre los ojos (1997) from Spain in Spanish
21. The Birdcage (1996)
R | 117 min | Comedy
A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée's right-wing moralistic parents.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 100,447 | Gross: $124.06M
Le Cage aux Follies (1978) from France in French
22. Contraband (2012)
R | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
To protect his brother-in-law from a drug lord, a former smuggler heads to Panama to score millions of dollars in counterfeit bills.
Director: Baltasar Kormákur | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Kate Beckinsale, Robert Wahlberg
Votes: 126,289 | Gross: $66.53M
Reykjavik-Rotterdam (2008) from Iceland in Icelandic
23. 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: 103,761 | Gross: $1.29M
Haneke: Funny Games (1997) from Austria in German
24. City of Angels (1998)
PG-13 | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An angel on Earth, a doctor unable to believe, a patient with a secret, a love story made in Heaven.
Director: Brad Silberling | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan, Andre Braugher, Dennis Franz
Votes: 127,681 | Gross: $78.69M
Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) from West Germany in German
25. The Last House on the Left (2009)
R | 110 min | Horror, Thriller
After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims: a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.
Director: Dennis Iliadis | Stars: Garret Dillahunt, Monica Potter, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Bowen
Votes: 100,267 | Gross: $32.75M
Jungfrukällan (1960) from Sweden in Swedish * Last House on Left (1972) 1st American remake
26. The Lake House (2006)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A lonely doctor who once occupied an unusual lakeside house begins to exchange love letters with its former resident, a frustrated architect. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.
Director: Alejandro Agresti | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Votes: 157,566 | Gross: $52.33M
Siworae (2000) from South Korea in Korean
27. 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: 30,144 | Gross: $30.04M
Nikita (1990) from France in French
28. 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: 78,728 | Gross: $43.11M
Bella Martha (2001) from Germany in German
29. 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: 111,054 | Gross: $73.03M
Le Diner de Cons (1998) from France in French
30. The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
R | 100 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A computer scientist running a virtual reality simulation of 1937 becomes the primary suspect when his colleague and mentor is murdered.
Director: Josef Rusnak | Stars: Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 77,212 | Gross: $15.50M
Welt am Draht (1973) from West Germany in German
31. 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: 227,717 | Gross: $40.56M
Kôkaku Kidôtai (1995) from Japan in Japanese
Added 11 February 2018
32. Wrath of Man (2021)
R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A cold and mysterious character working at a cash truck company responsible for moving a lot of money around Los Angeles each week.
Director: Guy Ritchie | Stars: Jason Statham, Holt McCallany, Josh Hartnett, Rocci Boy Williams
Votes: 207,119 | Gross: $27.47M
Le convoyeur (2004) from France in French
Added 10 February 2023
33. A Man Called Otto (2022)
PG-13 | 126 min | Comedy, Drama
Otto is a grump who's given up on life following the loss of his wife and wants to end it all. When a young family moves in nearby, he meets his match in quick-witted Marisol, leading to a friendship that will turn his world around.
Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Tom Hanks, Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, John Higgins
Votes: 157,591 | Gross: $62.47M
En man som heter Ove (2015) from Sweden in Swedish, Persian and Spanish.
Added 10 February 2023
34. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Passed | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn
Votes: 22,847 | Gross: $8.33M
Le Dernier Tournant (1939) from France in French
Added 10 February 2023
35. Victor/Victoria (1982)
PG | 134 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
A struggling female soprano finds work playing a male female impersonator, but it complicates her personal life.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren
Votes: 23,610 | Gross: $21.93M
Another American Remake of a Non-English Film Not Listed
(Victor/Victoria (1982) USA and Viktor und Viktoria (1933) GER as the pictured paired example)
Added 10 February 2023
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