I ran across this in my feed recently and was floored by the number of movie remakes.

Fifty – probably more.

The movie studios pick out an old, usually popular, movie and remake it using more advanced technology than the original was filmed with, and often improving the script slightly while staying as true as possible to the original.

I recently watched a movie remake, not a particularly good one, and began thinking back trying to figure out what I would consider the top 3 movie remakes.

Here are my top 3 movie remakes:

3. “I am Legend“ starring Will Smith, released in 2007, as a remake of a Charlton Heston movie from 1972 called “The Omega Man”. The Omega Man itself was also a remake of a film from 1971 called “The Last Man On Earth”, starring Vincent Price.

The story line behind these movies is of a plague that wipes out most of humanity. Well, really all of humanity except for one person. Besides for the sole survivor, there are also some who have become monsters of sorts, whether they are some form of vampire, walking dead, zombie or just plain old monsters.

The survivor spends his time trying to figure out a cure, a way to reverse the plague, while searching for the possibility of other survivors and fending off the monsters.

In I Am Legend, the producers did a great job – much better than in the earlier versions of the movie – with the monsters. In I Am Legend they were more intelligent, better developed and worked together better than in the originals. In all the movies the main actor did a great job, but changing the monsters is what really catapulted I Am legend to the top of the remakes.

2. This was tough. I had to choose between two great movies, both great remakes, in “Casino Royale” and “Ocean’s Eleven”. These two movies are both movies centered around a casino. The difference between the two and the reason I chose Casino Royale is that as a remake, Casino Royale did far more than the original movie while Ocean’s Eleven was more of a copy.

In Casino Royale we find Daniel Craig playing James Bond. While James Bond is no stranger to the casino, in Casino Royale the card games are a far more major part of the plot, with Bond overcoming his opponent not just with the usual fighting but with his wit, intelligence, and presence of mind. It also came at the perfect time, because the online casinos like Smart Live and others are gaining popularity compared to physical casinos. Overall, the remake of Casino Royale is exciting and intriguing.

1. “Scarface” was remade in 1983 after the original Scarface appeared in theaters in 1932. Scarface has become a cultural phenomenon. While the original Scarface dealt with an ambitious gangster trying to climb the ranks of the Italian mob, the remake has Al Pacino as a Cuban immigrant taking over a drug cartel in Miami and working his way through the cocaine industry.

Scarface became so iconic that it spawned many popular catch-phrases, such as “Say hello to my little friend!”

Let me know in the comments if you think another movie deserves to be considered.