These Classic Movies Are Remakes And You Didn't Even Know It

These classic movies are all remakes: from Terry Gilliam's surreal sci-fi opus 12 Monkeys, to Paul Thomas Anderson's breakout hit, the sprawling ode to the '70s and '80s Boogie Nights, and even iconic '90s teen comedy Jungle 2 Jungle. The films listed here each represent a unique type of cinematic remake, reimagining, expansion, or reinvention.

It might feel like Hollywood today is caught in an endless loop of reboots and remakes, but honestly, that has always been the case. You can't discuss film history without talking about the best remakes.

Below are some examples from the last 40+ years that illustrate the importance of remakes and adaptations in movies.

5 "Little Shop of Horrors"

Original Released In 1960; Remake Released In 1982

Little Shop of Horrors was originally a Roger Corman B-picture, a black-and-white, low-budget, campy affair about a plant that eats people. Like most of Corman's cinematic ouvre, Little Shop's ambitions outpaced its budget and late '50s special effects. It likely would have faded into obscurity, had it not captivated two impressionable viewers: Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.

Decades later, the duo resurrected Little Shop of Horrors in the form of an off-Broadway musical, which debuted in 1982. It was an unexpected, runaway hit, and it was the musical adaptation that was subsequently adapted back into movie form by director Frank Oz in '86. The second film version kept the musical numbers, while crucially updating the special effects.

As a straight 1960 sci-fi horror movie, Little Shop of Horrors was good. As an '80s throwback to the '60s, it became great. The iconic cast, with Rick Moranis as the (human) lead, along with Steve Martin, Jim Belushi, John Candy, and more, fires on all cylinders in this cult classic, and it wouldn't have been possible without Roger Corman's source material.

4 "Scent of a Woman"

Original Italian Film Released In 1974; America Remake Released In 1992

In retrospect, Scent of a Woman is the start of the over-the-top third act of Al Pacino's acting career. At the time of the film's release, Pacino's role as the blind and suicidal Lt. Colonel Frank Slade earned him just his second Best Actor nod, after a tumultuous history with the Oscars that had him passed over for all three Godfather movies.

Scent was a remake of the 1974 Italian movie Profumo di donna. For adventurous viewers, it's worth watching the original version to see how Pacio's performance was inspired by Italian star Vittorio Gassman, and how Pacino managed to make Slade completely his own character. Overall, Scent of a Woman is an underrated case study in foreign-to-U.S. film adaptations.

3 "Boogie Nights"

Original Short Film Released In 1988; Feature-Length Remake Released In 1997

Boogie Nights is one of the greatest films of the 1990s, and one of the greatest retrospective movies about the 1970s and 1980s. It was also the movie that established director Paul Thomas Anderson as a creative force in Hollywood, something that is still paying off three decades later with his latest hit, One Battle After Another.

It is also a special kind of remake: the film originated as The Dirk Diggler Story, a mockumentary short PTA made when he was just eighteen years old. Anderson's directorial debut, Hard Eight, was an expansion of another short film, Cigarettes & Coffee, and when it came time for his sophomore effort, he expanded Dirk Diggler into Boogie Nights,

The short film lent Boogie Nights the name of its protagonist, Mark Wahlberg's character, and its focus on the porn industry. Beyond that, Boogie Nights evolved significantly in the decade between the short and its feature-length adaptation. That makes it a fascinating insight into the early career trajectory of modern auteur filmmaking's GOAT.

2 "Jungle 2 Jungle"

Original French Film Released In 1994; American Remake Released In 1997

Jungle 2 Jungle is a nostalgic favorite for '90s kids. In the film, Tim Allen plays a self-absorbed Wall Street jerk who learns he has a teenage son, Mimi-Siku, who has been raised among an indigenous Venezuelan tribe. The film's action is split between the actual jungle and the concrete jungle of NYC, making it a novel "double-fish-out-of-water" story.

Jungle 2 Jungle is a largely faithful remake of the earlier French film, Un indien dans la viille. Both movies were commercially successful, but critically panned, at the time of their release. However, Jungle 2 Jungle became a certified cult-classic on home video for a generation of viewers, even if it now boasts a bleak Rotten Tomatoes score.

1 "12 Monkeys"

Original French Short Film Released In 1962 ; Remake Released In 1995

What many American viewers don't realize about Terry Gilliam's big-budget, high-concept time-travel thriller 12 Monkeys is that the concept itself is taken from one of the greatest short films of all time, director Chris Marker's La Jetée, released in 1962. If you love the tragic time loop presented in 12 Monkeys, it's worth going back to La Jetée, because that's where it originated.

La Jetée is black-and-white, and is mostly composed of still-photos, with its story told in voice-over narration. It is less than 30 minutes long. Gilliam's expansion of the source material into a feature-length film is remarkable in many ways, but at the core of the film remains La Jetée's gutpunch of a twist.

12 Monkeys takes La Jetée and makes it into something new, around the bones of the original. As this list has shown, from the direct remake of Jungle 2 Jungle, to Boogie Nights' expansion of a short into a feature, to 12 Monkeys' full-scale elaboration on its inspiration, remakes of different shapes and sizes remain Hollywood's secret weapon.