So often new movies come out and everyone complains about the "new" movie being a remake, reboot, copy, rip-off, and the like of an older movie.  Then starts the discussion that Hollywood has no new ideas, that all they can do is recycle older movies.  I get that, I'm one of the people that's constantly complaining about things like that. However, what I would like to propose is that remakes and reboots aren't always a bad thing. Yes, sometimes they suck terribly; but sometimes the new movie is worth being made.

Here are some movies that I really enjoyed - maybe not as much as the original, but they are still good movies that are worth watching.

Scarface (1983 - Pacino)  from Scarface (1932 - about Al Capone). An amazing modern (at the time of release) retelling/adaptation of the original. 

The Thing (1982 - Kurt Russel, John Carpenter) from The Thing from Another World (1951).  Both based on a book.  The Thing '82 is an amazing movie about paranoia, and for the time has amazing special effects for the time.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964 - Clint Eastwood) & Last Man Standing (1996 - Bruce Willis) from Yojimbo (1961 - Akira Kurosawa).  All three amazing movies. If you haven't seen the original by Kurosawa I strongly recommend it.  He was very influential and even George Lucas used several of his techniques in Star Wars (which has elements of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress)

Those are my three favorites, but there's also The Fly ('86), Dawn of the Dead ('04), Let Me In ('10),  The Magnificent 7 (another Kurosawa remake), The Departed, Casino Royale, True Grit.

The point is, not every remake is horrible.  Sometimes the remake, reboot, re-imagining, etc will have a new or novel approach to a classic that makes it interesting in it's own right. Sometimes it's just well put together with acting, pacing, and special effects.   And yes, I realize that most remakes are probably crap, and the good ones are the exception - but that really isn't different than "original" movies.