This slide show was sparked by the seemingly never-ending waves of remakes coming at us via TV and movies -- a phenomenon that includes everything from "Clash of the Titans," "Alice in Wonderland," "The A-Team," "The Crazies" and "Let Me In" to a spate of recent TV productions: CBS' "Hawaii Five-O," AMC's "The Killing," HBO's "Mildred Pierce" and the new "Upstairs Downstairs" (which is technically a continuation, with a couple of characters from the original, but feels like a stealth reboot).

Most of these projects are driven mainly by commerce, and an awful lot of them feel whorish, pointless and trite. But once in awhile you see a remake that truly does seem to have an identity apart from the original -- like a cover of a beloved pop song that makes you see the source in a new light, and perhaps even supplants it in your memory. This slide show picks the most adventurous, exciting and (yes!) original remakes of all time -- 10 slides, 11 titles, with commentary explaining how they equal or exceed their predecessors. By all means, argue and nitpick and list your own favorites in the Letters section.

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