I’ve heard the term ‘remake’ for as long as I have been watching movies. It usually comes out in discussions as “did you hear they’re remaking [old movie]?”, followed by a groan of discontent by those listening. One would think that with all the complaining and generally negative criticisms people give to remakes that movie studios would get the hint and stop making them. However, remakes and reboots aren’t always terrible and often times breathe life into dead stories and franchises, as we saw this May with ‘Star Trek’. Rarely do I hear people say a movie is being ‘reimagined’ usually it gets tossed in under the ‘remake’ category and it wasn’t until this past year that the term ‘reboot’ became the pop word for dead franchises. So what exactly is the difference between the three terms?
Remake
Dictionary Definition:
1. to film again, as a picture or screenplay
2. a more recent version of an older film
Wikipedia:
“The term ‘remake’ is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source.”
The following movies qualify as remakes:
The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008 and 1951)
War of the Worlds (2005 and 1953)
The Departed (2006) from Infernal Affairs (2002)
Remakes are both a good and a bad thing. While most people, like myself, think that the remade version of a movie usually never stands up to the original, a remake can also shed light on movies and stories that previously would not have been known about. For instance, most people don’t know that 2006’s ‘The Departed’ is actually a remake of the Chinese film ‘Infernal Affairs’ (2002) and that the love triangle between the three lead characters in ‘The Departed’ is actually not featured in the original Chinese film. John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ (1982) is an example of a remake that breathed new life into a previously, at least for recent generations, unknown movie (‘The Thing from Another World’) .
Reboot
Dictionary Definition:
To turn off and then on again; restart.
Wikipedia:
“…a discarding of much or even all previous continuity in the series, to start anew. Effectively, all previously-known fictive history is declared by the writer(s) to be null and void, or at least irrelevant to the current storyline, and the series starts over.”
The following movies qualify as reboots:
Batman Begins (2005)
Casino Royale (2006)
Star Trek (2009)
Rebooting is a great way of breathing life into franchises that have fallen off the map. The movies mentioned above are all parts of previous long running canons that have fizzled out both commercially and artistically. Rather than creating more sequels each series had its slate cleaned, so to speak, so they could start anew.
Reimagining
This one is a bit tougher to define as it is more of a subset of ‘remake’ than a category on its own.
Wikipedia:
“remakes that do not closely follow the original…often contain tongue in cheek references to the original with characters and concepts of the same name, but significantly changed.”
The following movies/series qualify as reimaginings:
Ocean’s 11 (2001 and 1960)
Planet of the Apes (2001 and 1968)
Battlestar Galactica (2004 and 1978)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 and 1974)
Reimagings, like remakes, allow new audiences to experience ‘modern’ interpretations of old stories and canons. One of the chief differences between a remake and a reimagining is the setting and characters of the story. ‘Scarface’ (1983) is a remake of Howard Hawk’s ‘Scarface’ (1932), both share the same basic plot about an ambitious gangster that climbs the ladder of success in the mob but both have different characters and different settings.
Combinations
There are several movies that fall under multiple categories. I consider The Incredible Hulk (2008) to be both a remake and a reboot. After Ang Lee’s poorly received take on The Hulk in 2003, Universal Pictures decided to scrap everything and start with a new director, writer and cast. 
However they didn’t start from exactly from the beginning, The Incredible Hulk’s opening sequence gave us a quick synopsis of the origin and dropped us in the middle of the story when Bruce is on the run. It is a remake because it is essentially the same story filmed again and also a reboot as it discarded the previous continuity in the series.
Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween’ (2007), is another example of a combination, being both a reimagining and a reboot. The original canon of Halloween had been dragged six movies too long and after studios got the hint that making more Halloween sequels wasn’t going to present any positive cash flow they decided to reboot the whole franchise. Zombie’s interpretation qualifies not only as a reboot because of the aforementioned reasons but also as a reimagining. While Zombie followed closely to the original storyline, he spent a lot of time in Michael Myer’s childhood and introduced a lot of characters that were not mentioned in the franchise’s first time around.
Upcoming Remakes, Reboots and Reimaginings
The Taking of Pelham 123
Tony Scott (Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Beverly Hills Cop 2) directs this remake of the 1974 version, starring Walter Matthau, about a group of armed men that hijack a subway car and hold the passengers for ransom in New York City.
The Warriors
Now that Tony Scott is done with Pelham 123, he’s switching coasts and coming back to Los Angeles where he plans to shoot his next remake.
Clash of the Titans (Updated)
A remake of the classic 1981 adaptation of the myth of Perseus, directed by Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) and starring ‘Terminator Salvation’ and upcoming ‘Avatar’ lead Sam Worthington.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A reimagining/reboot of the iconic serial-killer will come to theaters next year under the tent of Michael Bay’s production company and starring Jackie Earle Haley (’Watchmen’, ‘Little Children’) as Freddy.
Short Circuit
Goodbye childhood. Dimension Films is putting out a remake of the beloved 1986 sci-fi adventure comedy about a military robot that runs away after developing a conscience and personality. The script is being penned by Robot Chicken scribe Dan Milano.
Dune
Frank Herbert’s popular book series is getting another shot at the big screen with Peter Berg at the helm.
The Evil Dead
Sam Raimi is attached to remake his cult classic film. Here’s hoping that Bruce Campbell is involved in some way.
