/vr/ - Retro Games

>>10698657
That really varies. The Thing was a new adaption of the John W. Campbell story Who Goes There? which had been adapted to film before, and it's a radically different adaption which is closer to the source material. It also happens to be far better executed and is regarded by many as one of the best monster horror movies of its era, one of the best of all time even. Some people argue it as a remake of the older adaption, even if that isn't maybe entirely appropriate.

The Thing from 2011 is proclaimed as a prequel to the 1982 movie, the premise of that being that it's the events of the Norwegian facility. What it is in practice, is a beat for beat remake of the 1982 film but with worse characters, worse scenes, worse effects, and overall just being not even close to as good. It's a very unnecessary movie which brings nothing of value to the table, and the quintessential pointless remake.

Bad film remakes are very much a thing in my opinion, and are typically the norm. A remake being good isn't unheard of (Brian DePalma's Scarface comes to mind, that's an actual remake and a fucking excellent film), but more often than not they are mediocre or subpar cashgrabs which have little value.