Hollywood’s penchant for remaking perfectly good international-language movies gets it a bad rap — and for good reason. Most of the time, the only reason behind the remakes is to appease audiences who refuse to read subtitles rather than because the filmmaker has something new to say. When this is the case, we end up with movies like the whitewashed Ghost in the Shell, with Scarlett Johansson playing a Japanese character. So often, Hollywood remakes dampen the most interesting and hard-hitting aspects of the original movie in order to appeal to the widest possible audience.

However, every now and then, the filmmakers responsible for a remake have enough understanding of the original to make their version respectful to the source and entertaining in its own right. It’s not an easy feat to transpose an iconic movie into a different culture and preserve its original charms. These movies are not necessarily better than the originals but at the very least they manage to hold their own. Here are 10 American remakes of international movies that are actually good.

10 The Birdcage (1996)

Robin Williams and Nathan Lane at the beach in The Birdcage
MGM/UA Distribution Co.

The Birdcage is based on La Cage aux Folles, which translates to "the crazy cage," from 1978, directed by Édouard Molinaro. Both movies have the same premise: the son of a gay club owner and a drag queen asks them to put on a false front when introducing them to his girlfriend’s conservative parents. Starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as the central couple, and Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest as their conservative counterparts. With a cast so talented and charming, it’s unsurprising that the remake is as beloved as it is. The original version was nominated for three Oscars, and the remake also received a nomination, so both were well received. While some purists may prefer the original, there’s no doubt that this is a well-executed reworking of the plot.

9 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Sony Pictures Releasing

Both versions of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were based on the novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson. It finds a journalist, Mikel Blomkvizt, and a hacker, Lisbeth Salander, teaming up in search of a woman who has been missing for 40 years. In the original version, Mikel is played by Michael Nyqvist, who is recognizable for his roles in John Wick and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Alongside him is Noomi Rapace, who was also excellent as Elizabeth Shaw in Prometheus. The reboot has Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara in those roles, and they fill the shoes well. Audiences are split between which is better, and for an American remake to stand a chance against the original it must be good.

Related: Sleuth: Comparing a Masterpiece to its Brilliant Remake

8 Solaris (2002)

A scene from Solaris (2002)
20th Century Fox

Steven Soderbergh’s remake of Solaris and the Andrei Tarkovsky original (Solyaris) are both based on Stanislaw Lem’s novel. The protagonist is a grieving scientist, who is sent to a remote research station in space, where the crew has become mentally unwell. While there, he also mysteriously encounters his wife who has been dead for years. Soderbergh’s Solaris covers themes of religion, memory, and depression concisely in 90 minutes, which is a feat considering the original is close to three hours long. While the remake did not receive nearly as much praise as the original, both have different strengths and to disregard Soderbergh’s because it is aiming for something other than reproducing the original exactly isn’t fair.

7 Funny Games (2007)

US Funny Games
Warner International Pictures (WIP)

Funny Games is an interesting case among those listed here as it was remade for an English-speaking audience by the same writer-director, Michael Haneke. In an interview with Cinema.com, he said, “The first version of the film unfortunately didn’t get seen by its intended audience because it was in German, so I thought this would be a good opportunity for it to reach the audience it was originally made for.” He argues that the movie is a critique of gratuitous violence in American media, which is why he wanted that audience to see the movie. The story itself revolves around a family on holiday at a cabin who gets taken hostage by sadistic men and tortured. Given that the remake was done by the creator himself, it’s clear he had a strong handle on the source material. This enabled him to make a faithful remake, and it’s interesting to see the same scenario play out with different actors involved.

6 Three Men and a Baby (1987)

Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, and Steve Guttenberg in Three Men and a Baby
Touchstone Pictures

The original French version of Three Men and a Baby is titled Trois Hommes et un Coffin — which translates to "cradle," not coffin. Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, and Steve Guttenberg are all great choices for these bachelors, and they bumble their way through childcare entertainingly. They both have the same plot of three men taking care of a baby, but given the cultural differences between the United States and France, there are subtle changes. Where the original French version is wittier, the American remake is more sentimental, with a greater emotional payoff. Either way, the movie is what it is, a rather formulaic comedy that might not change your life, but also won’t ruin it.

5 Breathless (1983)

Breathless
Orion Pictures

Make no mistake, the Breathless remake comes nowhere near À Bout de Souffle in quality. However, with such a high bar to meet, it’s impressive that Breathless does manage to hold its own. Both follow a similar plot where a man kills a policeman and pursues love while on the run, but they take place in different places. In the original, the central couple is played by Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, with Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky in the remake. It would be near impossible for the remake to improve upon the source as the original was so groundbreaking stylistically. But Gere’s charisma does a lot of the heavy lifting in making the remake plenty enjoyable, as he is just so entertaining to watch.

4 A Bigger Splash (2015)

Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes in A Bigger Splash
Searchlight Pictures

La Piscine and its remake A Bigger Splash both tell the story of a couple on holiday in Europe, who are interrupted by the arrival of an old friend and his daughter. The group becomes messily entangled with each other, ratcheting up the tension. Both versions do an excellent job of creating an ominous atmosphere that contrasts with the group’s idyllic surroundings. A Bigger Splash is directed by Luca Guadagnino, and it’s clear he doesn’t feel too tied down by the original; there is a freedom to play with the source that creates moments unique to the remake. Guadagnino’s relocation of the story to Italy works well because of it being his native country. This enables subtle political observations and critiques to add a new layer to the story.

Related: Suspiria: How the 2018 Remake Stacks Up Against the 1977 Classic

3 Insomnia (2002)

Walter Finch in Insomnia
Alcon Entertainment

The two versions of Insomnia were made by Erik Skjoldbjærg and Christopher Nolan, respectively. Both find a detective (or two) in the far north — of Norway and North America — where the sun doesn’t set. The insomnia that ensues in combination with a secret the detective is keeping leads to delusions and paranoia that are only worsened by contact with the murderer. In an interview with Spliced Wire, Nolan discusses how the relocation of the story means that it “takes on the baggage of the sort of iconic cop figure from Hollywood movies past,” which reframes the narrative without changing the plot significantly. Both are excellent psychological thrillers, and it’s refreshing to watch a Nolan movie that is preoccupied with themes other than time and memory. The original stars Stellan Skarsgård, and the remake features Al Pacino and Robin Williams, so both have certified star power.

2 The Ring (2002)

the ring naomi watts
DreamWorks Pictures

The American version of The Ring is so pervasive that some fans may not realize it’s based on the Japanese movie Ringu. The story centers around an investigation into a cursed videotape that brings death to the person who watches it seven days later. There are a few small differences between the remake and the original, but the story generally follows the same trajectory. As with Funny Games, the remake stars Naomi Watts, who seems to be a good luck charm for these projects. Both have excellent tension-building skills, the atmosphere of imminent dread is what makes these movies so scary rather than relying on easy jump scares. While the anxiety around VHS technology may seem silly from this vantage point, the rest of the movie has aged well.

1 The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Cast of The Magnificent Seven from United Artists
United Artists

The Magnificent Seven is a version of Seven Samurai, where the epic samurai drama has been translated into the American western genre. In the original, an expert samurai is hired to protect a village from bandits, and he recruits six more samurai to help him. In the remake, seven gunfighters are hired to protect Mexican villagers from the same antagonism. Both movies find the expert fighters teaching the villagers to defend themselves until the movie culminates in a big final fight.

The original has incredible energy that helps get you through the overly-long runtime, which stands at over three hours. The remake cuts this down, which is a positive move because it doesn’t have the same frenetic feeling to it. It’s always interesting to see a remake that switches genres when positioning the story within a different culture. These movies have different strengths, and while The Magnificent Seven may never reach the same status as Seven Samurai, they both bring a lot to the table.