Westerns are a cornerstone of the Hollywood film industry that celebrates America's past. The concept of "The Wild West" was initially created in dime novels and adventure stories that exaggerated the average everyday life on the American frontier. Then, decades later, came the moving picture, and Westerns quickly became one of this new medium's most popular genres.

The 1950s and '60s were the undisputed golden age of the Hollywood Western. Since then, the genre's popularity has tapered off, generally buoyed by a few original films and plenty of remakes of classics. Generally speaking, when most film fans hear the term "remake," it makes their skin crawl, but Westerns are one of the few genres capable of elevating a re-do above the original. It doesn't always happen.

10 Wild Wild West Is So Bad It's Good

Even ardent fans of Wild Wild West may not know it was a remake, but it was based on an old television series called The Wild Wild West. The series premiered on CBS in 1965 and ran for four seasons, concluding in 1969. The show found a steady audience and critical acclaim by combining the popular elements of the Western with the espionage thriller, science fiction, and alternative history.

The movie adaptation, Wild Wild West, wouldn't be such a massive hit upon its release. Despite starring three gigantic actors — Will Smith, Kevin Kline, and Kenneth Branagh — audiences in the late '90s didn't know what to make of the film's tone. Since its initial release, questions about the film have fallen by the wayside, and audiences have begun to appreciate it for its own merits. No one will ever confuse Wild Wild West for great cinema, but this remake is at least interesting.

9 The Alamo's Remake Is Worth the Visit

2004's The Alamo served not only as a historical reimagining of one of the most legendary battles in American history but also as a remake of the 1960 film of the same name starring John Wayne, the most famous cowboy of all. Both movies told the story of the Battle of the Alamo, which unfolded in 1836 between the Republic of Texas and the Mexican Republic and resulted in the death of an estimated 2,000 people before the eventual Mexican victory.

Distributed by Disney, the 2004 version of The Alamo was light on violence and heavy on glamorizing the role of historical icons like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, with actors like Billy Bob Thorton and Jason Patric in those roles, respectively. The film didn't make quite the splash it hoped to when it hit theaters, but that had less to do with its reception and a lot more to do with being released around the same time as the box office juggernaut, The Passion of the Christ. For fans of historical Westerns, it's worth revisiting.

8 The Magnificent Seven Maintained the Pageantry of the Original

A remake of a remake, 2016's The Magnificent Seven reinterpreted the story of a group of outlaws tasked with defending a small village from an encroaching tycoon. Considering that this film was a remake of what has arguably become one of the most famous Westerns of all time, there were heightened expectations for this film that it would never be capable of meeting.

Weighty expectations or not, there's one thing 2016's The Magnificent Seven delivered in spades, and that was the film's casting. Starring some of Hollywood's most famous actors, such as Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke, this film has nearly the same star wattage as the original, which ensured that this remake could stand on its own two feet.

7 Stagecoach Capitalized on the Original's Winning Formula

In 1966, at the peak of the Western's popularity, director Gordon Douglas was hired to remake Stagecoach, one of the previous generations' most popular films in the genre. The original film, released in 1939, was directed by John Ford and featured a star-studded cast that included John Wayne, John Carradine, and Claire Trevor, telling the story of an old stagecoach traveling to Cheyenne while passing through dangerous territory.

Considering the original Stagecoach was one of the genre's staples, this remake faced an uphill battle in achieving the same legacy as its source material. That being said, it came awfully close. Big names like Ann-Margret, Bing Crosby, and Slim Pickens lent their star power to entice audiences and inject good-natured humor into the tried-and-true tale. Better yet, the film's catchy title song, performed by Wayne Newton, was a gigantic hit and extended the life of this story so much that twenty years later, Willie Nelson starred in yet another remake.

6 Ned Kelly's Remake Finally Did the Australian Legend Justice

2001's Ned Kelly isn't just an adaptation of the 1991 novel Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe, which told the story of Ned Kelly's life; it was also a remake of the 1970 film Ned Kelly, which just so happened to star one of the biggest names in the world as the legendary Australian outlaw, the Rolling Stone's Mick Jagger. That original film was not a success. Thankfully, this remake was more well-received.

With the much more talented actor Heath Ledger in the starring role, Ned Kelly told the story of an innocent fugitive pursued by corrupt authorities in the Australian outback. Featuring other gigantic names like Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Naomi Watts, and Joel Edgerton, many critics welcomed the film with open arms, and it took home two statues from the Australian Film Institute Awards. It's also the first instance on this list of a remake definitively being better than its original.

5 Maverick's Remake Held All the Right Cards

Believe it or not, there was a time in Hollywood when hearing "Mel Gibson" and "starring role" in the same sentence almost always resulted in box office gold. In 1994, Hollywood tried to capitalize on that fact by remaking a popular Western television series called Maverick. The original series featured James Garner in the title role of an incredibly talented poker player, plying his trade across the American frontier for five seasons between 1957 and 1962.

When it came time to reinterpret Maverick's story in the '90s, director Richard Donner cleverly recast James Garner as the marshal on the character of Maverick's trail. Along the way, the titular cardshark teams up with a con artist played by Jodie Foster. With a pedigree like that, it shouldn't be surprising to discover that this film grossed over $180 million worldwide and became a bonafide box office success.

4 True Grit Became the Most Prestigious Western Remake Ever Made

In 2010, the Coen brothers took on one of the most significant risks of their careers when they decided to recreate one of John Wayne's most iconic Westerns, True Grit. The film tells the story of an orphaned girl named Mattie, who, with the help of a US Marshall, intends to track down her father's killer. As powerful a film as that original version was, the remake was even better.

By enlisting the talents of stars like Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin, and Matt Damon, the Coen Brothers elevated True Grit's source material to sensational new heights. A powerful tale of retribution and revenge, True Grit once again proved that the Coen brothers rarely fail to deliver. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. No other movie on this list can claim merits like those.

3 3:10 to Yuma's Remake Arrived Right on Time

Based on author Elmore Leonard's 1953 short story, 3:10 to Yuma hit the big screen for the first time back in 1957 and remains, to this day, one of the most beloved Westerns ever made. A legacy like that should have guaranteed that any attempt to cash in on this film's story would fail spectacularly, and yet, the opposite wound up being the case. Fifty years later, director James Mangold teamed up with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe to deliver a remake that fans still discuss today.

The 2007 version of 3:10 to Yuma starred Christian Bale as the ranch owner Dan Evans, who agrees to escort the feared and troubled outlaw Ben Wade, played by Russell Crowe, to the film's titular train in exchange for enough money to save his land. The performances of its two leads, accompanied by the incredible tension created by Mangold's direction, resulted in one of the modern era's most popular Westerns, remake or not.

2 The Magnificent Seven Set the Bar for Western Remakes

Antoine Fuqua's 2016 version of The Magnificent Seven is well-remembered, but it doesn't hold a candle to the original version of the film, which was released in 1960. A remake of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's seminal 1954 masterpiece, Seven Samurai, the original The Magnificent Seven actually requested permission to reinterpret Kurosawa's classic film, replacing its samurai protagonists with a crew of American cowboys.

Directed by genre master John Sturges, The Magnificent Seven starred an incomparable ensemble cast that included Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Yul Brynner, and James Coburn. Whether or not fans prefer this version of the story to Kurosawa's original is up to healthy debate, but one thing's for sure: John Sturges' film is an unforgettable classic.

1 A Fistful of Dollars Was Unauthorized and Better Than the Original