Help me decide between the original vs the remake that nobody talks about [v2]

I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts. I tried three different approaches and none of them felt quite right. The trade-offs here are not obvious to me and I keep flip-flopping.

For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.

Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks. Mostly thinking out loud — feel free to push back hard.