Reminder that the original vs the remake — am I overthinking this? [v3]

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

I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts. Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

Maybe an unpopular opinion but here we go. I tried three different approaches and none of them felt quite right. Looking for honest feedback, not validation.