With so many films being remade these days, it occurs to us that as time goes on, there are less and less people that would have seen the original works. Granted, the purpose of a remake is usually to either improve upon or pay homage to the original, but there are just as many cases where a remake might have never been necessary. This first installment of a series explores modern remakes, their revered originals and the value that they hold for movie audiences.

Depending on your age, the version of The Getaway that you’re most familiar is going to vary quite a bit. In 1972, Sam Peckinpah and Steve McQueen were two of the biggest names in Hollywood and the success of The Getaway only further cemented their status as larger than life film legends. Twenty-two years later, director Roger Donaldson built his remake around real life Hollywood couple Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger still in the prime of their film careers. Neither film set the box office on fire but both explored what happens when a master criminal and his wife try to save their marriage from the pitfalls of a life of crime. The story of Doc and Carol McCoy isn’t anything new really (Bonnie and Clyde, anyone?) but the themes of infidelity and desperation add another layer to the drama of taking down a big score and living on the run from the law.

Based on the 1959 novel of the same name, both films were based on a screenplay by Walter Hill and with the exception of some major differences in the openings and the main heist that sets everything in motion, the two films are almost scene-for-scene identical, even down to specific lines of dialogue. Where the two differ is in the scope and tone they set for themselves. Peckinpah’s The Getaway is a quieter, more intimate film set against an overcast, brisk Texas background. What it lacks in flash by today’s standards it makes up for in the little moments between McQueen and MacGraw as their characters weather the ups and downs their marriage is being put through. McQueen plays Doc as cool customer who lives by his word but has no time for emotional baggage. This makes him a pro when it comes to setting up a bank job but sometimes leaves him at a loss for words when it comes to dealing with the intricacies of marriage.

Donaldson’s The Getaway opens the story up, playing out across locales in Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico and finally, El Paso, Texas (in the same exact hotel as the original) and the action sequences feel more kinetic and engaging, including some very John Woo-inspired shootouts. Compared to their counterparts, Baldwin and Basinger seem more at home in their on-screen relationship and when the sparks fly, you can’t help but acknowledge that there’s something real behind their performances. Also of note is the well-rounded cast of character actors, including James Woods, Michael Madsen, Jennifer Tilly, David Morse and even a young Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Above all, this remake feels like a bigger and better production but loses some of the simplicity of the original.

Whichever version you prefer, there’s no denying that having two versions with the same scene play out so differently gives us a clear sign of how times change. After Doc and Carol pull the big job for sleazy businessman Jack Benyon, they return to give him his share of the take, and it’s revealed that Carol had to sleep with Benyon in order to get Doc out of prison. The news isn’t taken well and in the end Benyon gets his due diligence, but Doc’s world is also turned upside down.

In 1972, it might have seemed more acceptable for Doc to slap Carol around like some mindless brute, but the film suffers for it, showing us a bygone era when such blatant misogyny and violence were just a part of life. By the time the ’90s rolled around, the world was a much different place and not only was Alec Baldwin’s Doc angry enough to strike Carol, but Kim Basinger showed us a new, modern Carol that not only hit back but had the venom to put Doc in his place.

The unfortunate thing about either version of The Getaway is that they both seem so outdated by today’s standards. In 1972, the idea of a troubled couple evading their criminal associates and the police with some dastardly shootouts and narrow escapes might have been something new in film, but its small-time approach and less than stellar set pieces left a little something to be desired. In 1994, it must have seemed like a great idea to update a mostly adequate film and improve on some of its flaws, but at a time when new filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and John Woo were arriving on the scene to redefine both crime dramas and action films, the remake was an awkward combination of both.

Nevertheless, in either form, The Getaway still holds true to the very human dilemma of marital trust and forgiveness. In the final scene, Doc and Carol commandeer an old man to drive them across the border into Mexico and it’s at this point where they realize how they’re meant to live out their life–not as partners in crime pulling heists and running from the law, but as husband and wife, without regret.