What are some examples in your view of a remake that surpasses the original film, and what makes your pick superior in your opinion?

The Thing (1982) is vastly superior to The Thing from Another World (1951) in every way. It has a better plot, better cast, and better soundtrack. It's one of the best movies from the 80s in general and one of John Carpenters best films. The soundtrack is also very underrated and one of Ennio Morricone's best soundtracks.

Office US>>>>Office UK

The Thing and The Fly are the first two that always come to mind; the former for reasons already explained above and the latter was a much more realistic and scientific take on gene splicing.

It

Resident Evil 4.
Yes it's a video game but still.

Firsts that come to mind would be True Grit and Ocean's Eleven.

John Wayne's original True Grit was, to me, a generic western that doesn't really stand out, but the Coen Brothers remake with Jeff Bridges and a great first performance from Hailee Steinfeld, was so good! From the artful cinematography, thoughtful dialogue, the atmosphere, and the soundtrack along with some sick shootouts, made for an incredible modern western.

Steven Soderbergh's remake of Ocean's Eleven was for all intents and purposes, just a slick and stylish movie through and through. It's a cool movie to watch with some clever humor in the dialogue, cool mix of techno and jazzy soundtrack, and some exciting heist scenes. Never get tired of watching this movie!

Hm...I don't know if it's better per se, and given that I like both quite a bit, it feels a bit odd to say one is better than the other, but I personally prefer A Fistful of Dollars slightly more than Yojimbo.

Better graphics and better controls but overall, the 2005 version is still better.  Also, if it were a movie the 2005 version would be better also since the voice acting is better and more memorable.

Speaking of Westerns I like The Magnificent Seven (1960) better than Seven Samurai (1954). They are both great movies but The Magnificent Seven is more entertaining has a better cast and a slightly better soundtrack which is one of Elmer Bernstein's best soundtracks and one of the best and most iconic soundtracks from the 60s.