True, remakes for a quick buck are awful but without remakes we would have no...

Magnificent Seven by John Sturges
A Fistfull of Dollars by Sergio Leone (And to some extent Star Wars)
His Girl Friday by Howard Hawks
The Fly by David Cronenberg
The Thing by John Carpenter
Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino (In large part)
Scarface by Brian De Palma
Evil Dead II by Sam Raimi (In large part)
Cape Fear and The Departed by Scorsese
12 Monkeys by Terry Gilliam
Bad Lieutenant by Werner Herzog
13 Assassins by Takashi Miike

...to name a few. When it's done for arts sake, remakes can be pretty special things.