An Oscar-winning remake that was remade again in short order fights a common enemy on streaming

Not every remake manages to state a bulletproof case for why it needed to exist in the first place, but few have done a better job of it than Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic.

Adapted from the six-episode British miniseries of virtually the same name that first aired in 1989 that won stellar reviews from critics, the multi-talented filmmaker shifted the action over to the other side of the world to tell essentially the same narrative all over again, but ended up blowing its esteemed predecessor clean out of the water.

The $48 million crime thriller hauled in over $200 million at the box office on its way to carving out a well-earned reputation as one of the year 2000’s finest features, which was reflected in four Academy Award wins for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing, with Best Picture the only one of its nominations in which Traffic didn’t emerge victorious in the face of stiff competition from Ridley Scott’s Gladiator.

An incendiary look at the drug trade told through the eyes of several interconnected stories that involved a supreme court judge with a heroin-addicted daughter, a pair of government agents tracking down the wife of a fugitive drug lord, and a solitary police officer taking a stand against the cartel, Traffic remains as powerful and gripping now as it ever did.

Streaming subscribers would seem to agree, too, seeing as the Oscar-winning modern classic is comfortably nestled as one of the most-watched titles on Prime Video’s global charts, per FlixPatrol. Despite such success, another remake arrived a mere four years later when Traffic: The Series premiered, even though nobody really remembers the three-time Emmy nominated follow-up.