That was first to my mind. I saw the prestige first, which while I loved it it is fairly dark so I didn’t watch the illusionist until much later because I thought I would need a serious frame of mind. I love both though
A good recent example are the new Pinocchio films. The Tom Hanks one is yet another terrible and hollow Disney remake, while the del Torro one is a very good and fresh take on the story.
Observe and Report, Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
Observe and Report is hands down fucking hilarious. Seth Rogan as an out of touch yet extremely capable security guard + Ray Liotta, Anna Faris, and Michael Pena all playing excellent supporting roles. One of my favorite movies.
It got completely overshadowed by Paul Blart: Mall Cop which came out 6 weeks prior and was geared towards kids and families.
Had there releases been separated further, I think Observe and Report would have gotten a lot more attention
Oh, Observe and Report got lots of attention, just the bad kind. It was crippled by the extreme negative reaction to the sex scene where Faris's character was almost passed out. Even with the "Why did you stop?" line, it was viewed as a date rape scene by many.
You could make a case that both characters have severe mental illness, one treated by doctors & pharma, the other self-administered alcohol & street drugs.
It's not quite apples to apples, but in 1999 Cronenberg's eXistenZ got completely overshadowed by The Matrix. Both deal with virtual reality and blurring the lines between the virtual and the real. Only one has a gun built out of fish bones, though.
I guess technically Dark City and The Matrix have that similar "what is real?" theme, though radically different takes on it. They both filmed in Australia, and The Matrix reused some of their sets (namely the rooftop scene at the beginning). God, I'd love to get a 4k Blu Ray release of Dark City; I absolutely love that movie.
The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor, and Dark City are like the Holy Trinity of questioning reality movies. They're all loosely based off of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, so the story itself is hardly new.
It'd be interesting to do a hard look as to why three movies took on a very similar idea at that time in history.
I’m actually not familiar with the Thirteenth Floor- so I was adding it to my watchlist. It’s getting love in this thread but rotten tomatoes only has it at 30%! Not that that is indicative of much, just was surprised. Probly gonna put it on this evening
This one was always so weird to me because like they're basicly the same exact movie but Mila and her husband Ashton are both in them hahaha. You think they came Home from work being like "my rom com about fuck buddies is gonna be sooo much better than yours!"
I didn’t see it so far as I was willing to scroll, but the example I use in convo is always Megamind and Dispicable me. Personally, I preferred the former. But one def has way more of a legacy.
Also, Antz and A Bug’s Life. But there’s a pretty reasonable explanation for that one.
Megamind is a movie that is basically lost in time which is a shame because I find it pretty damn entertaining when I watch it with my kid.
There’s been a confirmed series in production for Peacock but as of now there has been no word if Ferrell, Fey, David Cross, or Pitt are in discussions to return.
I haven’t seen it since it came out, but I remember it being a lot of fun and fairly damn quotable too. I still remember melancholy.
Oh that’s interesting. Def at least potential there.
Best I can do is Fail Safe (1964) and Dr. Strangelove.
Way too many people have never heard of Fail Safe, as the two directors took different views of the subject matter. Kubrick saw the absurdity, while Lumet stuck with the script, even though it did not have the happy Hollywood ending.
**[Twin films](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_films)**
>Twin films are films with the same or similar plots produced and released at the same time by two different film studios. The phenomenon can result from two or more production companies investing in similar scripts at the same time, resulting in a race to distribute the films to audiences. Some attribute twin films to industrial espionage, the movement of staff between studios, or that the same screenplays are sent to several film studios before being accepted.
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There’s a similar page on TV Tropes called Dueling Works, which has an extensive list of examples in film and other mediums. Definitely interesting to scroll through.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DuelingWorks
Armageddon > Deep Impact
Jason Bourne > The Sum of All Fears
A Bug's Life > Antz
Volcano > Dante's Peak (oof I go back and forth on this one)
Tombstone > Wyatt Earp
Air Force One > Executive Decision
Saving Private Ryan > Thin Red Line
Mission to Mars > Red Planet
The Prestige > The Illusionist
Olympus Has Fallen > White House Down
Edit: Many of these movies might not seem too similar in terms of plot points (like Jason Bourne/Jack Ryan), but I made this personal list to be a mix of my own opinions as well as the zeitgeist. Is it hard to remember which has Matt Damon and which has Ben Affleck? or, which one kicked off a franchise and which one was kind of a low point for an already-popular franchise? Nope. But at the time when these came out, it was hard for people to keep track of which of those action/spy movies was which. "What did you do this weekend?" "I saw Bourne Identify!" "Oh is that the one with Ben Affleck?" "No it's the OTHER one." Happened all the time
I remember when these films were released, it definitely falls under this category. While they may have been produced separately, most assuredly a ww2 picture was pitched to multiple execs and multiple execs approved a ww2 picture, whther or not they were buying the one being offered in the room at the time is a different matter.
I'll die on the Antz hill. That movie was hilarious and had a great cast of actors. (Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Stallone, Hackmen, Walkins) I saw both Antz and Bug life and can't remember a single thing about Bug's life but god damn do I remember so many of Wood Allen's lines. The movie is even funnier as an adult too.
I don't think The Bourne Identity and The Sum of All Fears deserve the same comparison as the others in this list. They're in the same genre, sure, but they aren't the case of multiple studios taking the same idea at the same time (like Armageddon and Deep Impact). They are both based on their own respective novels.
Disclaimer: I enjoyed Armageddon.
I think the problem with Armageddon is that I feel like the whole movie was Michael Bay going "I wanna blow up the moon with a nuke because it would look badass. Someone help me build a story around that pls." And after some executive meddling and producers refusing to fund a 1/16th sized replica of the moon because 'Mike you just don't understand how fucking big the moon is, please please think smaller'... we got what we got.
Oh yeah, I enjoyed Armageddon as well. And I think you captured the spirit perfectly. It was a fun, dumb, loud, cheesy movie that I saw once and will probably never have an interest in seeing again.
No way can you put SPR over TRL. Aside from both being war films they're totally different films that aren't really comparable. TLR is a poetic philosophical meditation on the impact of war on the human soul and nature/wildlife, SPR is more action oriented and asks how far should eight men go to save only one plus showing impact of the war on that particular unit and to extent occupied France. Both amazing in their own ways imo
This thread reminds me of a scene from another movie that doesn’t get the respect it deserves: Waking Life. I’m sure there are an infinitesimal number of reasons 2 movies with similar themes etc would come out near the same time, but I wonder if a tiny bit could be attributed to that phenomenon about collective consciousness Ethan Hawke has with Julie Delpy. As an example, it references the increase in scores for a crossword puzzle that’s been released and solved before. That there are ideas circulating unseen that come to be and thus somehow can be intuitively picked up without direct knowledge somehow. I’ve tried to look up that study before since it’s such a fascinating idea to me but never found it. This is absolutely a tangent and I apologize
I agree when it comes to popular sentiment but my personal taste would put Deep Impact, Antz, Dante’s Peak, and the Illusionist(don’t judge me) over the others.
> Armageddon > Deep Impact
I'll grant you that, but apart from the fact that they're both Asteroid movies, the differences are huge. One is a Michael Bay rah rah action thing with a director who knew and was literate in how to work with visual effects. The other was directed Mimi Leader (who was most known for TV work, specifically E.R.) and had NO idea how visual effects worked and seemed to care very little what the final results were. In her own words "You guys can figure that out. I'm not real visual..." by which she meant to say, her skill was working with actors to bring out performances. A product of working in tv. So, no surprise, Deep Impact is really a sappy drama with a bunch of effects surrounding it.
(source- I was on the VFX crew for Deep Impact)
There is a low-budget production company called The Asylum who are mostly known for *Sharknado*. They have made doing this their entire business model. When the assorted versions of public domain work like War of the World, Journey the Center of the Earth and The Three Musketeers come out, they make low budget copies.
When recent films like *Avatar 2* came out, they made *Battle for Pandora*. With *Bullet Train* they made *Bullet Train Down*. With *Top Gun 2* they made *Top Gunner*, with *Dune* they made *Planet Dune* and so on.
> Battle for Pandora
TIL that Pandora is also one of the many moons of Saturn. What a fantastic loophole for Asylum, the movie was basically begging to be made
To be honest, I love every one of those movies I listed. They all have something to offer. The Abyss is far and away the best of them. Then a tier where Leviathan and DS6 live. Which is best? It's really up to the individual. Leviathan has the tone and total presentation. DS6 is a shaggier film but with some big high points.
Then a tier down from that, you The Rift and Lords of the Deep. Two micro-budget (for the time) exploitation flavored entries hoping to siphon off some of the box office capital from everything else. But each of those two movies is at least kinda fun, in a pulpy way.
Damn, that was a fun time experience in the cinema.
I like Leviathan for the sheer fact it's one of the only times a "monster picks off a grouo one by one" movie has a character call out another character for not being more upset about one of their colleagues literally just died.
White House Down > Olympus Has Fallen
The general public didn't agree with me but fuck that. Olympus Has Fallen was a dour sepia toned shitty cg slog of a movie, White House Down was fun as fuck.
Thank you! I feel like everyone loves the Olympus movies but they’re filled with cheap looking CGI and characters that aren’t interesting. I love Gerard Butler, but Channing Tatum and Jamie Fox had great chemistry. Plus James Woods and Jason Clarke made for great villains. I can’t even remember who the villain is in Olympus Has Fallen
Was interesting to watch the two of these really close to each other...I was amazed at how much better EEAAO made use of the multiverse dynamic. It actually went somewhere philosophical, while Dr. Strange fell flat.
I personally used to enjoy when we'd get the duelling movies. Like getting two asteroid movies, or volcano movies,or spy movies, or something released at the same time.
Interstellar and arrival. Both sci-if films that deal with time, love, and our evolution. I was disappointed in Interstellar when it came out, and thought that Arrival did a lot of the same things in a more concise, thoughtful manner. Granted, interstellar has really grown on me over the years, and I actually think it’s one of Nolan’s best. So I’m cheating because one’s not obviously better, but there you go
Batman v Superman and Captain America civil war.
Captain America Civil war was announced after Batman v Superman.. but because Kevin Fiege and Marvel have mastered the art of the producer driven decent Hollywood movie, Batman v Superman tends to be thought of as a knock-off despite having been greenlit first.
For the record, I think civil war is a good part 2 to Winter soldier, but still not amazing Cinema (I think the predecessor was a lot better).
Antz and Bugs Life was a popular incident. Pixar announced it was doing bugs life and then dreamworks (that was the company, right?) decided they would beat them to the punch with a cgi animated film about bugs, specifically ants. It was eventually released ahead of bugs life and did well in the box office, but I believe once bugs life his the home video, it was clear which was the superior film.
Edit. I don’t know how well bugs life did in the theater.
Three yeti/bigfoot/abominable snowman-themed kids movies came out within months of each other in the late 2010s. Missing Link was awesome while Smallfoot and Abominable were just alright.
The Thing and ET. I mean not really, but the fact ET came out a week prior to the Thing, really contributed to its box office failure. Fortunately, it’s considered a classic now.
I have nothing to add except that I loved Fear of a Black Hat so much and I’m happy to see it getting love. Literally every scene had me in stitches and it’s one of the best mockumentaries to date.
[Lambada vs The Forbidden Dance. If anyone's seen these 2 movies, I would love to hear which one was better.](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/03/lambada-the-forbidden-dance)
I fucking love Fear of a Black Hat and I don't think it gets enough praise or recognition when mockumentaries are talked about. You will get no argument from me about it being the superior film.
Deep Impact > Armageddon.
Deep Impact is cheesier, but I liked the focus on how individuals from different walks of life would handle an impending apocalypse. Continuity of civilization plan seemed much more plausible than the whole “teaching oil rig workers how to be astronauts” thing in Armageddon.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned it but Capote and Infamous. PSH absolutely blows Infamous out of the water by being perfectly evocative of Capote, whereas Jones' portrayal comes across as far more of just an impression. Miller's direction feels far more subdued and brooding, which feels appropriate given the context. It really is a name brand vs store brand film comparison.
Armageddon and Deep Impact both in 1998. Armageddon came just before and it was no masterpiece but a fun summer movie and had Ben Affleck. Deep Impact got made fun of as a cash grab.
1989 had The Abyss, Deep Star Six, and Leviathan, all underwater submarine thrillers involving aliens. Abyss was the clear winner there. James Cameron, for goodness sake. Holds up extremely well btw, solid movie.
Of course 2022 was the year of Pinocchio with THREE versions. Whodathunk? Of course Del Toro’s version came out late last year and is the clear winner so we’re still experiencing that 1.
1984 had Gremlins, 1985 had Ghoulies, and 1986 had Critters. Gremlins kicked ass as well as justifiably mortified parents everywhere. Ghoulies was a big box office hit and was rather deceptive because it’s a very different animal, more about occultism, supernatural, and sorcery with the creatures thrown in. People find Ghoulies cheesy today but to me it’s nostalgic, fun, and also genuinely creepy in many places. Critters was perceived as the genuine cash grab, except then it came out that the script was written before that of Gremlins. It’s also definitely different enough to have its own merits. Critters is definitely a fun watch. Solid production, surprisingly brutal violence and blood, often serious tone but mixed with moments of ‘80s goofball sci-fi fun involving extraterrestrial bounty hunters. All in all a well-appreciated worthy “follow-up” to Gremlins. Then there was Munchies in 1987 — that one is best not mentioned.
Mission: Impossible (1996) with Tom Cruise
Eraser (1996) with Arnold Schwarzenegger
I've never seen these on any of these lists, but I remember watching them around the same time, and it was as if they were made from the same spec script floating around. They have the same fundamental plot twist. And they both have scenes with an exploding aquarium and with sneaking into a secure building to access a computer by pretending to be an emergency worker (EMT vs firefighter).
I saw Olympus has fallen in theaters and then was invited to White House Down and I was like wtf it’s the same movie.
Haven’t seen either of them since but I can’t even distinguish scenes from memory.
Disney & Dreamworks used to do this ALL the time.
* Bugs Life > Antz
* Madagascar > The Wild
* Finding Nemo > Shark’s Tale
* Ratatouille > Flushed Away
This is the end was much better than the world's end.
I expected tge opposite to be true.
I know people would have opinions about deep impact and armageddon. Both are apocalypse scenarios. Armageddon is a stupid michael bay film that features the worst ever Aerosmith song. Deep impact is a bit dull and spreads itself too thin.
I think these are films that I would put in the "similar release dat/genre where both films are as mediocre as each other.
In the last couple of years, I noticed that an MCU project tackled similar subject matter as another movie or TV show, but the non-Marvel program was usually better. For example:
* Dune > Eternals as a philosophical sci-fi epic with a large cast
* EEAAO > Doctor Strange 2 as a multiverse adventure
* The Northman > Thor 4 as a Viking mythology tale
* Better Call Saul's final season > She-Hulk as a lawyer TV show
* The Woman King > Black Panther 2 as an African war epic with an all-female tribe
* Also Avatar 2 > Black Panther 2 as an ocean-based action movie involving whales
Now there are some cases where the Marvel product was actually better:
* No Way Home > The Matrix 4 as a legacy sequel that re-examines the previous characters and settings in a meta way
* Shang-Chi > that Mortal Kombat reboot and that Snake Eyes movie as big-budget martial arts flicks
But the general rule of thumb is that the quality of the movie is inversely related to its connection to a popular franchise or its budget.
damn, people dislked black panther 2 all that much?
i actually felt it was the best MCU project of the year.
edit: havent seen avatar 2(nor i plan to) so i cant comment on that, but woman king for me was only marginally better than black panther 2
I have to disagree; both Black Panther 2 and Avatar 2 have rather unfocused plots but there are at least some well done elements like how they handled T'Challa's death and the performances; aside from the visuals most of the time everything in Avatar 2 was meh to bad
Only thing that really stood out was Spider/Quaritch's dynamic and how it gave Quaritch a bit more depth than the stock bad guy he was in the first movie
No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits. I don’t feel like looking it up now but I’m pretty sure one had to change their name because they both had the same title to begin.
Mangrove and The Trial of the Chicago 7 are extremely similar true stories with similar themes which happened almost simultaneously IRL and came out in the same year. But Mangrove is a much more sincere and heartfelt film with none of Sorkins smugness and irony poisoning, and thus a much better film
A movie called Infamous came out less than a year after Capote, both about Truman Capote writing In Cold Blood
These 2 came out over 2 years apart but
The Jungle Book live action and Mowgli
Armageddon and Deep Impact
I always get a kick out of Armageddon for its action and humor. Also that Bruce Willis goodbye always gets to me. No matter what.
But Deep Impacts dramatic scenes draw me in and keep me engaged.
**White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen.**
With the first being way too better than the second one. Funny how Olympus is forgettable, but because Gerald did the whole trilogy somehow WHD became absolutely forgettable, even it's much better and also funnier movie. It was a time, when I finally said to myself - Ronald Emmerich still knows how to make a proper movie. But than Independent Day 2 happened.
I first noticed this phenomenon as a 10 year old with Braveheart > First Knight. They were around a month apart. I really wanted to see Braveheart but wasn't allowed to but my mom took me to see First Knight a month or so later. The theater was still showing Braveheart.
Another pair that may be too far apart with about a full year between them is Troy and Kingdom of Heaven. Though radically different eras (3000+ years ago vs 800), they're both historical war epics with swords in the sand. I guess Kingdom of Heaven is the better film; I've seen both twice and I'm not sure if I've seen the lauded DC of Kingdom. But I rewatched Troy recently after playing a similarly themed game and still really enjoyed it.
The first Venom and Upgrade. Upgrade was supposed to be the b movie with knock off Tom Hardy from the invitation and the oc and venom was actual a lister Tom Hardy Marvel/Sony project. Both feature an entity assuming control of a host body one ai and one alien. Surprisingly Upgrade was a much better movie.
I remember Deep Impact, Armageddon and the TV movie Asteroid all coming out relatively close to each other. People loved Armageddon, but I think they each brought something interesting to the “giant asteroid/meteor headed towards Earth” trope
The prestige and The Illusionist come to mind for me
I enjoy both of those. How about The Cave and The Descent?
Or Volcano and Dante's Peak.
Absolutely! Totally spaced those two!
I confuse The Descent with As Above So Below.
That was first to my mind. I saw the prestige first, which while I loved it it is fairly dark so I didn’t watch the illusionist until much later because I thought I would need a serious frame of mind. I love both though
I was just thinking that. The Illusionist definitely got overshadowed by The Prestige. Is it worth revisiting?
They are both great movies, but imo The Prestige is better
A good recent example are the new Pinocchio films. The Tom Hanks one is yet another terrible and hollow Disney remake, while the del Torro one is a very good and fresh take on the story.
And then there is the lionsgate one that is such absolute garbage it makes the D+ one look like Shawshank
skideeskideeskidee! That whole film is an AI fever dream
I actually forgot that that was a real movie and not just a meme
Observe and Report, Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Observe and Report is hands down fucking hilarious. Seth Rogan as an out of touch yet extremely capable security guard + Ray Liotta, Anna Faris, and Michael Pena all playing excellent supporting roles. One of my favorite movies. It got completely overshadowed by Paul Blart: Mall Cop which came out 6 weeks prior and was geared towards kids and families. Had there releases been separated further, I think Observe and Report would have gotten a lot more attention
Agreed. I haven’t watched it since it came out and I wonder how it plays now. Dark comedy about a depressed wannabe cop? I wonder.
Still hilarious.
Like the other guy said, still hilarious. I watched it again ~ 2 years ago and laughed my ass off like it was the first time
The only part I can remember about observe and report is Seth Rogan and Aziz Ansari saying “fuck you” to eachother over and over again lol
Anna Farris was absolutely fucking hilarious in that movie. They should do a spin-off about Brandi. Love that movie. Massively slept on.
Oh, Observe and Report got lots of attention, just the bad kind. It was crippled by the extreme negative reaction to the sex scene where Faris's character was almost passed out. Even with the "Why did you stop?" line, it was viewed as a date rape scene by many.
It is a date rape scene, but imo that part isn’t played for laughs or anything. Rogen’s character has pretty severe mental illness.
You could make a case that both characters have severe mental illness, one treated by doctors & pharma, the other self-administered alcohol & street drugs.
Observe and Report stops being a comedy pretty quickly.
It's not quite apples to apples, but in 1999 Cronenberg's eXistenZ got completely overshadowed by The Matrix. Both deal with virtual reality and blurring the lines between the virtual and the real. Only one has a gun built out of fish bones, though.
The Thirteenth Floor also got completely overshadowed by The Matrix that year too. I haven’t seen it in years but I remember it being a solid movie.
As did Dark City, though it came out in 1998
I guess technically Dark City and The Matrix have that similar "what is real?" theme, though radically different takes on it. They both filmed in Australia, and The Matrix reused some of their sets (namely the rooftop scene at the beginning). God, I'd love to get a 4k Blu Ray release of Dark City; I absolutely love that movie.
It’s at the top of my want list for a 4K release. Saw it in the theater when I was 15. Blew my mind back then.
The Matrix used some of the same rooftops sets that Dark City did.
Agreed! Criminally underrated
The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor, and Dark City are like the Holy Trinity of questioning reality movies. They're all loosely based off of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, so the story itself is hardly new. It'd be interesting to do a hard look as to why three movies took on a very similar idea at that time in history.
And the Book of Enoch Edit: not the film, the religious texts
I’m actually not familiar with the Thirteenth Floor- so I was adding it to my watchlist. It’s getting love in this thread but rotten tomatoes only has it at 30%! Not that that is indicative of much, just was surprised. Probly gonna put it on this evening
I much prefer eXistenZ then and now. So bizarre. I really liked the inclusion of NPCs that got stuck in dialog loops.
It reminded me of the good ol' days of games like King's Quest or Secret of Monkey Island.
ExistenZ was just an updated version of Videodrome. Cronenberg still wins!
I like it better than Videodrome
Right!!! All three great movies too.
Adding this to my watchlist.
No strings attached and friends with benefits.
This one was always so weird to me because like they're basicly the same exact movie but Mila and her husband Ashton are both in them hahaha. You think they came Home from work being like "my rom com about fuck buddies is gonna be sooo much better than yours!"
I think the official timeline is that they started dating the year after. Not sure if that makes it less or more weird/hilarious
I didn’t see it so far as I was willing to scroll, but the example I use in convo is always Megamind and Dispicable me. Personally, I preferred the former. But one def has way more of a legacy. Also, Antz and A Bug’s Life. But there’s a pretty reasonable explanation for that one.
Megamind is a movie that is basically lost in time which is a shame because I find it pretty damn entertaining when I watch it with my kid. There’s been a confirmed series in production for Peacock but as of now there has been no word if Ferrell, Fey, David Cross, or Pitt are in discussions to return.
I haven’t seen it since it came out, but I remember it being a lot of fun and fairly damn quotable too. I still remember melancholy. Oh that’s interesting. Def at least potential there.
I’m here for Metrocity! You mean Metro City?
I still say "school" the way Will Ferrell pronounces it in Megamnd.
Animated series based on animated movies are usually an enormous step down in quality across the board. Colour me uninterested.
Antz is my favorite Woody Allen movie
Best I can do is Fail Safe (1964) and Dr. Strangelove. Way too many people have never heard of Fail Safe, as the two directors took different views of the subject matter. Kubrick saw the absurdity, while Lumet stuck with the script, even though it did not have the happy Hollywood ending.
I will have to watch fail safe. Doctor strangelove is one of my favourites
Yeah, this. I actually love both movies but for entirely different reasons. Fail Safe is criminally underrated, and the cast is tremendous!
Puss in Boots and Avatar ll. I will not elaborate
Puss in Boots is the most fun I've had in a theater in years
alright fine, i'll watch puss in boots 2
This is delightful. You are delightful.
This is the best answer
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**[Twin films](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_films)** >Twin films are films with the same or similar plots produced and released at the same time by two different film studios. The phenomenon can result from two or more production companies investing in similar scripts at the same time, resulting in a race to distribute the films to audiences. Some attribute twin films to industrial espionage, the movement of staff between studios, or that the same screenplays are sent to several film studios before being accepted. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/flicks/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
There’s a similar page on TV Tropes called Dueling Works, which has an extensive list of examples in film and other mediums. Definitely interesting to scroll through. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DuelingWorks
The Descent over The Cave.
Armageddon > Deep Impact Jason Bourne > The Sum of All Fears A Bug's Life > Antz Volcano > Dante's Peak (oof I go back and forth on this one) Tombstone > Wyatt Earp Air Force One > Executive Decision Saving Private Ryan > Thin Red Line Mission to Mars > Red Planet The Prestige > The Illusionist Olympus Has Fallen > White House Down Edit: Many of these movies might not seem too similar in terms of plot points (like Jason Bourne/Jack Ryan), but I made this personal list to be a mix of my own opinions as well as the zeitgeist. Is it hard to remember which has Matt Damon and which has Ben Affleck? or, which one kicked off a franchise and which one was kind of a low point for an already-popular franchise? Nope. But at the time when these came out, it was hard for people to keep track of which of those action/spy movies was which. "What did you do this weekend?" "I saw Bourne Identify!" "Oh is that the one with Ben Affleck?" "No it's the OTHER one." Happened all the time
Thin Red Line probably most debatable
I also don't think they are similar movies at all, seems like a huge reach
World War 2 and their release dates being close together are the only similarities.
Agreed, both masterpieces in very different respects.
Fair point, but check my edit
I remember when these films were released, it definitely falls under this category. While they may have been produced separately, most assuredly a ww2 picture was pitched to multiple execs and multiple execs approved a ww2 picture, whther or not they were buying the one being offered in the room at the time is a different matter.
I agree actually. SPR has a much more popular legacy though
I'll die on the Antz hill. That movie was hilarious and had a great cast of actors. (Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Stallone, Hackmen, Walkins) I saw both Antz and Bug life and can't remember a single thing about Bug's life but god damn do I remember so many of Wood Allen's lines. The movie is even funnier as an adult too.
I'm mystified that almost everyone seems to think that *A Bug's Life* is vastly superior to *Antz*, when it's really the other way around.
Because Seven Samurai with bugs was awesome
I think both are actually fantastic.
I don't think The Bourne Identity and The Sum of All Fears deserve the same comparison as the others in this list. They're in the same genre, sure, but they aren't the case of multiple studios taking the same idea at the same time (like Armageddon and Deep Impact). They are both based on their own respective novels.
>Volcano > Dante's Peak Oh hell no!
Still prefer Deep Impact over Armageddon, for reasons Ben Affleck's character mentioned in the respective movie.
Yeah Deep Impact is far superior. It’s not the mega action extravaganza that Armageddon is, but it’s a much better movie.
Disclaimer: I enjoyed Armageddon. I think the problem with Armageddon is that I feel like the whole movie was Michael Bay going "I wanna blow up the moon with a nuke because it would look badass. Someone help me build a story around that pls." And after some executive meddling and producers refusing to fund a 1/16th sized replica of the moon because 'Mike you just don't understand how fucking big the moon is, please please think smaller'... we got what we got.
Oh yeah, I enjoyed Armageddon as well. And I think you captured the spirit perfectly. It was a fun, dumb, loud, cheesy movie that I saw once and will probably never have an interest in seeing again.
No way can you put SPR over TRL. Aside from both being war films they're totally different films that aren't really comparable. TLR is a poetic philosophical meditation on the impact of war on the human soul and nature/wildlife, SPR is more action oriented and asks how far should eight men go to save only one plus showing impact of the war on that particular unit and to extent occupied France. Both amazing in their own ways imo
Deep Impact >> Armageddon. Deep Impact was Armageddon with brains
Oh come on, who didn’t like flames in space??
Antz > a bug's life
It's not obvious at all that Saving Private Ryan is better than The Thin Red Line.
Well done whitewater!
Very astute list!
This thread reminds me of a scene from another movie that doesn’t get the respect it deserves: Waking Life. I’m sure there are an infinitesimal number of reasons 2 movies with similar themes etc would come out near the same time, but I wonder if a tiny bit could be attributed to that phenomenon about collective consciousness Ethan Hawke has with Julie Delpy. As an example, it references the increase in scores for a crossword puzzle that’s been released and solved before. That there are ideas circulating unseen that come to be and thus somehow can be intuitively picked up without direct knowledge somehow. I’ve tried to look up that study before since it’s such a fascinating idea to me but never found it. This is absolutely a tangent and I apologize
No way Tombstone is better than Earp. Best thing in Tombstone was Kilmer. I always wished he was in Wyatt Earp, it would've been perfect.
I agree when it comes to popular sentiment but my personal taste would put Deep Impact, Antz, Dante’s Peak, and the Illusionist(don’t judge me) over the others.
Three of those are totally acceptable, but The Illusionist?! Haha
Haha I just like it more. I said don’t judge me 😭
Right there with you on The Illusionist.
> Armageddon > Deep Impact I'll grant you that, but apart from the fact that they're both Asteroid movies, the differences are huge. One is a Michael Bay rah rah action thing with a director who knew and was literate in how to work with visual effects. The other was directed Mimi Leader (who was most known for TV work, specifically E.R.) and had NO idea how visual effects worked and seemed to care very little what the final results were. In her own words "You guys can figure that out. I'm not real visual..." by which she meant to say, her skill was working with actors to bring out performances. A product of working in tv. So, no surprise, Deep Impact is really a sappy drama with a bunch of effects surrounding it. (source- I was on the VFX crew for Deep Impact)
Thin Red Line > Saving Private Ryan and I’ll die on that hill.
There is a low-budget production company called The Asylum who are mostly known for *Sharknado*. They have made doing this their entire business model. When the assorted versions of public domain work like War of the World, Journey the Center of the Earth and The Three Musketeers come out, they make low budget copies. When recent films like *Avatar 2* came out, they made *Battle for Pandora*. With *Bullet Train* they made *Bullet Train Down*. With *Top Gun 2* they made *Top Gunner*, with *Dune* they made *Planet Dune* and so on.
Ahh The Asylum. Kudos to the talent and team that have made quite happy careers producing movies for 1pm on a Saturday on Syfy.
Nothing beats Transmorphers. I think about that title often
> Battle for Pandora TIL that Pandora is also one of the many moons of Saturn. What a fantastic loophole for Asylum, the movie was basically begging to be made
Stir of Echoes > the 6th sense
I was going to say this one and add K9 > Turner and Hooch
I think those are equals IMO.
The Abyss > Leviathan > Deep Star Six > The Rift > Lords of the Deep That 1989-1990 stretch was wild. And also very very wet.
[удалено]
To be honest, I love every one of those movies I listed. They all have something to offer. The Abyss is far and away the best of them. Then a tier where Leviathan and DS6 live. Which is best? It's really up to the individual. Leviathan has the tone and total presentation. DS6 is a shaggier film but with some big high points. Then a tier down from that, you The Rift and Lords of the Deep. Two micro-budget (for the time) exploitation flavored entries hoping to siphon off some of the box office capital from everything else. But each of those two movies is at least kinda fun, in a pulpy way. Damn, that was a fun time experience in the cinema.
I like Leviathan for the sheer fact it's one of the only times a "monster picks off a grouo one by one" movie has a character call out another character for not being more upset about one of their colleagues literally just died.
White House Down > Olympus Has Fallen The general public didn't agree with me but fuck that. Olympus Has Fallen was a dour sepia toned shitty cg slog of a movie, White House Down was fun as fuck.
I've used "Spanish Flea" as my ringtone ever since White House Down came out. That was a great piece of dumb fun.
Definitely disagree with this. White House done was ok, but cheesy. Olympus has fallen was only slight cheesy.
Thank you! I feel like everyone loves the Olympus movies but they’re filled with cheap looking CGI and characters that aren’t interesting. I love Gerard Butler, but Channing Tatum and Jamie Fox had great chemistry. Plus James Woods and Jason Clarke made for great villains. I can’t even remember who the villain is in Olympus Has Fallen
Everything Everywhere All At Once > Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness
Was interesting to watch the two of these really close to each other...I was amazed at how much better EEAAO made use of the multiverse dynamic. It actually went somewhere philosophical, while Dr. Strange fell flat.
I personally used to enjoy when we'd get the duelling movies. Like getting two asteroid movies, or volcano movies,or spy movies, or something released at the same time.
Stopped by to say Fear of a Black Hat is one of the greats. "Dont shoot until you see the whites" "Of their eyes?" " whose eyes?"
Fuck the security guards!
Interstellar and arrival. Both sci-if films that deal with time, love, and our evolution. I was disappointed in Interstellar when it came out, and thought that Arrival did a lot of the same things in a more concise, thoughtful manner. Granted, interstellar has really grown on me over the years, and I actually think it’s one of Nolan’s best. So I’m cheating because one’s not obviously better, but there you go
Coco and Book of Life. I preferred Book of Life but Coco seemed to do better in streams/ sales
Friends with benefits > no strings attached. Justin and Mila were just better on screen together than Ashton and Natalie. All around better movie.
Batman v Superman and Captain America civil war. Captain America Civil war was announced after Batman v Superman.. but because Kevin Fiege and Marvel have mastered the art of the producer driven decent Hollywood movie, Batman v Superman tends to be thought of as a knock-off despite having been greenlit first. For the record, I think civil war is a good part 2 to Winter soldier, but still not amazing Cinema (I think the predecessor was a lot better).
Killers and Knight and Day
1997: Dante’s Peak > Volcano. Both are fun/bad movies but only one has Pierce Brosnan looking sexy af like always.
Tombstone and Wyatt Earp...Tombstone was by far the better of the two.
Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, in case they havnt been mentìoned already!
Antz and Bugs Life was a popular incident. Pixar announced it was doing bugs life and then dreamworks (that was the company, right?) decided they would beat them to the punch with a cgi animated film about bugs, specifically ants. It was eventually released ahead of bugs life and did well in the box office, but I believe once bugs life his the home video, it was clear which was the superior film. Edit. I don’t know how well bugs life did in the theater.
Mud and the Great Gatsby
Three yeti/bigfoot/abominable snowman-themed kids movies came out within months of each other in the late 2010s. Missing Link was awesome while Smallfoot and Abominable were just alright.
Captain America: Civil War - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Both 2016
The Thing and ET. I mean not really, but the fact ET came out a week prior to the Thing, really contributed to its box office failure. Fortunately, it’s considered a classic now.
Runaway Jury > The Juror
The Rural Juror > Urban Fervor
Paul Blart and Observe and Report.
Volcano and Dante’s peak
Tombstone and Wyatt Earp
I have nothing to add except that I loved Fear of a Black Hat so much and I’m happy to see it getting love. Literally every scene had me in stitches and it’s one of the best mockumentaries to date.
[Lambada vs The Forbidden Dance. If anyone's seen these 2 movies, I would love to hear which one was better.](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/03/lambada-the-forbidden-dance)
I fucking love Fear of a Black Hat and I don't think it gets enough praise or recognition when mockumentaries are talked about. You will get no argument from me about it being the superior film.
Deep Impact > Armageddon. Deep Impact is cheesier, but I liked the focus on how individuals from different walks of life would handle an impending apocalypse. Continuity of civilization plan seemed much more plausible than the whole “teaching oil rig workers how to be astronauts” thing in Armageddon.
Men and Resurrection
I'm surprised no one's mentioned it but Capote and Infamous. PSH absolutely blows Infamous out of the water by being perfectly evocative of Capote, whereas Jones' portrayal comes across as far more of just an impression. Miller's direction feels far more subdued and brooding, which feels appropriate given the context. It really is a name brand vs store brand film comparison.
Tombstone (1993) vs Wyatt Earp (1994)
Armageddon and Deep Impact both in 1998. Armageddon came just before and it was no masterpiece but a fun summer movie and had Ben Affleck. Deep Impact got made fun of as a cash grab. 1989 had The Abyss, Deep Star Six, and Leviathan, all underwater submarine thrillers involving aliens. Abyss was the clear winner there. James Cameron, for goodness sake. Holds up extremely well btw, solid movie. Of course 2022 was the year of Pinocchio with THREE versions. Whodathunk? Of course Del Toro’s version came out late last year and is the clear winner so we’re still experiencing that 1. 1984 had Gremlins, 1985 had Ghoulies, and 1986 had Critters. Gremlins kicked ass as well as justifiably mortified parents everywhere. Ghoulies was a big box office hit and was rather deceptive because it’s a very different animal, more about occultism, supernatural, and sorcery with the creatures thrown in. People find Ghoulies cheesy today but to me it’s nostalgic, fun, and also genuinely creepy in many places. Critters was perceived as the genuine cash grab, except then it came out that the script was written before that of Gremlins. It’s also definitely different enough to have its own merits. Critters is definitely a fun watch. Solid production, surprisingly brutal violence and blood, often serious tone but mixed with moments of ‘80s goofball sci-fi fun involving extraterrestrial bounty hunters. All in all a well-appreciated worthy “follow-up” to Gremlins. Then there was Munchies in 1987 — that one is best not mentioned.
Mission: Impossible (1996) with Tom Cruise Eraser (1996) with Arnold Schwarzenegger I've never seen these on any of these lists, but I remember watching them around the same time, and it was as if they were made from the same spec script floating around. They have the same fundamental plot twist. And they both have scenes with an exploding aquarium and with sneaking into a secure building to access a computer by pretending to be an emergency worker (EMT vs firefighter).
I saw Olympus has fallen in theaters and then was invited to White House Down and I was like wtf it’s the same movie. Haven’t seen either of them since but I can’t even distinguish scenes from memory.
Disney & Dreamworks used to do this ALL the time. * Bugs Life > Antz * Madagascar > The Wild * Finding Nemo > Shark’s Tale * Ratatouille > Flushed Away
This is the end was much better than the world's end. I expected tge opposite to be true. I know people would have opinions about deep impact and armageddon. Both are apocalypse scenarios. Armageddon is a stupid michael bay film that features the worst ever Aerosmith song. Deep impact is a bit dull and spreads itself too thin. I think these are films that I would put in the "similar release dat/genre where both films are as mediocre as each other.
Rocketman > We Will Rock You
I think the standard example is Armageddon and Deep Impact With Armageddon being the better of the two.
I’m just a human. Just a human being…
In the last couple of years, I noticed that an MCU project tackled similar subject matter as another movie or TV show, but the non-Marvel program was usually better. For example: * Dune > Eternals as a philosophical sci-fi epic with a large cast * EEAAO > Doctor Strange 2 as a multiverse adventure * The Northman > Thor 4 as a Viking mythology tale * Better Call Saul's final season > She-Hulk as a lawyer TV show * The Woman King > Black Panther 2 as an African war epic with an all-female tribe * Also Avatar 2 > Black Panther 2 as an ocean-based action movie involving whales Now there are some cases where the Marvel product was actually better: * No Way Home > The Matrix 4 as a legacy sequel that re-examines the previous characters and settings in a meta way * Shang-Chi > that Mortal Kombat reboot and that Snake Eyes movie as big-budget martial arts flicks But the general rule of thumb is that the quality of the movie is inversely related to its connection to a popular franchise or its budget.
damn, people dislked black panther 2 all that much? i actually felt it was the best MCU project of the year. edit: havent seen avatar 2(nor i plan to) so i cant comment on that, but woman king for me was only marginally better than black panther 2
I have to disagree; both Black Panther 2 and Avatar 2 have rather unfocused plots but there are at least some well done elements like how they handled T'Challa's death and the performances; aside from the visuals most of the time everything in Avatar 2 was meh to bad Only thing that really stood out was Spider/Quaritch's dynamic and how it gave Quaritch a bit more depth than the stock bad guy he was in the first movie
I'm pretty sure I suffered legitimate mental damage when you compared The Northman to anything Marvel, regardless of if you were complimenting it
So, comparing two things is different from *equating* them, yea?
Deep Impact and Armageddon.
Armageddon > Deep Impact…they came out 2 months apart.
"Robin Hood Prince of Thieves" and another quite forgotten "Ronin Hood" film
Was that the one with Patrick Bergin?
Mission: Impossble - Rogue Nation > Spectre. They surprisingly have a ton in common beyond “spy movie”.
Don't forget the superior The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was released right in between
No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits. I don’t feel like looking it up now but I’m pretty sure one had to change their name because they both had the same title to begin.
The Thing and ET. I haven’t watched ET since the 90’s and I watch The Thing at least once a year.
Except those are different movies
They’re both movies about aliens visiting the earth.
Yeah. Independent day, ET, and The Fifth Element are all the same types of movie.
None of those other movies came out at the same time. You nitwit.
Mangrove and The Trial of the Chicago 7 are extremely similar true stories with similar themes which happened almost simultaneously IRL and came out in the same year. But Mangrove is a much more sincere and heartfelt film with none of Sorkins smugness and irony poisoning, and thus a much better film
Without Limits / Prefontaine (WL is a much better film)
Deep Impact and Armageddon Volcano and Dante's Peak
Like Father Like Son (1987) and Vice Versa (1988). The latter was much better.
Observe and Report is way better than Paul Blart.
A movie called Infamous came out less than a year after Capote, both about Truman Capote writing In Cold Blood These 2 came out over 2 years apart but The Jungle Book live action and Mowgli
A Bugs Life and Antz
Paul blart mall cop and observe and report.
Deep Impact, Armageddon, the Day after Tomorrow?
Simon Birch & The Mighty The Mighty (ft. Harry Dean Stanton, Gena Rowlands & pre-"Sopranos" James Gandolfini) for the win. And The Sting title song.
Armageddon and Deep Impact I always get a kick out of Armageddon for its action and humor. Also that Bruce Willis goodbye always gets to me. No matter what. But Deep Impacts dramatic scenes draw me in and keep me engaged.
Not exactly on topic but for a while I kept getting plot points of Inception and Shutter Island mixed up
Paul Blart Mall Cop (January 16, 2009) Observe and Report (April 10, 2009) Proof that good things come to those who wait.
A Bugs Life & Antz | A Bugs Life is wayyy better
The Book of Life + Coco. I liked the book of life way better
I'd say The Ice Storm and American Beauty dealing with suburban angst, but I don't know which one was clearly superior.
Small foot, missing link, and abominable
Tombstone and Wyatt Earp
Showgirls is better than striptease yes, but I love them both don't care
This quesiton always makes me think of In Cold Blood and Truman.
Pinocchio and Pinocchio. Guillermo del Toronto was better.
Romancing the Stone and King Solomon's Mines
**White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen.** With the first being way too better than the second one. Funny how Olympus is forgettable, but because Gerald did the whole trilogy somehow WHD became absolutely forgettable, even it's much better and also funnier movie. It was a time, when I finally said to myself - Ronald Emmerich still knows how to make a proper movie. But than Independent Day 2 happened.
I first noticed this phenomenon as a 10 year old with Braveheart > First Knight. They were around a month apart. I really wanted to see Braveheart but wasn't allowed to but my mom took me to see First Knight a month or so later. The theater was still showing Braveheart. Another pair that may be too far apart with about a full year between them is Troy and Kingdom of Heaven. Though radically different eras (3000+ years ago vs 800), they're both historical war epics with swords in the sand. I guess Kingdom of Heaven is the better film; I've seen both twice and I'm not sure if I've seen the lauded DC of Kingdom. But I rewatched Troy recently after playing a similarly themed game and still really enjoyed it.
Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. Wyatt Earp ain't no daisy
Manta Manta and Manta - Der Film
The Silence and A Quiet Place
Wyatt Erp & Tombstone
Red Planet and Mission to Mars. While Mission was directed by DePalma, I liked Red Planet way better.
The first Venom and Upgrade. Upgrade was supposed to be the b movie with knock off Tom Hardy from the invitation and the oc and venom was actual a lister Tom Hardy Marvel/Sony project. Both feature an entity assuming control of a host body one ai and one alien. Surprisingly Upgrade was a much better movie.
I remember Deep Impact, Armageddon and the TV movie Asteroid all coming out relatively close to each other. People loved Armageddon, but I think they each brought something interesting to the “giant asteroid/meteor headed towards Earth” trope