Summary
- Funny People is a modern take on the classic tragedy of The Great Gatsby, exploring themes of lost love and existential crises.
- Matilda mirrors Carrie in a kid-friendly way, both featuring girls with telekinetic powers who fight back against those who wrong them.
- Disturbia and Rear Window share such similar plots that legal battles ensued, highlighting the impact of paranoia and surveillance in both films.
Remakes have been hitting theaters and streaming services for some time now, where fans go in expecting a plot or story that very closely follows a previous film in a franchise or movie universe. Other times, two movies share such close parallels without any supposed relation at all, making fans think–is anything truly original these days?
It's crazy to think that something like a stoner comedy from the early 2000s has the same plot as a classic love story from the 1940s. Or how a kid's fantasy film can echo the plot line of a classic horror film. The movies that have stood the test of time all have some shred of their narrative in the plot lines of other films that still may be good, but not on the level of the classics. To be clear here, we are looking at movies that share the same plot but are not remakes and have no relation to each other at all.
10 Click (2006) & It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Summer 2006 saw the release of Click , the Adam Sandler-led film about a man who does not have a lot of time for his home life as he balances his busy career with being able to provide for his family. He ends up discovering a magical remote control that can give him control over time. At first, he finds joy in skipping the pointless parts of his life and tries to seek out the more euphoric ones. However, he ends up missing the big picture of what matters most in life.
How is Click like It's a Wonderful Life?
It's a Wonderful Life is a Christmas classic that tells the story of what one man means to everyone in his life. Click does the reverse of that, as it shows that everyone in his life may be better off without him because of how he has managed the use of his time. However, they both intersect in the film's climax, which plays a trick on us (no spoilers here; just go watch it). For better or for worse, both films show us the profound effects we have on the ones who mean the most to us. Christopher Walken's Morty character from Click has similarities to It's a Wonderful Life's Clarence in all of this. Click may not be a classic, but it took a classic blueprint.
9 Chicken Run (2000) & The Great Escape (1963)
Chicken Run was a partnership between Dreamworks Animation and Aardman Animations that tells the story of a band of chickens that are kept up for a lifetime stay in a Yorkshire-based chicken coup. Once an American rooster arrives on the scene, a plan is set in stone to escape from the farm. However, a sense of urgency is now needed as a chicken-pie machine is installed on the property and the window to freedom may be closing soon.
Chicken Run is Parodying The Great Escape
We use the term "parody" loosely here. However, the fact that the animated feature is using the DNA of a classic war film sure helps it stand on two feet. Younger generations who saw the film upon its 2000 release most likely missed the similarities; their parents most likely caught on that Chicken Run was similar to The Great Escape . Actor Steve McQueen played Hilts in The Great Escape. His character is split into two roles in Chicken Run, with the characters Ginger and Rocky both heading up the idea of a breakout. Either it is escaping a prisoner-of-war camp or becoming a chicken pot pie. Both films seem to share the same approach in plot despite their differing aesthetics.
8 Funny People (2009) & The Great Gatsby (2013)
Funny People is the Judd Apatow-directed film that stars Adam Sandler as comic and mega-movie star George Simmons. Despite all his success, he learns that he is dying from a fatal disease. Simmons takes a younger comedian under his belt named Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) during his existential health scare. He later learns that he has beaten what was killing him, gets a new lease on life, and reconnects with a long-lost love.
Funny People is The Great Gatsby in the World of Comedy
It's hard to tell if Judd Apatow set out to make a film that oddly mirrors many of the plot points of the classic novel. The Great Gatsby has four book-to-screen adaptations: 1926, 1949, the Robert Redford and Mia Farrow-led 1974 film, and lastly, the 2013 Baz Luhrman-directed film that starred Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role. The story is from the perspective of the character Nick Carraway, who becomes closely affiliated with the ever-eccentric and wealthy Jay Gatsby, a man adored by many but who lives a lonely life where he misses the one who got away and yearns for her return, and when he gets it, it turns tragic. All the central themes and character arcs of Gatsby are hit on in Funny People. The film turns tragic as George Simmons tries to dive back into his past and rewrite his story.
7 Top Gun (1986) & Days of Thunder (1990)
One of the biggest films of the 1980s was, no doubt Top Gun. A story that takes place at the Naval Fighter Weapons School, where the best of the best try to elevate their skills in the air as fighter pilots. One pilot, Maverick (Tom Cruise), is a bit reckless in his behavior, which rubs many in his class the wrong way, but he also catches the eye of his flight instructor, whom he attempts to court.
Days of Thunder is the Same Movie as Top Gun
Four years after Top Gun blew audiences away, out came Days of Thunder. Both films star Tom Cruise, and both films were also directed by the late great Tony Scott. Let's face it, one of these films has high-octane action in the air with perfectly shot footage of jets racing around in the skies above. Days of Thunder is the same thing just in the world of professional race car driving. Even Nicole Kidman's character has the same kind of style to her look as Kelly McGillis in Top Gun. Tom Cruise plays rookie driver Cole Trickle; he's a bit of a hot shot and feels similar to his character Pete Mitchell in Top Gun. Point-blank, these are the same movies.
6 Matilda (1996) & Carrie (1976)
1996's Matilda is an adaptation of Ronald Dahl's story of a little girl named Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson). She is a gifted girl with telekinesis who must endure the hardships of having a father and mother who feel distant and not present to her. She also falls victim to the mean principal at her school. Soon, she ends up using her powers to go up against those who make life hard for her.
Matilda is a Kids' Version of Carrie
1976's Carrie (1976) was directed by Brian De Palma and based on the Stephen King novel about a bullied teenage girl with special telekinetic powers who, when pushed too far, enacts revenge on those who have wronged her. Matilda feels oddly like a dumbed-down, less violent, and less adult-themed story than Carrie. Many writers and internet movie theorists have even gone so far as to say that Matilda is actually a prequel to Carrie. Although that may not be true, there is evidence to back it if you really read into things.
5 Disturbia (2007) & Rear Window (1954)
Disturbia stars Shia LeBeouf on the eve of his breakthrough role in big-budget movies like 2007's Transformers. He plays Kale Brecht, a troubled teenager who begins to believe that he is living next to a serial killer. Kale is now in hot water due to an incident at school that left him under house arrest, thus leaving him with time on his hands. He encounters his neighbor with some suspicious behavior.
The Legal Battle of Disturbia and Rear Window
Disturbia and Rear Window are so close in plot that they even went to court at one point. The young adult blockbuster thriller has huge similarities to Hitchcock's Rear Window. The film's protagonist is tied to the place he lives. LeBeouf's character is because he broke the law; Jimmy Stewart's character is due to an injury that leaves him off his feet for some time. In Rear Window, Stewart plays a news photographer who believes he's witnessed his neighbor commit a murder, and with time on his hands, he does some investigating from his apartment window across the street. The judge threw out the case against Disturbia, but if you really break these two films down, they are very similar.
4 Out Cold (2001) & Casablanca (1942)
Out Cold was released in November 2001, starring Jason London and an up-and-coming comedian by the name of Zach Galifianakis. The comedy is about a group of regulars who work and play at a ski resort in Alaska. When a real estate mogul comes in to try and buy the land and the company that owns it, the gang begins to push back against the money people who want to strip them of their livelihood.
"Because You're Getting on that Plane"
Out Cold may be a bit of a snobs vs. slobs kind of comedy, reminiscent of comedies like Caddyshack, to name another title to compare it to. If you were a snowboarding-loving teenager in the early 2000s, chances are you loved this film. Chances also are that Casablanca, one of the greatest films of all time, was not on your radar, and you had no clue the films completely mirrored one another. Out Cold has a subplot where the daughter of the real estate mogul trying to buy the resort (Caroline Dhavvernas) shows back up in town. It's here we learn that she dumped lead character Rick (Jason London) years ago. The pair begin a "will they or won't they" kind of thing, and as it turns out, Rick lets her go at the climax of it, just like Humphery Bogart told Ingrid Bergman to get on the plane at the end of Casablanca. There are a few comparative videos of the two films on YouTube right now.
3 Dances With Wolves (1990) & Avatar (2009)
2009 saw the release of James Cameron's first installment in what is believed to be his epic saga, which is Avatar . The movie takes place on the distant world of Pandora, where humans are colonizing it for its resources, but due to the hazards of the habitat, many humans were synced up with an avatar figure of the native Navi tribe. A paralyzed marine (Sam Worthington) is up for the task of connecting with members of a tribe. As he falls for a Navi woman, tensions mount as the people of Earth move in on the natives.
James Cameron Admits There are Similarities Between Avatar and Dances With Wolves
Dances With Wolves took home twelve Academy Award nominations and seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, for none other than Kevin Costner. It's a film that has been criticized for being about "white saviors" or just whitewashing a film about the history of the indigenous people of this land. Costner plays a Civil War soldier who develops a relationship with a Lakota tribe and ends up fighting alongside them. James Cameron has gone on record saying that he is well aware of the similarities between his film and Costners. Which one is more entertaining is up to you to decide.
2 The Fast And The Furious (2001) & Point Break (1991)
The Fast And The Furious launched a hell of a franchise in the two decades that followed its 2001 release. Many forget that the original film was more of a high-octane crime drama about an undercover Los Angeles police detective (Paul Walker) who infiltrates the world of L.A. street racing and gets way over his head as he falls for the sister of a crime figure named Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel).
Point Break Did it First
In Point Break (1991) , Keanu Reeves plays Johnny Utah (what a name), a federal agent who goes undercover to investigate a gang behind a string of Southern California robberies. The group, however, is a band of surfers who live an extreme lifestyle of riding waves. The group is led by Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), who is addicted to the rush of crime and hitting the beach. Eventually, Johnny falls for a member of the group, which complicates things a bit. Does that plot sound familiar? Let's not take away from how great both of these films are. Point Break and The Fast and the Furious very much defined action films of their era, ten years apart, but clearly certain formulas in the plot work really well.
1 Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) & The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope , the one that started it all a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, follows young Luke Skywalker on his quest for adventure among the stars as he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guniess), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and two unforgettable droids named C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), who go on a mission to rescue Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) from the grasp of the evil empire and Darth Vader.
George Lucas was Heavily Inspired by Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress
It's a known fact that the "film brat" crowd of the 1970s was heavily inspired by the likes of Kubrick and Kurosawa. George Lucas utilized his love for Kurosawa's tales of feudal Japan to craft what would become his industry calling card. All the elements of what would become Star Wars are in the film The Hidden Fortress. The character of Rokurota feels exactly like Obi-Wan Kenobi; the shots of the R2-D2 and C-3PO arguing while they venture across the desert look like the shots that came right from parts of The Hidden Fortress. A New Hope's climactic ceremony also came from a scene in The Hidden Fortress. And of course, the sword fighting and the movement of the actors feel comparable to the lightsaber duels of the original trilogy. Some of the plot varies, but the characters are all oddly similar.
Comments
Post a Comment