Dueling Movies: Difference between revisions

This page is a list of similar films that were released at around the same time.

 

| Initiators || Followers || Description || Misc || Winner?

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| ''[[Naked Lunch]]'' ||''Kafka'' ||Two 1991 movies that are centered around the works of two renowned but vastly different authors, [[William S. Burroughs]] and [[Franz Kafka]] respectively. Although the title of ''Naked Lunch'' implies otherwise (it probably being Burroughs' most (in)famous novel), neither movie is an adaptation of any single piece of their work, but focus on the themes present in them to create a single allegorical tale of their entire careers, with [[Author Avatar|fictionalized versions of the authors themselves as the protagonist]]. || ''Naked Lunch'' was directed by the Canadian [[Body Horror]] director [[David Cronenberg]], Kafka by the then-up-and-coming [[Steven Soderbergh]], best known for ''[[Ocean's Eleven]]'' and ''[[Traffic]]''. Both movies starred Ian Holm for some reason. || ''Kafka'' beat ''[[Naked Lunch]]'' to the punch by being released a little over a month earlier, but ''[[Naked Lunch]]'' is much more widely remembered nowadays.

| ''[[The Green Hornet (film)|The Green Hornet]]'' || ''[[Green Lantern (film)|Green Lantern]]''<br /><br />''[[Green Arrow]]'' (on hold) || Green-themed superheroes.<br /><br />It isn't easy being green for [[Development Hell|would-be]] third contender, ''Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max''. ||One is based on a long-running second-tier ''[[Internet Backdraft|(perhaps)]]'' DC icon, one is based on a [[The Green Hornet|cult TV show]]. Both had to correct for [[Weaksauce Weakness|silly weaknesses]] (yellow and [[Sidekick Ex Machina|reliance on]] [[Bruce Lee]], respectively). ||''[[Cracked.com]]'' made [http://www.cracked.com/article_19015_green-lantern-vs.-green-hornet-telling-them-apart-5Bchart5D.html a chart] pointing out how similar the two movies were. In the end, ''Lantern'' got thrashed by critics and is proving to be a total disaster at the box office for [[Warner Bros]]., who were marketing it as their big movie for the summer of 2011. By contrast, ''Hornet'' got mixed reviews but made back its budget nearly twice over, so it looks to be the winner.

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| ''[[Pitch Black]]'' || ''[[Supernova]]'' ||Space movies featuring a [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] -type crew that must survive a hostile environment and an [[Ax Crazy]] serial killer. Most of the crew are killed. ||''PB'' was made in Australia and on a budget that the Aussies considered huge, but in America was only middlin'. It featured Vin Diesel and Claudia Black(who was shooting her first scenes in a [[Sarcasm Mode|little-known]] [[Farscape|space show with Muppets at the same time]]). ''Supernova'', meanwhile, had a HUGE budget and bigger stars like James Spader. ||''Pitch Black'' did more with it's little than ''Supernova'' did with its lot with a tight storyline and more interesting characters that did not lean on [[Eye Candy]]. It eventually spawned a pretty fat franchise with a sequel, an animated tie-in, a video game, etc. ''Supernova'' was usually graded as "it supersucks!"

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| ''[[Melancholia]]'' || ''[[The Tree of Life]]'' ||Both are "big-budget art-house films" that feature [[Dysfunction Junction|dysfunctional]] [[Big Screwed-Up Family|family drama]] alongside [[Trippy Finale Syndrome|epic cosmic events]], with the visuals alternating between [[Faux Documentary|realistic shots in hand-held camera]] and [[Visual Effects of Awesome|gorgeous, elaborate takes]] of [[Scenery Porn|scaleless scenery and events]]. || ||Tie. ''Melancholia'' got better reviews and public praise, but while ''[[The Tree of Life]]'' polarized audiences and critics much more, it was more successful theatrically and got more rewards.

| ''[[Dark City]]'', ''[[The Matrix]]'' || ''[[The Thirteenth Floor]]'', ''[[eXistenZ]]'' ||Each film centered around reality not being really real and [[It Was His Sled|just a simulation]] in the future, albeit for different reasons and created by different sources. ||Of course, the Matrix was a huge blockbuster, while ''Thirteenth Floor'' was viewed to be a copy. It's really not, as the two movies have almost nothing in common. The same applies to ''[[eXistenZ]]'', but with a generous helping of [[Body Horror]]. ||''[[The Matrix]]'' by a country mile. It re-used the exact same sets and camera angles as the previous ''[[Dark City]]'', causing much consternation by fans of the latter film such as [[Roger Ebert]].

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| ''Knock Off'' || ''[[Rush Hour]]'' ||''Rush Hour'' was a comedy-action movie teaming martial arts star Jackie Chan with comedian Chris Tucker. ''Knock Off'' had a similar set up by teaming Jean-Claude Van Damme with Rob Schneider. ||While many people have accused ''Knock Off'' of being a [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Knock Off]] made to capitalize on ''Rush Hour'', they seem to be ignoring the fact that it was released a month before the better movie. ||''[[Rush Hour]]'' by a mile, which has also gone on to spawn 2 sequels.

| ''[[The Dark Crystal]]'' || ''[[Krull]]'' || Fantasy films from the 80s, each was set in an exotic world ruled by an evil force. A fortress must be penetrated. ||[[The Dark Crystal]] was done by [[Jim Henson]] which meant, of course, [[Muppet|animatronic puppets]] while [[Krull]] was live action. ||Each have their fans, so let's just say it's a draw and leave it at that.

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| ''[[Independence Day]]'' || ''The Arrival'' (also, ''[[Mars Attacks!]]!'') ||[[Alien Invasion]] movies released in the summer of 1996 (or late autumn, in the case of ''[[Mars Attacks!]]!''). ||Aside from involving an alien invasion, they are ''nothing'' alike. ''[[Independence Day]]'' was the big-studio production with a big budget, big stars, big promotion and churned out an even bigger profit. ''The Arrival'' was intended to be more of a thoughtful thriller, with only one brand-name star (Charlie Sheen). It never had a chance. ||''ID4'': Can anyone actually remember ''The Arrival''? (Yes! The guy looked like [[Half-Life|Gordon Freeman]]!)

| ''[[Tombstone]]'' || ''Wyatt Earp'' ||Historical westerns about . . . [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Wyatt Earp]]. ''Tombstone'' starred Kurt Russell, while ''Wyatt Earp'' starred Kevin Costner.||Costner was originally involved with ''Tombstone'' but left over disagreements regarding the script, deciding to make his own Earp pic. He even put pressure on studios to refuse distribution of ''Tombstone'', but guess which one made more money in the end... ||''Tombstone'' proved to be a hit and earned the better reviews, while ''Wyatt Earp'' flopped at the box office and got nominated for five Razzies.

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|''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' (2001) ||''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' (2001)|| First installments of high-budget film adaptations of popular and beloved fantasy series, with an overlapping viewer demographic, released within a month's difference of each other. || || A tie, or, better said, both films win. Both LOTR and HP were incredible box-office hits, grossing about $900 mln each, successfully launching their respective film franchises, [[Visual Effects of Awesome|revolutionizing the use of CGI in movies]] and [[Genre Turning Point|greatly raising the prestige of the fantasy genre]].

| ''[[The Film of the Book|Inkheart]]'' || ''[[Parental Substitute|Bedtime Stories]]'' ||Some kid brings stories to life. ||Only superficially similar. ''Inkheart'' is a modern-fantasy adventure tale centered around a young teen while ''Bedtime Stories'' is a more lighthearted [[Adam Sandler]] vehicle involving much younger children. The "stories come to life" is played for tension and action in the former while it is played for laughs and poignancy in the latter. ||Neither film was well-liked by critics, but ''Bedtime Stories'' pulled in over $100 million in the US alone (and $200 million worldwide), while ''Inkheart'' was a flop, earning only $17 million domestically (its worldwide gross of $70 million was barely enough to recoup its budget).

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| ''[[U2]] 3D'' ||''[[Hannah Montana|Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert]]''||3-D concert films from early 2008. ||The U2 concert was shown at IMAX, while the ''Hannah Montana'' concert was shown in digital 3-D only. And one year later came the cheaper [[The Jonas Brothers|Jonas Brothers]] 3-D concert, which was also shown at IMAX. ||''Hannah Montana'' had a much bigger box office, but ''U2 3D'' was better received by critics.

| ''[[Oliver and Company]]'' || ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'' || Similar to the above, Bluth and Disney faced off again in 1988/1989 with films featuring dogs, little girls, and orphans. Charlie and Dodger look awfully similar, too. || ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'', released second, had to compete at the box office (and with the critics) against ''[[The Little Mermaid]]''. ||Both received lukewarm reviews. ''[[Oliver and Company]]'' vastly outperformed ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'' at the box office, but ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'' became a hit on VHS and spawned a sequel and a TV series, while ''[[Oliver and Company]]'' remains one of Disney's least-remembered films.

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|''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]''|| ''The Pirate Movie'' || Both are adaptations of the famous [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] operetta ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' released around 1982-1983. The former is a filmed rendition of the then-running Broadway revival with much of the same cast; the latter is a very-loose rendition of the story with a few of the same songs (and some [[Movie Bonus Song|extras]]) and a generally 80's feel. || ''The Pirate Movie'' got to theaters first, in the midst of ''Penzance's'' Broadway run, and quickly faded away. Although a box-office bomb itself, the failure of ''Penzance'' was caused by [[Executive Meddling]], not lack of interest. ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' actually enjoyed a long run in ''one'' of the '''''92''''' theaters that showed it. ||''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'', with a higher [[Rotten Tomatoes]] score and a Golden Globe nom for Best Actress. ''The Pirate Movie'' bombed critically and earned a few Razzie nominations.

| ''[[Inside Job]]'' || ''[[I Want Your Money]]'' || Competing documentaries about the ongoing economics crisis, released one week apart in October 2010. ||While the former places the blame on both capitalism and politics, the latter (a [[Documentary of Lies]]) places all of the blame on [[Barack Obama]] (who wasn't even President when it happened). || ''[[Inside Job]]'' was critically acclaimed, became an arthouse hit and won an Oscar, ''[[I Want Your Money]]'' was critically savaged and only lasted a week in most theatres.

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| ''[[No Strings Attached]]'' || ''[[Friends with Benefits (film)|Friends With Benefits]]'' || [[Rom Com]] starring combinations of a member of ''[[That '70s Show]]'' and ''[[Black Swan]]'' (Ashton Kutcher & [[Natalie Portman]] and [[Mila Kunis]] & [[Justin Timberlake]], respectively) wherein the question of [[Friends with Benefits|"can we have sex and still be friends?"]] is pondered. || || Both films were modestly successful box-office wise, though ''Friends'' wins with its mostly positive reviews compared to ''Strings''' mixed critical reaction.

| ''[[Legend (film)|Legend]]'' || ''[[Labyrinth]]'' || Big-budget, lavishly designed and special effects-heavy fantasies with a youthful hero/heroine and newfound fantastical companions on a quest to face off with a [[Big Bad]] and right a terrible wrong. A major plot point has the seductive, [[Large Ham]] villain (played by [[Tim Curry]] in the former, [[David Bowie]] in the latter) attempting to woo the leading lady. Both films share a cinematographer (Alex Thomson). While in the U.K. they were Christmas releases for 1985 and '86, respectively, the North American releases were but two months apart in the spring/summer of '86. || The two movies take [[Hero's Journey]] in different directions. [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''Legend'' is an archetypal, straightforward [[Fairy Tale]] with a [[Nature Hero]] saving a [[Princess Classic]] and unicorns from a villain who's effectively [[Satan]], and the fate of the world is at stake. [[Jim Henson]]'s ''Labyrinth'' is an often-humorous musical take on the [[Down the Rabbit Hole]] plot, with the [[Present Day]] heroine merely seeking to rescue the baby brother she wished away into the land of the Goblin King, and the major characters have more complex personalities and development. The former film uses prosthetic makeup for its non-human characters, while the latter uses [[Starring Special Effects|animatronic puppets]] instead. || Both films were box-office flops in the U.S., the latter only doing a little better than the former with critics, but gained cult followings on the video market. In recent years, ''Legend'''s reputation has gone up a bit thanks to a Director's Cut (the U.S. release was significantly shorter and had a completely different score), but ''Labyrinth'' has proven popular enough to spawn several [[Memetic Mutation|memes]] and an [[Expanded Universe]] in graphic novel form.

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| ''[[Recess: School's Out]]'' || ''[[Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius]]'' || A group of elementary school kids save the world with a 2001 release date || ''Recess: School's Out'' was based [[Recess|on the Disney TV show]] and focused on the main six trying to stop a madman from getting rid of summer vacation, while ''Jimmy Neutron'' served as a pilot to it's Nickelodeon TV series and focused on Jimmy and the rest of the kids in town to save their parents from being killed by aliens. Also, ''Neutron'' was in CGI, while ''Recess'' had traditional animation. And while ''Recess'' didn't have much competition, ''Neutron'' was competing with ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]''. || Both movies were loved by critics and did well in the box office, though ''Neutron'' had a somewhat larger gross and was nominated for an Oscar (As it wasn't based on a TV show like ''Recess''). ''Neutron'' followed with a TV series, while ''Recess'' followed with it's show being [[Uncancelled]] (as the movie was going to serve as the finale) and gaining two sequels (released [[Direct to Video]])

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| ''[[The Cabin in the Woods]]'' || ''Detention'' || [[Post Modernism|Post-modern]], [[Genre Busting]] takes on the [[Horror]] genre that were released the same weekend. || ''Detention'' was made by Joseph Kahn,<ref>Maker of the [[Cult Classic]] action film ''[[Torque]]'', a [[Stealth Parody]] of ''[[The Fast and the Furious]]''</ref> opened in limited release, and is chiefly a satire of modern teenage life. ''Cabin'' was made by the team of [[Joss Whedon]] and [[Cloverfield|Drew]] [[Lost|Goddard]], got a wide release after spending years [[Development Hell|sitting on the shelf]] due to MGM crashing and burning, and is a [[Deconstructor Fleet]] for horror movies. || ''Cabin'' got near-universal praise, made much more money and is already being revered as one of the greats in the genre, while ''Detention'' [[Love It or Hate It|split critics]] and is likely to wind up a [[Cult Classic]].

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| ''[[Emma (film)|Emma]]'' || ''[[Emma (film)|Emma]]'' ||Prestige adaptations of [[Jane Austen]]'s last completed novel starring rising stars supported by the best the British repertory had to offer.||The McGrath/Paltrow/Northam adaptation was a theatrical release from primarily American creators (the director, studio, and eponymous lead). The Davies/Beckinsale/Strong production was a telefilm from Britain's ITV, springboarding off the success of Davies and producer Sue Birtwistle's previous ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'' miniseries. ||The McGrath/Paltrow/Northam film tends to have a slight edge, due to its friendlier, sweeter timbre. However, both tend to be fondly remembered (except by fans of the other version). When the 2009 BBC miniseries was released, many simply added a third adaptation to their list of favorite ''[[Emma]]'' adaptations. (As a side note, Austen films tend to be duelling movies given the passion and long memories of the fanbase. The clustering of film and television releases from 1995-1996 and 2005-2009 highlighted this fact.)

| ''Rags'' || ''Make It Shine'' ||TV movie about a teen boy who wants to be a singing star but has a disapproving father. Elsewhere, successful African-American female pop star wishes to sing her own music her own way. The two meet up and (presumably) achieve their respective goals. ||''Rags'' is [[Nickelodeon]] and ''Let It Shine'' is [[Disney Channel]]. ||Too soon to tell, as ''Rags'' premiered May 28 and ''Let It Shine'' is due to premiere June 15.

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