Dueling Movies: Difference between revisions
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| ''[[Red Dawn]]'' (the remake) || ''[[The Tomorrow Series|Tomorrow, When the War Began]]'' || Foreign armies invade small-town America/Australia, and a group of teenagers take to the hills to fight back guerrilla-style. || The first is a remake of the classic 1984 [[Cold War]] action movie, updating the villains from [[The Great Politics Mess-Up|the Soviet Union]] to [[China Takes Over the World|the People's Republic of China]] (or [[Executive Meddling|North Korea]]) and moving the action from Colorado to Washington state. The second is an adaptation of the first book of an Australian [[Young Adult]] series published in the '90s that, while hugely popular in Australia (to the point of being compared to ''[[Harry Potter]]'' in cultural influence), [[Americans Hate Tingle|never caught on overseas]]. || So far, ''Tomorrow'' wins by default, as the ''[[Red Dawn]]'' remake, despite being finished and in the can, [[Development Hell|has had its release pushed back for years]] thanks to [[MGM]]'s financial woes and concerns about Chinese distribution (the reason why the villains were changed to North Koreans in post-production). It's currently set to be released in 2012.
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| ''[[Alpha and Omega]]'' || ''[[Rio]]'', and ''Newt'' || All three films involve two animals of the same species, opposite genders, and (at least confirmed in the cases of ''Newt'' and ''Alpha'') [[Slap Slap Kiss|opposite personalities]] being put together for the purposes of repopulating their species. ''Alpha and Omega'' came out in Fall 2010 (and was the final film for its late star, Dennis Hopper), ''Rio'' in 2011, and ''Newt'' would have come out in 2012. Pixar canceled ''Newt'' so that they could avoid the
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| ''[[Killers]]'' || ''[[Knight and Day]]'' || A hitman and a normal gal who gets caught up in his spy-based hi-jinks. ''[[The Tourist]]'' also looks rather similar to those films, only the gender roles are reversed. || ||''Knight and Day'' fared somewhat better as it received relatively decent reviews, and even though it opened to disappointing numbers it made over $200 million, whereas ''Killers'' wasn't screened for critics (and those that did see it didn't like it much to say the least) and barely made back its budget.
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| ''[[Defendor]]'' || ''[[Kick-Ass (film)|Kick Ass]]'' ''[[Super]]'' || Three movies about average people trying to become gadget based low budget vigilantes and end up having brushes with local organized crime. ||The major difference definitely falls in the personalities of the superheroes. Kick-Ass is an average nerdy teen while Defendor is a mentally disturbed homeless man that has delusions of certain supervillians. ''Super'''s Crimson Bolt suffers similar deranged illusions, but is slightly more stable. ''Kick Ass'' becomes more stylized as it goes along while the other two have a more realistic look to them. This could be chalked up to budget differences, as Kick Ass (while low budget by Hollywood standards) cost over ten times as much as either of the other two. ||''Super'' was released only on select arthouse theater screens, limiting its mainstream marketability and received mixed reviews but was a success on VOD. ''Defendor'' had a limited release and will likely have a cult status. ''Kick Ass'' was a commercial success and received mostly positive reviews ([[Roger Ebert]] ''hated'' it, some others were kinder).
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| ''Middle Men'' || ''[[The Social Network]]'' || Origin stories about the start of internet revolutions by rather ordinary men, and the hazards of falling out with one's partners after making a great deal of money. || ''Middle Men'' is about the development of [[The Rule of First Adopters|online porn]], while ''The Social Network'' is "the [[Facebook]] movie." || No contest -- ''The Social Network'' grossed far more, received much better reviews, won three [[Academy Award
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| ''Catfish'' || ''The Virginity Hit'' || Internet sites ([[Facebook]] and [[YouTube]], respectively) are used to chronicle uncomfortable intimate relationships. ||''Catfish'' is a documentary while ''Virginity'' is a regular comedy shot with [[Jittercam]]. Both have had controversy in that ''Catfish'' is suspected of being fake (not helping was the director's next project being the third ''[[Parnormal Activity]]'' film) and ''Virginity'''s ads coincided with (or possibly inspired) two real-life college students to film their roommate's intimate encounter, outing him as gay and causing him to kill himself. ||''Catfish'' wins this one as its success in limited release far surpasses ''The Virginity Hit'', which had one of the worst nationwide openings in recent memory. ''The Virginity Hit'' had [[Victorious|Matt Bennett]] though, so time will tell.
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| ''[[Thor (film)|Thor]]'' || ''[[Green Lantern (film)|Green Lantern]]'' || Superhero movies with the involvement of forces from beyond our world, whether alien or divine. || Another Marvel vs. DC duel. || ''Thor'' got much better reviews, and performed better at the box office.
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| ''[[Battle: Los Angeles]]'' || ''[[Skyline]]'' || Aliens attack Los Angeles. || ''Battle Los Angeles'' began production first and focuses solely on the military fighting aliens. ''Skyline'' began production after (but got released first) and focuses on the military and regular people fighting aliens. || Both ''Skyline'' and ''Battle Los Angeles'' were panned by critics (though the latter not quite as badly). However, audiences reacted ''much'' more favorably to ''Battle Los Angeles'', and while ''Skyline'' made a profit ($65 million worldwide on a $10 million budget), ''Battle Los Angeles'' (costing $100 million) made close to as much in its opening weekend as ''Skyline'' made during its entire run. ''Battle Los Angeles'' is the clear winner when all is said and done. To say nothing about a lawsuit that occurred between both [[Sony]] and effects studio [[Hydraulx]]<ref>
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| ''[[Skyline]]'' || ''The Darkest Hour'' || Independently-produced films about [[Alien Invasion|alien invasions]] in major cities. || ''Skyline'' is set in [[Los Angeles]], while ''The Darkest Hour'' is set in [[Moscow]] and was produced by Timur Bekmambetov (of ''[[Night Watch (novel)|Night Watch]]'' and ''[[Wanted]]'' fame). || Both films were ravaged by critics, though ''Skyline'' managed to make a lot more money on a much smaller budget than ''The Darkest Hour'', which [[Box Office Bomb|bombed at the box office]].
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| ''[[You Only Live Twice]]'' || ''[[Casino Royale 1967]]'' || [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] films. || The former is an official Bond film, while the latter is a parody made by the man who held the rights to that particular novel. Bond's production company eventually got the rights to ''Casino Royale'', both novel (which was adapted as the first [[Daniel Craig]] Bond) and movie. || ''You Only Live Twice'', which had better reviews and box office. ''Casino Royale'' is widely considered a train wreck whose only lasting appeal is the Burt Bacharach score.
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| ''[[Octopussy]]'' || ''[[Never Say Never Again]]'' || Again, [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] films. The former is official, and the latter is a remake of ''[[Thunderball]]'', done by the guy who had the rights to said novel. || Similar to the above, the former is official, and the latter is a remake of ''[[Thunderball]]'' done by the guy who owned the rights to said novel. The latter has the return of [[Sean Connery]] as
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| ''[[Pontypool]]'' || ''[[Dead Air/Disambig|Dead Air]]'' || 2009 films about a viral infection that turns people into [[Our Zombies Are Different|mindless and violent lunatics]], both from the perspective of a DJ stuck inside the recording studio while everything is going to hell. || In ''Pontypool'' it is ''language itself'' that triggers the infection, while in ''[[Dead Air]]'' the cause is a more conventional terrorist attack. || ''Pontypool'' has gained better reviews overall.
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| ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' || ''[[Van Helsing]]'' || [[Crossover|Characters from multiple stories]] team up to save or destroy the world. [[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]] feature in both. || [[Xtreme Kool Letterz|"LXG"]]'s team comes from classic, mostly public-domain stories while "Van Helsing"'s monsters [[Universal Horror|are all from Universal Studios]] (fun fact: the original plan was a direct sequel/prequel to "Bram Stoker's Dracula" but Anthony Hopkins was too old). || Both did all right but a sequel is highly unlikely.
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| ''[[Natural Born Killers]]'' || ''S.F.W.'' || Movies released in 1994 that satirize [[If It Bleeds, It Leads|the news media's obsession with violence]]. || The main characters in ''NBK'' are [[Villain Protagonist
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| ''[[War Of The Buttons]]'' || ''The New War Of The Buttons'' || Rival French productions in 2011 based on the exact same source material (the work had just gone into the public domain). However, the "new" one is set during World War II, and its rival during the War of Algeria, so they deal with differing issues (the original novel was set in the peaceful "Belle Epoque"). || ''War Of The Buttons'' was pitched first and has unknown actors in the cast. ''The New War Of The Buttons'' was pitched five months later and has a few name actors (such as Guillaume Canet and Laetitia Casta) in its cast. Both films ended up opening a week apart. || ''War Of The Buttons'' had the bigger opening but it's too soon to tell.
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| ''[[Victor Victoria]]'' || ''[[Tootsie]]'' || 1982 comedies in which an out-of-work performer resorts to posing as the opposite gender to get a job. Career success comes with romantic challenges due to having to keep up the charade. || The former film is about a woman masquerading as a man (selling "himself" as a female impersonator) in 1930s Paris, and is a diegetic musical; the latter has a man masquerading as a woman to land a [[Soap Opera]] role in what was then present-day New York City. || The movies were released far enough apart (March and December) that they didn't step on each other's toes, and both got great reviews. ''Tootsie'' turned out to be the second biggest box-office hit of 1982 and made it to #2 on the AFI's list of the 100 funniest comedies in 2000 (the movie that beat it? ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'') -- but ''[[Victor Victoria]]'' also did well financially, is #76 on that list, and had an unsuccessful [[Screen to Stage Adaptation]] in 1995. Both movies received a clutch of [[Academy Award]] nominations and each won one (Song Score for the former, Supporting Actress for the latter). Everybody came out a winner on this one.
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| ''Can't Stop the Music'' || ''[[Xanadu]]'' || 1980 disco musicals, each with a $20 million budget, that double as [[Non-Actor Vehicle|non-actor vehicles]]. Both involve alumni of the 1978 blockbuster ''[[Grease]]'': producer Allan Carr and screenwriter Bronte Woodard with the former, and lead actress Olivia Newton-John with the latter. (Carr wanted Newton-John for the female lead in ''Can't Stop'', but it didn't work out.) || The former fictionalizes the creation and rise to stardom of [[The Village People]] and intertwines it with a romance between an uptight lawyer (Bruce Jenner) and a feisty ex-model (Valerie Perrine). The latter is a fantasy about a Greek Muse (Newton-John) who inspires a struggling artist (Michael Beck) to open a lavish roller disco; complications ensue when she falls in love with him. || ''Can't Stop'' opened in June, ''Xanadu'' in
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| ''[[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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| ''[[Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter]]'' || ''Lincoln'' || Films about [[Abraham Lincoln]], opening six months apart. || One of them is slightly more historically accurate than the other (hint: it's the one directed by [[Steven Spielberg]] and starring [[Daniel Day Lewis]]). || Too early to call.
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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>
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| ''[[John Carter (film)|John Carter]]'' || ''[[The Hunger Games (film)|The Hunger Games]]'' || Spring 2012 YA-novel-based scifi adventures. ''Carter'' is in the "originator" slot because it opened two weeks earlier. || ''JC'''s [[John Carter of Mars|source material]] is hugely influential in speculative-fiction circles (leading to ''buckets'' of [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny]]), set on an [[Science Marches On|alien-populated Mars]] and peaked in popularity 80 years ago. ''[[The Hunger Games (novel)|THG]]'' critiques [[Reality TV]], is set in a dystopic future America and is at the height of its popularity ''now''. || While ''JC'' got good reviews and most people who actually saw it loved it, it [[Box Office Bomb|flopped so hard]] that Disney took a nearly $100 million writedown. ''THG'' was well received by critics, set a new box office record for a non-sequel, made its $90 million budget back by Friday evening and went on to a monthlong run as #1 movie in the US, hitting the $500 million mark on its fourth weekend. The [http://www.washingtonpost.com/conversations/hunger-games-effect-judging-movie-adaptations/2012/03/26/gIQA5Y5McS_discussion.html press] is [http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/27/opinion/seymour-hunger-games-john-carter/index.html already] [http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/BMITW/news/?a=57059 dissecting] what Disney's marketing team got wrong and what Lionsgate's got right.
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