Usually under the heading
It Came from the Cineplex, blogger Bob Canada regularly features some really astute and comical movie reviews. It one of his
latest installments about derivative blockbusters, since those who don't learn the history of cinematography are doomed to repeat it and some studios use this to their advantage in subjecting audiences to paired-films, many times within the same season. There's a pretty clever list of twins (plus some of my own), generally one more original and the other noisier and less thought-through:
- Whitehouse Down and Olympus has Fallen
- Armageddon and Deep Impact
- The Prestige and The Illusionist
- The Abyss and Leviathan
- The Truman Show and EdTV
- The Descent and The Cave
- After Earth and Oblivion/WALL-E
- The Road and The Colony (or any number of post-apocalyptic movies)
- United 93 and World Trade Center
This is surely not a new phenomenon—including self-plagiarism, and such coattailing was probably even more widespread in the past. What other movies, classic and contemporary, would you add to this list? Be sure to check out Bob Canada's Blog World for some other funny observations about the entertainment industry and keen, original artwork.
