# Die Hard 2 1/2 - What movies are sequels but not sequels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915 "2009-03-01T21:31:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/1 "2009-03-01T21:31:21Z")
Sorry about the thread title, but I did not know how to phrase this. I just watched ‘The Last Boy Scout’ and I thought it should be included in the Die Hard Box set of DVDs. It is Die Hard 2 1/2. Bruce Willis plays almost the exact same character with the movie having similar plot lines and humour as the Die Hard movies. Are there other examples in other movie series? ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/2 "2009-03-01T21:34:01Z")
> **[The Last Boy Scout](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Boy_Scout)** > > The Last Boy Scout is a 1991 American buddy action comedy film directed by Tony Scott from a screenplay by Shane Black, and produced by Joel Silver. It stars Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans, with Noble Willingham, Chelsea Field, Taylor Negron, Danielle Harris and Halle Berry. The film follows a washed-up private investigator (Willis) who teams up with a scandalized football star (Wayans) to uncover a political conspiracy involving their former employers. > The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictu... ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/3 "2009-03-01T21:44:51Z")
I remember reading rumors that _ **Gran Torino** _ would actually be about ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan in his golden years. If you’ve seen the movie you know that Clint Eastwood plays a guy called Walter Kowalski (I believe) but there is really no reason it couldn’t be Dirty Harry. I guess you could consider it an unofficial sequel. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/4 "2009-03-01T23:24:07Z")
Speaking of Clint Eastwood, in _Pale Rider_, when the villain hired a gunman to kill the preacher, the actor playing the gunman bore more than a passing resemblance to Lee Van Clief. So it could be considered an “unofficial sequel” to the “Dollars” movies. Also, the writer of _High Plains Drifter_ said that the movie’s basic premise was “what would have happened to the town in _High Noon_, if Gary Cooper’s character had been killed?” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/5 "2009-03-02T00:57:00Z")
Gene Hackman’s character in _Enemy of the State_ (1998) is almost exactly like his character from _The Conversation_ (1974), and might even be the same person, depending on how clever you think the filmmakers were. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/6 "2009-03-02T01:11:03Z")
[Pulp Fiction](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/) features the same actress playing the same character that she did in [Curdled](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101634/), although her name changed for some reason. Then Curdled was [re-made into a full-length film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115994/) two years \*after \*Pulp Fiction was released. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/7 "2009-03-02T01:36:01Z")
Maybe not quite what the OP wanted, but Michael Keaton played ATF agent Ray Nicolette a year apart in _Jackie Brown_ and _Out of Sight_, both of which were based on books written by Elmore Leonard, sort of putting both movies in the same universe. Not a sequel, but not an entirely unrelated movie either. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/8 "2009-03-02T13:29:00Z")
\*War, Inc. \* is sort of an unofficial sequel to _Grosse Pointe Blank_. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/9 "2009-03-02T14:07:07Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Speaking of Clint Eastwood, in _Pale Rider_, when the villain hired a gunman to kill the preacher, the actor playing the gunman bore more than a passing resemblance to Lee Van Clief. So it could be considered an “unofficial sequel” to the “Dollars” movies. > > Also, the writer of _High Plains Drifter_ said that the movie’s basic premise was “what would have happened to the town in _High Noon_, if Gary Cooper’s character had been killed?” I thought Unforgiven finally told us who the Man with No Name was…at least thats how I like to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/10 "2009-03-02T14:09:17Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > [Pulp Fiction](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/) features the same actress playing the same character that she did in [Curdled](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101634/), although her name changed for some reason. Then Curdled was [re-made into a full-length film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115994/) two years \*after \*Pulp Fiction was released. For those of us who don’t wanna chase your links,who? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/11 "2009-03-02T14:09:37Z")
Preston Sturges’s **The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek** can be construed as a sequel to his **The Great McGinty** , since both McGinty and the Boss show up in **Miracle**. Evidently the events of **Miracle** happened in the middle of **McGinty**. In the same light, **Coming to American** has a cameo of the Duke Brothers from **Trading Places**. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/12 "2009-03-02T14:15:48Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Gene Hackman’s character in _Enemy of the State_ (1998) is almost exactly like his character from _The Conversation_ (1974), and might even be the same person, depending on how clever you think the filmmakers were. Considering this bit of trivia from IMDb, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch: > [@](#): > > The picture of a younger Gene Hackman shown in a white shirt and tie, supposedly from his NSA file, is actually taken from The Conversation (1974). In that film Hackman also plays a surveillance expert who, like his character Brill in this movie, has his workplace in an industrial warehouse. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/13 "2009-03-02T16:26:09Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > For those of us who don’t wanna chase your links,who? The cabbie, lazybones. ---
**Author:** ![tirial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/14 "2009-03-02T17:05:05Z")
**Red Sonia** is effectively a sequel to the Conan movies. Some sources say the character Swarzenegger played was actually Conan but they had to change the name due to licencing issues. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/15 "2009-03-02T17:32:41Z")
_Kull the Conqueror_ was intended to be _Conan the Conqueror_. Schwarzennegger bailed, so they re-wrote it for Kevin Sorbo. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/16 "2009-03-02T18:01:55Z")
The Kurt Russell movie _Soldier_ is considered to be somewhat of a sequel to _Blade Runner_ ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/17 "2009-03-02T18:13:26Z")
Die Hard 2 wasn’t supposed to be a sequel to Die Hard. It was originally a movie called 58 minutes and was rewritten to feature John McClane instead. Die Hard With A Vengeance was supposed to be a Brandon Lee movie called Simon Says and Live Free or Die Hard was going to be [WW3.com](http://WW3.com). So none of the Die Hard sequels were actually originally meant to be sequels! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/18 "2009-03-02T19:49:23Z")
The entire series **the Prisoner** felt like a sequel to **Danger Man/Secret Agent**. McGoohan swore that #6 and Drake were too different people, but, c’mon: 1.) Patrick McGoohan played both 2.) They both showed McGoohan’s dislikwe for the Bond-type agents, with the same quirks (No guns!) 3.) They even used an unused DM/SA script for an episode of The Prisoner, fer cryin’ out loud (The Girl Who was Death), with, IIRC, one of the guys from the previous series. 4.) The novels based on The Prisoner called #6 Drake. Certainly those authors (who had no connection with the series otherwise) thought they were prettyt much the same. Am I the only one who though that Kyle McLaughlin’s turn in the film **the Hidden** as a weird FBI agent perfectly exsplained why he was such a weird FBI agent in the TV series **Twin Peaks**? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/die-hard-2-1-2-what-movies-are-sequels-but-not-sequels/487915/19 "2009-03-03T16:55:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > …Am I the only one who though that Kyle McLaughlin’s turn in the film **the Hidden** as a weird FBI agent perfectly exsplained why he was such a weird FBI agent in the TV series **Twin Peaks**? Yes! Very similar characters, although I wouldn’t go far as to say Agent Dale Cooper was an alien. Remember also that… McLaughlin’s character “died” in _The Hidden_, although his “soul” took up residence in Michael Nouri’s LAPD detective character. Great movie!