# Movie concepts that only work once **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011 "2008-04-19T15:53:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/41 "2008-04-21T21:15:00Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] While the entire movie _The Sixth Sense_ concept wasn’t remade (a boy see dead people), the premise and twist of having a main character along with the audience discover that they have been dead was done very effectively in _The Others_. [/QUOTE] Amen! Thomas Tryon’s other _good_ book _Harvest Home_ was likewise ripped off (at least in theme) for _Children of the Corn_. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/42 "2008-04-21T21:23:11Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] > [@Hampshire](#): > > While the entire movie The Sixth Sense concept wasn’t remade (a boy see dead people), the premise and twist of having a main character along with the audience discover that they have been dead was done very effectively in The Others. Amen! Thomas Tryon’s other good book Harvest Home was likewise ripped off (at least in theme) for Children of the Corn. [/QUOTE] I suspect that Hampshire was referring to [The Others](http://imdb.com/title/tt0230600/), rather than to the Tom Tryon movie [The Other](http://imdb.com/title/tt0069050/). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/43 "2008-04-21T22:06:42Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] I suspect that Hampshire was referring to [The Others](http://imdb.com/title/tt0230600/), rather than to the Tom Tryon movie [The Other](http://imdb.com/title/tt0069050/). [/QUOTE] I suspect you’re right! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/44 "2008-04-22T03:27:32Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] What, you mean the Black & White Kansas/Color Oz gimmick? But that’s not a movie concept, and a remake of The Wizard of Oz could be done. After all, the Judy Garland version of The Wizard of Oz was also a remake. However, if I had the rights to the Oz books I wouldn’t bother remaking The Wizard of Oz, I’d jump straight to The Marvelous Land of Oz, and Ozma of Oz. But I wouldn’t mash them together as per “Return to Oz”, what would be the point of that? Oh, and “The Land of Oz” has a Gender Bending Twist Ending! \ [/QUOTE] All of the “canonical” Oz stories (ie, those written by Frank Baum himself, and not his wife or some other latecomer) should be in the public domain by now. Baum died in 1919, and the last Oz story written by him was published in 1920. So go for it! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/45 "2008-04-22T12:11:52Z")
[QUOTE=Diceman] All of the “canonical” Oz stories (ie, those written by Frank Baum himself, and not his wife or some other latecomer) should be in the public domain by now. Baum died in 1919, and the last Oz story written by him was published in 1920. So go for it! [/QUOTE] Does that fabulous Sean Connery vehicle _Zardoz_ count? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/46 "2008-04-22T13:15:10Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Memento Rebel Without A Cause I suspect the list could be made as long as you want if you include remakes and sequels that should never have been done, or even considered. [/QUOTE] Before there was Memento there was Pulp Fiction which is the same in a lot of ways with the ‘tell the story out of sequence’ thing. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/47 "2008-04-22T15:37:17Z")
I came in to the thread to find most of my suggestions already named: Blair Witch Project, in particular. [QUOTE=Beware of Doug] After 1974’s _The Hindenburg_ (surprisingly well done, IMO), I can’t see “Giant Rigid Airship Crashes” ever being a viable cinematic premise ever again. Especially seeing that it was the only such crash ever to involve both Nazis _and_ explosions. [/QUOTE] I imagine this was meant as a bit of tongue in cheek, but there are a number of such stories that could do very well as a movie. Even though they may lack Nazis and explosions. (I can think of some that have explosions, and others that have Nazis, or fascists, at least, but not so much with both elements.) Just off the top of my head: [ul][li]The story the [R-101](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-101), with all the hubris involved with its construction, the errors, the outright idiocies, might make for a nifty little morality play. [/li] [li]As for tragi-comic, there’s always the story of the _[Italia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airship_Italia)_, and all that went wrong with it.[/li] [\*]Finally, for balloons, there’s the absurdities of the [S. A. Andree’s 1897 attempt to explore the North Pole](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._A._Andr%C3%A9e%27s_Arctic_balloon_expedition_of_1897). Which, AIUI has already been made into a well-received movie for Norwegian audiences.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/48 "2008-04-22T20:04:40Z")
Planet of the Apes For my cite, I will be using the Tim Burton remake. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/49 "2008-04-22T20:22:43Z")
Groundhog Day. It was fun the first time, but a second one would be redundant. Ad a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh, and an eighth… ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/50 "2008-04-22T22:28:23Z")
**Bugsy Malone** - all kid cast - come to think of it, it didn’t really work the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Eben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a8b319/32.png) [@Eben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eben)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/51 "2008-04-22T22:52:04Z")
I think any idea can be reused, and often is. The problem is when, as has been pointed out, they don’t try very hard in the remake to fill out the plot or ideas. I haven’t seen a single title come up that isn’t either a remake or been remade. -Eben ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/52 "2008-04-23T09:14:43Z")
How about Andy Warhol’s **Empire**? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/53 "2008-04-23T19:59:06Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Groundhog Day. It was fun the first time, but a second one would be redundant. Ad a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh, and an eighth… [/QUOTE] Along similar lines, _ **The Neverending Story** _. Except they did make a sequel to that one. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/54 "2008-04-23T22:16:03Z")
[QUOTE=Enright3] Before there was Memento there was Pulp Fiction which is the same in a lot of ways with the ‘tell the story out of sequence’ thing. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but _Memento_ was shot out of sequence for a very specific reason. That reason you can’t duplicate without it being gimmicky. Though come to think of it _Primer_ had a good reason also. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/55 "2008-04-23T22:52:23Z")
But I know there was a recent movie told in backwards chronological order recently, although I can’t recall the name. The movie starts as the bitter couple is getting divorced, then each scene goes back in time to incidents in their life, and ends at their first meeting. It has the same backwards structure as Memento, and the same gimmick that you see events but don’t understand their significance until you later see what happened earlier. That isn’t to say that backwards chronology isn’t a gimmick, just that the gimmick could conceivably work in a movie other than Memento. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/56 "2008-04-24T00:00:20Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] But I know there was a recent movie told in backwards chronological order recently, although I can’t recall the name. The movie starts as the bitter couple is getting divorced, then each scene goes back in time to incidents in their life, and ends at their first meeting. It has the same backwards structure as Memento, and the same gimmick that you see events but don’t understand their significance until you later see what happened earlier. That isn’t to say that backwards chronology isn’t a gimmick, just that the gimmick could conceivably work in a movie other than Memento. [/QUOTE] I think you’re thinking of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind. I don’t know if that was entirely in reverse order or scrambled. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/57 "2008-04-24T00:32:50Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] But I know there was a recent movie told in backwards chronological order recently, although I can’t recall the name. The movie starts as the bitter couple is getting divorced, then each scene goes back in time to incidents in their life, and ends at their first meeting. It has the same backwards structure as Memento, and the same gimmick that you see events but don’t understand their significance until you later see what happened earlier. [/QUOTE] [5x2](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5x2)? I think there might be another like this, but this is the one that came up with some googling. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/58 "2008-04-24T04:04:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, but Memento was shot out of sequence for a very specific reason. That reason you can’t duplicate without it being gimmicky. Though come to think of it Primer had a good reason also. I know I’m typing – I can see the misspellings. Doesn’t anybody read my stuff? Look back to post #37 – **Betrayal** predates **Memento** , **Pulp Fiction** , and **5X2** in the reverse-chronological-order storytelling. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/59 "2008-04-24T04:11:08Z")
I agree that **Memento** was the first of its kind, and can’t possibly see how the concept could be pulled off a second time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-concepts-that-only-work-once/446011/60 "2008-04-24T08:55:49Z")
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