Cleopatra is a movie about Caesar and Cleopatra followed by a movie about Marc Antony and Cleopatra; it was originally going to be two movies, but it got edited into a single film to capitalize on Liz-and-Dick mania.
The Lobster is kind of two movies as well: one about a dystopian society, and one about rebels living in a somewhat different dystopian society.
[Moderating]
Just a reminder here to be mindful of spoilers. I’m not familiar enough with most of the movies mentioned to know if any of the specific examples cited thus far count as spoilers; if any do, let me know and I’ll edit in spoiler tags.
This is the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title. I’ve always maintained that “Stripes” ended with the graduation scene, and was immediately followed by the inferior “Stripes II: Stripes Goes To Czechoslovakia.”
Witness (no spoiler needed, surely) is a lovely cultural portrait interspersed with a police crime action drama.
Sliding Doors?
From the same period is Daredevil Drivers. Starts out following one driver and his mechanic around a racing circuit then switches gears to the ins & outs of independent bus companies competing for business. One much more ruthlessly than the other.
The first of the recent Hulk movies (whichever one that was) felt like two movies. The first was Hulk vs. himself (and incidentally the US Army), and ended with the scene with the love interest in the rain. But then they decided that they needed a supervillain, and tacked on the part about his crazy dad turning himself into an elemental monster.
The classic example is Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The first three acts are Othello-level drama; the last two are light comedy with a happy ending.
“Breaking Away” has some great scenes, but it’s obviously two incompatible screen plays clumsily spliced together.
In the same vein as Full Metal Jacket is Heartbreak Ridge (1986). One part training, the other part inadvertent combat in Grenada.
Saratoga Trunk (1945) is a now-forgotten non-classic in which Ingrid Bergman scams her late father’s relatives into paying her to leave New Orleans. The story then switches to Saratoga Springs where she goes to ensnare a rich husband. It’s like two films in one!
On Dangerous Ground (1951) opens as gritty urban film noir prefiguring Dirty Harry, but about halfway through, psycho cop Robert Ryan is sent to the snowy countryside to deal with blind Ida Lupino and her dumbass brother. Half a great film results.
Lifeforce (1985) is maybe three movies in one: outer space adventure, vampirism on the loose, apocalyptic horror.
TV movie, if that counts, from 2000 “Longitude” goes back and forth from John Harrison inventing the marine chronometer to find longitude at sea and Rupert Holmes in the 20th century restoring Harrison’s clocks.
D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance” has four separate stories through the ages (fall of Babylon to Persia in 539BC, crucifixion on Jesus circa 7AD, St Bartholomew massacre in France in 1572 AD) and a modern story of crime). All with connecting images of Lillian Gish rocking a cradle.
Good movie, that.
I dunno, a lot of war movies involve a similar duality of boys in boot camp followed by men in combat, Heartbreak Ridge, Galipoli, All Quiet on the Western Front.
How about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead?
Does Mulholland Dr. count? The movie has two stories, but only one of them is real…
Prizzi’s Honor is a fun, wacky, mafia-themed almost-comedy romp for the first half.
Then, there is a shocking mood change (one single split-second incident) and it becomes a standard, dark, gritty mafia-themed drama.
Hancock is an uneven blending of two movies. Once Will Smith regains his memory of his past life, it’s an entirely different film.
I think your wife might be broken. The first half is pointless without the second half and Gary King is my spirit animal.
Wiki says Hancock was in development hell for over a decade and Will Smith had a pay or play so at one point they said, “Do you have words on paper? Yes? Film it.”
The Green Berets. The first half is about defending a US/ARVN fire base against the North Vietnamese. The second half is a covert mission to kidnap an NVA general. I expected the movie to end after John Wayne called in the air strike, but it just kept going on and on.
The rescuing of Han from Jabba in The Return of the Jedi is a complete story separate from the main plot to destroy the second death star.
I definitely agree. The first half is the strongest and most interesting part of the film. Then the film goes on for another 50 minutes for no real reason except for maybe they thought nobody would take a 90 minute film seriously.