# Movies with the same plot. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839 "2010-08-20T05:16:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/21 "2010-08-20T13:32:42Z")
An aging baseball player/golfer (Kevin Costner) makes a love connection with a woman (Susan Sarandon/Rene Russo) who diagnoses his inadequacies on the field/course. Bull Durham/Tin Cup ---
**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:** [August 20, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/22 "2010-08-20T13:36:56Z")
The life of Pu Yin, the last emperor of China, as told in the coincidentally released movies **The Last Emperor** and **The Last Emperor**. actually, there’s remarkably little overlap – one film concentrates on his early life, before the Communists took over, while the other is mostly about his later life in Communist China. The two films complement each other nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/23 "2010-08-20T14:13:34Z")
Attractive young man falls for intriguing attractive young woman, but it turns out she hangs out with a bunch of vampires. Initially this seems like fun; so much so, that the young man becomes a vampire himself. But after conflict with his younger sibling, he realises he doesn’t want to be a vampire after all and in a climactic battle, helps see off the vampires and rescue the girl. **Near Dark** and **The Lost Boys** , both 1987. This vampire fad is nothing new. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/24 "2010-08-20T14:32:15Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > _The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert_ and \*To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar \* Do remakes count in this thread? That doesn’t seem right. Because then you could throw in a whole slew of Hollywood remakes of foreign films like _Open Your Eyes/Vanilla Sky, Femme Nikita/Point of No Return, Let the Right One In/Let Me In_ and so on and so on. The batch of films linked to in the OP were features that had no connection to each other that ended up having the same plot: like the forthcoming aliens-invade-LA movies. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > The life of Pu Yin, the last emperor of China, as told in the coincidentally released movies The Last Emperor and The Last Emperor. Similarly, two biopics on Steve Prefontaine went into production almost at the same time, giving the close-timed release of _Prefontaine_ and _Without Limits_. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/25 "2010-08-20T14:35:38Z")
A man loses the woman he loves as he becomes involved with parnormal forces & is tutored in their ways by an older mentor- The Mothman Prophecies and White Noise. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/26 "2010-08-20T14:35:38Z")
Not really the same plot, but: 1984 movie in which heroine played by Kate Capshaw sees the Bad Guy reach into a victim’s chest with his bare hand and pull out the still-beating heart, which he shows to the victim _who doesn’t die_. **Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom** and **Dreamscape**. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/27 "2010-08-20T14:43:28Z")
Alec Guinness plays a seemingly respectable middle class gent who recruits a gang of criminals of diverse backgrounds in order to pull off a a giant heist. The gang transport their loot right past the noses of the entire Police force successfully through clever misdirection. They are initially successful before one small detail eventually sees the whole plan unravel. \*The Lavender Hill Mob \*(1951) and _The Lady Killers_ (1955) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/28 "2010-08-20T14:48:58Z")
Meet cute. Obstacle to romance. Quirky friends. McGuffin. Hijinks. Happy ending. _Every Rom-Com ever made_. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/29 "2010-08-20T15:00:52Z")
Does anybody remember… I thought around the same time the movie _Phone Booth_ came out, there was a similar movie, only the protagonist was female. _Phone Booth_ had Colin Farrell stuck on the phone while a sniper murdered people. He had to remain on the line… or else! I seem to remember another movie with the same premise, only the phone hostage was a woman. I thought it was Diane Lane, but a quick check of her filmography turned up nothing. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/30 "2010-08-20T15:09:06Z")
[Cellular](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_(film)) with Kim Basinger ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/31 "2010-08-20T15:12:00Z")
Improbably beautiful prostitute falls for an American schnook who wants to “save” her, after she sings the theme song which becomes a huge international hit. **Breakfast at Tiffany’s** and **Never On Sunday**. Both circa 1961. Video game takes on a life of its own. **The Last Starfighter** and **War Games.** Both circa 1984. An under-appreciated singer is redeemed by True Love. **I Walk the Line** (2005) and **Beyond the Sea** (2004). Family isn’t what you’re born into, it’s where you find it. **My Life as a Dog** (1985) and **Boogie Nights** (1997). Human guy falls hard for cartoon chick. **Who Framed Roger Rabbit?** (1988) and **Cool World** (1992). New girl in school sucks up to the popular clique to subvert them from within. **Heathers** (1989), \*\*Mean Girls \*\*(2004). Eccentric trio saves city from pseudo-science gone berserk. **Ghostbusters** (1984), **Evolution** (2001). Fake teacher instills a love of music. **The Music Man, The School of Rock**. Sleazy rock star meets his number one fan. \*\* Bye Bye Birdie, Win a Date with Ted Hamilton!\*\* Sexually precocious teenaged girl finds out men are scumbags. [Too numerous to mention.] **Big Momma’s House** and any **Madea** movie. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/32 "2010-08-20T15:39:32Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > _Stalag 17_ and _Chicken Run_ Thank you that it is two movies I can never watch again without making your association. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/33 "2010-08-20T15:46:19Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > [Cellular](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_(film)) with Kim Basinger Ah, that’s it. Thank you. Now that look at the synopsis it isn’t as similar as I (mis)remembered. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/34 "2010-08-20T16:20:05Z")
A writer of pulp westerns falls in love with a beautiful woman and gets drawn into a tale of intrigue, where he is finally forced to shoot and kill a former colleague whom everyone presumed to already be dead. _ **The Crime of M. Lange** _ (Renoir, 1936) and _ **The Third Man** _ (Reed, 1949)In the days leading up to WWII, a woman and her anti-fascist husband seek refuge from the Nazis. Despite the fact that the couple are wanted and on the run, the man she loves risks his own life to kill the enemy agent who is in the position to jeopardize the couple’s safety. _ **Casablanca** _ and _ **Watch on the Rhine** _ ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/35 "2010-08-20T16:24:00Z")
I thought the plot of _Anal Adventurers Part VII_ was derivative of _Spanking Schoolgirls_, but I’m pretty demanding about stuff like that. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/36 "2010-08-20T16:26:32Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Video game takes on a life of its own. **The Last Starfighter** and **War Games.** Both circa 1984. That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it? My memory may be playing tricks on me, but I recall the plots as more like this: **The Last Starfighter:** Geeky trailer park boy is exceptionally good at video game, not knowing it is actually a selection tool to become a “Starfighter” for a rebel-alliance-alike band of aliens. Becomes the eponymous “Last Starfighter”. **War Games:** Spoilt teen with too much computer equipment in his bedroom dials random numbers with his modem looking for a system to play games with - unwittingly dials NORAD and nearly starts World War III. Computer-game-not-what-it-seems plot element, sure, but not really the same plot. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/37 "2010-08-20T16:31:46Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Similarly, two biopics on Steve Prefontaine went into production almost at the same time, giving the close-timed release of _Prefontaine_ and _Without Limits_. _Kundun_ and _Seven years in Tibet_ both covered the life of the current Dalai Lama up until the Chinese occupation of Tibet, and were both released in 1997. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/38 "2010-08-20T16:39:52Z")
> [@Scougs](#): > > > [@Krokodil](#): > > > > Video game takes on a life of its own. **The Last Starfighter** and **War Games.** Both circa 1984. > > That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it? My memory may be playing tricks on me, but I recall the plots as more like this: > > **The Last Starfighter:** Geeky trailer park boy is exceptionally good at video game, not knowing it is actually a selection tool to become a “Starfighter” for a rebel-alliance-alike band of aliens. Becomes the eponymous “Last Starfighter”. > > **War Games:** Spoilt teen with too much computer equipment in his bedroom dials random numbers with his modem looking for a system to play games with - unwittingly dials NORAD and nearly starts World War III. > > Computer-game-not-what-it-seems plot element, sure, but not really the same plot. Yeah, if you are too general, anything can have the same “plot”. “Brown haired boy loves brown haired girl and becomes a hero. Oh, and there’s a computer game involved.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/39 "2010-08-20T16:46:39Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > An under-appreciated singer is redeemed by True Love. **I Walk the Line** (2005) and **Beyond the Sea** (2004). Musician struggles a little, gets some fame, then is ruined by substance abuse. Amadeus The Doors Sid & Nancy Bird Lady Sings the Blues Ray Round Midnight The Runaways Walk the Line Walk Hard What other 75 movies have this plot? ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/40 "2010-08-20T17:03:33Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > > [@Krokodil](#): > > > > An under-appreciated singer is redeemed by True Love. **I Walk the Line** (2005) and **Beyond the Sea** (2004). > > Musician struggles a little, gets some fame, then is ruined by substance abuse. > > Amadeus > The Doors > Sid & Nancy > Bird > Lady Sings the Blues > Ray > Round Midnight > The Runaways > Walk the Line > Walk Hard > > What other 75 movies have this plot? In fiction: That’ll Be The Day/Stardust Breaking Glass and, arguably, The Wall [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839.md?page=3)