What films have identical or very similar shots?
May 3, 2010 4:11 PM Subscribe
What films have identical or very similar shots?
I was watching 'Push' (Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning etc.) last night and at one point there is an aerial shot of Hong Kong at night circling the International Finance Centre. I immediately thought of the near identical shot in The Dark Knight just before Batman jumps off that same building and I started wondering if there are any other examples of this.
Obviously with cities like New York that feature in many films there are huge numbers of shots of the city which would look similar, however I'm looking for something more precise than this. The shot in Push had a similar pace and angle to the The Dark Knight shot as well as them both being of the same building at night, making the link between the two unavoidable (in my mind at least).
So which shots have you seen which immediately made you think of another film?
I was watching 'Push' (Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning etc.) last night and at one point there is an aerial shot of Hong Kong at night circling the International Finance Centre. I immediately thought of the near identical shot in The Dark Knight just before Batman jumps off that same building and I started wondering if there are any other examples of this.
Obviously with cities like New York that feature in many films there are huge numbers of shots of the city which would look similar, however I'm looking for something more precise than this. The shot in Push had a similar pace and angle to the The Dark Knight shot as well as them both being of the same building at night, making the link between the two unavoidable (in my mind at least).
So which shots have you seen which immediately made you think of another film?
tarantino is known for a number of signature shots - most discussed is the trunk shot. he'll also take scenes whole cloth from kung-fu and explotation films and recreate them.
posted by nadawi at 4:19 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by nadawi at 4:19 PM on May 3, 2010
Oceanic Airlines - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_Airlines
posted by Aztekker at 4:22 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by Aztekker at 4:22 PM on May 3, 2010
There must be at least one category dedicated to this on TVTropes.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 4:25 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 4:25 PM on May 3, 2010
There is a scene in Casino, in which Bobby DeNiro's character sees Joe Pesci's character drive toward him in the desert outside Las Vegas and we (the audience) see Pesci's car being reflected in DeNiro's sunglasses.
This scene has been copied in at least one other movie, though I can't remember which one.
And Psycho had a shot-for-shot remake done of it back in the 1990s.
posted by dfriedman at 4:29 PM on May 3, 2010
This scene has been copied in at least one other movie, though I can't remember which one.
And Psycho had a shot-for-shot remake done of it back in the 1990s.
posted by dfriedman at 4:29 PM on May 3, 2010
Some info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot-for-shot
posted by dfriedman at 4:31 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by dfriedman at 4:31 PM on May 3, 2010
There are way too many of these to list, but the most blatant example out there has to be Star Wars:
& Dambusters
& 633 Squadron
posted by Paragon at 4:32 PM on May 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
& Dambusters
& 633 Squadron
posted by Paragon at 4:32 PM on May 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Parodies, obviously, are rife with this sort of thing. Example.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:34 PM on May 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Sys Rq at 4:34 PM on May 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Road to Perdition has several shots that recall Millers Crossing. There's one where a car is parked on a country road next to a forest, and I think there's one with guys in long coats carrying Thompson machine guns and going up stairs.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:35 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by kirkaracha at 4:35 PM on May 3, 2010
Modern movie directors often mention shots they've 'stolen' from their favorite films and directors in the commentary tracks. The low-angle, leaves-a-whirl shot of a shitty sedan zooming into/out of a tunnel in Clerks 2 is dubbed Smith's 'Batman Shot'. It nearly boggles the mind thinking of all of the copied, referenced, outright stolen, and tributed shots in movies. Like nadawi mentions, directors like Tarantino can write a script entirely around individual scenes that they see as recreations of scenes they know in other (usually either totally obscure or 100% trope) movies, and cobble it together into their own film. Start watching director commentaries (keep an ear out for ones that aren't just actor-slobbering love-fests) and noticing common scenarios (3 men in a boat, clerk/counter/customer, DePalma sweeping crane push, etc.) and eventually you'll see these echoes/tributes/rip-offs everywhere.
Another angle on your particular example is stock footage. There very well could be stock shots of Hong Kong at night that are available to multiple movie productions. Or maybe the two films shared an employee in their respective Second Units in charge of actor-less shots, etc. who got the footage (or other footage from the same filming session) from the other movie.
posted by carsonb at 4:37 PM on May 3, 2010
Another angle on your particular example is stock footage. There very well could be stock shots of Hong Kong at night that are available to multiple movie productions. Or maybe the two films shared an employee in their respective Second Units in charge of actor-less shots, etc. who got the footage (or other footage from the same filming session) from the other movie.
posted by carsonb at 4:37 PM on May 3, 2010
The recent redlettermedia Star Wars Episode 2 review has a section about the .. amount of homage in Episode 2 vs. Empire Strikes Back.
posted by rr at 4:41 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by rr at 4:41 PM on May 3, 2010
Famously, Disney reuses animations (though I believe this is standard practice in animation).
posted by Kattullus at 4:53 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by Kattullus at 4:53 PM on May 3, 2010
The most impressive special effects in the low-budget 2002 sci-fi film Impostor with Gary Sinese (scenes of war, a missile hitting Grand Central Station) were actually copied over from Starship Troopers and Armageddon with minimal alterations.
posted by Rhaomi at 4:54 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by Rhaomi at 4:54 PM on May 3, 2010
It's hard to think of films WITHOUT these little quotes and homages.. recent favorite: How To Train Your Dragon's tribute to this scene from the classic Black Stallion. Movie people love the movies!
posted by Erasmouse at 5:02 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by Erasmouse at 5:02 PM on May 3, 2010
Heh, here's a good example of recycled footage: The Disney Copy-Paste
posted by carsonb at 5:11 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by carsonb at 5:11 PM on May 3, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks, these are all good examples!
In answer to mbrubeck, I'm more interested in the unintentional ones.
posted by jonnyploy at 5:16 PM on May 3, 2010
In answer to mbrubeck, I'm more interested in the unintentional ones.
posted by jonnyploy at 5:16 PM on May 3, 2010
Garden State, that movie with Zach Braff, has a very intentional allusion to The Graduate: both open with a very similar airplane scene.
posted by makethemost at 6:09 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by makethemost at 6:09 PM on May 3, 2010
A vertical, top-down view of a spiral staircase is a constantly reused shot that probably comes from Hitchcock's Vertigo -- it's in too many movies for me to remember which, exactly, it appears in (although I want to say "The Professional"?). I saw it most recently in a Chinese romance/office drama called "Go Lala Go!"
posted by Valet at 6:50 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by Valet at 6:50 PM on May 3, 2010
Ferris Bueller's Day Off has a lot of bits that taste like the Blues Brothers, although it might be explained away by their common love of Chicago.
posted by Sallyfur at 7:01 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by Sallyfur at 7:01 PM on May 3, 2010
Disney's "Enchanted" deliberately recreates famous scenes from other Disney movies.
Also, the first live shot in "You've Got Mail" -- the camera up through the autumnal tree and into the apartment window -- is a recreation of the same shot in (IIRC) "Shop Around the Corner." It's mentioned on the director's commentary on the DVD. (And is, in fact, the only thing I remember from the director's commentary on the DVD!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:09 PM on May 3, 2010
Also, the first live shot in "You've Got Mail" -- the camera up through the autumnal tree and into the apartment window -- is a recreation of the same shot in (IIRC) "Shop Around the Corner." It's mentioned on the director's commentary on the DVD. (And is, in fact, the only thing I remember from the director's commentary on the DVD!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:09 PM on May 3, 2010
A friend was telling me how Master and Commander and Star Trek: Wrath of Khan are basically the same movie except for the whole space thing.
posted by Glibpaxman at 8:12 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by Glibpaxman at 8:12 PM on May 3, 2010
De Palma's Psycho is the epitome.
posted by klangklangston at 8:52 PM on May 3, 2010
posted by klangklangston at 8:52 PM on May 3, 2010
De Palma's Psycho is the epitome.
You mean Van Sant's Psycho?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:04 PM on May 3, 2010
You mean Van Sant's Psycho?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:04 PM on May 3, 2010
I believe the three instances of Jennifer Connelly on a pier were unintentional but eerily similar.
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 7:48 AM on May 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 7:48 AM on May 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
Read/heard somewhere that almost every film set in London in the last few years includes a shot of the London Eye and/or The Gherkin.
The famous last shot of The Searchers is referenced at the end of Dog Soldiers. I'm sure others must have used it.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:53 AM on May 4, 2010
The famous last shot of The Searchers is referenced at the end of Dog Soldiers. I'm sure others must have used it.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:53 AM on May 4, 2010
Sys Rq is right twice.
posted by klangklangston at 8:01 AM on May 4, 2010
posted by klangklangston at 8:01 AM on May 4, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtYmxMp59iE
Tango & Cash emulating Jackie Chan
posted by markjamesmurphy at 10:12 PM on May 6, 2010
Tango & Cash emulating Jackie Chan
posted by markjamesmurphy at 10:12 PM on May 6, 2010
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One intentionally similar shot is the homage to the Odessa Steps sequence in Terry Gilliam's Brazil (and in many other films).
The Memories Dance fan video nicely illustrates how Hayao Miyazaki has included very similar shots in many of his different films.
posted by mbrubeck at 4:18 PM on May 3, 2010