Movies that "feel" connected but aren't?

[Jetty_Jags]

I’m partial to the theory that Titanic is a prequel to Terminator

[Spirit Ghidorah 2010]

I’m partial to the theory that Titanic is a prequel to Terminator

Technically, Titanic is a prequel to any movie that takes place after 1912.

[Jetty_Jags]

I’m partial to the theory that Titanic is a prequel to Terminator

Technically, Titanic is a prequel to any movie that takes place after 1912.

Got me there

[mikelcho]

I propose these three similar films with three different casts of characters taking place in the same storyline:

Seven Samurai (1954)/The Magnificent Seven (1967; first version (no, this storyline does not include the three sequels))/Battle Beyond the Stars (1980).

[Bigdog]

1. The Power Rangers universe and Starship Troopers. Power Rangers Lost Galaxy's Terra Venture military uses the same uniforms as the future government in the classic film. I've had it in my mind that after Terra Venture crashes, their civilization diverges from Earth's. The risk of shortages and famine , creates a militaristic society where everyone is conscripted. They reconquer the Earth during the 2040s and instate the foundations of Starship Troopers' society. Due to their hostile relationships with non-human life, they exile the aliens and use SPD's infrastructure and technology to create their empire. Somehow during the interim, SPD's abandonment of the Earth at its time of need fosters a hatred and desperation among the older generations for the past before aliens ruined the status quo. Terra Venture's military fills their needs and their shared distrust and hatred of extraterrestrials warps human civilization. They willingly sever their ties to the Morphing Grid and demolish and melt everything around the Power Rangers, even destroying the various human-oriented powers such as Samurai while co-opting the knowledge of others like Lightspeed Rescue, Overdrive and others into their arsenal.

The rebellion against Terra Venture's regime is in the half-remembered memories of the In Space Rangers during the Countdown to Destruction, which due to the censorship has deified them into semi-divine heroes. Their reunion with the rest of the galaxy has them rediscovering the lost history. Tensions are high for the better part of a century until the Earth is fully integrated with them .This dark age leads to an eventual overthrow of this order centuries later, leading to a renaissance of alien immigration, the acceptance of SPD back on Earth and eventually, Time Force.

2. Night of the Living Dead is a prequel to The Walking Dead. In both universes, they don't have a defined name for zombies and neither of them seem to have had media of the like. The events of the original 1968 film are relatively isolated in that small town. With them neutralized ,the last survivor accidentally killed, and those bodies and property burned, the virus is further contained until its accidentally leaked once more, but is leaked out of control to devastating consequences.

3. 80's Thundercats and Voltron are in the same universe. Maybe initially in the same solar system. This is mostly due to both shows airing back to back on Toonami, but they both are based on wild cats, the Thundercats' base looks eerily like one of the lions, and their gear is extensively cat-themed. I haven't really been a part of either fandom as much, but my own interpretation is that in the distant past, Arusian scientists created them to extract resources from Thundera from native fauna, or they were created as both a workforce and for a cure for a disease. Either way, the Thundercats' ancestors overthrown them with their abilities like in Planet of the Apes and became a spacefaring civilization just as Arus was being pummeled by Lord Drakkon. The sixth lion is their base, but the details of its abilities were lost to time and myth, but it being the source of their independence was whitewashed from official accounts, save for the royal family's.

4. Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, Cowboy Bebop, Alien, Terminator and Predator franchises are all in the same universe. Everything depicted in the Blade Runner franchise shows a degraded American society that's likely caused from a combination of Skynet and internal and external forces. In Ghost in the Shell, the United States has divided between the American Empire and a few other successor states and by the latest film, it doesn't seem the United States is in the same shape as it used to be. Much of that could be explained by the War against the machines. The sheer indifference and hatred towards Replicants [enhanced and reverse engineered from models similar to the T-800] is due to recent memory being occupied by the Terminators. This same exact innovation is what spurs the creation of artificial bodies like used by Motoko Kusanagi. Due to Japan and some other areas of the world remaining stable and burgeoning into superpowers of their own, their attitude towards Replicants is far different. Even genial. These advances have mounted to creating new bodies for people with terminal illnesses and gets to the point where memories and people can be easily created and manipulated on a dime. While there's not much hint of space exploration in Ghost in the Shell it could simply be from focus.

In space, life goes on in the colonies as it does on Earth, leading to the events of Cowboy Bebop and its indirect spinoff in the near future. Then to Prometheus, the Alien and Predator films that occur in this era.

5. Xena Warrior Princess, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Both have similar female protagonists, but what's truly interesting is I witnessed a clip in a latter Xena season where Xena and her companion are brought back to life by scientists eager to have a new era of heroes. Considering the science that they were messing with and how they successfully recreated two people [hinting at this being magitech], the Initiative could've been involved with this. Xena's feats and strength could very well easily be from her being her era's Slayer. Due to her headstrong approach, she could've been the first Slayer to defy and go about her life as she pleases versus the Council's counterparts, deciding on a life of warfare and later? Heroism instead of keeping her abilities exclusive to slaying vampires and other demons. This also makes BTVS's inclusion of gods make more sense in Season 5, since Xena is littered with them.


While I don't really buy this, some have pointed out that from Joss Whedon's X-Men run with Scott Summers bringing up a cousin who's in some mental hospital for believing she can kill vampires, hints that the episode "Normal Again" hints the Buffy universe isn't real. In my opinion? They both exist in parallel to each other. While Buffy in the show's universe is real, the Buffy in the "Normal Again Universe" conquered her delusions and left the mental hospital that day, to live her life in Earth 616. In my opinion, I found the Marvel theory to be laughable when the main Marvel universe deals with vampires and countless other supernatural phenomena every single day. It's just a reference to Buffy and nothing more.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Occasionally I like to imagine that Coppola's Dracula, the 1994 Frankenstein and the 2010 remake of The Wolfman share a universe much like their original predecessors.

While not (exclusively) movies, I can easily envision that several of Cormac McCarthy's novels take place in the same timeline. Specifically in the following order:
Blood Meridian, Outer Dark (the Bearded Stranger could easily be another form of Judge Holden), No Country for Old Men and concluded with The Road.

[Mac Daddy MM]

Kind of surprised nobody mentioned the Heisei Godzilla series and Rebirth of Mothra for obvious reasons. It wouldn't take much to connect them, with the only real glarring issue being where is the adult Junior during the attacks in RoM and why there's another Ghidorah following 1991's, but that could easily be written up to the Dorats being created via Grand King Ghidorah cells.

When I was a kid and the first time seeing ROM, I was SURE that Battra was going to return and help the larva Mothra defeat DesGhidorah.

[o.supreme]

Kind of surprised nobody mentioned the Heisei Godzilla series and Rebirth of Mothra for obvious reasons.

I always thought the Adult Mothra at the beginning of RoM (1996) WAS the exact same from from G vs M BFE (1992).

3. 80's Thundercats and Voltron are in the same universe. Maybe initially in the same solar system.

I understand if Toonami was your first exposure, however this was my rediscovering of these shows in my late teens/early 20's. It was also my chance to record all the episodes on VHS until DVD's came out years later.

However in Voltron, Earth is in a "near future" (Star Trek Type) scenario, maybe a couple hundred years. Whereas Thundercats is set on "Third Earth", a post apocalyptic setting and blend of new races/species and Aliens set perhaps tens of thousands of years into the future. Heck even the idea that Thundercats/Silverhawks/ and Tigersharks is a trilogy falls apart when you consider that the Silverhawks are from a "near future height of technology" Earth as well. Also they have characters that crossover making it even more wonky.

[Mac Daddy MM]

Kind of surprised nobody mentioned the Heisei Godzilla series and Rebirth of Mothra for obvious reasons.

I always thought the Adult Mothra at the beginning of RoM (1996) WAS the exact same from from G vs M BFE (1992).

I did too. All the way up until about my early teens when I started getting more and more into the lore of the franchise.

[ShinGojira14]

The original Clash of the Titans and Disney/Paramount’s Dragonslayer feel like they would fit perfectly in the same universe together. Hell, at the end of former, Zeus goes as far as to predict the possibility that the Gods and their magic might eventually go into decline—a topic of which seems to be a big player in the plot of Dragonslayer.

Added in 1 minute 10 seconds:
Though there is that ending where Galen seemingly summons a perfectly white horse out of nowhere, implying that he may just be a sorcerer yet… … …

[MaxRebo320]

4. Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, Cowboy Bebop, Alien, Terminator and Predator franchises are all in the same universe. Everything depicted in the Blade Runner franchise shows a degraded American society that's likely caused from a combination of Skynet and internal and external forces. In Ghost in the Shell, the United States has divided between the American Empire and a few other successor states and by the latest film, it doesn't seem the United States is in the same shape as it used to be. Much of that could be explained by the War against the machines. The sheer indifference and hatred towards Replicants [enhanced and reverse engineered from models similar to the T-800] is due to recent memory being occupied by the Terminators. This same exact innovation is what spurs the creation of artificial bodies like used by Motoko Kusanagi. Due to Japan and some other areas of the world remaining stable and burgeoning into superpowers of their own, their attitude towards Replicants is far different. Even genial. These advances have mounted to creating new bodies for people with terminal illnesses and gets to the point where memories and people can be easily created and manipulated on a dime. While there's not much hint of space exploration in Ghost in the Shell it could simply be from focus.

In space, life goes on in the colonies as it does on Earth, leading to the events of Cowboy Bebop and its indirect spinoff in the near future. Then to Prometheus, the Alien and Predator films that occur in this era.

You might as well throw in 1981's Outland in there (Directed by Peter Hyams and starring Sean Connery). It's often been compared to Alien for its desolate, run-down space setting and the main villains being a massive corporation more-than-willing to put people's lives at risk for profit. It's been a very long time since I've watched it, but I'm far from the only person to notice the similarities.

[EdGojira]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and Godzilla (1998). Both feature wild haired newscasters getting by in a 90s NYC full of colorful characters and reptiles mutated to many times their original size by human experiments. Mayor Ebert takes credit for a drop in crime around the beginning off G98, but this lower crime rate was actually due to the Turtles getting better at their vigilante business.

Unfortunately, Godzilla wrecked their place while they were out trying to find a pizza joint that was still open...

[Vakanai]

Besides featuring giant monsters, I don't get the headcannon that Rampage and The Meg take place in the Monsterverse. Rampage specifically feels like it wouldn't fit, as all implications are this is the first time that the public are seeing kaiju, which goes against 2014's Godzilla. Just personal opinion.

Movies that feel connected to me...alright, here's a few. Ghostbusters, Big Trouble in Little China, Hellboy, and Bubba Hotep. All share the same sort of comedy mild horror action movie genre mixer if that makes sense. The paranormal stuff in each is different enough from each other and rare enough that you could believe that despite the public spectacle of Ghostbusters that Jack Burton and Elvis would still be skeptical and overwhelmed by Chinese mysticism and Egyptian mummies, and Hellboy was a secret agent handling supernatural threats secretly to kind of help keep the public unaware of how common these things really are. I don't know, it mostly sort of fits in a supernatural horror action comedy universe I think, and I like it. It may or may not fall apart when you take the sequels into account though.

[John Pannozzi]

I have a theory that Phoebe Cates' character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High exists in the imagination of Ally Sheedy's character from the Breakfast Club.

[The One and Only]

BAD BOYS, THE ROCK and ARMAGEDDON felt like they had all had a connection. Or a tenuous thread to say the least. All thread Nineties' Action classics were director by Michael Bay, and produced by Jerry Bruckhiemer so they had a similar vibe throughout them to say the least. But rewatching these flicks I noticed a few things that connected them. One the President who gives the order to launch the airstrike o Alcatraz in THE ROCK is the same guy who also plays the President in ARMAGEDDON. Also the club the go to in the Earth Vs Asteroid flick before they go on their mission is the same one from BAD BOYS. Probably under new management after Mike and Marcus took out the drug dealers in the original 1995 flick.

[Chrispy_G]

BAD BOYS, THE ROCK and ARMAGEDDON felt like they had all had a connection. Or a tenuous thread to say the least. All thread Nineties' Action classics were director by Michael Bay, and produced by Jerry Bruckhiemer so they had a similar vibe throughout them to say the least. But rewatching these flicks I noticed a few things that connected them. One the President who gives the order to launch the airstrike o Alcatraz in THE ROCK is the same guy who also plays the President in ARMAGEDDON. Also the club the go to in the Earth Vs Asteroid flick before they go on their mission is the same one from BAD BOYS. Probably under new management after Mike and Marcus took out the drug dealers in the original 1995 flick.

That's cool!

A popular fan theory out there is that British spy, John Mason, played Sean Connery, in the 1996 action opus, THE ROCK, is in fact an alias for MI6 most prolific spy with a license to kill, James Bond. Held by our government for the theft of J. Edger Hoover's secret files, and disavowed by the British government.

I've pretty much always thought this was too cool to not consider true.

Beyond that, in the continued realm of Michael Bay

In the first Transformers film, Travis Van Winkle plays "Trent", a jerk dating Megan Fox's character. In Friday the 13th 2009 (produced by Bay)...he once again plays Trent, and is once again a jerk.

[Bigdog]

Kind of surprised nobody mentioned the Heisei Godzilla series and Rebirth of Mothra for obvious reasons.

I always thought the Adult Mothra at the beginning of RoM (1996) WAS the exact same from from G vs M BFE (1992).

3. 80's Thundercats and Voltron are in the same universe. Maybe initially in the same solar system.

I understand if Toonami was your first exposure, however this was my rediscovering of these shows in my late teens/early 20's. It was also my chance to record all the episodes on VHS until DVD's came out years later.

However in Voltron, Earth is in a "near future" (Star Trek Type) scenario, maybe a couple hundred years. Whereas Thundercats is set on "Third Earth", a post apocalyptic setting and blend of new races/species and Aliens set perhaps tens of thousands of years into the future. Heck even the idea that Thundercats/Silverhawks/ and Tigersharks is a trilogy falls apart when you consider that the Silverhawks are from a "near future height of technology" Earth as well. Also they have characters that crossover making it even more wonky.

Yeah. They were always back to back and it just made a ton of sense. I never really got the impression that Third Earth was the same place as the one we live on. Turns out you're right. It was cut out due to being "too dark", but unlike most other instances of "word of God" being typically bullshit creators never thought to add, the series would've been treading into darker territory with such a Chekhov's Gun. To be honest, I remember barely anything of the original series other than it's opening and that it looked like and was written like an average 80s anime with a Western flair.

https://gustaflingmark.blogspot.com/201 ... verse.html


Even though Voltron cut out how Earth was destroyed in Golion from nuclear war like what was revealed for Third Earth, it certainly fits Voltron as a sort of prequel to Thundercats in a way. Which feels less like fanfiction than coincidence.

[miguelnuva]

I fell like the American cut of King Kong vs Godzilla takes place in the orginal Universal monsters universe. That's why it's the first time people are seeing Godzilla and it finally gets Kong in that verse as well.

[MaxRebo320]

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo certainly advertised itself as being a crossover between the blind swordsman and Mifune's Sanjuro character from Kurosawa's films, but his character is in fact different, being an agent for the bakufu, which is rather at odds with his portrayal in the Kurosawa films.

...that said, the 1977 TV airing of A Fistful of Dollars (Which is of course, an unofficial remake of Yojimbo) adds a new (and terrible) prologue establishing the Man with No Name is doing what he does on behalf of the government. This was apparently added to make his actions more "just", but if anything, it makes them less so. Now rather than acting out of goodwill, he's just doing it to get out of jail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppZuqec9lq0

[Angilasman]

^Both of the Zatoichi crossover films feature the guest actors playing variations on the kinds of roles they're famous for. They remind me of the Abbott and Costello movie "Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boring Karloff" - a bizarre title that knows it needs to convey Karloff's presence while attempting to stay within the fiction.

"Zatoichi Meets the Ronin, Toshiro Mifune" ?