History Main / BetterByADifferentName

* Given ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' draws a lot from ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', Creator/JamesCameron said that once he knew of Paul Verhoeven's plans he thought: "Why are they making [[Film/StarShipTroopers a Starship Troopers film]]? I already did it!".

** "I saw ''Film/TheMatrix'' back when it was called ''Film/DarkCity''." This is the example given for #4 of [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-common-movie-arguments-that-are-always-wrong/ 6 Common Movie Arguments That Are Always Wrong]].

* When ''Minty Comedic Arts'' made his ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smt96KIpDlQ 10 Things You May Not Know About]] Film/BillAndTed'' video, he complained that the plot of ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' had been done in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventures'' eight years before.

* LetsPlay/TacoMan calls ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys1'' a more realistic, but also more boring[[note]]Until the jump scares, of course[[/note]], version of ''VideoGame/NightTrap''.

-->'''Mitch''': On the one hand, the idea "What if Creator/MartinScorsese made a ''Batman'' move with no Batman in it in 1981?" is a pretty decent idea for a move. But there's gotta be a better way of paying tribute to the brilliance of Martin Scorsese than just mashing together the plots of ''Film/TaxiDriver'' and ''Film/TheKingOfComedy'' and then, just in case anybody out there didn't get the reference yet, bung in Creator/RobertDeNiro to play the Creator/JerryLewis part this time. [...] There's a big difference between emulating your heroes and ''imitating'' your heroes. I seem to have spent most of the nineties explaining this to Music/{{Oasis}} fans.\\

* In his ''WebSite/YouTube'' video where ''[=TheRealJims=]'' puts forth his theory that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIQzAJLKmUA Grampa Simpson actually shot Mr. Burns]] he argues that the episode, ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E22 Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"]]'' could be considered ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr Burns]] Part 3''.

* The [[http://www.jabootu.com/sphere.htm Jabootu review]] of ''Film/{{Sphere}}'' draws the broad strokes of the film's ClicheStorm:

** He does it again in his review for [[VideoGame/DantesInferno Dante's Inferno]]:

'''Mitch''': But you know what? If the film you really, really need in your life is an intense and atmospheric thriller, that's kind of an unofficial remake of ''Taxi Driver'', featuring an incredibly compelling central performance from Creator/JoaquinPheonix, ''that film came out two years ago'', and it's fucking brilliant, and it made a fraction of the money ''Joker'''s making. The film is called ''Film/YouWereNeverReallyHere''.

[...]]\\

* One of Music/MitchBenn's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsqTxat9F3w&list=PL6_iHCnChjWiuLFmsFEhYQkOIAe2IWJ3v&index=17 three reasons]] why he didn't watch ''Film/{{Joker}}'':
-->'''Mitch''': On the one hand, the idea "What if Creator/MartinScorsese made a ''Batman'' move with no Batman in it in 1981?" is a pretty decent idea for a move. But there's gotta be a better way of paying tribute to the brilliance of Martin Scorsese than just mashing together the plots of ''Film/TaxiDriver'' and ''Film/TheKingOfComedy'' and then, just in case anybody out there didn't get the reference yet, bung in Creator/RobertDeNiro to play the Creator/JerryLewis part this time. [...] There's a big difference between emulating your heroes and ''imitating'' your heroes. I seem to have spent most of the nineties explaining this to Music/{{Oasis}} fans.

** ''[[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-first-half-fight-club-was-in-movie-you-never-saw/ The First Half Of Fight Club Was In A Movie You Never Saw]]'' says that the kid in ''Film/CloakAndDagger'' is the main character from ''Film/FightClub'' as a child.

** "The thing is, they already made [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax this movie]] successfully. It was called ''WesternAnimation/WallE''."

Compare TakeThat (to mock the referenced work), JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE (where a work is set in a new setting), SerialNumbersFiledOff (where a work cannot use the same setting names, but is suspiciously similar), and SpiritualSuccessor (where audiences consider the work to be nearly the same as a sequel, despite the SerialNumbersFiledOff).

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* A diversion in an [[http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/02/25/isn%E2%80%99t-it-about-time-you-gave-armageddon-another-chance/ online]] ''SFX'' article, giving the cases for and against ''Film/{{Armageddon}}''.

Compare TakeThat (to mock the referenced work), RecycledINSPACE (where a work is set in a new setting), SerialNumbersFiledOff (where a work cannot use the same setting names, but is suspiciously similar), and SpiritualSuccessor (where audiences consider the work to be nearly the same as a sequel, despite the SerialNumbersFiledOff).

'''Nappa:''' What about ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Vegeta? It's like us, ''[[RecycledInSPACE with swords]]''!\\

** He referred to ''Film/ThePlatform'' as "what if ''Film/{{Snowpiercer}}'' [[RecycledInSpace but in a building]]? And also not good?"

It is common that some work is heavily "inspired" by a previous work--they may have different authors and settings, but there are strong similarities of plot, situations and characters. It is also common that the second work is much inferior to the original, because the original is great or the derivative is awful or both. The Better By A Different Name snarkly expresses this idea. The usual phrasing is "[This work] was better when it was called [other, earlier work]."

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** When [[WebVideo/BennettTheSage Sage]] tells him that there are plans for a life-action adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/StarChaserTheLegendOfOrin'', the Critic screams they already made it, it was called ''Franchise/StarWars''.

** He referred to ''Film/ThePlatform'' as "''Film/{{Snowpiercer}} [[RecycledInSpace but in a building]], and also not good."

** On ''Disney/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea,'' which she notes is a total rehash of the first movie: "I'm no fan of the original, but I hate to say it, I liked this better when it was called ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid''. ({{Beat}}) [[NonIndicativeTitle And it was about a mermaid]]."

** Inverted in his review of ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'', which he compared to Creator/{{Disney}} trying its hand at a Creator/{{DreamWorks|Animation}}-style animated movie, specifically calling it "what one of these would look like [[TakeThat if they didn't suck]]."

** For ''{{Disney/Frozen}}'', they called the story "the best of the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' origins films".

* A magazine gave a breakdown of the {{Summer Blockbuster}}s of 1997. They discuss how ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'' did only moderately well compared to other recent works of the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, and they surmised people thought it was done better when it was called ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''.

-->"So all in all you could swap out the disc for God of War 2 while the player pops out for a piss and there's a good chance they won't notice. That is, until they realize that the game has suddenly become ''good''."

** He has said that the ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'' TV series does a better job adapting the Franchise/{{Superman}} mythos to the screen than the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, devoting [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6V26g9TABI an episode]] of ''In Bob We Trust'' to holding it up as a counterpoint to all of his problems with the DCEU.

** As an intro to his ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review, Superman (as played by Rob Scallon) sings about the events of that movie, while Batman (Doug himself) keeps pointing out that all of it applies to Film/TheDarkKnightSaga too.

* Creator/JamesRolfe argued that the original ''[[Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968 Planet Of The Apes]]'' could have been the perfect ''Series/TwilightZone'' movie, due to its TwistEnding and being written by Creator/RodSerling.

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* A magazine gave a breakdown of the {{Summer Blockbuster}}s of 1997. They discuss how ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'' did only moderately well compared to other recent works of the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, and they surmised people thought it was done better when it was called ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''.
* Creator/RogerEbert: "All bad movies have good twins, and the good version of ''Film/GoodbyeLover'' is ''Film/TheHotSpot''... a thriller that was equally lurid but less hyperkinetic."
** He said the same anything with ''Film/SayAnything'' (GREAT!) and ''Film/ShesOutOfControl'' (HORRIBLE!), both of which opened on the exact same day (April 14th, 1989).
* A diversion in an [[http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/02/25/isn%E2%80%99t-it-about-time-you-gave-armageddon-another-chance/ online]] ''SFX'' article, giving the cases for and against ''Film/{{Armageddon}}''.
-->'''Case for the defence:''' The science in ''Armageddon'' is no more wacky than it is in something like ''Film/FantasticVoyage'' and -- let's face it -- considerably more sensible than the science presented in ''Film/SourceCode''.\\
'''Case for the prosecution:''' Hey, I liked ''Source Code''!\\
'''Case for the defence:''' I liked it better 20 years ago when it was called ''Series/QuantumLeap''.\\
'''Case for the prosecution:''' Touché.
* Given ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' draws a lot from ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', Creator/JamesCameron said that once he knew of Paul Verhoeven's plans he thought: "Why are they making [[Film/StarShipTroopers a Starship Troopers film]]? I already did it!".
* Scott Kurtz of ''Webcomic/PvP'' once joked that his favorite stories in ComicBook/AtomicRobo were the issues done by [[{{Comicbook/Hellboy}} Mike Mignola]].

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* The Dom from ''WebVideo/LostInAdaptation'' preferred the ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle'' when it was called ''StarWars'', Disney's 2002 ''Literature/TuckEverlasting'' movie when it was called ''Film/Titanic1997'', and both he and his girlfriend Calluna prefer Creator/PeterJackson's ''Film/TheHobbit Trilogy'' when it was called ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''. (As he feels all of them are scene-for-scene rip-offs of the respective movies.

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