What are some of your favourite spiritual successor films?

Submitted by theg721 t3_11983b1 in movies

I specifically mean films of the same genre and tone that share much of the same cast and/or crew, but which aren't sequels and have the returning cast members playing different characters. The two pairs that come to mind for me are:

  • A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures—both are comedies featuring John Cleese, Michael Palin, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, Maria Aitken and Cynthia Cleese; both were written by John Cleese; they share a fair bit of their crews; and Fierce Creatures even directly references Wanda a couple times.

  • Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch—both are London-set gangster films featuring Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones, Jason Flemyng and Alan Ford; both were written and directed by Guy Ritchie, and produced by Matthew Vaughn; and they too share a fair bit of their crews.

TV Tropes does have a spiritual successor page, but it mostly includes films based on or very similar to earlier films, in addition to films that share much of their casts.

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Onepunchmanworkout t1_j9kyugq wrote

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz

Edit: Giving it some thought, I've got a few.

Super Troopers and Beerfest

Waiting and Accepted

Avatar TLA and The Dragon Prince (Boomerang? 😆)

Goodfellas and Blow

Alright last one, how could I forget the DMXECU? Cradle 2 the Grave, Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds

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jokester4079 t1_j9likmn wrote

> Goodfellas and Blow

There actually is a spiritual sequel to Goodfellas in the movie My Blue Heaven. The movie was written by the wife of the author of the original novel that Goodfellas was based on and it depicts Henry Hills life in Witness protection. Stars Steve Martin and Rick Moranis.

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Onepunchmanworkout t1_j9lk8vr wrote

Lol those pictures of Steve Martin with the gangster haircut 🤣 I'm going to have to watch it

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fonduktoe t1_j9l9782 wrote

Curious as to the connection between Goodfellas and Blow.

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riegspsych325 t1_j9kzf88 wrote

I’d like to throw in Paul, which I liked much more than World’s End

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__Universal-Gleam__ t1_j9lrgu2 wrote

world's end was a bit of a miss really, it's watchable but it's really nowhere near the perfectly paced classics of Shaun of the dead and hot fuzz. It doesn't have that same grounded humour and the writing seems weaker.

I think they tried to do too much in world's end and the antagonists also came across like a poor rehash of hot fuzz but with generic aliens instead of eccentric villagers. It doesn't click very well and lack's it's own personality. None of the characters are even that likeable really.

I also don't think Pegg and Frost worked so well in the flipped positions, as a result the dynamic is kind of lost between them because Frost is trying to play a more mature / serious character compared to Simon Pegg. Something that is not an issue in "paul" where the character dynamic remains the same as Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz.

I don't think it helped either that "world's end" was a bit too close to "this is the end" which came out around the same time, the latter generally did the apocalypse comedy a lot better imo.

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Edible_Pie t1_j9lznf5 wrote

As much as I love the other Cornetto films, I actually think World's End is my favourite. Frost in the serious role makes the movie stand out for me because it's so different. I really love that movie

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NeuHundred t1_j9lbu36 wrote

Paul also had one of those comic-art tin collector's cases which went along nicely with the Shaun/Fuzz ones.

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NeuHundred t1_j9lbqgv wrote

I misread Super Troopers as Starship Troopers and thought 'fuck, Beerfest must be far gorier than I expected!"

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radj06 t1_j9l48op wrote

I think Slammin Salmon is the successor to Beerfest

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girafa t1_j9kz1ht wrote

Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

They weren't written nor intended to be a trilogy with any continuity but some marketing guys later glued them together in that fashion with the popular "Man with No Name" fanfiction about his three different names being fake because he's a bounty hunter. Most people like to look at them as a reverse story, with TGTBATU as the first, since he gets his poncho at the end and is generally a nicer character who then gets more ruthless as we go through the movies.

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theg721 OP t1_j9kzume wrote

I've never thought about them like that, but it's a really good point. I'll have to try them in reverse order the next time I watch them!

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Stockpile_Tom_Remake t1_j9mvkg3 wrote

Also they were written in satire of westerns.. and became some of the best westerns but they sort of were made to… mock westerns

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DukeWeinerman t1_j9l5uou wrote

  • Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused, and Everybody Wants Some
  • The French Connection and The Seven-Ups
  • Brian De Palma's Scarface and Carlito's Way
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The_Gumbo t1_j9kz777 wrote

The shaun of the dead, hot fuzz, world's end, etc

for the old school, the Gator/Smokey and the bandit connection

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girafa t1_j9kzcuz wrote

If someone made a "Burt Reynolds Kicking Ass in a Car" box set it would be nearly a dozen movies

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Lepore25051963 t1_j9l1sxg wrote

Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?)

Young Frankenstein (Blazing Saddles)

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Kinofhera t1_j9l27of wrote

  • Airplane!
  • Top Secrets!
  • Hot Shot!

Not sure if Airplane! has a predecessor too. I also love all of them follow the same pattern of adding an exclamation mark in the titles.

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geekzapoppin t1_j9laqo2 wrote

It does! Kentucky Fried Movie. Written by the Airplane guys and directed by John Landis. It's not plot-based like the other three, but has the same kind of humor and its success definitely led to the later films.

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Kinofhera t1_j9mfzs3 wrote

Wow thanks! I didn’t know about that one and I will surely check it out.

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earhere t1_j9lduk1 wrote

It's my head canon that Enemy of the State (1998) is a sequel to The Conversation (1974)

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bobbytwosticksBTS t1_j9lpf4p wrote

Enemy of the State is one of my favorite movies. I watch it probably once a year. I absolutely love following the NSA team, especially the scenes where we see what they are doing as they track and chase him. The sound track is wonderful. And the standoff at the end is absolutely amazing.

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Threadheads t1_j9lefqh wrote

Chunking Express and Fallen Angels. Fallen Angels is clearly made in the same world as Chungking Express, and has some similar story beats and themes, but the tone is much darker and sadder.

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TheMelv t1_j9lzgdv wrote

I believe these were originally supposed to be one movie, if I'm not mistaken both were shot during breaks while shooting Ashes of Time.

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uncultured_swine2099 t1_j9mylrw wrote

I think Tekashi Kaneshiro's character might be the same guy from Chungking, since he went mute from eating too much canned pineapples. But they left that up to your interpretation.

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LeafBoatCaptain t1_j9o8z39 wrote

There's something about Chungking Express that reminds me of Cowboy Bebop but not the other way around. I wouldn't be surprised if Chungking Express had some kind of influence on Cowboy Bebop.

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official_bagel t1_j9mf9cl wrote

  • The King of Comedy to Taxi Driver
  • First Reformed also to Taxi Driver
  • The Nice Guys to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
  • Steve Jobs to The Social Network
  • Everybody Wants Some!! to Dazed and Confused
  • Casino to Goodfellas
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PurpsMcNuggets t1_j9l19pl wrote

Re-Animator and From Beyond

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FremenDar979 t1_j9rllcc wrote

Both H.P. Lovecraft!

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WhenRobLoweRobsLowes t1_j9l4f57 wrote

John Cusack has said he considers War, Inc. to be the spiritual successor to Grosse Pointe Blank so I think that's kinda cool.

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cosmoboy t1_j9lakhu wrote

Oh. Grosse Pointe is a favorite and I've never seen War Inc. I'll change that this weekend.

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uncultured_swine2099 t1_j9myc52 wrote

I loved Grosse Pointe Blank, didnt really like War Inc. all that much. I guess because its just more serious and there wasn't a fun high school reunion angle.

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mikevago t1_j9lklhp wrote

This isn't the same cast, but there's a fan theory I love that David O. Russell's Three Kings is a stealth prequel to The A-Team. It's about an army team that goes AWOL and steals gold, which is what the A-Team were accused of on the show.

And the characers map: Clooney=Hannibal, Wahlberg=Face, Cube=B.A., Jonze=Murdoch.

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geekzapoppin t1_j9lb95t wrote

The Neil Breen Cinematic Universe. They all share similar protagonists, seemingly-random mysticism, and are really tough on business owners and corrupt government officials.

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trylobyte t1_j9l8is7 wrote

Anchorman and Talladega Nights.

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lucia-pacciola t1_j9lhed1 wrote

Before we got Top Gun: Maverick we had Stealth. We also had Flight of the Intruder and Behind Enemy Lines.

Heat, The Town, and Den of Thieves will always be a spiritual trilogy for me.

And, for two hit men who got their comeuppance in a quaint fairy tale town in Europe, purgatory is an island off the coast of Ireland during the civil war.

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kronicfeld t1_j9lvkh9 wrote

Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless

Heckerling had her finger on the pulse of two different generations and two different generational styles of film-making

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DreamcastJunkie t1_j9laod0 wrote

Spine of the Night is a great successor to Heavy Metal.

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superkara91 t1_j9mfw71 wrote

Any Mike Flanagan film.

Hush, Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, Oculus, Ouija:Origin of Evil.

I mean, this spreads to his mini-series as well. They don’t call it the Flana-verse for nothing. And he has assembled the best recurring cast. I adore all of them, especially Kate Siegel.

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Johnny55 t1_j9mqqpy wrote

Risky Business and American Psycho. The way a sexual loss of innocence is linked with gaining knowledge about the business world makes a great setup for Patrick Bateman's nihilism. I could easily see Joel as one of Patrick Bateman's friends, especially since the timelines sync up, and Christian Bale has mentioned modelling his character after Tom Cruise so there's a bit of connection there.

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Gamera__Obscura t1_j9n6zb7 wrote

Tales From the Darkside: the Movie is essentially the canceled Creepshow 3.

Well, until they made an actual Creepshow 3 much later, which... the less said, the better.

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danimation88 t1_j9l5ek9 wrote

Steamboy, the animation spiritual successor to Akira

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AmeliaMangan t1_j9lshxu wrote

From Beyond, Stuart Gordon's immediate follow-up to Re-Animator, in which Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs effectively swap their Re-Animator roles: this time she's the obsessed mad scientist, and he's the helpless victim. It's a delight.

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XsteveJ t1_j9m8k5d wrote

The Ninth Configuration, a sorta kinda sequel of The Exorcist.

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ignore_me_im_high t1_j9nc7r3 wrote

To me Badlands is related to True Romance and Natural Born Killers.

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jackfaire t1_j9nura1 wrote

Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers 2022 film feels like a spiritual successor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

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LeafBoatCaptain t1_j9o98w2 wrote

Joker to King of Comedy, Taxi Driver etc though I'm more inclined to call it a spiritual ripoff.

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LeafBoatCaptain t1_j9o9dpb wrote

Not a movie but

Locke and Key to Jackie Chan Adventures.

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genericmovievillain t1_j9p1vm4 wrote

Alien and John Carpenter’s The Thing

Cloverfield and Pacific Rim

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare and Scream

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erotyk t1_j9pbs2h wrote

The Void is the spiritual successor of Event Horizon

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Leafybug13 t1_j9ri7jf wrote

Old School and Wedding Crashers

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FremenDar979 t1_j9rlcej wrote

Gunga Din alongside Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Both have the Thugee Cult.

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adamircz t1_j9lo7cb wrote

John Wick has quite a bit in common with 80s Action films, mainly Rambo

Badass man of few words with a dark past that includes an impressive killcount

Gets wronged by a lowlife jerkass, and this pulls him out of retirement.

First movie is just the protagonist taking revenge, second movie is him being sent on a mission by a guy who betrays him

There is the sense of loss and mourning for a dead wife/squad

And then, one of my favourite ingredients, the great character archetype of an older friend who knows what the protagonist is capable of and unsucesfully tries to warn the villains not to mess with him. Also, both of these old friends end up needing the hero's help in the third film

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TheMelv t1_j9m0v2p wrote

I always found them way more inspired by late 80s early 90s HK action movies. I've always felt the name John Wick was an homage to John Woo. The suits, the crazy choreography, the gun-fu, the almost mythical nature of the universe they inhabit all point more to the heroic bloodshed scene than Hollywood action movies.

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