James Bond in “The Rock.” Oops, I mean, Sean Connery in “The Rock”
Credit: The Rock / Disney+
Hollywood likes to give audiences more of the same, but there are times when following up a hit film with a sequel just doesn’t work out. Instead, we can point to instances where filmmakers make (inadvertently or otherwise) a “spiritual sequel” instead—a movie that isn’t directly connected to an earlier work but still feels familiar. They may use the same stars or similar narratives and tropes, but they’re not part of a series.
An easy example is director Christopher Guest’s series of mockumentaries that includes A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, and Waiting for Guffman. They share cast members but not characters, but they still feel of a piece. I’ve gathered more examples below—11 pairs of movies that, while not part of a franchise, can be a lot of fun to watch together.
Sean Connery’s James Bond (1962-67) / The Rock (1996)
Despite its plot about a team of Navy SEALs breaking into Alcatraz to prevent a rogue general from launching rockets of nerve gas into San Francisco, movie buffs have long maintained that director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer intended this R-rated popcorn action flick starring Sean Connery to serve as a uasi-sequel to his time as James Bond. There are lengthy Reddit threads and YouTube videos filled with evidence, from the timeline of Connery’s character John Mason’s capture to being trained by British intelligence and other Easter eggs hidden throughout the film. While The Rock wouldn’t be a canon Bond film, as a lifelong Bond fan, I’ve found watching The Rock with that mindset makes Bay’s minor masterpiece much more enjoyable.
Where to stream James Bond: Digital rental
Where to stream The Rock: Digital rental
A Fish Called Wanda (1988) / Fierce Creatures (1997)
John Cleese wrote the comedic heist film A Fish Called Wanda, which was so amusing that someone seemingly died laughing while watching it. He also co-wrote Fierce Creatures, which came out nine years later and reunited Wanda‘s core cast of Cleese, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Palin. Fortunately for the few who saw Fierce Creatures, no one met their demise while viewing this farce about a zoo that adopts a violent animal policy to increase attendance and revenue, but it does have its moments.
Where to stream A Fish Called Wanda: MGM+, Tubi, Pluto TV, Hoopla, Digital rental
Where to stream Fierce Creatures: Digital rental
Blade Runner (1982) / Solider (1988)
Written by David Webb Peoples, who also co-wrote the screenplay for Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Solider has been viewed by its cult fanbase as a spin-off of the influential 1982 sci-fi film. Throughout the 1998 action flick, Kurt Russell’s titular character describes scenes straight out of Rutger Hauer’s “Tears in Rain” monologue in Blade Runner‘s finale. According to Wikipedia, where everything is accurate, Peoples fed into that theory that Solider took place in the same universe as Blade Runner. However, he walked back his comments last year.
Where to stream Blade Runner: Digital rental
Where to stream Solider: Digital rental
Jumanji (1995) / Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Both Jumanji and Zathura are based on books by Chris Van Allsburg about children’s board games that come to life, and the marketing team behind the latter film tried to exploit that connection in the trailer. However, director Jon Favreau, who would go on to expand the Star Wars universe with The Mandalorian, tried to play down any link between his space film and the Robin Williams classic, which takes place in the jungle. While Zathura was a flop at the box office, it was much better received than Jumanji by critics and, more surprisingly, my oldest child.
Where to stream Jumanji: Netflix, Digital rental
Where to stream Zathura: A Space Adventure: Netflix, Digital rental
Dazed and Confused (1993) / Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
In 2014, director Richard Linklater announced Everybody Wants Some!!, a film about college freshmen baseball players humorously navigating through life in the ’80s. He immediately started connecting it with his breakthrough hit, Dazed and Confused, which revolved around the last day of school in the ’70s. There are plenty of similarities, from the rock soundtrack to a young cast of future stars (Glen Powell and Wyatt Russell, for starters); both films also revolve around how the small moments in our lives make us who we are. In fact, Everybody Wants Some!! may improve upon the formula established by its predecessor.
Where to stream Dazed and Confused: Digital rental
Where to stream Everybody Wants Some!!: Digital rental
The Conversation (1974) / Enemy of the State (1998)
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer was a little more blatant about connecting Enemy of the State, an action thriller about the dangers of surveillance, with its influences than he was when he made The Rock. Any film buff knows Gene Hackman’s presence as a grizzled former communications expert is no accident, he having played a similar role in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, giving this entertaining film much more gravitas than it would have had if Hackman’s name were above the title.
Where to stream The Conversation: Paramount+ with Showtime, Digital rental
Where to stream Enemy of the State: Digital rental
Jackie Brown (1997) / Out of Sight (1998)
Two of the most influential indie film directors of all time successfully took a crack at adapting an Elmore Leonard novel, and while they’re not connected by plot, each captures the spirit of what the author put on the page. Based on Rum Punch, Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown gives Leonard’s story a blaxploitation sheen with Pam Grier as the titular character trying to dodge the police and a no-nonsense gun runner who wants her dead. What connects Tarantino’s film to Steven Soderberg’s adaptation of Out of Sight, a modern noir about a bank robber (George Clooney) and a Federal officer (Jennifer Lopez, in her best role) who fall in love, is the presence of actor Michael Keaton, who plays ATF agent Ray Nicolette in both films.
Where to stream Jackie Brown: Prime Video, Digital rental
Where to stream Out of Sight: The Criterion Channel, Digital rental
Heathers (1989) / Mean Girls (2004)
Both Heathers and Mean Girls are satires about navigating the social structures of high school, though the former takes a much darker tone with its jokes about death and suicide. Yet both films have been adapted into musicals and even share a family connection: Heathers was written by Daniel Waters, while Mean Girls was directed by his brother Mark.
Where to stream Heathers: Prime Video, Hoopla, Pluto TV, Tubi, YouTube, The Roku Channel, Digital rental
Where to stream Mean Girls: Hulu, Paramount+ with Showtime, Digital rental
Goodfellas (1990) / Casino (1995)
While there is no plot connection between these two movies directed by Martin Scorsese, they share many elements that might lead someone to believe otherwise. For instance, they are both based on true stories told in non-fiction books authored by author Nicolas Pileggi and feature actors Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci as mobsters. They also depict the details that made the cinematic antiheroes so successful at breaking the law, with scenes of extreme violence set to a classic rock soundtrack sprinkled throughout.
Where to stream Goodfellas: Digital rental
Where to stream Casino: Hulu, Peacock, Digital rental
Better Off Dead (1985) / One Crazy Summer (1986)
Though not on the level of Scorsese, director Savage Steve Holland, John Cusack, and Curtis Armstrong collaborated on two of the funniest teen movies ever (even though Cusack has disavowed them for some reason). While both are filled with absurd humor that probably wouldn’t see the light of day if made today, it’s best to watch them with this mindset: The dark yet hilarious Better Off Dead, in which Cusack becomes suicidal after his girlfriend breaks up with him, is about the dread of going to high school, and One Crazy Summer is about the fun you can have when it’s all over.
Where to stream Better Off Dead: Digital rental
Where to stream One Crazy Summer: Tubi, Kanopy, Plex, Digital rental
Scarface (1983) / Carlito’s Way (1993)
Before it became a cult classic, critics accused Carlito’s Way of wading in the same waters as Scarface, the first collaboration between Al Pacino and director Brian DePalma. It’s a fair point, considering both films feature Pacino playing a gangster with a questionable accent that plays on racial stereotypes (Scarface features a Cuban gangster, and Carlito’s Way is Puerto Rican). However, if watched in order, Scarface depicts a young, ambitious drug lord, and Carlito’s Way shows us what happens when your mistakes catch up with you.
Where to stream Scarface: Prime Video, AMC+, Digital rental
Where to stream Carlito’s Way: Starz, Digital rental
