Fan theories that are Insane/awesome/valid - Page 8

ALFIE is a prequel to BATMAN BEGINS, chronicling Alfred's life before becoming employed by the Wayne family. 

We got a glimpse of that past life in Batman Begins... as Alfred tries to have his way with an unconscious Rachel.

"A little bit worse for the wear, I'm afraid..."

I got a few weird ones and a few 'reversals' that I heard. Some of them don't make sense or are stretching a bit but I found them interesting when I heard them. Paranoid Canadian film geeks up with the weirdest crap sometimes. They are:

Shark Tale is the sequel to incredible mr limpet (very similar style)

Clockwork orange is concurrent to 2001 (take place at the same time, in the same universe)

REVERSAL: Alien is actually a prequel to Blade Runner and Ash is actually a synthetic predecessor to the wholly organic Replicants.

REVERSAL: Cameron is actually a figment of Ferris's imagination representing his fragmented psyche, a conscience that he drives to insanity. Ferris was never actually in bed but at some random rich guy's house, contemplating stealing his car.

Another theory is that Cameron's father is physically abusive and that Cameron is himself, gay. And Cameron's statement about 'taking it' after destroying the ferrari is him talking about coming out of the closet, getting beaten and then murdering his father.

Nothing in the Mad Max series is real and just crazy fringe groups killing each other in the contemporary outback.

Blade Runner is nothing but a deluded Vietnam Vet's (deckard) fantasy.

One crazy theory I always kept hearing in my first year film theory class is that David Lynch actually films a complete coherent story and then systematically edits it out to keep his constructed weirdness persona intact. Stupid but believable if you've never read a lynch screenplay in your life.

Children of Men is set in the same universe as Blade Runner (I don't get it, but that's what I heard. It has something to do with there being no children in blade runner)

The aliens were the the glowing diamond things seen briefly in the star trip sequence of 2001 (I actually subscribe to this one)

Jodorowsky actually completed his film adaptation of Dune, a twelve hour epic, and was subsequently covered up by Jodorowsky, Dan O'Bannon, Moebius, Giger and the rest because it was the most awful thing ever made and would have ruined every single one of their careers.

There is a full pristine five hour cut of Intolerance (the silent film) somewhere and is being hidden because it is so offensive (anti semitic).

There are at least three unreleased Orson Welles movies that were covered up because Randall Hearst was trying to ruin his career after Citizen Kane.

Somewhere is Christoph Gan's unreleased 3 hour cut of Silent hill with no male characters and it is actually really good, if completely unconventional/uncommericial.

Here's the most insane one I've heard in a long time: No one actually 'likes' a Steven Spielberg movie. His films are merely so populist and all encompassing in its target audience that he causes a person to enter a unique delusional state where they convince themselves that they like as not to encounter widespread criticism and prejudice. It's like a coping mechanism mixed with Stockholm Syndrom

Here's one that I came up with:

Nothing in Inception actually happened and its all a fantasy/hallucination put forth by Mal as she falls to her death. Her insanity is what dictates the overwhelming use of falling imagery and why Cobb uses Mal's totem instead of the obvious implied one he must have had before he 'took hers'. In reality Cobb, Ariadne, Eames are just a psychological projections of Mal's sick mind (why is Ariadne's totem a queen chess piece that topples or falls in a distinct way?) and Mal the Shade is actually a sane aspect trying to wake herself up from the constructed fantasy world she has built for herself as she falls. But it fails and she 'dies' when she hits the ground. Her fantasy has played out, all her fantasy creations got their happy endings. Nolan's spinning top cut to black ending is a visual reminder that she went down with this delusion all the way to the very end.

Also, In the Alien 3 special edition, when 'Bishop II' gets it to the side of the head, he distinctly says, "God damn it! I'm not a droid!"

- I always thought under the Alien is a prequel to blade runner theory that Bishop II represents the first Replicant evolved from the original Bishop construct.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugsport 

I got a few weird ones and a few 'reversals' that I heard. Some of them don't make sense or are stretching a bit but I found them interesting when I heard them. Paranoid Canadian film geeks up with the weirdest crap sometimes. They are:

 

Shark Tale is the sequel to incredible mr limpet (very similar style)

 

Clockwork orange is concurrent to 2001 (take place at the same time, in the same universe)

 

REVERSAL: Alien is actually a prequel to Blade Runner and Ash is actually a synthetic predecessor to the wholly organic Replicants.

 

REVERSAL: Cameron is actually a figment of Ferris's imagination representing his fragmented psyche, a conscience that he drives to insanity. Ferris was never actually in bed but at some random rich guy's house, contemplating stealing his car.

 

Another theory is that Cameron's father is physically abusive and that Cameron is himself, gay. And Cameron's statement about 'taking it' after destroying the ferrari is him talking about coming out of the closet, getting beaten and then murdering his father.

 

Nothing in the Mad Max series is real and just crazy fringe groups killing each other in the contemporary outback.

 

Blade Runner is nothing but a deluded Vietnam Vet's (deckard) fantasy.

 

One crazy theory I always kept hearing in my first year film theory class is that David Lynch actually films a complete coherent story and then systematically edits it out to keep his constructed weirdness persona intact. Stupid but believable if you've never read a lynch screenplay in your life.

 

Children of Men is set in the same universe as Blade Runner (I don't get it, but that's what I heard. It has something to do with there being no children in blade runner)

 

The aliens were the the glowing diamond things seen briefly in the star trip sequence of 2001 (I actually subscribe to this one)

 

Jodorowsky actually completed his film adaptation of Dune, a twelve hour epic, and was subsequently covered up by Jodorowsky, Dan O'Bannon, Moebius, Giger and the rest because it was the most awful thing ever made and would have ruined every single one of their careers.

 

There is a full pristine five hour cut of Intolerance (the silent film) somewhere and is being hidden because it is so offensive (anti semitic).

 

There are at least three unreleased Orson Welles movies that were covered up because Randall Hearst was trying to ruin his career after Citizen Kane.

 

Somewhere is Christoph Gan's unreleased 3 hour cut of Silent hill with no male characters and it is actually really good, if completely unconventional/uncommericial.

 

Here's the most insane one I've heard in a long time: No one actually 'likes' a Steven Spielberg movie. His films are merely so populist and all encompassing in its target audience that he causes a person to enter a unique delusional state where they convince themselves that they like as not to encounter widespread criticism and prejudice. It's like a coping mechanism mixed with Stockholm Syndrom

 

 

 

 

Here's one that I came up with:

Nothing in Inception actually happened and its all a fantasy/hallucination put forth by Mal as she falls to her death. Her insanity is what dictates the overwhelming use of falling imagery and why Cobb uses Mal's totem instead of the obvious implied one he must have had before he 'took hers'. In reality Cobb, Ariadne, Eames are just a psychological projections of Mal's sick mind (why is Ariadne's totem a queen chess piece that topples or falls in a distinct way?) and Mal the Shade is actually a sane aspect trying to wake herself up from the constructed fantasy world she has built for herself as she falls. But it fails and she 'dies' when she hits the ground. Her fantasy has played out, all her fantasy creations got their happy endings. Nolan's spinning top cut to black ending is a visual reminder that she went down with this delusion all the way to the very end.

 

Also, In the Alien 3 special edition, when 'Bishop II' gets it to the side of the head, he distinctly says, "God damn it! I'm not a droid!"

- I always thought under the Alien is a prequel to blade runner theory that Bishop II represents the first Replicant evolved from the original Bishop construct.

You should back up a couple of these theories. For example, the soundtrack to 2001 exists in A Clockwork Orange. So it's a movie in that world, not the same world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugsport 

Nothing in the Mad Max series is real and just crazy fringe groups killing each other in the contemporary outback.

This could totally work for the first two, but Beyond Thunderdome makes it blatantly obvious that nukes were dropped at some point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugsport 

Children of Men is set in the same universe as Blade Runner (I don't get it, but that's what I heard. It has something to do with there being no children in blade runner)

There are a few kids in BR, like the ones ripping parts off of his car when he's parked making a vid call. They look and sound like kids, anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugsport 

Somewhere is Christoph Gan's unreleased 3 hour cut of Silent hill with no male characters and it is actually really good, if completely unconventional/uncommericial.

I'd watch the hell out of this one.

i Can't back these theories up, because They're not mine. They're just crap I heard from overly self important film theory majors who start seeing patterns in crap because they weren't paying attention to the aspects of a film that distinguishes them from one another and only looking for stuff that connects them.

The only theories I think are 'possible' are the aliens in 2001 and the Inception theory I came up with.

Also I thought those were Midgets in Blade runner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugsport 

i Can't back these theories up, because They're not mine. They're just crap I heard from overly self important film theory majors who start seeing patterns in crap because they weren't paying attention to the aspects of a film that distinguishes them from one another and only looking for stuff that connects them.

 

The only theories I think are 'possible' are the aliens in 2001 and the Inception theory I came up with.

 

Also I thought those were Midgets in Blade runner.

Quite possible they were midgets, but I don't think so. This is Scott we're talking about here, not Terry Gilliam. Hehehe.
 

It was a mix of kids & midgets.

I really should wait to post this, as I'm a bit drunk and not remembering correctly, but post bar is internet time.

I didn't create this theory, but I heard it years ago and it works when you watch the film and you'll probably draw your own similar theories into it. I know at some point I had fully expanded these ideas on my own.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a religious alegory about the battle for souls. Clint Eastwood is either an archangel or Jesus himself. Lee Van Cleef is either a demon or Satan. Eli Wallach represents mankind. His brother, father pablo, represents the church. Tuco and Pablo have a contentious relationship, representing man's struggle with religion and his battles with the church and his own morality. Tuco, at the time of the film, is mankind rebeling against the church and trying to find his own way in life without it's oppressive rule. At this point, being tipsy and forgetful, I can't articulate everything. I do remember the scene with the civil war battle at the bridge representing purgatory and that the end, with Tuco standing precariously on a cross with a noose around his neck representing man's stuggle between salvation and oblivion, with the choice being fully on his shoulders. I know there is a lot more to this that I can't express now.

As I say, drunk posting not always a good idea, but usually neccessary.

Death Race 2000 and Sleeper take place in the same future.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokeBlister 

Nah. In one of King's Dark Tower books, when Roland and his ka'tet are riding Blaine the Train, they travel across a land filled with creatures described just like how the creatures look in The Mist. Purely in the Kingverse. The Arrowhead Project scientists no doubt widened or created a 'thinny', a dimensional gateway where time and space is weak due (possibly due to the Beams slowly being destroyed), intentionally or not. Thinnys are prevalent throughout the DT books.

I can hardly believe I read five books of this crap.

THE HOLY GRAIL TRILOGY

The films The Silver Chalice (WB 1954), Excalibur (Orion 1981), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Paramount 1989) make up a remarkable interconnected tale of the Holy Grail, the cup Christ drank from at the last supper.

The Silver Chalice is based on a 1952 novel by Thomas Costain and fills out the backstory of the legend of the Holy Grail.  Here's the Wikipedia entry for a better, yet concise, overview.  It was made into a film in 1954, directed by Victor Saville and featuring a very young Paul Newman as the silversmith charged with forging the chalice.  It's an excellent, old-style Hollywood film with an amazing scope and some fascinating imagery.  TCM played it this last Easter Sunday and I immediately fell in love with it.

In John Boorman's Excalibur the legendary search for the Holy Grail plays a significant part, and can be viewed as the central facet of this very excellent telling of the Arthurian myth.  Here we get the most famous story from history regarding the Grail, but the Silver Chalice and the 3rd Indiana Jones films make intriguing bookends to that story which lend it more meaning, and vice versa.

Finally, Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade completes the tale by showing us what became of the Grail in the future.  This connection, IMO, really strengthens this film as the capper to the original Indiana Jones trilogy, as it provides a sense of depth to the back-story of the Grail and makes Indy's choice to "let it go" at the urging of his father during the climax of the film even more profound.

EDIT: I wanted to add a couple things:

First, that the traditional stylings of all 3 of these films make them of a kind-- they are all 3 rather timeless films shot in an epic widescreen scope and fit together well in that regard. 

Second, that there is a theme of religious faith running through all three films.  In the first, Paul Newman's character, Basil the silver-worker, is not a Christian when he is charged with making the chalice by Joseph of Arimathea (the early Christian merchant who was said to have carried the Grail to Britain).  He is unable to finish the last face to be inscribed upon the chalice-- the face of Christ-- because he did not know Jesus in life, although they lived at the same time (the events of the story take place shortly after the death and resurrection of Christ).  It is only when Basil finds his faith in the Lord that he is able to complete the face of Christ and thus the chalice.  Similarly, in Excalibur, Perceval is unable to attain the Grail until his revelation of faith in answering the question of the identity of the keeper of the Grail.  And finally, in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indy is not able to cross the invisible bridge separating himself from the Grail until he takes a leap of faith and steps out onto what looks like an empty chasm.

Thirdly I wanted to note that Thomas Costain presented the Grail as a simple carpenter's cup, as it was also portrayed in the third Indiana Jones film, and wrote his story as a sort of explanation for why it would be viewed as a fabulous silver chalice-- that was just the outer casing made for it.

Face/Off is an adaptation of Spy vs Spy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtomTastic 

Face/Off is an adaptation of Spy vs Spy.

It would be interesting if contributors to the thread actually explained their theories instead of throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.

The ongoing rivalry, the increasingly ridiculous action scenes, etc... It was more a joke than any thing else, you don't have to be a dick about it.

Decades after his childish antics, Kevin MacAllister developed terminal brain cancer. Faced with death, he realised what a little asshole he'd been all his life and resolved to teach others the folly of their ways by returning to his roots and rigging up elaborate death traps in abandoned houses. Thus, a monster was born.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtomTastic 

Face/Off is an adaptation of Spy vs Spy.

Nordling pretty much states this as fact over at Aintitcool.

This one came to me the other day, possibly because I have watched the film entirely too much over the last ten years

Juliette Lewis's unborn child in The Way Of The Gun is actually the second coming.....

Now how did I come to this conclusion? I have been trying to convince people for years that this is a great movie only to hear the counter argument that it doesnt spell things out and none of the relationships are clear. Well the reason is because the baby is nothing less than Jesus himself.

There is a throwaway line from Taye Diggs evil bodyguard to the mother to be who can't be bothered to carry her own child ' You know who the baby is don't you, and you know we have to go get it'

This is because the baby is a threat to the evil men in the world which include the mother who is cheating on her husband and the two bodyguards who plan on double crossing everyone and keeping the money and possibly killing the baby. Juliette Lewis's Robin represents Mary, Dr Painter represents Joseph. Hal Chiddick, Geoffrey Lewis's character and James Caan's Sarno represent the three wise men as they are all older men who have lived reprehensible lives and are looking for redemption which the child represents for them. There is a look of deep regret on James Caan's face at the end when he shoots Longbaugh and instead opts to shoot him in the leg when he could have blown his head off. When Sarno goes into the room where Dr Painter performs a C-Section on Robin, he walks into the room with general awe or shock on his face and leaves like he has been overcome by so0mething.

Parker and Longbaugh are the main characters and to me they represent Caesar Augustus, stumbling blocks in the story that get in the way but nonetheless necessitate the delivery taking place in a barn far away ( or brothel which I guess is the modern equivalent)

The best thing about this theory is that you can't disprove or argue with it. Christopher McQuarrie's screenplay is so ambiguous that nothing is concrete or crystal clear.

Remember Parker's clsoing voiceover line though:

"We didn't come for absolution, we didn't ask to be redeemed. But isn't that how it is, every goddamn time... Your prayers are always answered, in the order they're received..."
 

I will also add some other quotes from the movie:

Parker:" Then I heard him praying, now I lay me down to sleep I pray to the lord my soul to keep... and you know something it stayed with me .it bothered me. Of all the people I'd done it too, and that had to be the one I felt and to this day I can't go to sleep unless I say that prayer."

Longbaugh: You have too much faith in people.
Parker: How can you kidnap somebody without it?
 

Abner Mercer: She's... she's up there with them... with the doctor and the colored fella. Oh, Jesus. I'm sorry, Joe.
Joe Sarno: There's no, uh... need to be sorry, Abner.
 

Longbaugh: You know what I'm gonna tell God when I see him? I'm gonna tell him I was framed.
 

Hale Chidduck: I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul.
 

Joe Sarno: I promise you a day of reckoning that you won't live long enough to never forget.
 

The Tall Man from the Phantasm films is a rogue time lord. He has existed forever like Dr. Who and has his own bits of outer space tech. Instead of using a TARDIS he has the dimensional portals.

My theory is for the movie Groundhog Day. I know, I know, it's rife with ambiguous data left for the viewer to interpret, but this is just one theory. Also, beyond this point contains (SPOILERS).

While the film crew attempts to leave Punxatony, they are stopped by a freak snow storm.

What actually happened, was they were at the front of a head on collision that caused massive pile up and forced the roads to be closed. The ever selfish Phil, played by Bill Murray, was the only one who survived, but was left comatose and brought back to the hospital. The last thought that ran through his head while he watched the on coming car, helpless to stop it 'Oh my god, I'm never going to get out of this town.'

The rest of the movie is played out in Phil's head, reliving the same day over and over again, desperately trying to figure out a way to change the events that have already transpired. This, being a dream, time can jerk forward at any moment while he simply assumes he has lived countless days already (I.E. when the film cuts away to another scene never making an effort to say it is the next day. It is always Phil who assumes days have passed. Like when it randomly cuts to him sitting on a bench and describing the day and the events just before he steals a bag of money off an armored truck).

As Phil lies there in a hospital bed, he can feel his body atrophy and gets scared. Unable to cope with the lack of control he has over anything, he begins to attempt suicide, the one thing he always believed he would always have absolute control over. With every successful attempt his mind jumps forward, or thinks about how the people around him would react to his death. The look on their faces, what people would say, et cetera. Each attempt, successful though they may be, but ultimatly fruitless, become more and more imaginative finally ending in a car chase where he allows an animal to steer. In his mind, this is not crazy at all since this all happened on Groundhog day, he must displace blame somewhere so the groundhog itself must be the culpret.  When he and the animal dies this time in an over the top explosion, he gets back up the next day and realizes it is apperantly nobody's fault.

At this point he accepts that he's not going anywhere and starts thinking about how he can improve the conditions he lives in. The only thing that changes is himself, thus he must find ways to better himself. He imagines that he becomes a well read individual, a master sculpter, an expert pianist.

 While his body lays in the hospital, he can feel himself wasting away to nothing and realizes death is drawing closer. He projects this onto a bum he passed by in town. A frail old man. A man who, at the end of the day, is destined to die. No matter what anybody does, no mater what Phil himself tries, no matter what nutrients he shoves into his body now, no matter what the doctors try to do, he will never survive the day. After desperately fighting against death, he bitterly accepts he simply can't do anything. When he finally accepts this, the next day is his last.

Phil's final day is spent helping everyone in his mind. He feels he is finally making a difference. And if he has changed so much that everyone in town likes him (That is to say that he finally likes himself) then Rita must finally like him. The day ends with him and Rita enjoying the night together, but never consummating their 'love.' Phil wakes up to the sound of Sonny and Char's I've got you babe, the very song playing on the radio during the collision, only to find Rita is there with him. He looks out onto the road, realizing it is clear and blanketed with a divine fresh coat of snow. A nice cloudy heaven. As he walks out of the place he had been living, the hotel (hospital), he exclaims 'Let's live here!'

End scene roll credits.

Jesus, that's grim.

Great first post!

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. I half expected someone to have thought of it already. Hope I can come up with some good theories along with you creative people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryoken 

Cracked did a second article on these

 

Holy hell, that Harry Potter isnt the chosen one theory is genious

Yeah, I loved the Neville theory. It is such a weird thing that Rowling throws in to Order of the Phoenix, and it serves no real purpose except to make me wish it happened. If my memory serves me I think when Ollivander goes missing they (once again pointlessly) point out that the last wand he sold was to Neville. Dun dun dunnn!

And, yeah, that is a downer and half for Groundhog Day.

Alright, so, yes, my last theory was a little dark. After much thought and perspective shifting, I have devised a new theory that is much less dark. Or, just as dark depending on how you look at it. I dunno. You decide.

So my theory involves The Matrix films. No, it's not the Neo is a program theory, though I am prone to subscribe to that one. Actually, it has more to do with the planet. Zion is described as being somewhere close to the Earth's core where it's still warm. Their ships move through repurposed sewer tunnels spanning miles and miles. All of which the machines patrol regularly. It stands to reason that with the new peace between Zion and the machines, both civilizations could now focus their efforts on something other than the 6 matrix long war. The machine city renovates downward while Zion renovates up and out. Their combined ingenuity effectively turns the planet Earth into something much more machine than any other planet.

With the sky scorched as it is, and humans being the main power source for machines with no solar abundance, humans would begin work on repairing the damage their ancestors had done, possibly asking the machines for assistance, but the two are essentially isolated from one another. Working independently toward the same goal. After centuries of planning, trial and error, and toiling away, finally a breakthrough is made that clears the sky over time. Given the lack of oceans on the once blue planet, the sky no longer reflects the blue spectrum of light during the day.

With the Sun's rays of light finally shinning down on the planet, humans will no longer be required as an energy source. Unfortunately, this also means human usefulness has reached an end for machines. Without needing to harvest humans any longer, they could simply wipe out all humans to prevent future generations from starting another war. But the machines are smart, and have learned from past events. Thus they will not pursue war without an alternative energy supply. The machines begin development of a new power source that will be solely of their own making. While they begin work on this, the human civilization begins to grow more and more. The newly mechanized world, however, does not support much in the way of natural life and water is very scarce. Any nutrients humans ingest is purely synthesized. Humans, being the creatures they are, try to solve this problem, but let their numbers swell at the same time, making their resource crisis grow only more dire.

Human civilization splits into various baronies, the most powerful of which control the synthesizers that make the nutrients or 'food.' They begin to war with each other, as is human nature. The haves vs. the have nots. Machines, on the other hand, have finally invented a power source that gives their population a new spark of life. The new invention is kept quiet for many years while the machines equip their populous with the new upgrade and enhancement. The new power source has an unanticipated neural network effect, however. It makes machines begin to think in a much more individualistic way. This side effect is not discovered until machines with the new power source begin interacting with humans on a grander scale. Some machines begin to adopt manerisms of humans, form opinions of various subjects and topics, even start to appreciate what would be called the human spirit. Some even start to modify themselves to resemble human form, though a form like that is not practical within the machine cities. They figure out ways to switch between forms.

On the same token, however, machines that are exposed to less than noble humans begin to develop more self serving behaviors. They begin to question the way of things and why they have to look out for anyone but themselves. Eventually it becomes known to the human civilization that machines have created a new power source. Humans, being the creative, ingenuitive buggers they are, see new possibilities for the power source they dub a 'spark.' (You see where this is headed now, don't you?)

After much research and testing is done, a briliant human scientist theorizes the Earth could be rebooted with a Spark at its core. The exhaust it emits, as it turns out, is actually very helpful to the current environment and could, theoretically, return moisture to the air on a grand scale. It would, after several generations, return the atmosphere to a time before the first Matrix ever existed. Naturally, the humans in charge fought this very idea. Kick starting the eco system again? It would put them out of business. It turns out they were not alone in their selfish behaviors. A growing number of machines begins to support their side. Naturally, on the other side of the conflict, machines joined the humans wanting to breathe life back into their planet.

Long story short, the planet gets a spark core and an eco system is restored. Sadly, it was not the intended eco system. The planet had changed so much that the natural had become unnatural. The planet itself was a machine. The natural defenses it booted up were made for inorganic life to thrive and to kill off all organic life.

Feeling their time was short, the remaining humans who had won the war, put all their resources into a space program that charted a new planet to colonize. the machine allies helped as much as they could, plotting star charts and testing space conditions for human travel. Finally, all humans were rounded up and launched to their new home. The remaining survivors on the losing side of the war, however, were not going to go so easily with their enemies. One of the machines who had lost uploaded a program that would overload the spark powering the ship just as it was about to hit faster than light speeds. The resulting explosion tore open a rift that flung the passengers through time and space. they crashed on planet Earth just as apes were beginning to walk upright.

The final piece of this is that the ship they had built was of an ore that grew much more scarce in the future. Over millions of years the ship became the ore known as Energon( <- This little bit was really just for me since I wanted to connect Beast Wars in this too. Because I'm a total nerd.) So, yeah. Turns out Earth is Cybertron, the machines we built eventually became transformers. The planet would have been renamed at some point, obviously, without a human presence there to maintain old traditions. As for the placement in space, I'm thinking the explosion effected the planet as well and transported it to another solar system altogether. But, hey, theoretical physics isn't exactly my field of expertise.

So...yeah. How's that for a theory?

Surprised no one brought this up yet but here we go:

TAKES PLACE IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AS

Both films are portrayals of the same cataclysmic global event & each are told from the opposing historical viewpoints of the planet's human survivors & it's ape successors.

In the former, scientist Will Rodman is (rightly?) villified by the remaining human populace & is portrayed as an insane animal-supremacist bent on eradicating man from the planet.

In the latter, he is a benevolent figure in Caesar's messianic legend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Clark 

My crazy personal pet theory: Punch Drunk Love is intended to be Paul Thomas Anderson's superhero film.

Little stuff supports it along the way. His love interest and his nemesis both have alliterative names. One of them even called "Mattress Man." Barry may still be crazy at the end of the film, but he does find focus, courage, and strength, all after hooking up with Lena in Hawaii. "I have a love in my life. It makes me more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

But the tipoff is Barry's design. His suit: All blue, red tie. Black hair. Jewish. The final shot of the film has Lena, dressed in all red, wrapping her arms around Barry's neck.

Not an accident.

My brain just connected the dots that the pudding also supports this, since by the end, Barry has the ability to fly anywhere. I am dumb.

Excalibur is a sequel to Disney's The Sword In The Stone.  Not so much fan theory as movie trivia; both films were licensed adaptations of Malory's Morte D'Arthur.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Clark 

the pudding also supports this, since by the end, Barry has the ability to fly anywhere.

 

If I didn't know Punch Drunk Love, I would have to watch it if for no other reason than to figure out what this meant. Also, love the theory.

Wasn't the Sword in the Stone an adaptation of T.H. White? Not that I don't want to buy that connection!

Yes, The Sword in the Stone is somewhat loosely adapted from the first handful of chapters from The Once and Future King.

The differences between Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie and the tv show (Buffy being a senior rather than a sophomore, the vampires not having vamp face, being able to fly, and not dusting) can be chalked up to Dawn's retroactive insertion into the timeline.

When the show starts time is still being rewritten, hence why Dawn hasn't shown up yet, but the time altering energy of the key (a bridge between alternate realities, after all) starts switching things up.

After all, in the very first episode Dawn appears, so does Dracula, a vampire that doesn't have vamp face, can fly, and refuses to dust.

Could also explain why Jessie is never mentioned again after the pilot...

Apologies if this is a repeat (I did check)

What if at the end of 24, Bauer, still in New York completely snapped and started taking out civilians, after killing two he starts stalking Colin Farrell... Dun Dun DUUUUUN!!!!!

When Jerry Hardin interviews Egg at the beginning of BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, that's actually X-FILES' Deep Throat interviewing Egg.

A nuclear holocaust wipes out most of the world's population and renders the area surrounding Crystal Lake a desolate wasteland. As one of the few survivors, Jason Voorhees finds himself in a new society where his hideous deformities and sociopathic tendencies make him revered rather than shunned.

Now known as The Humongous, he assembles a small band of like-minded individuals and proceeds to go on a murderous rampage to collect the one remaining valuable resource: gasoline. After a failed attempt to sack a compund protecting an oil refinery - resulting in the loss of many of his people and vehicles - Jason Voorhees once again becomes an outcast and returns to the solitary life of a serial killer.

Years later, civilization rises from the ashes and Jason Voorhees is eventually captured for his crimes. During an escape attempt he is cryogenically frozen, only to be revived hundreds of years later by students on a field trip who stumble across the facility in which he was imprisoned.

I posted this a while back & thought it worthy of a repost since Soderbergh's Contagion fits nicely into this theory:

TAKES PLACE IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AS

Both films are portrayals of the same cataclysmic global event & each are told from opposing historical viewpoints. One of the planet's human survivors & the other their ape successors.

In the former, scientist Will Rodman is villified by the remaining human populace & is portrayed as an insane animal-supremacist bent on eradicating man from the planet.

In the latter, he is a benevolent figure in Caesar's messianic legend.

Contagion documents the actual progression of humanity's near-extinction via the ape virus.

I've always viewed a slightly different scenario of the Death Proof theory....

- The second half takes place before the first.  Stuntman Mike, bored with his profession and more than a little unhinged, decides to have some fun with his fellow film industry comrades.  Things turn out badly and he's killed.

- Stuntman Mike returns from the grave as an invincible supernatural killer................hence coming out of that crash "without a scratch", if I'm remembering correctly.

It just seems to me that Mike in the first half is a lot colder and more methodical than in the second half.  Personally, I think it can be interpreted either way and I wouldn't be surprised if Quentin agreed.  After all, he was initially going to do a full-blown supernatural slasher flick (set on a Southern plantation) before deciding to do a different take where the killer's weapon is his car.

Feel free to poke holes in this if you wish.  After all, I haven't seen it in quite awhile, so my memory isn't fresh.  It's just something I thought about when I initially saw the film.

After her near-death via overdose, Mia Wallace refocuses her priorities.  Stirred by her conversation with Vincent Vega about her aborted TV pilot, she re-applies herself to her acting career and, with some help from her strangely and suddenly mellowed husband Marcellus, slowly works her way up in the industry until she gets her big break staring in a wild action film called Kill Bill.

I think Tarantino would definitely approve of that theory.

Well I remember hearing -- maybe from him, maybe from someone else -- that Kill Bill was a film the characters in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction would have gone to see.

At one point around the time of Vol 1's release, he chatted up the idea that there are two types of Tarantino films.................."real world Tarantino" and "movie Tarantino".  Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, etc. are all "real world Tarantino".  From Dusk 'Till Dawn and Kill Bill are "movie Tarantino"..........aka films that his real world characters might go see.  Supposedly only Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel) can appear in both "universes".  Considering he's never used Wolf a second time though, who knows if this still applies.

That said, I'd say Michael Parks' Earl McGraw and his offspring are a nice indicator of which films fall under his movieverse category.

I guess the real question is what category do Basterds and Django fall under?  I'm guessing "movieverse".

And if they're "movieverse," is Basterds what it is here, a fantasy end to World War II, or is it historical?  Meaning that in the "real world," did Hitler actually die that way?

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.D. Bob Plissken 

At one point around the time of Vol 1's release, he chatted up the idea that there are two types of Tarantino films.................."real world Tarantino" and "movie Tarantino". 

I could swear that conversation has been going on longer than just since Kill Bill. I might be mistaken, but I think he floated that idea out there as early as after Pulp Fiction.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

And if they're "movieverse," is Basterds what it is here, a fantasy end to World War II, or is it historical?  Meaning that in the "real world," did Hitler actually die that way?

I think Tarantino has said that the 'Bear Jew' Donny Donowitz is related to Lee Donowitz from True Romance, a 'real world movie.' So either True Romance takes place in a world where Hitler died in a hail of bullets/huge explosion, or there's just no consistent logic to Tarantino's  movie-verse movies/real world movie structure. I'm leaning towards the latter.

No! We need to establish a strict continuity and build off that!

The big two comic companies do it and everything's been smooth sailing for them....right?

RIGHT?!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaurenOrtega 

No! We need to establish a strict continuity and build off that!

 

The big two comic companies do it and everything's been smooth sailing for them....right?

 

RIGHT?!!

I can't wait until the Ultimate Vega Brothers.