History EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / Film

** On the subject of Pixar, ''Toy Story'' doesn't have their VanityPlate shown before the film (although it does appear after the credits). Instead, the Walt Disney Pictures logo, rather than fading to black, actually transitions into the movie proper, by having the camera pan away from the castle until it fades into the wallpaper of Andy's room.

* Watching ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' 15 years after it was originally made, while the composition of the elements is still impressive, it is noticeable how certain textures (hair and fabric) are left rather ambiguous and that the faces of human characters other than Sid are often out of frame. This was due to the technology not yet being at point where it could render organic things realistically: it wasn't until ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' that they took the plunge and made a film about people. The film is also remarkably low-key compared to the bombastic flourishes of later films in the series.

* The original ''Film/TheEvilDead1981'' is more a {{Gorn}} horror film, rather than the horror comedy of ''Film/EvilDead2''. Also none of the other cabin members besides Linda is mentioned in the other films. Ash is far from the CatchPhrase spouting, BadAss and JerkAss we see in the sequels, instead being a rather bland FinalGirl played by a guy. The Necronomicon doesn't have that name and the look of it is completely different from the other films. And lastly, in a subtler example, the Deadites (which aren't named as such until the second movie) are originally just pissed off that the teenagers awoke them from their eons-long sleep, whereas in the sequels they implicitly want to TakeOverTheWorld.

** Carrie Fisher's infamous trans-Atlantic accent ("slip through your fingers") as Princess Leia, which she seems to drop halfway through the first film. It can be passed over for Leia [[BriefAccentImitation imitating her captors]] who are mostly British actors.

* If your knowledge of ''{{Literature/Twilight}}'' comes from PopCulturalOsmosis, you'll find the first movie awfully strange. It's essentially a low-budget indie ([[SleeperHit a very successful one]]) and it feels like it. There are only the most basic special effects and it generally just feels "small". In contrast, the sequels had higher budgets, so they feel bigger and have a blockbuster "sheen" which the original lacked.

*** Charles Xavier sometimes acts like a cocky, womanizing ditz (which is a sharp contrast compared to his ''much'' more subdued and mature persona later on), Magneto doesn't hesitate to use a gun if he likes to (whereas in the previous films, he sneers at firearms with disdain), Mystique has undergone {{Chickification}} so that she's Charles' WomanChild foster sister instead of a lethal FemmeFatale, and Beast is socially awkward with severe self-esteem issues--you wouldn't have expected that the confident politician in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' had started his adulthood as an introvert.

* ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'' feels very different in tone to its sequels. ''Film/TheBourneSupremacy'' and ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'' are contiguous to the point that there is no time-cut at all between the last scenes of the second film and the first scenes of the third film (not counting the Bourne-in-New-York-scene, a ''Supremacy'' note which is "also" tied up in ''Ultimatum''...). But when you have recently seen ''Supremacy'' and/or ''Ultimatum'', it can come as a bit of a shock to rewatch ''Identity'' and realise how different it is, though it was setting up all the Bourne tropes the later films played on. Notably, the soundtrack is a very different beast, employing techno-ish and poppy background music. Damon's Bourne is also surprisingly chatty and smiley compared to his later silent stoicism. The editing takes a different approach completely, and the camera work is free of the JitterCam that defined the sequels. Most of this change in tone has to do with the first film being made by a different director to its sequels.

* The 1954 film ''Film/{{Gojira}}'', which kick-started the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise, is a surprisingly dark (and seriously scary) horror film rather than a campy monster movie. Because Godzilla is the only monster appearing in the film, the focus is on the humans' response to his rampage rather than on a battle between opposing monsters. Also, Godzilla is a metaphor for the horror of nuclear weapons and is unambiguously presented a villainous monster incapable of reason or sympathy, rather than the NobleDemon and defender of humanity that he evolved into as the series went on.

** It also claims Tony Stark is only in his 20s. Later films would establish him to be at least a decade or more older than that.

** Creator/RogerMoore in his [[Film/LiveAndLetDie first outing]] as Bond is much colder and darker than the comedic tone he would be remembered for.

* The first ''Film/MadMax'' movie is very different from those that followed. It is not postapocalyptic, and Max spends most of it as a happily married family man with wife, child and job rather than the lone nomadic warrior of the wastelands he later becomes. The film is also very [[ToneShift different in tone]], relying more on slowly building suspense with only occasional, brief action sequences.

* The first ''Film/MissionImpossible'' film: Despite the movie being the TropeNamer for MissionImpossibleCableDrop. which in turn would set the bar for the high concept scenes and stunts of the sequels, the first film is VERY different in tone from them. There's very little in terms of action scenes until the end - even the titular MissionImpossibleCableDrop scene is more tension than action or complex stunts. Ethan's character doesn't have that "larger than life" reputation and presentation the other films give him. It's a much more quiet and psychological film whose tone does clash with its sequels, who would become more known for their action and stunts, when watching the series back to back.

** Carrie Fisher's infamous trans-Atlantic accent ("slip through your fingers") as Princess Leia, which she seems to drop halfway through the first film.

* The [[Film/TheTerminator first]] ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' film is really weird compared to the ones that follow. Chief amongst the differences is that it's a Horror-Action hybrid with much greater emphasis on the Horror. It also has a much lower budget than the rest of the films, making it look somewhat dated in special effects. And finally, the TimeTravel plot mechanic uses a very closed and fatalistic StableTimeLoop while the rest of the movies run amuck with the TimeyWimeyBall.

*** Creator/MichaelFassbender's Magneto alternates between sounding ambiguously British and Irish in various scenes. Essentially Fassbender's NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent. The film was envisioned as a ContinuityReboot, unconnected to the previous ones. In the [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast next movie]], which features CanonWelding with the series, Fassbender matches his accent with that of Ian [=McKellen=]'s Magneto.

* The original ''ThePinkPanther'' from 1963 was written to be about the thieves rather than Inspector Clouseau. It was in the sequel, ''A Shot in the Dark'', where [[BreakoutCharacter the series shifted to focus on Clouseau]], and the recurring characters Cato and Dreyfuss were introduced.

* The original ''Film/TheProducers'', being Mel Brooks' first movie, is a bit straight-forward compared to his later comedies.

* Among DreamWorksAnimation's first films, ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'', ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron'' and ''WesternAnimation/SinbadLegendOfTheSevenSeas'' had 2-D animation instead of the now-omnipresent CGI. Also, ''Prince'' and ''Spirit'' were serious dramas, and ''Prince'' and ''Road'' are Disney-style musicals, both in stark comparison to the zaniness they developed by ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' (even if later franchises like ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' and ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' showed that they could still be a litle more serious when called for).

*** Charles Xavier sometimes acts like a cocky, womanizing ditz (which is a sharp contrast compared to his ''much'' more subdued and mature persona later on), Magneto doesn't hesitate to use a gun if he likes to (whereas in the previous films, he sneers at firearms with disdain), Mystique has undergone {{Chickification}} so that she's Charles' WomanChild sister instead of a lethal FemmeFatale, and Beast is socially awkward with severe self-esteem issues--you wouldn't have expected that the confident politician in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' had started his adulthood as an introvert.

* ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'' feels very different in tone to its sequels. ''Film/TheBourneSupremacy'' and ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'' are contiguous to the point that there is no time-cut at all between the last scenes of the second film and the first scenes of the third film (not counting the Bourne-in-New-York-scene, a ''Supremacy'' note which is "also" tied up in ''Ultimatum''...). But when you have recently seen ''Supremacy'' and/or ''Ultimatum'', it can come as a bit of a shock to rewatch ''Identity'' and realise how different it is, though it was setting up all the Bourne tropes the later films played on. Notably, the soundtrack is a very different beast, employing techno-ish and poppy background music. Damon's Bourne is also surprisingly chatty and smiley compared to his later silent stoicism. The editing takes a different approach completely, and the camera work is free of the JitterCam that defined the sequels. Most of this change in tone has to do with the first film being made by a different director to its sequels, and the fact that there was several years' gap between its release and the release of its first sequel.

*** Charles Xavier sometimes acts like a cocky, womanizing ditz (which is a sharp contrast compared to his ''much'' more subdued and mature persona later on) and Magneto doesn't hesitate to use a gun if he likes to (whereas in the previous films, he sneers at firearms with disdain).

* ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet''
** The first two films are much darker and more serious than the later sequels. Before [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors the third film]], Freddy Krueger was very much a monster, and he wasn't [[FauxAffablyEvil the least bit humorous]]; when he did speak, it was meant to scare his victims rather than have a laugh at their expense. The early films also have some strange quirks of their own:
** In [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984 the first film]], the characters and the credits identify the killer strictly as ''Fred'' Krueger (he's only called "Freddy" in the IronicNurseryTune), he only kills four people, and it wraps up with a GainaxEnding that raises the question of just how much of the film was real versus what was in Nancy's head.
** The second film, ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreetPart2FreddysRevenge Freddy's Revenge]]'', is even weirder. The plot revolves around Freddy possessing a teenage boy (complete with a BodyHorror-filled [[TransformationOfThePossessed transformation scene]]) in order to re-enter the real world, something that never comes up again in later films. It also has mountains of HomoeroticSubtext in the protagonist Jesse's character, his "relationship" with Freddy, and some of the kills (most infamously the gym coach's death).
* For a monster that is now-infamous for its blinding-fast speed, the first ''Film/{{Alien}}'' is shown almost exclusively moving slowly and ominously. We only see it move quickly for brief instants when it strikes, just before the shot cuts away. Later films in the series establish the aliens hustling about.

* Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) appears in all three ''Film/{{X-Men}}'' films, is notably discussed in the US Senate in X1 and referenced by Xavier to the President of the United States in ''Film/{{X2|XMenUnited}}'', but her on-screen appearances are very brief, almost cameo-sized, and she's played by different actresses in each. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', she finally becomes a main character with whole sequences from her perspective, and is portrayed by Creator/EllenPage. The first film also features a different actor as John Allerdyce (Pyro) in a brief cameo. John becomes a main character with a different, lasting actor for the next two films.
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' Michael Fassbender's Magneto alternates between sounding ambiguously British and Irish in various scenes. Essentially Fassbender's NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent. The film was envisioned as a ContinuityReboot, unconnected to the previous ones. In the [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast next film]], which features CanonWelding with the series, Fassbender matches his accent with that of Ian [=McKellen=]'s Magneto.
* The first ''Film/MissionImpossible'' film: Despite the movie being the TropeNamer for MissionImpossibleCableDrop. which in turn would set the bar for the high concept scenes and stunts of the sequels, the first film is VERY different in tone from them. There's very little in terms of action scenes until the end - even the titular MissionImpossibleCableDrop scene is more tension than action or complex stunts. Ethan's character doesn't have that "larger than life" reputation and presentation the other films give him. It's a much more quiet and psychological film whose tone does clash with its sequels, who would become more known for their action and stunts, when watching the series back to back.

* The first ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' film is really weird compared to the ones that follow. Chief amongst the differences is that it's a Horror-Action hybrid with much greater emphasis on the Horror. It also has a much lower budget than the rest of the films, making it look somewhat dated in special effects. And finally, the TimeTravel plot mechanic uses a very closed and fatalistic StableTimeLoop while the rest of the movies run amuck with the TimeyWimeyBall.

* The first film in ''TheLandBeforeTime'' series films is actually the only one that is not a musical. It also has significantly higher animation quality and a much darker tone. ''Creator/DonBluth'', anyone?

* ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'' feels very different in tone to its sequels. ''Film/TheBourneSupremacy'' and ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'' are contiguous to the point that there is no time-cut at all between the last scenes of the second film and the first scenes of the third film (not counting the Bourne-in-New-York-scene, a ''Supremacy'' note which is "also" tied up in ''Ultimatum''...). But when you have recently seen ''Supremacy'' and/or ''Ultimatum'', it can come as a bit of a shock to rewatch ''Identity'' and realise how different it is, though it was setting up all the Bourne tropes the later films played on. Notably, the soundtrack is a very different beast, employing techno-ish and poppy background music. Damon's Bourne is also surprisingly chatty and smiley compared to his later silent stoicism. The editing takes a different approach completely, and the camera work is free of the JitterCam that defined the sequels. Most of this change in tone has to do with he first film being made by a different director to its sequels, and the fact that there was several years' gap between its release and the release of its first sequel.

** The first entry into the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, had a few issues which would be retconned out in later films, mostly regarding SHIELD. Agent Coulson introduces himself as being from the "Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division," then saying they're "working on shortening the name." This suggests that it's a fairly new organization but was likely to ease in moviegoers who were unfamiliar with SHIELD, as later installments would show that SHIELD has been around for decades.

* For films in general, a lot of works from the 1920s and 1930s basically [[NoEnding abruptly cut off]] at the end. The movies are done but they feel like there's something missing. It took a while for more concrete finales to become common.

* The 1954 film ''Film/{{Gojira}}'', which kick-started the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise, is a surprisingly dark (and seriously scary) horror film rather than a campy monster movie. Because Godzilla is the only monster appearing in the film, the focus is on the humans' response to his rampage rather than on a battle between opposing monsters. Also, Godzilla is unambiguously presented as a villainous monster incapable of reason or sympathy, and definitely ''not'' as a NobleDemon and defender of humanity, as he evolved into as the series went on.

* The original ''Film/DeathWish'' is a gritty, realistic, look at urban decay and out of control crime in major American cities during the era. The movie was such a hit largely because it embodied the feelings of many honest citizens at the time. In the end there is no dramatic showdown with the men who killed his wife and raped his daughter, they simply disappear into the city and Paul will never know who they were. There's little graphic violence, but what there is is very disturbing. Nothing in the movie could be defined as gratuitous. The sequels all follow all the cliches avoided in the original.

** There is also a {{leitmotif}} for the Death Star, which is not used in ''ReturnOfTheJedi''.