History EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / LiveActionFilms

* Creator/BruceLee: Lee's first "big film", ''Film/TheBigBoss'', is very different in style and tone to the subsequent films that follow after. The violence is much more bloodily over-the-top (like in how the titular [[BigBad "Big Boss"]] dies) and sometimes cartoonish (the infamous scene where a man is punched through a wooden wall leaving a perfectly-shaped man hole ''a la'' something out of Looney Tunes). Notably all his next films are quite DarkerAndEdgier in comparison, most of all ''Film/FistOfFury'', a somber story about a young Chinese man who goes on a quest for revenge in [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar Japanese-occupied Shanghai]] after discovering that a rival Japanese school poisoned his beloved martial arts teacher [[spoiler:which [[DownerEnding ends in tragedy and the death of many people including the hero]]]].

** Comicbook/KittyPryde (Shadowcat) is notably discussed in the US Senate in ''[[Film/XMen1 X1]]'' and referenced by Professor X to the President of the United States in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', but she only had cameos and was played by two different actresses. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', she finally becomes an important character with whole sequences that are centered around her, and is portrayed by Creator/ElliotPage.

** The first movie has Comicbook/{{Mystique}} barely speaking (she has plenty to say in all her later appearances), and Sabretooth is a TerseTalker [[TheBrute Brute]] - a huge contrast to the ManipulativeBastard version Creator/LievSchreiber played in ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine''.

** The initial three films also give no indication that Comicbook/ProfessorX and Mystique are related or even ''know each other'', whereas the prequels deal heavily with the fact that they're adopted siblings and are very close.
** Creator/HalleBerry gives Comicbook/{{Storm}} a hint of an African accent in the first film. Realizing that it didn't sound very good, she uses her normal voice in subsequent films.

*** Creator/MichaelFassbender's Comicbook/{{Magneto}} alternates between sounding ambiguously British and Irish in various scenes. Essentially Fassbender's NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent. The film was envisioned as a ContinuityReboot, [[BroadStrokes mostly]] unconnected to the previous ones. In the [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast next movie]], which features CanonWelding with the series, Fassbender matches his accent with that of Creator/IanMcKellen's Magneto.
*** Invoked, as the prequel versions of the characters display characteristics that they're implied to grow out of. 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 is more of a shy shrinking violet who desires to fit in, and Comicbook/{{Beast|Marvel Comics}} 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/XMenApocalypse'': This prequel seeks to evoke this for the adolescent X-Men. Comicbook/JeanGrey is scared of her powers and isn't in control of them yet, Comicbook/{{Cyclops}} is a bad boy and isn't leadership material, Comicbook/{{Nightcrawler}} is afraid of his own shadow, and Storm is a morally dubious thief who sides with the BigBad.

** 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).

** The first film also has a bit of a Whodunnit mystery to the killer, unlike the later films where, for the most part, the identity of the killer is clearly shown.

* 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.

* The first two ''Film/{{Predator}}'' films seem to imply that the titular aliens wear their iconic face masks because they need to; that the Predators come from a different kind of atmosphere than ours and have trouble breathing on Earth, thus needing the face masks to offset a major hindrance. Both films take care to have a loud decompressing sound accompany the masks' removal, and [[Film/Predator2 the second]] in particular makes this a minor plot point, with the City Hunter [[OhCrap freaking out]] when it loses it's mask, visibly struggling to breath after, and using an emergency oxygen mask-like device to keep standing long enough to get back to it's ship. This would also add a great deal of significance to the Jungle Hunter in the first film taking off it's mask prior to it's final fistfight with Dutch; it's a way of [[WorthyOpponent evening the odds between them]], the Jungle Hunter giving itself a disadvantage out of respect towards it's adversary. The ExpandedUniverse, however, never really used this idea, with many comics and games showing the Predators continuing to function perfectly fine on Earth without the mask, and [[Film/{{Predators}} the third film]] would likewise have Predators showing no issues when their masks come off (albeit while they're on a different planet from Earth). ''Film/Prey2022'' would put a nail in the suggestion by having the Feral Predator's mask not even cover it's full face, making abundantly clear that the only apparent purpose of the masks is a mixture of simple head armor and being ceremonially important. Notably, while the first two films had the Predators need to unhitch some kind of air hoses to remove the masks, many later entries just have them casually remove it without such steps. [[TheArtifact The decompression sound remains]], but no longer seems to have any significance.

** ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', in contrast to [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]] AND the successive films, featured Starfleet officers wearing [[SpaceClothes very drab, colorless pajama-like uniforms]], with most of its action taking place on a plainly lit bridge. The movie itself was criticized for being rather [[LeaveTheCameraRunning slow and plodding]], and for lacking any human or humanoid antagonist. In the following Star Trek movie, ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' and in the original cast movies that followed, Starfleet officers were given crisp, bright red uniforms, and the Enterprise bridge was lit in a more visually exciting way. One could even argue that Trek producers [[BroadStrokes even pretended that ST:TMP never even happened in later movies]]; for example, the Enterprise is shown as being newly renovated and retrofitted in ST:TMP, and then again just seemingly a couple years later in ST:TWOK. ([[StockFootage mostly scenes taken from the original]])

* If your knowledge of ''{{Literature/Twilight2005}}'' 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. The first film also features no gratuitous {{Fanservice}}.

** In the [[Film/{{Halloween 1978}} first movie]], Michael has no apparent motivation; he's just "pure evil" and kills on instinct. In ''Film/HalloweenII1981'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:Laurie, his main target in the previous film and that one, is actually his sister.]] From then on out, every movie he appears in includes an element of him specifically stalking a family member. Taken to its illogical extreme in the [[Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers sixth movie]], which reveals [[spoiler:Michael suffers from a druid curse that requires him to kill off his entire family.]]

** Throughout the films, [[GeographicFlexibility more and more areas are added to Hogwarts]], making the Hogwarts of the first film almost a kind of bare-bones version with, for example, nothing between the back of the castle and Hagrid's hut but a field of grass. It's also much closer to the castle then in later installments.
** In the first two films, Professor Flitwick is an [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100114172044/harrypotter/images/thumb/7/73/Charms_Master_Flitwick.jpg/200px-Charms_Master_Flitwick.jpg elderly-looking dwarf]]. From the third onward, he became a [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100410144823/harrypotter/images/thumb/f/f3/Copia_de_uhpfilius9it%282%29.jpg/180px-Copia_de_uhpfilius9it%282%29.jpg small man with brown hair and moustache]]. It was so unexpected that quite a few people joked that he now looked like Hitler. (the story is complicated: as Flitwick wouldn't appear in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'', Creator/WarwickDavis was instead offered a cameo as the chorus conductor - credited only as "Wizard"; through RetCon, that guy became Flitwick in the fourth movie). Combined with that is the fact that Creator/JKRowling wasn't entirely happy with Flitwick's original appearance. The original movie Flitwick (who has distant goblin ancestry) looked, in her opinion, a bit like a full-blown goblin, while she had always pictured him as just a very small man.

*** Another rather dramatic oddity with the Alien's depiction is the infamous "egg-morphing". The theatrical release leaves an odd gap in the Xenomorph's life cycle by not showing where the eggs come from (itself an example of this; the Queens wouldn't be introduced until the second film) due to the scene where the reveal happened being cut and not restored until the Director's Cut. This version of the Alien life cycle features the much stranger reproduction method of the monster doing ''[[NothingIsScarier something]]'' to it's victims that mutates them into eggs that produce facehuggers, again reflecting the more Lovecraftian vibe of the original film and it's emphasis on the Xenomorph being something utterly unnatural, possibly mystical in nature.

* Film/Cinderella2015'' is the first of the Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes to be a straightforward remake of [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} the original]] rather than [[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 a sequel]] or [[Film/{{Maleficent}} a perspective flip]]. But apart from certain character names and other fairly small details borrowed from the animated version, the film comes across much more as a new adaptation of the original fairy tale than as a remake. Subsequent Disney remakes would be much more obviously based on the animated versions, sometimes almost [[ShotForShotRemake shot-for-shot.]]

** Film/Cinderella2015'' is the first of the Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes to be a straightforward remake of [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} the original]] rather than [[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 a sequel]] or [[Film/{{Maleficent}} a perspective flip]]. But apart from certain character names and other fairly small details borrowed from the animated version, the film comes across much more as a new adaptation of the original fairy tale than as a remake. Subsequent Disney remakes would be much more obviously based on the animated versions, sometimes almost [[ShotForShotRemake shot-for-shot.]]

** The Christian invaders from the first film are depicted as armored knights, instead of crusaders in hooded black outfits with red crosses from the second movie onwards (as well as similar films later in Creator/CuneytArkin's career, like ''Film/LionMan'' and ''Fearless Warrior'')

** The Alien itself is markedly different in behavior and nature from how it's species would come to be defined in both the series and pop culture. It takes a much more slow, methodical, and intelligent approach to hunting the humans compared to the later films' Xenomorphs attacking like the feral animals they are. In keeping with the more Lovecraftian horror vibe of the first movie noted above, the Alien here is presented in a much more mysterious and eldritch light; it possesses a phantom-like presence onboard the Nostromo being able to grow in size in a extremely short space of time and indulging in OffscreenTeleportation to increasingly impossible levels, while also [[ItCanThink displaying disturbingly human-like characteristics]] such as its attack on Lambert being sadistic in a manner akin to sexual assault and Ash describing it as "Kane's son". All in all, the original Xenomorph is portrayed as less of a mere animal and more of an ethereal and actively malevolent HumanoidAbomination, with the story having a very deliberate theme of MaybeMagicMaybeMundane and raising questions as to what precisely the Alien is and why it behaves as it does. The second film, while still implying the Xenomorphs to be possibly intelligent, greatly downplayed all of this in favor of a more animalistic depiction, which subsequent entries would go all in on.

* In the first ''{{Film/Childs Play}}'' film, a plot point is the fact that Chucky must transfer his soul out of the doll before the doll body turns fully human. As the film progresses, Chucky's body begins to have a more biological look to it including a receding hairline, human like skin, and eyebrows with real hair. The subsequent films would later drop this. According to the creator, it cost too much to make so many different versions of the Chucky doll for a physical change that was so subtle. In later films, Chucky becoming more human is treated more as a metaphorical ticking clock wherein his doll body looks the same, he can just no longer transfer out of the doll after a certain amount of time. For most of the franchise, beyond the first film, Chucky simply looks like a doll throughout.

* 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 are very few action scenes until the end - even the cable drop 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, and when watching the series back to back, its tone clashes with its sequels, which would become better known for their action and stunts. (It helps that the first was made by thriller expert Creator/BrianDePalma, while from the second onward the series went for action-based directors.)

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'' keeps with the books by having Bilbo getting relatively young appearance because of his possession of the One Ring and has him being played by Creator/IanHolm in both the actual time and the flashback to back when he got the ring. Once ''Film/TheHobbit'' trilogy was made this was ignored in favour of having Bilbo being played by the younger Creator/MartinFreeman.

** Throughout the films, [[GeographicFlexibility more and more areas are added to Hogwarts]], making the Hogwarts of the first film almost a kind of bare-bones version with, for example, nothing between the back of the castle and Hagrid's hut but a field of grass.

* ''Film/Godzilla1954'', 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.

** ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' is a more straightforward story with a relatively small number of robot characters (SequelEscalation and SerialEscalation were ''heavy'' in the two movies that followed). Also, while Bumblebee drops Sam and Mikaela out of his vehicle mode before transforming into his robot mode to fight Barricade, the sequels have the transformations fast enough to safely eject any passengers and quickly convert into robot mode in one quick go.

** In the [[Film//BackToTheFuture1 first film]], Marty's central personality flaw of the sequels -- his habit of acting foolishly when people call him "chicken" -- isn't anywhere in sight. Indeed, the one time we see him being verbally taunted -- when Biff's gang makes fun of his jacket -- he easily ignores it. His motive for confronting Biff later is entirely a sincere desire to protect his mother; there's no evidence that he cares what they think of him. HandWaved by WordOfGod, who claims that the new timeline created a Marty with a more privileged background, causing the personality change. They also stated that if they had intended to make sequels, they would have included this flaw in the first film.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'':
** In the first film, Marty's central personality flaw of the sequels -- his habit of acting foolishly when people call him "chicken" -- isn't anywhere in sight. Indeed, the one time we see him being verbally taunted -- when Biff's gang makes fun of his jacket -- he easily ignores it. His motive for confronting Biff later is entirely a sincere desire to protect his mother; there's no evidence that he cares what they think of him. HandWaved by WordOfGod, who claims that the new timeline created a Marty with a more privileged background, causing the personality change. They also stated that if they had intended to make sequels, they would have included this flaw in the first film.

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'' started, or at least inspired, Creator/{{Disney}}'s [[Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes trend]] of making LiveActionAdaptation's of their Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon. Despite this, it is extremely different from the other titles. ''Maleficent'' is obviously an AlternateUniverse PerspectiveFlip take on ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty''. It contradicts the original film in location (Scotland instead of England), [[AdaptationNameChange names]] (Diablo's name, and all the fairies have different names, in ''Maleficent''), and most of the characterization of both [[AdaptationalHeroism the title character]] and [[AdaptationalVillainy King Stefan]]. Starting with ''Film/{{Cinderella|2015}}'', the films instead became more straight adaptations. They follow the original films more accurately, while still being more realistic than the originals and having their fair share of differences.