History OlderThanTheyThink / Film

* On July 21st 2023, [[Film/{{Barbie}} Barb]][[Film/{{Oppenheimer}} enheimer]] came out, and it took off because movie-goers were amused by the idea of a lighthearted, women-centric comedy romp being released on the same day as a dark and heavy Creator/ChristopherNolan film. However, ignoring the fact that this setup is a simple case of counter-programming, the exact same thing had already happened twice before: -
** On July 21st 2008, Nolan's ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' - sequel to the DarkerAndEdgier Batman reboot ''Film/BatmanBegins'' - was released on the same day as ''Film/MammaMia'', an adaptation of the the jukebox musical of the same name. Interestingly, the distributors were swapped (Warner Bros. released ''The Dark Knight'' and ''Barbie'', while Universal released '''Mamma Mia'' and ''Oppenheimer''). Both movies were massive hits in their own rights, but in both pairings, the WB film came out on top.
** On 21st July 2017, Nolan's UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' was released on the same day as road trip comedy ''Film/GirlsTrip'' (Once again released by WB and Universal respectively. While the latter was a hit in it's own right and well received, it didn't take off like ''Barbie'' or ''Mamma Mia'', and ''Dunkirk'' itself was Nolan's lowest grossing post-Batman film up to that point.

* Graphic sex and violence in movies! Many think this started only when the MPAA ratings system took off in the 1960s (many point to 1966's ''Film/BlowUp'' as the first truly raunchy mainstream movie, which killed off UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode).

** Before UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode, there was a period in American cinema without organized censorship. This was UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra, which, while still mild by modern standards, was a lot more frank and had fewer euphemisms about "matters of the heart" than later. This was the era of Mae West and ''Film/DesignForLiving'', a film about Free Love made by ''Paramount Studios'' starring major stars of the time. Creator/FrankBorzage made films like ''A Farewell to Arms'', ''Film/MansCastle'' and ''Little Man What Now?'' about unmarried couples making love and cohabiting outside marriage and openly stating that SexIsGood. ''Man's Castle'' has a couple, played by Creator/SpencerTracy and Loretta Young, skinny-dipping...made in 1933!

* The ''Film/{{Scream}}'' series is often credited with being the first Post-Modern slasher, introducing {{Lampshade Hanging}}s and GenreSavvy characters. The little-known CultClassic ''There's Nothing Out There'' did it first. The director of ''Scream'', Wes Craven, had himself done it before-to [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]!-in ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare''.

* With all the recent talk of {{bromance}} movies, there was a [[http://roflrazzi.com/2009/03/16/celebrity-pictures-winter-reeves-original-bromance/ post on ROFLRAZZI]] naming Franchise/BillAndTed as "the original bromance." Commenters there quickly pointed out they were still about [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh four thousand years too late]]. And there are plenty of others working up to Bill and Ted, too. [[Literature/TheBible David and Jonathan]] are either (somewhat extreme) bromance or out-and-out HoYay, depending on who you ask.

* Franchise/{{Batman}}'s archenemy, [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]], was [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope most definitely not]] based on the poster for the film version of ''Film/TheManWhoLaughs'', starring Conrad Veidt. In the days leading up to the release of ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', a recoloured version came into mass Internet circulation, and was actually mistaken by many for a publicity shot of Creator/HeathLedger's Joker makeup.

* When the first trailers for the ''Film/GetSmart'' movie appeared on Website/YouTube, many of the comments accused it of being a ripoff of the 2003 film ''Film/JohnnyEnglish''. Never mind that ''Get Smart'' is a TV show from TheSixties.

* Many (though by no means all) of the elements ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' is taken to task for "changing" are actually taken directly from the source material. Examples include the mechanized body armor, Destro being Scottish, the mouth on Snake-Eyes's mask, and the black machine-gunner being named Heavy Duty instead of Roadblock. The thing is, there's a ''lot'' of source material: the armor was from the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeSigma6'' line; Destro has been Scottish in the comics for decades; Snake-Eyes has had more than a dozen different action figures, several of which had mouths molded into their masks; Heavy Duty's been around since 1991 (and Roadblock himself has been renamed Heavy Duty in the comics due to trademark issues). But most people are only aware of a small portion of the franchise's history (in most cases that's the 80s cartoon) and assume anything they haven't seen before is new to the movie, which (perhaps unwisely) tried to combine elements from as many different eras as possible.

* "You talking to me? You talking to me?" Yes, [[Film/TaxiDriver Travis Bickle]] did the talking to the mirror bit but [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E39NervousManInAFourDollarRoom Jackie Rhoades]] did it first with those lines.

* A Website/YouTube comment on the ''Film/FrightNight2011'' trailer: ''"This is just a Film/{{Disturbia}} clone with a vampire."'' [[Film/RearWindow So many things]] [[Film/FrightNight1985 wrong with that.]]

* NewMediaAreEvil types would have you think that sex and violence are new to movies. In reality, intense sex and violence have been in movies since the birth of cinema in the late 19th century. In fact, complaints about there being too much sex/violence/etc. in movies were actually what led to UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode in the mid-1930s.

** The Klingons seem to be guilty of a lot of this. "Today is a good day to die," comes from the Lakota Nation and their leader Crazy Horse, but is associated with Klingons. ProudWarriorRace much?

* The 2002 film ''Film/JasonX'' took Jason to space. However, the JustForFun/RecycledinSpace idea was done as a parody first in a 1995 episode of ''Series/{{MADtv|1995}}'' (which combined ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' with the plot of ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'').

* There are comedy {{Mockumentary}} films older than ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap''. For example from 1972 is the Creator/{{BBC}} TV movie [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421744/ The Black Safari]] where a crew of native African adventurers are followed by a camera crew as they explore the darkest corners of [[OopNorth Northern England]].

* Some may think that the anime ''Anime/AttackOnTitan'' and its [[Film/AttackOnTitan film adaptation]] invented the notion of giant monsters who resemble disfigured or mutated humans, but the idea shows up in some ''far'' older films. Namely, ''Film/TheAmazingColossalMan'' and its sequel, ''Film/WarOfTheColossalBeast,'' ''Film/TheCyclops,'' ''Film/FrankensteinConquersTheWorld'' and its sequel, ''Film/WarOfTheGargantuas''. Bonus points to ''Frankenstein Conquers the World'' for giving its monster regenerative abilities similar to the Titans, and to ''Gargantuas'' for having one of the titular beasts feed primarily on human flesh.

* ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', from 1982, is usually considered the TropeCodifier for ProductPlacement as it exists in movies today, with obvious plugs for products done as a mutually-beneficial tie-in between the movie and the product. The sales of Reese's Pieces shot through the roof after being featured in the film. [[note]] Ironically, the filmmakers ''never'' intended to specially highlight Reese's Pieces; they were originally going to use [=M&Ms=] (which were, according to the novel, meant to be what inspired E.T. to discover the Speak-And-Spell, seeing the "M" from the candy on the keyboard), but replaced them with Reese's Pieces because Mars Inc. didn't want their flagship candy to be associated with aliens[[/note]] But the practice goes all the way back to the beginning of Hollywood. ''Film/{{Wings|1927}}'', the first [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardwinners Best Picture]] winner, had a conspicuous close-up of the wrapper of a Hershey chocolate bar a character was eating. ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'' features cameos by ''Magazine/NationalGeographic'' and a Coca-Cola sign. The {{Trope Maker|s}} for companies paying to be featured in a movie is 1949's ''Film/LoveHappy''. The cash-strapped production solicited products like Wheaties and Baby Ruth to be featured on billboards in the background of a rooftop chase scene.

* ''Film/RaidersofTheLostArk'': Indy isn't actually the first fictional Nazi fighter to use a whip and revolver and be nicknamed after a state (or in his case, a dog named after a state). Franchise/DCUniverse CListFodder superhero Harold "Tex" Thompson/Mr. America/Americommando also has all of those traits.

** On 21st July 2017, Nolan's WW2 movie ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' was released on the same day as road trip comedy ''Film/GirlsTrip'' (Once again released by WB and Universal respectively. While the latter was a hit in it's own right and well received, it didn't take off like ''Barbie'' or ''Mamma Mia'', and ''Dunkirk'' itself was Nolan's lowest grossing post-Batman film up to that point.