Fish Out of Water
The beloved and inherently rich plot device where a character finds oneself in a scenario, environment, culture or time period completely alien to them. It makes for great humor, suspense, social commentary and combinations of those.
What I just realized about this list is that most of the selections are popular, whether box office hits or cult hits, most of which followed by less popular sequels that lost the key fish-out-of-water element. The exceptions are Back to the Future---which cleverly kept that novelty fresh throughout the whole trilogy, unlike the Beverly Hills Cop or Austin Powers sequels---and the Alien films, which are uniquely the inverse: Only the sequels were fish-out-of-water films, while the first film was actually a direct reversal of the convention.
What I just realized about this list is that most of the selections are popular, whether box office hits or cult hits, most of which followed by less popular sequels that lost the key fish-out-of-water element. The exceptions are Back to the Future---which cleverly kept that novelty fresh throughout the whole trilogy, unlike the Beverly Hills Cop or Austin Powers sequels---and the Alien films, which are uniquely the inverse: Only the sequels were fish-out-of-water films, while the first film was actually a direct reversal of the convention.
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35 titles
- DirectorJames CameronStarsSigourney WeaverMichael BiehnCarrie HennDecades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsSigourney WeaverCharles S. DuttonCharles DanceReturning from LV-426, Ellen Ripley crash-lands on the maximum-security prison Fiorina 161, where she discovers that she has unwittingly brought along an unwelcome visitor.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.
- DirectorJay RoachStarsMike MyersElizabeth HurleyMichael YorkA world-class playboy and part-time secret agent from the 1960s emerges after thirty years in a cryogenic state to battle with his nemesis Dr. Evil.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonMarty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonAfter visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydMary SteenburgenStranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsRyan O'NealMarisa BerensonPatrick MageeAn Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsPeter SellersShirley MacLaineMelvyn DouglasAfter the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.
- DirectorMartin BrestStarsEddie MurphyJudge ReinholdJohn AshtonA freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.
- DirectorHugh WilsonStarsBrendan FraserAlicia SilverstoneChristopher WalkenA naive man comes out into the world after spending 35 years in a nuclear fallout shelter.
- DirectorRon UnderwoodStarsBilly CrystalJack PalanceDaniel SternOn the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.
- DirectorSteve BarronStarsDan AykroydJane CurtinRobert KnottAliens with conical crania crash-land on Earth.
- DirectorPeter FaimanStarsPaul HoganLinda KozlowskiJohn MeillonAn American reporter goes to the Australian outback to meet an eccentric crocodile poacher and invites him to New York City.
- DirectorMarco BrambillaStarsSylvester StalloneWesley SnipesSandra BullockA police officer is brought out of suspended animation in prison to pursue an old ultra-violent nemesis who is loose in a non-violent future society.
- DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsSharlto CopleyDavid JamesJason CopeViolence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsJohn TravoltaNicolas CageJoan AllenTo foil a terrorist plot, FBI agent Sean Archer assumes the identity of the criminal Castor Troy who murdered his son through facial transplant surgery, but the crook wakes up prematurely and vows revenge.
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsBill MurrayAndie MacDowellChris ElliottA narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.
- DirectorMike JudgeStarsLuke WilsonMaya RudolphDax ShepardCorporal Joe Bauers, a decidedly average American, is selected for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten and left to awaken to a future so incredibly moronic that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.
- DirectorJohn PasquinStarsTim AllenMartin ShortJoBeth WilliamsA man learns he has a thirteen-year-old son who was raised in the jungle and brings the boy to New York City, turning his life upside down in the process.
- DirectorJean-Marie PoiréStarsJean RenoChristina ApplegateChristian ClavierA French count is in England to marry the princess. She's killed. A wizard helps him time travel back before the murder - but ends up in Chicago, April 2000. A descendant helps him. Can he return to the 1100s?
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanJon VoightSylvia MilesA naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperJean ArthurGeorge BancroftA unassuming greeting card poet from a small town in Vermont heads to New York City upon inheriting a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.
- DirectorJonathan LynnStarsJoe PesciMarisa TomeiRalph MacchioTwo New Yorkers accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college call in the help of one of their cousins, a loudmouth lawyer with no trial experience.
- CreatorTom FontanaStarsErnie HudsonJ.K. SimmonsLee TergesenA series chronicling the daily activities of an unusual prison facility and its criminal inhabitants.
- DirectorGary RossStarsTobey MaguireJeff DanielsJoan AllenTwo 1990s teenage siblings find themselves transported to a 1950s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that colorless, complacent world.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsJack BlackMike WhiteJoan CusackAfter being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTony CurtisJack LemmonAfter two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
- DirectorEric StoughStarsTrey ParkerMatt StoneMary Kay BergmanKyle and Stan fight over what to name a man they found frozen in ice from 1996. Meanwhile, the government attempts to steal the frozen man.
- DirectorDavid Orrick McDearmonStarsRussell JohnsonPaul HartmanBartlett RobinsonAt a prominent club in Washington, D.C., a socialite argues about whether it would be possible to change history by traveling back in time. When he leaves the club he finds himself in 1865, on the night that President Lincoln will be shot.
- DirectorDavid Orrick McDearmonStarsAlbert SalmiRussell JohnsonThan WyennWhen a 20th-century scientist tests out his time machine he accidentally retrieves a murderer from 1880, saving him from the hangman's noose. Unaware of the man's history, the scientist attempts to acclimatize him to his new surroundings.
- DirectorJustus AddissStarsDana AndrewsPatricia BreslinMalcolm AtterburyA scientist attempts to use a time machine to prevent tragedies, both in world history and in his own past.
- DirectorJustus AddissStarsJohn AndersonPaul ComiSandy KenyonPassing through the sound barrier, a commercial airliner inadvertently travels back in time.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsBuster KeatonStanley AdamsJames FlavinJanitor Woodrow Mulligan gets a trip from 1890 to 1962 courtesy of his employer's time-machine helmet.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsHarrison FordKelly McGillisLukas HaasWhile protecting an Amish boy - who is the sole witness to a brutal murder - and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life is threatened.