The Shadow (1994)
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
Based on the 1930s comic strip, The Shadow is put up against his archenemy Shiwan Khan, who plans to take over the world by holding a city to ransom using an atom bomb. Using his powers of invisibility and "the power to cloud men's minds", The Shadow comes blazing to the rescue with explosive results.
The Shadow keeps every mind human — it fights its subject at zero distance. The story fights on E8/E9 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing crime, power, identity, control, war.
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Same subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)E7/E12 · rare rung · power, war
Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds (2010)E6/E11 · rare rung · identity, power
WarGames (1983)E12/E14 · rare rung · control, war
Skylines (2020)E6/E13 · rare rung · power, war
Independence Day (1996)E12/E13 · rare rung · power, war
Warcraft (2016)E12/E13 · rare rung · power, warAlso bends a rule of reality
Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorous
The Stepford Wives (2004)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
Oblivion (2013)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
Ex Machina (2015)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
TRON: Legacy (2010)alters at E8 · same rung · loose
The Host (2013)alters at E8 · same rung · rigorousSame people
Shared director or cast.
