To Wong Foo - vs. - Priscilla
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symph0natic — 18 years ago(May 09, 2007 08:28 PM)
I thought Priscilla was definitely the better of the two films. That said, To Wong Foo has some really good acting and some great lines, especially by John Leguizamo. It's not really a rip-off of Priscilla except for the basic idea. The concept of "drag queens go off on cross-country trip, having to deal with rednecks along the way" is really the only similarity; other than that, the two films have completely different storylines.
Each film had its scenes of drag-queens-in-danger. Actually, To Wong Foo upped the ante a bit by including domestic violence into the mix. However, I just knew that, with this film, everything would turn out alright at the end. To that extent, it did feel a bit Hollywood-ized. I liked the fact that in Priscilla, you really did not know what was going to happen next. It grabbed my attention more as I prefer more character-driven films.
The main problem I had with To Wong Foo was the Sheriff Dollard character was handled wrongly in my opinion, especially in the bar scene where he had this long, belabored monologue about drag queens. It looked as if the intention was to imply that the idea really turned him on deep inside, that only emerged to the surface when he was drunk and that he was normally ashamed of it. While that accurately represents what lurks inside a homophobe's heart in the real world (being secretly gay and unable to accept it), it does a disservice to this film as it stops the film cold and creates an excruciatingly awkward moment immediately following when a guy comes up to Dollard and, before mentioning to Dollard that he saw the drag queens he's after, the sheriff is looking him up & down & smiling at him like he is about to jump his bones.
Overall, I like both films, just Priscilla a LOT better!
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
: 9/10
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
: 6/10 -
amers983 — 18 years ago(July 14, 2007 04:00 AM)
I am an American living in Japan. I have not seen Priscilla, the movie. I haven't seen TWFTFEJN in a couple of years, at least. However, I returned from a trip to Sydney 3 days ago. I saw a live musical of Priscilla at Star City Casino. I was extremely entertained. It was amazing. The friend that accompanied me has never seen To Wong Foo. I rented it for us to watch and compare, but I have the feeling we will both be hugely disappointed after the wonderful show we witnessed on Tuesday night. The costumes were amazing. The songs were great. The talent was very impressive. I am currently looking around to find a copy of Priscilla so that I can witness the movie and make an actual comparison.
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ThePirateKing — 18 years ago(July 31, 2007 11:10 AM)
To Wong Foo is a decent watch, but I think Priscilla has the better script the novelty of seeing Patrick Swayze in drag with Wesley Snipes wore off pretty quickly, and the schmaltzy ending on To Wong Foo always bothered me. Priscilla errs into the realms of ridiculous at times but it has its platforms firmly planted on the ground as far as the characters are concerned, to me the characters in To Wong Foo just aren't as 3 dimensional.
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LauraCohle — 18 years ago(March 23, 2008 09:44 AM)
Totally like Wong Foo better than Priscilla. Priscilla had too much of a gaudy Australian feel to it (being Australian it kinda embarrassed me.especially cos I'm from Alice Springs and yeah.yuck), and Wong Foo is just incredibly funny and entertaining, I love it.
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symph0natic — 17 years ago(April 22, 2008 08:46 PM)
I notice that you people who like
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
better than
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
all seem to be straight. Well, I'm gay and I believe that
Priscilla
does a better job of understanding the gay community, as well as the dark side of gay humor.
Oh, and to what exactly does your "yuck" comment refer? -
LauraCohle — 17 years ago(April 23, 2008 11:27 PM)
Ooooh, that's an interesting comment. I would think Priscilla does a better job of understanding the gay community, too. I don't like Wong Foo strictly for the way it presents gay people or whatever, I just like the humour of seeing such traditionally buff men as Patrick Swayze dress up as a woman.
And the yuck comment refers to having lived in Alice Springs for 18 years. My god. -
jockey-1 — 16 years ago(September 13, 2009 09:14 PM)
Good point and being straight, I preferred To Wong Foo, too.
I think it is a funnier, lighter, more entertaining take on the story.
Priscilla relied too heavily on the big costumes and song and dance routines which we understand the gay community loves (and is, indeed, an impressive spectacle.)
It is almost like one, Priscilla, was shot from the inside out, while the other, To Wong Foo, was shot from the outside in.
So wave and say "hi" or "hiiiiiiii" as the case may be. -
silovik812 — 12 years ago(February 21, 2014 05:52 PM)
Well, I was straight the last time I looked (mumble mumble that one time in college mumble mumble just a kid and everything mumble mumble), and I have to say that right at this moment, I do like
Woo Fong
a bit more than
Priscilla
. But that's only because I've only seen the latter one time, and that very recently; whereas I've see
Woo Fong
twice already, and I'm presently watching it again on Movieplex. I was impressed by
Priscilla
, and it's quite a different kind of movie to
Woo Fong
.
To me, drag performers are a kind of cosplayer, no different in my mind to those who do performances while dressed up as elves or superheroes.
Woo Fong
seems to emphasize the cosplay aspect and how it affects the characters, while
Priscilla
seem to be the other way around. Also,
Woo Fong
is obviously made for American audiences, with familiar character actors (Stockard Channing, w00t!), but in Priscilla, Terrence Stamp is about the only one I recognize.
I do need to see
Priscilla
at least one more time, because I did enjoy it quite a lot. Who knows? It might actually convert me."Oh, well" said Zanoni, "to pour pure water in the muddy well does but disturb the mud !"
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Pinky2000 — 17 years ago(June 16, 2008 01:38 PM)
Both films have their fine points and I enjoy both. But If I am going to chose, I will have to say Priscilla. Only because realism is very important to me. I have some very good friends who are DQ's and I can tell you that they DO NOT stay in character 24/7.
Hugo Weaving, Guy Pierce and Terrance Stamp (Who does not really count as DQ because he was a Transsexual) were wonderfully colorful without having to be in costume all the time.
I think the costumes (which won an Oscar) were fabulous and much more creative than Wong Foo.
The storyline of Priscilla is just not all camp and comedy. There is a serious side to it as well. It runs just a little deeper than Wong Foo.
Another thing about Wong Foo - were the people in that town so backwards that they could not tell that these were MEN?! I mean John Leguizamo's character yeah he looked the most feminine but Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes UGGH - he looked like a damned brick with make-up.
When Guy Pierce sneaked out to the Boozer/Boys Club meeting, when he accepted the beer from the man that handed it to him, that man knew straight away that he was being deceived and he was just some outback local dude who liked to blow stuff up.
Yes there are a lot of similarities and I have said previously that I enjoy both films but Priscilla is by far the better of the two
YOU MADE ME PLAY SECOND BASE! -
coflorida — 17 years ago(June 22, 2008 07:23 PM)
I like them both but like Priscilla alittle more
cause it was abit more realistic.
In Wong FooI couldn't pass the 24/7 dressing up LOL
the first night they got to town they get in full face,hair,clothing,and jewelry.to sleep? -
youvegotyale — 16 years ago(August 07, 2009 09:22 PM)
I liked Wong Foo much more. It was funnier, and lighthearted whereas Priscilla had more of a dark humor atmosphere. Whereas there's nothing wrong with that, I actually saw Priscilla AFTER viewing Wong Foo and expected it to have the same feel.
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tightjeansdude — 15 years ago(February 21, 2011 08:35 PM)
While I like both Priscilla and Wong Foo, I prefer Wong Foo. Of course they start out with the same basic storyline: 3 drag queens en route to a destination, who pass through small towns with backroads people who don't know what to make of them. In Priscilla, all they do is perform drag numbers, climb a mountain, perform more drag numbers, and one of them meets up with his wife and son, and they do another drag number, end of movie. Wong Foo takes a higher road. Vida and Noxeema take Chi Chi under their wing and arrive in a small hick town and they reach out, inspire and mentor who lived there, leaving it a better place than they found it, Case in point: Noxeema befriends the old lady and she started to talk again. Vida gives Virgil the ass whooping he so desperately needed and also helped the stuttering guy. Chi Chi stepped aside so Bobby Lee and Bobby Ray could hook up and even gave her some 'pointers'. They gave makeovers to all the women, boosting their self confidence and empowering them. The positive Karma they spread comes full circle with Chi Chi winning the contest and being crowned by the one who inspired them throughout their journey, Julie Newmar. In contrast to this, the 3 characters in the Priscilla story were less likable, more selfish and even self-loathing at times. The ending of Wong Foo leaves me feeling lifted, even exhilarated when Julie Newmar makes her cameo. It's a far better pay off than Priscilla.
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andrj908 — 13 years ago(July 05, 2012 12:17 AM)
Priscilla felt a bit too stereotypical of certain Australians to me, and put too much of a focus on "country bogan/lower-class Aussies." But then again, Too Wong Foo also portrayed lower-class country Americans as hicks and repugnant wife-beaters as well. So they come close in terms of offensiveness. Overall, I enjoyed both movie and entertainment wise.