Blockbuster or mockbuster?

You've heard that Hollywood is virtually another world -- vaguely familiar yet removed from our own, governed by its own rules and morality. But did you know that within that universe exists another parallel universe -- a bizarro Hollywood? It is called the Asylum, a 13-year-old full-service B-movie assembly line of direct-to-video titles, and it is run by two mini-moguls with very large cojones.

Asylum has stumbled on a brilliantly realized idea: a discount mockbuster DVD season, which, if you squint, hews closely to the stories, and even the marketing, of blockbusters released every weekend. Who can tell the difference between "Transmorphers" and "Transformers," right? See if you can spot the B-movies below.

--Christopher Borrelli
Read the complete article about The Asylum and its knock-offs.
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How does The Asylum version compare?<br> <br> <em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold"> Similarities:</em> A military defense computer network turns on humankind and nukes Earth (but primarily Los Angeles); a ragtag band of survivors pulls together and seeks a way to repel the beefy human-looking cyborg assassins trying to kill them; the opening credits (and the cover of the DVD case) display nearly identical title fonts; the titles themselves sound oddly familiar.<br> <br> <em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold"> Differences:</em> "Terminator" movies had T-1000s, "The Terminators" have TR4s; Terminator stole his clothing, Terminators wear matching tank tops and cargo pants; in "Terminators," no one refers to a Terminator as a "Terminator," only as a "T.R."; Terminator was unstoppable, Terminators have an "off" switch; the latest installment of the "Terminator" series starred Christian Bale, "Terminators" co-stars Jeremy London; no "Terminator" filmmaker on their DVD commentary speaks ill of their film; "Terminators" director Xavier Puslowski refers to his as garbage.

"Terminator" series

(Warner Bros.)

How does The Asylum version compare?

Similarities: A military defense computer network turns on humankind and nukes Earth (but primarily Los Angeles); a ragtag band of survivors pulls together and seeks a way to repel the beefy human-looking cyborg assassins trying to kill them; the opening credits (and the cover of the DVD case) display nearly identical title fonts; the titles themselves sound oddly familiar.

Differences: "Terminator" movies had T-1000s, "The Terminators" have TR4s; Terminator stole his clothing, Terminators wear matching tank tops and cargo pants; in "Terminators," no one refers to a Terminator as a "Terminator," only as a "T.R."; Terminator was unstoppable, Terminators have an "off" switch; the latest installment of the "Terminator" series starred Christian Bale, "Terminators" co-stars Jeremy London; no "Terminator" filmmaker on their DVD commentary speaks ill of their film; "Terminators" director Xavier Puslowski refers to his as garbage.