I like that movie, but it's a ripoff of a better one

[mjbethancourt]

Everybody has heard people say 'Avatar' was just a ripoff of 'Dances with Wolves'. That doesn't mean that 'Avatar' is better or worse than 'Dances with Wolves', but the sentiment is understandable: if you find it obvious that a movie is largely lifted from another source, it's an obstacle to enjoying the film.

I remember when Tarantino movies first started coming out, when I was in highschool (class of '95), I thought they were so fresh and original; but then it turns out that they only appeared fresh to me because at that age I hadn't seen very many R-rated films and was completely unfamiliar with the movies of Scorsese and Peckinpah, and largely unfamiliar with the films of Leone, DePalma, and Coppola. Now, the shine is off Tarantino films for me, because they are almost completely derived from Peckinpah films (with elements from those other directors), and Peckinpah used film as an homage to the world he grew up in, a world that he believed was dead or dying, and which deserved to be preserved through the arts for future generations; whereas Tarantino's films are just an homage to the films he grew up watching: they are basically films about other films, they feel very "un-necessary" to me, and lack a personal connection between the filmmaker and the internal world of the film. I heard it said in school that all art is an abstract form of autobiography, and truly good art transcends beyond the creator and becomes autobiographical to the viewer as well. To be fair, Tarantino freely admits his source of inspiration; but his movies are so deep in pastiche, that to me they are like prints compared to paintings, because it isn't just themes that he copies, it's all the little details too. 'True Romance' is a copy of 'Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'.

Then there are movies that are derived from earlier work that has such a universal resonance, that they are necessarily personal, movies derived from grand mythic themes that are a part of everybody's consciousness and experience. For those movies, being a copy of something else perhaps makes them better. Few have used this better than George Lucas. While many have argued that 'Star Wars' was a copy of 'The Hidden Fortress', few would suggest that 'The Hidden Fortress' comes anywhere close to connecting so deeply with such a broad spectrum of viewers, because of the way that Lucas copied timeless myth and legend into the story. By contrast, with 'Indiana Jones', Lucas did just as I described about Tarantino, they are just movies about other movies (Jungle Jim, Allan Quatermain, Gunga Din)... but they are very fun. When Lucas wrapped Star Wars in 2005, he went back to that original formula of tapping into universal legend by copying one of the most timeless and yet individually relevant stories ever: 'Revenge of the Sith' is a copy of Shakespeare's 'Othello'. I know, I know, Shakespeare wrote plays, not movies... but that's a technicality, many would say that Shakespeare was the first filmmaker. At any rate, 'Othello' has been made into a film, several times.

Then, there's one that I saw the other day. I watched the John Wayne film 'The Shootist', the one he starred in while he was dying which was released after his death, and I realized: 'Gran Torino' is a copy of 'The Shootist'. In 'The Shootist', John Wayne learns that he is dying from cancer. He goes about cursing and straightening-out all the vultures in his life, saying things that often only an old or dying man get the privilege of saying. He decides to give guidance and mentorship to the aimless boy next door, the one who tried to steal his horse. Before dying, he has one last fight he has to face, a gun fight with a gang of vengeful cons, and he goes into the fight with the intent of making it a suicide mission. And, of course, in his will he leaves his horse to the kid who tried to steal it. Notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend 'Gran Torino', as well as 'The Shootist'.

So, what do you think? Do you folks have any thoughts or examples of films that you think are copies of other films? Is the copy better or worse than the original? Do you have filmmakers that you would label as "copycats"?