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

[P@t_Mtl]

The Hidden Fortress is hardly the only thing Star Wars take's from. Western, medieval stories, Flash Gordon & Buck Rodgers.....

Star Wars is a series of influence all wrap together in a fun package. It's everything Lucas grew up with and read about while in college.

[tilallr1]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

The Hidden Fortress is hardly the only thing Star Wars take's from. Western, medieval stories, Flash Gordon & Buck Rodgers.....

Star Wars is a series of influence all wrap together in a fun package. It's everything Lucas grew up with and read about while in college.

True ... so can we agree Star Wars is a collage of rip-off's?

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

True ... so can we agree Star Wars is a collage of rip-off's?

Of course but I still love it

[tilallr1]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Of course but I still love it

Ditto.

[iam1bearcat]

Originally Posted by doctorsteve

Zack and Miri is a scene by scene, shot by shot ripoff of Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Two friends recruit others to help them make a porno to help pay the rent, and

[Show spoiler]end up together

...

Doc

if this is a joke, i didn't get it.
and if you are serious...

[Show spoiler]they are the same movie.

because what i'm thinking is you saw the 'Zack and Miri' at wal-mart and then saw 'Zack and Miri Make A Porno' elsewhere. the reason for the difference is because wal-mart didn't want "porno" in the title, so they had specialty covers made for their stores. but i could be wrong and just not understanding a joke haha

[Paul Kersey]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

if this is a joke, i didn't get it.
and if you are serious...

[Show spoiler]they are the same movie.

because what i'm thinking is you saw the 'Zack and Miri' at wal-mart and then saw 'Zack and Miri Make A Porno' elsewhere. the reason for the difference is because wal-mart didn't want "porno" in the title, so they had specialty covers made for their stores. but i could be wrong and just not understanding a joke haha

I, of course, can't speak for the poster...
...but I think it's pretty obvious by the previous snippets of their post that they're joking

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

if this is a joke, i didn't get it.
and if you are serious...

[Show spoiler]they are the same movie.

because what i'm thinking is you saw the 'Zack and Miri' at wal-mart and then saw 'Zack and Miri Make A Porno' elsewhere. the reason for the difference is because wal-mart didn't want "porno" in the title, so they had specialty covers made for their stores. but i could be wrong and just not understanding a joke haha

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

True ... so can we agree Star Wars is a collage of rip-off's?

No, it's a collage of homages--
The old Battlestar Galactica was a collage of rip-offs.

(...Now do you see the difference?)

Originally Posted by Snowmaker

Pixar's Cars is a total ripoff of Doc Hollywood.

Yyyeah--Like that. There's a ripoff that was better.

[doctorsteve]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

if this is a joke, i didn't get it.
and if you are serious...

[Show spoiler]they are the same movie.

because what i'm thinking is you saw the 'Zack and Miri' at wal-mart and then saw 'Zack and Miri Make A Porno' elsewhere. the reason for the difference is because wal-mart didn't want "porno" in the title, so they had specialty covers made for their stores. but i could be wrong and just not understanding a joke haha

Your explanation above IS, in fact, the joke.

I was pissed they changed the title - but bought it. Later saw a 'make a porno' version and wanted the REAL title. So I bought a second copy.

Still haven't sold the first one... any takers?

[dg5150]

Stir of Echoes ripped off The Sixth Sense.

[frank drebin]

titanic (1997) was a total ripoff of titanic (1953)

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

True ... so can we agree Star Wars is a collage of rip-off's?

I think there's a meaningful difference between influence and ripoff. It may be gray and hard to define, but it's a big difference nonetheless.

I think a better example of a collage of rip-offs would be 'Kill Bill'.

Riff Magnum
Generally speaking, i think Tarantino's movies are better than the ones he's influenced by or "ripping off." I will freely admit that style can woo me over substance.

Eh, to each his own, I suppose. I'll take Bloody Sam over Q Pumpkinhead any day.

[Liquid_Swords]

Avatar=Dances With Wolves (with blue people?)

[Jaguar007]

Originally Posted by frank drebin

titanic (1997) was a total ripoff of titanic (1953)

Cameron also redid exact shots from "A Night to Remember" (1958) for Titanic.

In fact, Titanic was one of the most unoriginal films ever made.

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by Jaguar007

Cameron also redid exact shots from "A Night to Remember" (1958) for Titanic.

In fact, Titanic was one of the most unoriginal films ever made.

Seems like the most successful film-makers have been the most un-original:

Cameron is king of rip-offs, and Peter Jackson is king of re-makes (King Kong and LotR).

[DuaneB]

The original The Fast and the Furious is a ripoff of Point Break. I enjoyed both movies, but the plot was similar. Undercover cop/FBI agent infiltrates hijackers/bank robbers, becomes close to the leader, and falls for the leader's sister/ex-girlfriend, and ends up letting him go at the end of the movie.
Also Days of Thunder was pretty much a remake of Top Gun.

[mjbethancourt]

Originally Posted by tommyboy81

And now Inception will be a Dark City/Matrix rip. Yep I'll hear it.

Anybody who thinks 'Inception' is a ripoff of 'The Matrix', is chugging paint thinner. The Wachowski brothers do not own the patent on the concept of using technology to enter the unconscious... that goes way back, at least as far back as 'Dreamscape', and the story of 'Inception' bears more resemblance to 'Jacob's Ladder' or 'Altered States', even Dante's 'Divine Comedy'. 'The Matrix' is not the groundbreaking landmark of storytelling that so many people think it is, the only thing new about 'The Matrix' was that one gimmicky photographic technique that they thoroughly overused.

'Inception' actually has a point. The story and the special effects are used to express a profound idea, about the mind being a prison of guilt and regret. The only point of 'The Matrix' is special effects and gunfire; all of that Cartesian-Platonic mumbo-jumbo about illusions and reality, is just pretentious filler.

'The Matrix' is a ripoff of a 1985 'Twilight Zone' episode called "Dreams for Sale".

dg5150
Stir of Echoes ripped off The Sixth Sense.

Yep, spoooooooky necromancer crap has been done to death.

[Illini007]

My favorite movie "influenced" by another work is Strange Brew, which is a "re-telling" of Hamlet. They even use the real castle names in the book/movie for the brewery. I know it's not a "ripoff", because they seem to have a lot of fun with it.

Also, I agree that one of the most fun ripoffs is the original Fast and the Furious, which is a blatant ripoff of Point Break.