# Extraordinary unbelievable RIP-OFFS (in movies) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123 "2001-09-06T21:19:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/1 "2001-09-06T21:19:51Z")
I finally finish this assignment that’s been making my life miserable for a fortnight, so to celebrate I head for the video shop. I just got a DVD-drive and there’s nothing sweeter to the attention-span challenged than a movie you can stop occasionally to surf the web when you’re bored. I had to search around the shop a bit for one I haven’t seen before. The last really great film I rented was _Heat_. So I’m looking for something in the same vein. _LA Takedown_ finally convinces me it might be that movie. What? WHAT? Not only is it in the same, vein, it’s THE SAME &\*\*£$"! MOVIE!!! Same heist! Same “buy you a cup of coffee?” line than Pacino can carry off and this schmuck can’t! The only difference between the two films is that _Heat_ was enjoyable and _La Takedown_ is a pile of yak droppings. Somebody might have warned me. Was _LA Takedown_ a TV movie or something? Was it by some chance made _before_ _Heat_, at least granting it a modicum of credibility? Or is it, as I suspect, a big pointless rip-off? The last such film I remember was _Teenwolf Too_. I enjoyed _Teenwolf,_ being about ten when it came out, so I was hoping for a little more than I got… which was a scene-for-scene reproduction of the original. What on earth is the POINT of this crap? Huh? Huh? Huh? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/2 "2001-09-06T22:03:41Z")
I mentioned this in another thread, but it bears repeating: _The Big Green_. It was _The Mighty Ducks_ with soccer instead of hockey (which are essentially similar sports), down to the last detail. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/3 "2001-09-06T22:12:03Z")
I hate to break it to you, **Ross** , but not only was _L.A. Takedown_ made first, but they were directed by the same guy, Michael Mann. Haven’t seen it so can’t compare the two, but you might want to research who’s “ripping off” whom next time. And yes, it was a TV movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/4 "2001-09-06T22:32:53Z")
well, I suppose that’s alright then. But for goodness’ sake check out _LA Takedown_, because it’s CRAP. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/5 "2001-09-07T20:29:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cmkeller \* > \*\*I mentioned this in another thread, but it bears repeating: _The Big Green_. It was _The Mighty Ducks_ with soccer instead of hockey (which are essentially similar sports), down to the last detail. \*\* Well, heck, wasn’t **The Mighty Ducks** a ripoff of **The Bad News Bears** , but with hockey instead of baseball? ---
**Author:** ![BingoBurringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@BingoBurringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BingoBurringo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/6 "2001-09-07T21:46:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by cmkeller \* > > \*\*I mentioned this in another thread, but it bears repeating: _The Big Green_. It was _The Mighty Ducks_ with soccer instead of hockey (which are essentially similar sports), down to the last detail. \*\* > > Well, heck, wasn’t **The Mighty Ducks** a ripoff of **The Bad News Bears** , but with hockey instead of baseball? \*\* Yes, but with a lot less cursing, which was the only thing that made BNB funny. ---
**Author:** ![Protesilaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Protesilaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Protesilaus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/7 "2001-09-07T21:56:03Z")
I saw _Cruel Intentions 2_ in my local video rental store. Reading the back of the box, it appeared to be the exact same plot as the original, only with no-name actors. It even had a character that died in the first film. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/8 "2001-09-08T00:16:37Z")
_Cruel Intentions_ has not right having a sequel. If there was any goodness in the world, the original would have never existed. Anyway, I remember paying good money to see _Mimic_. Not that _Alien/Aliens_ style knock-offs aren’t a dime a dozen, but when they went into the subway tunnel room thingie filled with eggs and a giant momma critter, I just wanted to cry. Did the guy who “thought that up”, if you can call it that, have no shame at all? Did he think that maybe we’d never seen _Aliens_? Was it just a suppressed memory he had? God, that movie sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/9 "2001-09-08T00:17:39Z")
Well ID4 or Independence Day, is just a mis-mash of scenes from other movies. A Thousand Acres is about this wealthy man with a large farm that he decides to split up and give to his three daughters before he dies and then they all start in with the back-stabbing and such but befor you say ‘King Lear’ know that it was based on a book call A Thousand Acres. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bitterdrunk\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@The\_Bitterdrunk\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bitterdrunk_Kid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/10 "2001-09-08T02:20:17Z")
All three ‘Back To The Future’ movies are basically the same scenes done in a different time period each time. Have you ever noticed that when you watch a scene you can match it up with a corresponding scene in one of the other movies? ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/11 "2001-09-08T02:54:03Z")
_Paradise_ was the same movie as _The Blue Lagoon_, only with Phoebe Cates rather than Brooke Shields. Of course, being about 13 or so at the time, I didn’t care that _Paradise_ was a total rip-off. I got to see Phoebe Cates’ muffin. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/12 "2001-09-08T05:00:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Bitterdrunk Kid \* > \*\*All three ‘Back To The Future’ movies are basically the same scenes done in a different time period each time. Have you ever noticed that when you watch a scene you can match it up with a corresponding scene in one of the other movies? \*\* You can show all three at the same time, and when you feed their soundtracks to the same speaker, you get Pink Floyd. But you have to be careful to do it right. ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/13 "2001-09-08T05:43:40Z")
> [@](#): > > All three ‘Back To The Future’ movies are basically the same scenes done in a different time period each time. Have you ever noticed that when you watch a scene you can match it up with a corresponding scene in one of the other movies? Almost. But at no point does Marty rip the top of a horse off and ride on its legs. –John ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/14 "2001-09-08T08:03:34Z")
Never actually watched the movie, nor do I remember the title, but a few years back, I’d see a sci-fi movie cover at the video store that depicted a starship that looked eerily like a Y-Wing from _Star Wars_. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it _was_ a Y-wing, and in the background was a slightly modified A-Wing. Apparently, someone had written a crappy sci-fi script and they just recycled the same models from _Star Wars_. I found that amusing to no end… ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/15 "2001-09-08T08:13:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*Well ID4 or Independence Day, is just a mis-mash of scenes from other movies. > A Thousand Acres is about this wealthy man with a large farm that he decides to split up and give to his three daughters before he dies and then they all start in with the back-stabbing and such but befor you say ‘King Lear’ know that it was based on a book call A Thousand Acres. \*\* It also won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Jane Smiley was quite straight forward about it being a modern update of Lear. Updating Shakespeare to a modern setting is hardly a new thing. Robert B. Parker used Lear as a starting point for _Hugger Mugger_. _Forbidden Planet_ is the Bard’s _The Tempest_, and a better story, to boot. I would consider ripping-off to be using someones else’s ideas on the sly or copying someone without their knowledge or permission and doing it badly. Do it well, and it’s an homage. It isn’t unusual to remake a movie with a bigger budget and call it a sequel. _T2_ is more a remake of _The Terminator_ than a continuation and it’s a great movie. _Teen Wolf, Too_ remakes _Teen Wolf_ (badly), substituting boxing for basketball. _The Evil Dead_ was remade as _Evil Dead 2_. In the case of the Terminator and Evil Dead movies, the second movie is what the dierctor wanted to make in the first place, but didn’t have the money for. After the unexpected success of the first low budget affair, they were given a much larger budget for a sequel, and took the same story, changed some details, upped the effects a lot, and made the movie they wanted to make. The situation in the op sounds like Mann remade his own movie for the big screen when he had the chance. I saw the same thing happen a few years ago with the movie _Malice_, which was a mostly inferior remake of the tv movie “The Operation”, but with better dialog (by Aaron Sorkin). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/16 "2001-09-09T00:15:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Protesilaus \* > \*\*I saw _Cruel Intentions 2_ in my local video rental store. Reading the back of the box, it appeared to be the exact same plot as the original, only with no-name actors. It even had a character that died in the first film. \*\* The thing is, **Cruel Intentions 2** was never meant to be a sequel. That “movie” is actually the pilot of the tv show, based on **Cruel Intentions** , which was supposed to be called \*\* Manchester Prep\*\*. For some reason (cough) the networks decided that the pilot was too racey, so the show never aired. Instead it was marked as the prequel(not sequel) to **Cruel Intentions**. As for being the same friggin movie…I saw a TV movie, which was released January of 93’(good ole imdb…) called \*\* Survive The Night\*\* which was about three women who are in Brooklyn at night. They accidentally do something to piss off some gang members, and then are ruthlessly hunted by said gang members. Later that year, in October, \*\* Judgment Night\*\* is released. It has the same plot, and the only difference is that the cast is male and better known. Then of course there’s \*\* Dante’s Peak\*\* (feb. 97’)vs \*\* Volcano\*\*(april 97’) of which the major difference is one takes place in Calli the other in Oregon… With either set of movies, it seems to me that one script-writer cribbed from the other, but the diffence in release dates are so small as to be unable to assign blame conclusively. ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/17 "2001-09-09T01:41:33Z")
Cruel Intentions should never have been made. John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Glenn Close got it right the first time in Dangerous Liaisons. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/18 "2001-09-09T01:55:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Why on earth would anyone with a severe food allergy eat prepared food of any kind? Make your food from basic ingredients, chosen yourself, in your allergen-free kitchen. Has our society reached the point that access to prepared food is now a fundamental right? And how about Home Alone 3? If it weren’t for the title, there’d be absolutely no indication that they were trying to pass it off as a sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/19 "2001-09-09T02:12:53Z")
Uh, **Robodude** gets my vote for “Most Surreal and Oddly Appropriate Cross-Thread Quote Mismatch of the Year.” ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123/20 "2001-09-09T02:14:43Z")
There are also some rip-offs of flicks where the rip-off is pretty good (though rip-offs all the same). For instance, _Reservoir Dogs_, though a great flick, is a rip-off of _City on Fire_ with Chow-Yun Fat. Though a lot of American remakes of foreign films pale in comparison to the originals (_Three Men & A Baby_, _The Vanishing_). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extraordinary-unbelievable-rip-offs-in-movies/80123.md?page=2)