Ah, right you are. The psych Prof who liked to go on and on about Memento would be ashamed.
I agree that Cameron could indeed do a much better job than Veerhoeven could ever even conceive of…
The core of Aliens is “competent, disciplined soldiers fighting lots of very hungry creatures”. Stripped of the quality that Cameron brought to the table, this is pretty much the core of Resident Evil, Dog Soldiers, and about a bazillion other movies.
The core of Starship Troopers is the Mobile Infantry and the relationship between the M.I. and the society it serves. The fighting is almost an afterthought. The battle described in the most detail isn’t even fought aginst the Bugs, but against a humanoid enemy with a more or less conventional society.
If you want to claim that Veerhoeven’s movie is a cheesy ripoff of Aliens by a no-talent hack who never bothered to read the novel, I’m definitely on board. But I don’t think that Cameron’s movie can be considered a retelling of Troopers.
Forrest Gump and The Jerk?
The plot of Disney cartoon “Atlantis” was pretty baldly lifted from the movie “Stargate”. Nerdy archeologist has strange theories that cause him to be professionally ostracized. A wealthy, mysterious woman shows up and offers him a job and the chance to prove his theories are correct. He has to solve a puzzle that allows him and some others to take a journey to a strange, long-forgotten place. There he finds a tribe, falls in love with the chief’s daughter, and helps them triumph in a climactic final battle. There a few differences, but a lot more things that are exactly the same, especially the Daniel Jackson/Milo character.
[slight hijack]
From what I’ve read in Industrial Light and Magic - The Art of Special Effects, Ralph McQuarrie designed Darth Vader’s costume as a way for him to move and breath in the vacuum of space. George didn’t like the idea, but did like the sinister appearance it gave Vader, and decided to give that a whole backstory. There’s a production painting in the book where both Luke and Vader are both suited up for fighting in vacuum. However, in some of McQuarrie’s original sketches, the helmet defintely does have a Samurai look to it.
[/return you to your regularly scheduled program]
K-pax is identical to an argentinian films of the 80`s “Hombre mirando al sudeste” (man looking at the southeast).
I can’t believe there wasn’t an scandal.
You’re both right. It’s a uterus with boobs hanging off the bottom of it. Paging Dr. Freud!
Thanks, CalMeacham, for the filmic education. I’ve heard that I’m supposed to learn something new every day. Now, thanks to you, I get to go back to bed!
The American movie Godzilla (derisively called GINO – Godzilla In Name Only – by its many detractors) isn’t really so much a remake of any Godzilla movie, I maintain, than it is a ripoff of the Ur-1950’s-Monster-Movie The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
Think about it. In both cases you’ve got a big lead-in where the Creature, brought out by Nuclear Testing, makes its way to New York City and is rarely seen. we track it yy the wave of destruction it leaves behind. The Good Guy scientist and the Female lead try to persuade the auithorities of the danger, unsuccessfully until it’s too late, and the Monster comes ashore in New York City. Amazingly, in both films, the military manages to LOSE the enormous monster in the middle of Manhattan!
And in both cases, the reason the monster was headed to New York was to spawn.
the Beast is finally shot trapped in the middle of a New York City landmark.
The Godzilla movie did more stuff – introduced actual babies, a French military man, a bigger Beast – and lacks some parts of the original (the reason the BF20kF is really dangerous isn’t its size, but because it’s carrying disease), but the other elements are amazingly close – and unlike any of the Japanese Godzilla flicks.
Of course, I’ve long suspected that Inoshiro Honda’s seminal Godzilla flick was inspired in large part by Bf20kF.
The Perfect Score
The Breakfast Club
Every set of previews I see a the theater lately seems to have a least one or two blantantly derivitive features coming up. It seems there are very few people left in filmaking who are capable of developing truely original work.
I noticed this too … the “vengeful child in the well” thing was pretty well lifted wholesale.
And, the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was, shall we say, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story The Foghorn.
The studio sent Bradbury the script of the movie for comment, and he returned it with his comments and noted the similarity. The studio read his story, agreed, and sent him a check.
We all probably know all about what I’m about to post, so I wonder if my shorthand would suffice:
Thunderball
McClory
Lawsuit
Never Say Never Again
I think Millers Crossing was fairly similar as well.
Though I believe LMS and MC both referenced the original books as well.
The Ray Bradbury story was originally called The Beast fom 20,000 Fathoms when it appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. There’s not really much similarity between them, except that they involve rescucitated prehistoric beasts.
Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen, by the by, were high school friends, and contributed to the same fanzine.
It was two other guys who wrote the screenplay, and they saw the appeal of piggybacking on Bradbury’s story and fame. Harryhausen added a nocturnal scene with a lighthouse (all done artfully in silhouette) that forms the only real connection between the two. I don’t know if that came before or after Bradbury was contacted.
Years later, Bradbury turned his story (by now remaned “The Foghorn”) into a play. You can read it in The Foghorn and other plays.
Actually, the Eon Productions people were pretty good at stealing the plots of James Bond films from themselves:
**You Only Live Twice
The Spy Who Loved Me
Goldfinger
A View to a Kill** (“Siliconfinger”)
In that vain, how about:
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
-and-
Star Trek: Nemesis
Wow. I can’t believe I’ve never made the connection before but you’re absolutely right.
You Only Live Twice
The Spy Who Loved Me
Major Power’s high-tech vessel swallowed by evil vessel. Nations accuse each other of the evildoing, escalating into possible war. With the help of an agent from another country, Bond finds a connection to SPECTRE through a legitimate intermediary. Eventually hidden fortress camouflaged by a natural element is discovered. Bond sneaks inside, rescues the captured military forces and wages war against armored control room. Evil doer’s plan to steal opposing country’s vessel to launch his attack in secret is thwarted.
Goldfinger
A View to a Kill (“Siliconfinger”)**
Bond meets respected international businessman in formal setting. Businessman turns out to be using his legitimate empire to make more money for himself by destroying existing stockpiles of competing product. Scheme involves blowing up area where stockpiles exist. Evil man invites investors to see his plan. One honorable investor declines and is quickly disposed of, followed by a witty one-liner. Evil man is betrayed by a woman confidante. Evil man kills own henchman to show how evil he is. Evil man eventually falls from great height to his death.
Crazy/Beautiful is basically the same movie as Mad Love except with Kirsten Dunst and Jay Hernandez instead of Drew Barrymore and Chris O’Donnell. Neither was very good.
Do remakes of foreign films count?
2 off the top of my head:
“3 Men and a Baby” was based on a French film 'Trois hommes et un couffin" - I liked the French version better (high school French class wheee!) - some more adult jokes in there.
Pure Luck was based on a French film called La Chevre - I’ve seen both and there are scenes which are almost exactly the same in both, just with different lead actors - I think they even used the same locations and actors.
Someone mentioned Atlantis before - it’s closer to a Japanese anime series Nautica - closer being almost exactly the same. This goes for the Lion King/Kimba already mentioned and there was an anime Aladdin as well that has a heck of a lot of similarities too.