What are some less known plagiarisms/ripoffs?

Somehow i always thought Leone had acknolwedged it. Uh....

James Cameron had to settle out of court with Harlan Ellison for Terminator (well Orion Pictures did more specifically). Now it acknowledges the story was inspired by the Outer Limits episodes Soldier ad Demon With a Glass Hand, but originally it didn't.

 

"I am legend" is a redone "Omega Man."

 

How about Led Zeppelins first album and it's relation to some of Burt Yanchs songs? I heard it took twenty years before they gave him credit. I could be wrong. Bi just remember someone telling me something like that.

 

Love It !

 

Not to be difficult but... I think Richard Matheson's novella I Am legend predates Omega Man. Brilliant novel by the way, bears some similarities to the Will Smith movie but much deeper and thought provoking.

 

I should have clarified-I was speaking of the films. Omega Man starred Charleton Heston vs. I am legend with The Fresh Prince.

 

they -both- ripped off Last Man On Earth with Vincent Price !

 

And for what it's worth - I felt "Romeo and Juliet" was a total ripoff of "West Side Story" ...

 

One of my favorite from one of the great American writers of the last century...

 

I believe that same guy was ripping off "10 Things I Hate About You" with his highly derivative play "The Taking Of the Shrew."

Truth is, humans aren't particularly innovative creatures as individuals. Our strength is in mimicking others (for instance, I am mimicking someone else's thoughts on this). We mostly just steal openly from each other with the occasional translation error that gets repeated because of success or novelty or because our parents did it.

 

Are you surprised? Shakespeare = total hack.

 

I couldn't agree more. He really elevated the whole genre. RIP as well. I believe he just passed last year.

Few people know how many stories he actually wrote that they know from other places like the twilight zone or various movies.

 

Some things are worth repeating though, like Pharrell Williams' "Happy" tribute to Curtis Mayfield .

 

My nephews swear "Avatar" ripped off "Ferngully - the Last Rainforest."

 

Thank you for a most wise take on this subject.

Anybody who has their head planted anywhere outside their ass knows Avatar is a "take" on Fern Gully.


There basically hasn't been anything original since the '50's, or the '30's, or the first picture shows. All this "brilliant masterpice art" is just people ripping off older people.

 

"Resevoir Dogs" rips off a Hong Kong action movie from the 80s called "City on Fire". In some instances, Tarantino shoots the exact same scene (but with white guys).

 

The book Neuromancer by William Gibson (published 1984) features a virtual computer world called the Matrix. Hmm....

*OK, after reading a bit more, actually i think the directors freely acknowledged that. bah.

 

it's been said that there are really only seven plots and every movie is only a variation or combination of those...like music,movies have been around long enough that it is very rare to find something that has not been explored before....

 

I was going to mention Avatar being Ferngully as well, it is also extremely similar to Pochahontas.

The Hunger Games is a pretty bold ripoff of Battle Royale.