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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
 Posted - 09/16/2008 : 1:21:42 PM
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Example: Jaws was the blockbuster. Piranha was the rip-off.
Now Jaws wasn't the first movie about maneating sharks any more than Star Wars was the first outer space saga. But both movies had a groundbreaking impact on cinema and (inadvertently) gave birth to a cottage industry of imitators and quickie-movie ripoffs.
So for the purposes of this discussion, name an influential movie, then pick your favorite copycat film of same. And if you liked the copycat better than the original that inspired it, tell us why. |
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RossM
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2008 : 8:32:01 PM
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| Fatal Attraction was a glossy but rather stupid ripoff of Clint Eastwood's low budget scarer Play Misty For Me. Despite its low budget and lack of style Misty is better at every level than is Fatal Attraction. The bathtub scene in Fatal Attraction comes directly from Les Diabolique. Both movies take a lot from the opera Madama Butterfly. |
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New Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
469 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 05:44:46 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by RossM
Fatal Attraction was a glossy but rather stupid ripoff of Clint Eastwood's low budget scarer Play Misty For Me. Despite its low budget and lack of style Misty is better at every level than is Fatal Attraction. Both movies take a lot from the opera Madama Butterfly.
True. Madame Butterfly is referred to in both FATAL ATTRACTION and the spoof FATAL INSTINCT, as well as in A.J. Cronin's novel with a similar plot, The Judas Tree. |
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New Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
469 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 05:46:08 AM
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| I suggest somebody compare the plot of SOPHIE'S CHOICE to Yael Dayan's novel Death had Two Sons. |
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nshumate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
464 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 06:18:29 AM
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I remember years ago, TBS (or a similar channel) billed their upcoming showing of Leviathan as "the best Alien rip-off ever!"
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 06:43:29 AM
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How many Spaghetti Westerns were ripoffs of Yojimbo?
"You talk to us about heavy artillery. Thank God, we don't have any. It's the lightness of its guns that make the French army what it is." - representative of the French General Staff to the budget commission of the Chamber of Deputies, 1909 |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 06:45:02 AM
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That said, I prefer A Fistful of Dollars to Yojimbo.
"You talk to us about heavy artillery. Thank God, we don't have any. It's the lightness of its guns that make the French army what it is." - representative of the French General Staff to the budget commission of the Chamber of Deputies, 1909 |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 06:50:31 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by nshumate
I remember years ago, TBS (or a similar channel) billed their upcoming showing of Leviathan as "the best Alien rip-off ever!"
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com
Monstervision! Always loved the 'truth in advertising of Joe Bob Briggs.
Marvin the Paranoid Android to Buzz Lightyear "Too infinity and beyond-i've been there, its rubbish!"
"Hoody Hoo, i waste 'em with my cross bow!" Bob Herzog- KODT
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New Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
469 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 08:16:05 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ericb
How many Spaghetti Westerns were ripoffs of Yojimbo?
YOJIMBO itself ripped off ten thousand westerns, the best of which was SHANE. |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 10:22:41 AM
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Pitch Black is my favorite Alien/s rip-off. In fact, today I love it more than either of those first two movies.
(Though the Pitch Black aliens themselves were sorry knock-offs of the H.R. Giger originals themselves, I'll grant you.) |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 10:32:21 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ericb
That said, I prefer A Fistful of Dollars to Yojimbo.
Heresy!! *lol* OK, not really. As great as FFoD is I think I give the edge to Yojimbo. I just like samurai and you can't beat Mifune. Actually, I have a soft spot for Last Man standing as well though it doesn't hold up to the other two.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, rattling around, is an example of a cheap knock-off that I like way more than the big-budget original and I can't get it to the fore-front... it's killing me...
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I sleep now!! |
Edited by - Sardu on 09/17/2008 10:33:30 AM |
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New Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
469 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 10:47:45 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Sardu
Somewhere in the back of my mind, rattling around, is an example of a cheap knock-off that I like way more than the big-budget original and I can't get it to the fore-front... it's killing me...
Stop trying and it will come back to you while you're thinking of something else. |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 1:45:14 PM
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I also have a soft spot for Last man standing, Sardu. And to make the topic just a bit cloudier, I'll add that Yojimbo was a knock-off of Dashiell Hammett's "Red Harvest".
As for me, I still think Under siege 2 is better than part one, and arguably it is a knock-off of both Die Hard and the first Under siege. |
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RossM
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2008 : 8:33:57 PM
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| Movie ripoffs have been made for years and years. Afterall nothing succeeds like success. For example, in 1933 MGM made a movie called Dancing Lady, which was an exact copy of the huge hit from the previous year: 42nd Street. Dancing Lady is filmed in the exact same style and has basically the same plot as the superrior 42nd Street. It is only memorable because of its cast, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford and as the stage hands...the Three Stooges with Ted Healy. |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2008 : 03:31:55 AM
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My all time favorite is "It - the Terror From Beyond Space" (1958)which was ripped off by the equally stunning "Alien". Anyone remember that?
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://www.henrybrennan.com/
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Edited by - hbrennan on 09/18/2008 03:35:44 AM |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2008 : 05:23:56 AM
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| And if Event horizon qualifies as a The dark hole ripoff, I think it is a huge improvement. |
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