Star Wars v. Star Trek: it's an age old battle that generations of geeks and nerds have fought out at comic cons and in internet forums for ages. That age old fight will probably go on past when we reach a time that the technology in those space epics become possible. What amazes me about this epically overrated battle of the sci-fi Odysseys, is that each series covers the same premise - adventures in the great beyond.This may be the most famous, but definitely not the only similar movie feud. In fact throughout the history of cinema directors and script writers have been ripping each other off without mercy. At least Star Wars and Star Trek had the decency to have unique story lines - some don't even go that far.
Our first example of story ripoffs is one of world ending proportions, and I mean that literally. Of course I'm talking about Deep Impact and Armageddon. The gist is that something is a huge comet/asteroid is coming towards the earth bent on creating a sequel to the whole dinosaurs going extinct thing. The comet based Deep Impact came out a whole two months before Armageddon, but the latter is the film everyone remembers.
Why did Armageddon win the battle? Better cast, which included Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler etc. The ensemble of Deep Impact featuring an even more adolescent Elijah Wood and Morgan Freeman as the president didn't stand a chance. To top things off Armageddon was directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer sealing Deep Impact's casket.
The next fued is hot, and features another disaster. This one's between Dante's Peak and Volcano. Both films deal with the possible distruction of a community from pools of liquid hot magma. Dante's Peak stars Peirce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton and Volcano, Tommy Lee Jones. Both have a good cast but Dante's Peak still comes out on top.First of all there's no actual volcano in Volcano. Sure there's lava, burning and distruction, but isn't that false advertising? The movie also has about as much geological scientific fact as Die Hard follows the laws of physics. Dante's Peak has a believeable storyline, is scientifically accurate and... it stars James Bond. You can't mess with James Bond.
Speaking of James Bond that brings me to my next two movies. Sean Connnery should get some sort of award for ripping himself off. In the 60s the original Bond appeared in Thunderball, and then appeared as Bond again, slightly older, in the non-cannon film 80s film Never Say Never Again. What's the big deal? The movies have the exact same plot.
Never Say Never Again was an uncanonized attempt at putting Ian Fleming's book Thunderball on the screen. Apparently someone thought the 60s version didn't do the novel justice, and another attempt was made that closely followed the book's plot. What did we learn from this? James Bond does get old and when he does he experiences some deja vu - or he's just gotten senile.
And if you thought Connery ripping himself off decades later by playing the same character was as bad as it gets, you are sadly mistaken.
In a prequel to The Exorcist was shot and eventually completed. Unfortunately the stuido didn't think it was enough of a horror film, so they shelved the finished film and shot the whole thing again... using the same script and actors. A year later Exorcist: The Beginning is released. Unfortunately the film bombs, so guess what they do?
The studio releases the first film under the name Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist. The two films have the same plot and actors but use a different treatment. Other than that, they're exactly the same - talk about beating a dead horse.
I'm sure there are other rip-off movies that I can't think of, so if you have one let me know. Remakes don't count such as the 1930s of Nosferatu versus Werner Herzogs remake in the 70s. I'm sure there are plenty out there. Happy hunting.
