It’s nearly impossible for any film these days to be 100% truly original.
Movies have been made for so long that just about everything is influenced by some kind
of pre-existing work.
Sometimes, directors can’t help but show their love for other projects, and they make
their tastes very well known to the audience.
You may not notice it at first, but some of the most popular scenes in your favorite films
strongly resemble – or rip-off, if you will – sequences that made their way to the big
screen much earlier.
Here are 10 famous movie scenes that were stolen from other movies.
Star Wars
One of the most triumphant finales in all of cinema happens in the original Star Wars,
where Luke and Han receive medals for their contributions during the Battle of Yavin.
Just the music alone is enough to make anyone swell up with pride.
So, its potential origins might surprise the most devout Jedi Knights.
The Rebel’s ceremony is eerily reminiscent of a sequence in the Nazi propaganda film
Triumph of the Will depicting a party rally.
Traces of World War II can definitely be felt in the Star Wars franchise, but typically
it’s the Empire meant to stand in for Hitler.
We didn’t know the heroes were fond of him too.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Sam and Frodo’s journey through Middle-earth is exceptionally dangerous, even when they
find a guide in the form of Gollum.
The creature brings the Hobbits to the Black Gate of Mordor so Frodo can complete his quest,
but Sauron’s army is there on the scene making things difficult.
The trio of heroes is forced to hide and peer over a ledge, and this sequence calls to mind
a similar scene from another fantasy classic.
The Wizard of Oz features a moment where characters are right outside the Wicked Witch’s castle,
trying to stay out of the villains’ sight.
It wouldn’t be a shock if Jackson was a fan of Oz, seeing that the film has long been
a favorite.
Boogie Nights
P.T.
Anderson’s Boogie Nights is essentially the adult film version of Martin Scorsese’s
Goodfellas, and that influence was readily apparent from the opening moments.
Anderson begins his movie with a sweeping one-take tracking shot of a club, introducing
viewers to all the principal characters from the ensemble.
It’s an impressive sequence, and it has traces of Goodfellas’ famous Copacabana
tracking shot that left a huge impression on viewers.
There, Henry Hill used his standing in the mob to take a short cut through the restaurant
and get a table, greeting various employees along the way.
Anderson may not have blatantly ripped off Scorsese, but the inspiration is apparent.
The Shining
In horror films, few moments are as iconic as Jack Nicholson’s terrifying “Here’s
Johnny!”
sequence, where the actor takes an axe to a bathroom door so he can try to attack his
wife and kid.
It’s become so ingrained in the pop culture zeitgeist, that it’s almost impossible to
imagine anyone else doing it first.
But Stanley Kubrick may have taken some pointers from the silent Swedish horror film The Phantom
Carriage, which features a scene that’s nearly identical to the one shown in The Shining,
including the same setup and weapon of choice.
Kubrick altered this scene from the novel, so we may know his source now.
Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino famously – or infamously depending on your point of view – wears
his influences on his sleeves.
He unapologetically borrows from his favorite films, putting his own spin on certain scenes.
In Pulp Fiction, he looked to Alfred Hitchcock for one of the more tense moments.
As Butch is on the run, he coincidentally sees Marsellus Wallace – who he had double-crossed
– crossing the street.
It’s heavily designed after a bit in Psycho, where Marion Crane pulls to a crosswalk and
notices her boss on the road.
The key difference is that Butch ran Marsellus over, while Marion just slowly drove away.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were clear in admitting that the old adventure serials
they watched in their youths influenced the Indiana Jones series.
It would seem they also went through the filmography of Charlton Heston.
Raiders of the Lost Ark features a sequence where Indiana locates the resting place of
the Ark of the Covenant using the Staff of Ra and his gold medallion.
It echoes a scene in the Heston vehicle Secret of the Incas, where Heston’s character solves
a puzzle using a medallion of his own and a beam of light.
The similarities look like more than a coincidence.
E.T.
– The Extra Terrestrial
Ask anyone to provide an example of pure movie magic, and the bikes flying in ET will be
commonly cited.
Few scenes have become so clearly synonymous with the awe and wonder of cinema, and the
imagery even served as the basis for Spielberg’s production company logo.
One of the director’s favorite films is Miracle in Milan, and he paid homage to that
work with the flying bit in ET.
Milan includes a sequence where the main characters are cornered by authorities and make a grand
escape by flying on broomsticks.
Audiences in 1951 were probably just as taken with this as 1982 viewers were when ET took
flight.
The Untouchables
Director Brian de Palma has more than a few great crime dramas to his name, and one of
his best-known offerings is The Untouchables.
That film is famous for the shootout in Union Station, which featured the now famous image
of a baby carriage rolling down the steps amidst the chaos.
In all likelihood, de Palma modeled this sequence after a similar scene in the silent film Battleship
Potemkin, which showcased a carriage falling down the Odessa steps as gunshots were going
off.
The one from The Untouchable has obviously become the more iconic, but de Palma might
have been trying to give more recognition to a silent era classic.
Kill Bill: Volume 1
Quentin Tarantino has a fondness for Kung Fu and old school karate movies, and they
are among the many he makes reference to in his own filmography.
Those curious to see how that genre influenced him can take a look at Kill Bill, most notably
the Bride’s fight against the Crazy 88s.
In it, the Bride is surrounded by swarms of enemies looking for the opportune moment to
kill her.
It’s very similar to a sequence from Fists of Fury, which features Bruce Lee’s character
in a nearly identical situation.
Cinephiles easily made the comparison, and if the reaction to Kill Bill is any indication,
they enjoyed this bit of homage.
Blade Runner
The final scene of Blade Runner primarily consists of shots of the great outdoors as
Deckard drives away with Rachael.
It seems more than a little out of place with the futuristic dystopian setting that Ridley
Scott had established for his film, and as it turns out, there’s a good reason for
that.
After wrapping, Scott’s producers wanted wilderness shots, but inclement weather and
time constraints prevented Scott from getting them.
He called Stanley Kubrick and asked if he could take some footage from the opening of
The Shining.
It’s not all the same, but it’s very close due to being from the same area.