As the saying goes: if it ain't broke, don't fix it - and the same goes for movie props.
With dozens of blockbusters released every year, it only makes sense for studios and
producers to reuse sets, weapons, gadgets, or props, but fans aren't usually meant to
notice them.
You'd be surprised to see how many of your favorite movies were filled with recycled
material, but more often than not, it only makes watching them even better.
Here are Screen Rant's 10 Movies That Stole Their Props From other Films.
The Avengers (Marvel/Disney)
When a blockbuster movie deals with the US military and the men and women fighting overseas,
it's not hard for a movie studio to negotiate the use of actual vehicles and aircraft.
But what do you do when the military in your film is completely fictitious, based on Marvel
Comics top secret SHIELD?
It turns out full scale replicas of fighter aircraft aren't all that common, and even
though most of the Jets seen in the first Avengers are CGI, the one that Hulk destroys
in his fight with Thor isn't.
It's the same prop Arnold Schwarzenegger piloted in True Lies, with a new paint job and a less
glamorous role.
Starship Troopers
Paul Verhoeven's futuristic war between humans and alien "bugs" relied on relatively simple
body armor and helmets - but 20th century Fox got more than their moneys worth out of
the space marine costumes.
Joss Whedon would turn to the exact same uniforms for the Alliance soldiers of Firefly (Use
Still), and they even made a quick appearance at the end of the 2001 reboot of Planet of
the Apes, Hidden under a new coat of shiny black paint.
Back to the Future
There's a good chance that every environmentalist fan of Back to the Future is still waiting
for the invention of Mr. Fusion, the home energy device introduced at the end of the
trilogy's first movie.
In reality, Mr. Fusion was really a Krups coffee grinder, but its sleek futuristic design
made it perfectly suited for the cutting edge tech of 2015.
But Doc Brown wasn't the first to put the prop to a more impressive use: the production
team of Ridley Scott's Alien also found the grinder to be a vision of the future, mounting
to a wall of the Nostromowsoace station in the movies opening shots.
And to think, some people only used it for coffee!
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
There were lots of unforgettable moments in T2, but the Terminator unleashing a storm
of lead from Cyberdyne headquarters - being careful not to hurt any humans, as ordered
by John Connor.
But that's no ordinary minigun he's firing: it's the exact same one that he saw up close
in Predator years earlier.
The original Terminator 2 script called for a smaller gun, but James Cameron was clearly
a fan of the monstrous weapon, and gave Arnold Schwarzenegger a turn instead.
If you look close, you can even see where the original handle and sling attached, meaning
Arnold had to hold the gun's entire weight with only his arms.
Somehow, we don't think that was a problem.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
They say that one person's trash is another person's treasure, and the first Star Wars
prequel supports the claim.
When the Jedi are strolling through Watto's scrapyard, you can clearly make out an EVA
pod from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is apparently the very same prop used
in filming.
Kubrick actually demanded every one of his props be destroyed to keep other studios and
films from copying his success, so either the hidden Star Wars pod was overlooked, or
it was just one of the hundreds of props rebuilt for the sequel, 2010.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
We explained how Star Trek movies have used the exact same footage from one to the next,
but this one is almost too good to be true.
In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the modelling team went all out, making an impressive orbital
office complex as complex as any project before.
Apparently, the team was too proud of the model to give it just one big screen appearance.
Assuming fans would recognize the structure if it was used in the sequel, Wrath of Khan,
they did what any reasonable person would do: turn it upside down, and the transformation
from offices to the Regula One space station was complete.
Alien
Physical props are one thing, but what about digital ones?
Fans of Ridley Scott have imagined that both Blade Runner and the Alien series exist in
the same universe, but it's a reused prop that proves the director's two greatest sci-fi
stories have more in common than you'd think.
When Deckard is picked up by a police spinner, the launch sequence screen is identical to
the one used on Alien when the escape pod leaves the ship.
It's not the only reused footage, and even if it was only meant to cut down costs, it
provided an in-universe link that's hard to ignore.
Spider-Man
Every director has their good luck charm, from clothing, to supporting actors, and even
camera tricks.
But for Sam Raimi, it's the 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that he drove during his college
days.
The large yellow car - nicknamed "The Classic" - has appeared in nearly all of his films,
from Spider-Man to Drag Me To Hell and Army of Darkness.
The car also made an appearance as a broken down wreck in the modern Evil Dead remake,
but it's the western The Quick and the Dead that takes the cake.
Raimi made sure his car would fit into the movie's Old West setting by hiding it under
a complex wagon chassis, making it sure it still kept the tradition alive.
The Empire Strikes Back
No matter how hard George Lucas and the Star Wars producers tried, it always seemed that
the smallest, most ignored characters and roles are the ones most embraced by fans.
So the lineup of bounty hunters Vader assembles in Episode 5 have all earned fan followings,
but the slim droid known as IG-88 has been adopted by more than almost any other.
It's funny, since the characters creation itself was clearly a bit of a joke.
When a droid bounty hunter was called for, crew just looked at the previous film's set,
and used their imagination.
How else do you explain the droid's head being made from a drink dispenser used in the Mos
Eisley cantina?
Harry Potter
The Room of Requirement was a pivotal location in the final chapters of the movie series,
enchanted to appear as whatever room was needed by the Witch or wizard to access it.
But when the filmmakers needed it to be filled to the brim with everything imaginable, they
called on props from nearly every movie that came before it.
There's the Chinese lanterns from the Christmas party in the Half-Blood Prince, the Harp Quirrell
used to keep the three headed dog sleeping in the Philosopher's Stone, and a giant chess
piece from the same movie.
Fans can dissect every inch of the frame to find them all.
Those are just some of the recycled props we caught in hit movies, but which other ones
did we miss?
Make sure you tell us in the comments, and remember to subscribe to our channel for more
videos like this one!