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The Matrix: RIP-OFF!


El Sitherino

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Originally posted by Sivy

i've been looking around other message boards and the marjory believe this story to be false.

 

and click on the link again, notice that you are no longer being taken to the story.

 

That's only because you have to register to the news site, but yeah, this could be fake.

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But didn't the makers of Terminator already get sued by harlan ellison cos it was based on his short story? That is why they had to add his name to the credits...

 

 

use mail@mail.com if it asks u for a email address to see the article... i registered with that.

 

Seems that it wasn't a case of it being similar, it was actually a case of willfull rip-off. Which is a shame... cos i liked Bound which was their previous film.

 

I have to say that I loved the first Matrix, but even when watching it i thought it wasn't that original... just a clever combination of John Woo, Ghost in the Shell and Terminator. with great music :D )

 

The sequels sucked bigtime though... :D

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Originally posted by Pie™

Didn't read the other posts, but I think the Matrix ripped a lot off Dark City too

 

Anyone who isn't a complete suburban cowboy knows that plagarism or no plagarism, The Matrix was not, by any stretch of the imagination, original. It really bugs me every time I hear it described as a ground-breaking film. It goes beyond just having influences.

 

I, personally, despise the Matrix. It blatanly, blatanly copies movies. Though this can be forgivable, it is not so in the light that it is also the weakest piece of Denny's-at-4am philosophy that I've ever seen. And not to mention tt's plauged by bad acting. I hate Keanu Reeves. So much.

 

Christ, they could have cast David Duchovny as Neo, and it still would have been a better choice than Reeves.

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Originally posted by Mike Windu

An episode of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a Matrix reference, was quite funny.

 

"Wait... bo staff... bunch of goons... time to try out one of my favorite movie moves"

 

:p

 

 

Yes, there IS something funny about that...

 

 

XD

 

 

 

j/k

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Yeah the birds was written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock so that would classify it as original....

 

I consider the 2 films inspired by the life and works of HUnter S Thompson are original also

 

anything by John Waters is Original... disturbing but original.

 

David Lynch , Tarantino...

 

There is some originality in movies.. however the so called blockbusters aren't

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Originally posted by Nalukai

Yeah the birds was written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock so that would classify it as original....

 

I consider the 2 films inspired by the life and works of HUnter S Thompson are original also

 

anything by John Waters is Original... disturbing but original.

 

David Lynch , Tarantino...

 

There is some originality in movies.. however the so called blockbusters aren't

indeed.

 

Blockbusters are the same things recycled over and over.

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Whu? The idea behind the Matrix was totally unoriginal. It was the presentation that people loved, including myself.

 

Also, sorry guys, that article is the ONLY place on the Internet you'll find that article info, and it's apparently from an email rumor. It hasn't happened. If you do a little research, you'll find stuff like this:

 

http://members3.boardhost.com/playahata/msg/6095.html

 

Basically, Stewart apparently succeeded in not getting the case thrown out of court.

 

And, sorry guys, AOL-Time Warner doesn't own the world. Essentially, this stuff sounds really quack-y, whether or not it's really true. (Do a little more research, guys.) Maybe when Stewart finishes negotiating with CBS, assuming THAT is actually true, we'll get some more clarity on this subject. (Or maybe more confusion. :))

 

edited because I can't type :D

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Seems to be alot of denial going on... :D

 

The first matrix *worked* cos it put all those influences together well. Even Keanu worked because the character was supposed to be kind of confused as to what was going on (and keanu looks permanently confused).

 

You can see that it made a big impression by the sheer number of rip-offs of the bullet time scenes that abounded in the years since it's release.

 

The problem is that a lot of wannbe hacker kiddies who hadn't seen a lot of the original influences took it WAAAAY to seriously and developed all these incredibly indepth theories about it's religious meanings and how it would conclude.

 

The sequels then showed that the authors (wachowskis or not) had put no such thought into it. It was just a fluke convergence of a number of cool factors after all... nothing more to it than that.

 

------

 

Tarantino isn't that original... he is just very well versed in international and cult cinema. Much like the matrix, his films tend to take the best ideas from works he is a fan of, and combine them into a great package with some of his trademark dialogue. (and, again like the matrix, great music).

 

Reservoir dogs was basically a remake of a hong kong film called "city on fire", with the "Mr White" idea taken from "the taking of pellham 123" and the style (especially of harvey keitel) taken from "a better tomorrow".

But it is still one of my favorite films, cos it was done amazingly well, had great acting and great dialogue.

 

Pulp fiction is probably his most original, but (as the title suggests) takes plots and ideas from a lot of "pulp" novels and low budget flics that he is such a fan of.

 

Jackie brown is elmore leonard (i think) but not done as well as "out of sight" and with a lot of early pam grier films rolled in.

 

Kill Bill.... well that is totally open about being based on HK samurai flics.

 

But at least he is completely open about where his influences come from, and he definately puts them all together into stunning packages (except jackie brown of course... yawn...)

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Toms has a point. How many movies could survive the kind of constant scrutiny, the "find the influence" nit-picking, that The Matrix has endured?

 

Star Wars certainly couldn't. Of course, Lucas never claimed to even want to be original... just the opposite: he likes to wear his influences on his sleeve.

 

Perhaps we should all just enjoy the films for what they are and not worry about how many parts of them are lifted from other, similar films or stories...

 

Hmmm....

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Originally posted by edlib

Perhaps we should all just enjoy the films for what they are and not worry about how many parts of them are lifted from other, similar films or stories...

 

This is reasonable. As far as the 'originality' thing goes, the only thing that bugs me is people who think the Matrix was some sort of ground-breaker.

 

Ignoring lack of originality in a movie is easy enough. But I don't think the Matrix has anything else to fall back on. I think it was a horrible movie. I, however, am in the minority.

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Well, visual effects-wise there's a very valid case that it was pretty ground-breaking in a couple of areas. They may or may not have been the inventors of the technology, or been the first to even use it, but they were certainly the ones to really put it on the map. There's a handful of certain special-effects that will forever be associated with the Matrix.

 

Story-wise: probably not-so-much... but so what?

 

I can still listen to a blues song even though it's been done millions of times before without it bothering me. (The Eric Clapton Crossroads festival film is playing on the TV as I type this, so that's why that particular analogy struck me at this time...)

 

Still, the first movie entertained me. The sequels didn't float my boat quite as much, but they certainly weren't the worst things I've ever seen.

I didn't have super-high expectations going into them, not being a totally-hardcore Matrix fan, so I wasn't as disapponted in them as some folks were.

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Originally posted by edlib

Perhaps we should all just enjoy the films for what they are and not worry about how many parts of them are lifted from other, similar films or stories...

 

Hmmm....

 

True..... but then again, that isn't what internet discussion boards were made for :D

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