With 'borrow', I of course mean, 'steal'.

This usually happens with plots or characters, some examples;

A Fistful of Dollars, a western starring Clint Eastwood, is pretty much a(n unofficial) remake of the earlier movie Yojimbo. (although this one resulted in a lawsuit, it was the only one in the entire list that did)

Anything containing Dracula or vampires, is bound to draw a lot of it's stuff from the novel that brought said vampire (who, unlike what a lot of people think, isn't a folk figure, but actually a fully fictional character that draws some of it's inspiration from the historical 'Vlad the Impaler') into this world, back in 1897.

Star Wars : A New Hope is 'loosely' based on The Hidden Fortress, with the first draft of the script practically being a word for word copy, the only real difference being that was set in space, not Feudal Japan. In the final cut, you still see representations of the characters as you did in that movie, including Han Solo, who is based on the main character, a general tasked with protecting a princess as they flee hostile territory, in the 1958 Japanese film, while R2-D2 and C-3PO are based on the lesser peasants in the movie, including the camera following them for a majority of the film, giving the feeling as if the story was told mostly from their point of view.

A rather obvious one is Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (and to a lesser extent, The Hobbit), which has inspired a majority of the fantasy novels, videos and games ever since it's first publishing.

A more recent example is the Harry Potter series, which draws quite some inspiration the Discworld novels, mostly in locations and secondary characters. For example, the school of magic as shown in Harry Potter, can be compared to the Unseen University in Discworld, with the dining halls being exact replicas of one another, up until the showboating done by the wizards. (floating candles, etc etc)

So what I'm wondering is, when did this become... Okay, even normal to do these things? Is it because their popularity outshines that of the original in our culture? What on earth could justify this lack of originality?

I believe the honest truth is, that it's all been done. Every other movie these days is unoriginal or not interesting.

Maybe if you'd watch something besides MTV and Nickelodeon, you might see something original once in a while.

Originality is still alive and beating, but as always, you have to look for it, and it mostly goes unappreciated for the crap spouting out from Hollywood.

Welcome to the sheep parade, where the herders make a bundle.

I hear the coming years will herald the unholy resurrections and remakes of the 80s.

Star Wars used an old writing technique where you think of a basic plot, then find something similar to that. Then you start changing things until you have something different (With maybe a few small similarities.)

"Hey, what if we take the samurai, and make them psychic!
Oh yeah, and we'll give them LASERS!!!"

"What? Lasers? That'll never work, they're SWORDSMEN."

"Okay, fine. Laser SWORDS, then."

Pretty much.

Well, the fact is that all those movies were better than what they stole from. (except Hairy Putter, Discworld is way better than that s***) Vampire movies are different though, Hakker. They're all inspired by the tales of Vlad (who, in turn, inspired Stroker's original book), and are more or less re-inventions of that lore.

Honestly, why would anyone waste their free time to watch several movies and see who stole from what? It's f*** entertainment, who gives a s***?

Well, as long as the movie industry continues, originality slowly dies.

in japan, when you use something from another show in yours, its considered that you're honoring that show :/

Actually, Jedi and Sith surfaced later, instead the samurai were turned mostly into storm troopers. In The Hidden Fortress, the general (ergo, the character Han Solo is based on) was the main protagonist. Luke, for example, has no character he is based on.

While it was true that both Stroker and some of the newer movies drew inspiration directly from Vlad, I assure you that most movies instead draw directly from the novel. In particular, Abraham Van Helsing and Jonathan Harker frequently appear.

And for the record, The Hidden Fortress was way better than Star Wars : A New Hope. YA HEARD ME, FANBOYS.

Wrong.

Why else would A Fistful of Dollars be sued?

Well honestly, how many people in America saw a Japanese movie from the 50s?

Also, Empire Strikes Back is my favorite Star Wars, so...ha.(?)

George Lucas did, duh.

... And crap, you had to pick the only one which I can't destroy by exposing it's flaws.

Hey, Hakker.










They're not copying anyone. It's all compleeeeeeeeetely original.