8. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959)
Much has been made of the Spielberg/Lucas adventure classic owing more than just a little debt to a Charlton Heston movie from 1954 called Secret of the Incas. While its true that the similarities are perhaps too close to be coincidence, arguably the most blatant knock-off in terms of set-pieces is the opening booby trap escape, in which Indy must run for his life from a huge, rolling boulder. Presenting, for the prosecution, this grainy still from the 1959 version of, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, starring James Mason, in which we find Hans Bjelke (Peter Ronson) running away from a suspiciously similar ball of stone. Returning the favour, in a moment of synchronicity, the makers of the 2008 remake of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, starring Brendan Fraser, subsequently referenced Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by featuring an oddly familiar mine cart sequence. What goes around comes around, much like a huge rolling ball of stone
