5. Avatar (2009)
Original: Dances with Wolves (1990) The similarities between James Camerons smurf-populated 3D extravaganza Avatar and the Kevin Costners Michael Blake adaptation, Dances with Wolves for which Costner serves as director, producer and star are perhaps less substantial than some entries here, though are substantial nonetheless. The idea of Avatar not being an entirely original work was leveled at Cameron upon Avatars release by fans and critics alike. Some corners suggested Camerons ideas were lifted from Soviet fantasy writers, Arkady and Boris Stugatskys Noon Universe while other suggested it had more in common with Disneys Pocahontas or even the non-Disney animation Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. These accusations may very well hold water, yet the most frequently aimed accusations of plagiarism fired in Camerons direction was by those citing Dances with Wolves as its true source of inspiration. Well if the Disturbia can be found not guilty of ripping off Rear Window, than its unlikely James Cameron will have anything to worry about, but just how similar are the two films?
Each involves a lone soldier taking up a post in a foreign land or new world after being sent there by his own kind. Each involves said soldier gradually discovering, learning about, and eventually becoming one of, the inhabitants of said foreign land after realizing the hypocrisy of his own people. Each develops a relationship with a female from the other culture. When the soldiers people threaten the indigenous peoples land, it is the indigenous people the soldier fights for by rallying the indigenous troops against their oppressor after realizing the rank injustice being served, and so on. Maybe Cameron did borrow a little from Dances with Wolves, maybe he borrowed from other films or maybe he didnt intentionally borrow at all. The thing with Avatar is that Avatar wasnt a success because of or indeed in spite of, its story. The story looking at the Avatar as a whole felt very much incidental, the success was its spectacle and the experience and perhaps this is why, despite obviously similarities, ultimately the outcry was more of a whimper.