20 Great Movies That Were Accused Of Being Rip-Offs

19. Avatar (2009)

James Cameron's Avatar emerged to rave reviews upon first release and a word of mouth buzz that led it to becoming the highest-grossing motion picture of all-time, overtaking his own Titantic. Using innovative motion-capture techniques and state of the art visual effects, its "man infiltrates local tribe for deceptive purposes only to learn to appreciate and respect said tribe" plot found itself subjected to criticisms: wasn't it just Pocahontas? How Much Of A Rip-Off Are We Talking? Well, let's face it: Avatar does cling to a similar story premise to that of Pocahontas - but then again, so does Dances With Wolves. The problem with this plagiarism accusation is that Avatar seems to be basically using a classic story template rather than purposely ripping-off these movies. All in all, they criticisms don't hold very much ground - there's enough imagination in Avatar to justify the fact that James Cameron came up with the idea independently. Overall Rip-Off Rating: 2/5