20 Great Movies That Were Accused Of Being Rip-Offs

15. The Terminator (1984)

This entry marks the second occassion on this list where James Cameron's name has been associated with that of a "rip-off," this time for his seminal sci-fi flick The Terminator, which concerns a plot about a killer robot sent back through time to kill the unborn leader of a future human rebellion in a world ruled by artificial intelligence. " was blown away by it," said writer Harlan Ellison when he saw the movie, before then suggesting that Cameron had "ripped him off." How Much Of A Rip-Off Are We Talking? Ellison, a writer for TV's Outer Limits, insisted that Cameron had gone ahead and based The Terminator on one of his episodes, titled "Soldier," which featured a solider from the future going back through time and being hunted by government agents. There was also a suggestion that Cameron took aspects from another Ellison episode, "Demon with a Glass Hand," but Ellison was more convinced that "Soldier" was the one. In fact, neither of these stories are much like Terminator at all; Ellison was given money by Orion, though, whereas Cameron called him a "parasite." Overall Rip-Off Rating: 1/5