Hollywood...what's up with using the same predictable themes in movies?

[MAD.MANTIS]

I saw Apocalypto last night and I could SWEAR I've seen that same theme played out in at least 5 different movies.

Spoilers below:

























How many themes have you seen like this:

A completely innocent man gets wronged by many cruel, unsympathetic bad-guys. He breaks free from their captivity, runs into some jungle or the woods and kills off each bad guy one-by-one as they come after him. Oh yeah, and despite the fact that he's running for his life, he manages to have enough time to set up a few elaborate traps that the bad guys will surely walk right into despite the fact they are in a HUGE forest or jungle.

Gahhh!!!!

[Advocate]

Its the same with Music, Mantis. Once the first action movie was made. The theme will always repeat. You can say that theme was in Rambo II: First Blood, Deliverance, Commando, Predator, etc. It will always repeat.

[MAD.MANTIS]

Surviving the Game too....same thing.

[Advocate]

Condemned and The Marine as well.

[Specineff]

A completely innocent man gets wronged by many cruel, unsympathetic bad-guys. He breaks free from their captivity, runs into some jungle or the woods and kills off each bad guy one-by-one as they come after him. Oh yeah, and despite the fact that he's running for his life, he manages to have enough time to set up a few elaborate traps that the bad guys will surely walk right into despite the fact they are in a HUGE forest or jungle.

Gahhh!!!!

The Count of Montecristo FTW.

No, seriously. Minus the guns and deaths, Dumas got the jump on Hollywood, hundreds of years earlier.

[Advocate]

Any action movie based in 1980-1995.

[oneironama]

I think hollywood's just officially out of fresh ideas.

How else do you explain so many video game to movie adaptations...I mean Castlevania and Gears of War? C'mon... XD

[Frogacuda]

I think hollywood's just officially out of fresh ideas.

How else do you explain so many video game to movie adaptations...I mean Castlevania and Gears of War? C'mon... XD

The weird thing is, there actually are plenty of fresh ideas, and the independent movie scene is doing better than ever, but those big studio comic book pics an sequels are just easy, guaranteed money.

[Specineff]

Yup. I bet that Lucas would have a hard time pitching Star Wars to Fox/Warner/whatever nowadays. Oh, God. I dread to think what they would do to the ultimate space opera if it fell into their hands... *shudders violently*

[Hunter]

The weird thing is, there actually are plenty of fresh ideas, and the independent movie scene is doing better than ever, but those big studio comic book pics an sequels are just easy, guaranteed money.


Examples please. :)

[shinjirod]

TBH, the problem with apocalypto isnt that its unoriginal. the problem is that its stupidly bad designed, completely wrong historically and with huge language mistakes, and that its simply shit.

[Hunter]

Well, IMO, historical in/accuracy has never had an effect on how good/bad a movie is. 300 being the prime example.

[shinjirod]

at least 300 talks about something that did happen, even though it exagerates.

apocalypto puts the mayans and spaniards in a theme that completdelly out for time.

[Hunter]

My point is, historical inaccuracy can't make an awesome movie cease to be awesome. Apocalypto sucks, and had it been 100% accurate, it still would've sucked.

[shinjirod]

but at least i wouldntve felt offended.

[Advocate]

Didn't see it. Had no reason to watch it. I never liked that time period or the subject matter anyway.

[Hunter]

but at least i wouldntve felt offended.


Fair enough.

So you have Maya blood in you?

[shinjirod]

nope. i actually dont have mexican blood at all. but i did live in mayan territory for over 12 years, so i do know bits of the language, the whole history and have a very deep respect for the mayan civilization.