J. Lee Thompson
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Directed by Gareth Edwards
influenced by The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Themes Visuals Plot
The story was inspired, according to Knoll, by World War II adventure films that had energized Lucas, pictures like The Dam Busters (1955) and The Guns of Navarone (1961).
The action scenes are exhilarating — including a battle on the planet Scarif, idyllic enough to look like it was torn from a Club Med pamphlet, which takes up the entire third act and pays homage to classic war movies like "The Guns of Navarone."
Star Wars took direct inspiration from the behind-enemy-lines "men on a mission" pictures of his youth, like 1955’s The Dam Busters and 1961’s The Guns of Navarone.
Written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, "Rogue One" harkens back to classic Hollywood war films like "The Guns of Navarone" and "Saving Private Ryan."
It’s not quite “Band of Brothers in Space,” but it does channel a little bit from the likes of “The Guns of Navarone” and “The Dirty Dozen” among others.
The long battle sequence is replete with close shaves, daring escapes, sudden reversals, acts of self-sacrifice and a sudden intervention by friends (no “Star Wars” movie worth its salt would do without plenty of combat between armadas of space ships), but ultimately the entire scenario comes down to a protracted sci-fi version of pictures like “The Guns of Navarone,” in which a ragtag bunch of heroes take on a presumably invincible foe to destroy a weapon of unimaginable magnitude.
The U.S. government turns to exfiltration specialist Tony Mendez (a magnificently bearded Affleck), who comes up with a plan so crazy it just might work (that it was inspired by Battle for the Planet of the Apes should have been a concern).
The costumes, hair and sets give off a pungent ’70s scent, starting with the old-school Warner Bros. logo in the opening credits to the movie Affleck’s son watches on a small TV – Battle for the Planet of the Apes, with makeup designed by John Chambers, played by Goodman here.
He's inspired by a late night viewing of "Battle For The Planet Of The Apes" with his son to create a fake science fiction film that is looking for exotic locations, requiring a trip to Iran.
So Tony Mendez (Affleck) gets the green light for a caper so wacky it can only have been inspired by his son watching “Battle for the Planet of the Apes.”
Directed by and starring Ben Affleck , who's working from a script by Chris Terrio, "Argo" settles in to a CIA conference room and lays out all of the scenarios and cover stories that won't work to get these four men and two women out of the country before Affleck's character, Tony Mendez, finds inspiration in a TV rerun of "Battle for the Planet of the Apes."
Luckily, Mendez has an inspiration while watching, of all things, “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” on television with his son.
Sahara (2005)
Directed by Breck Eisner
influenced by King Solomon's Mines (1985), Firewalker (1986)
Plot
Sahara is an Indiana Jones rip-off so dull that it gives me newfound respect for Cannon Films' 1985 version of King Solomon's Mines -- that infamous piece of cheese starring Richard Chamberlain as Allan Quatermain and a pre-stardom Sharon Stone as the damsel in constant distress.
In fact, Sahara is most comparable to an even worse Golan-Globus Indiana Jones wannabe -- the completely lackluster Firewalker (1986) with Chuck Norris and Louis Gossett Jr.
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Directed by Matt Reeves
influenced by Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Themes Plot
The original Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, from which the entire new trilogy draws most of its inspiration, was decidedly on the fence about humanity, indicting us for slavery and racism while also suggesting that maybe killing everyone isn’t the best response to same.
War for the Planet of the Apes, like its predecessors, is primarily an original tale but takes elements from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the two 1970s prequels.
That’s Cardiff, Wales, and I can’t recall the last time a movie had its climax there—was it Tiger Bay , with Hayley Mills ?
Unless you're thinking of George Chakiris in Kings of the Sun.
Gibson is not making an exotic yarn like “Kings of the Sun,” a 1963 romp in which Yul Brynner and George Chakiris played Mayan war hunks.
As for the slapdash and freewheeling screenplay, it oftentimes feels more like a riff on the 1985 version of King Solomon’s Mines crossed with Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid than it does anything else.
So you know a murderous stalker will eventually arrive, in honor of Robert Mitchum in "Cape Fear."
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Directed by Tim Burton
influenced by Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
Themes
Flipping the apes-as-slaves motif of "Conquest of" and "Battle for the Planet of the Apes," Burton's film proposes an ape-run planet in which humans are not just enslaved but, in Thade's view, dangerous enough to warrant total extinction.
Cape Fear (1991)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
influenced by The Guns of Navarone (1961), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Although Mr. Thompson, whose other credits included "The Guns of Navarone" and "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes," moved the first "Cape Fear" along in simple, linear fashion, Mr. Scorsese did not rely heavily upon the original.
Under the workmanlike direction of J. Lee Thompson (“Cape Fear,” 1961) from the script by producer Carl Foreman, which is based on the best-seller by Alistair MacLean, it becomes your typical crowd pleasing war film that questions wartime heroics but exploits their actions as part of its draw.
Although Mr. Thompson, whose other credits included "The Guns of Navarone" and "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes," moved the first "Cape Fear" along in simple, linear fashion, Mr. Scorsese did not rely heavily upon the original.
A particular picture creeps to mind: Eye of the Devil (1967), a ghoulish black-and-white chiller featuring Sharon Tate as the distaff half of a deadly brother-sister pair of Satan-worshipping witches.
Setting aside the question of whether the world really needed a second White House takeover movie, in terms of sheer craftsmanship and professionalism, “ White House Down” is to “Olympus Has Fallen” what “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was to the 1985 Richard Chamberlain-Sharon Stone version of “King Solomon’s Mines.”
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts
influenced by Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Themes
Compared to an actual contemporary film from the era, 1972’s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes —which embraced a full-on militant race war analogy— Skull Island ’s apolitical back stretch is disappointingly lacking in following through its earlier conviction. 1 The film’s most flavourless characters—Hiddleston and Larson’s hot interlopers—are treated to heroic Hollywood moments in capitulation to commercial concern, while the arcs of Goodman and Jackson’s more complex creations are cut short.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
influenced by The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Plot Themes
That's the first pillar of the script: a men-on-a-mission movie, like The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare or The Guns of Navarone, only with more shocking violence.
All Quiet on the Western Front ) the odd film out among countless movies that made viewers take delight in the wartime exploits of our fighting men ( The Dirty Dozen , The Guns of Navarone , Where Eagles Dare , and on and on and on).
Some of the movies Tarantino alludes to are The Big Red One, The Dirty Dozen, The Guns of Navarone, To Be or Not to Be, Sergeant York, and a bevy of others.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Directed by Jim Gillespie
influenced by Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
Plot
Taking its cue from such stalk 'n' slash low-budgeters as Happy Birthday to Me and Prom Night, I Know What You Did Last Summer slickly resurrects so many of the hallowed trappings of those films that it might as well be a long-lost cousin.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Directed by Matt Reeves
influenced by Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Plot
Perhaps it was because “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” deals with much of the same story elements as “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” (my favorite of the original “Apes” films) while “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” borrows heavily from “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” (the weakest installment, which was also the film that effectively killed the franchise for thirty years).
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973): The not-so-memorable, not-so-classics.
It’s all in service of an utterly conventional story, however, one you’ll be three steps ahead of even if you have no memories of the ’70s “Apes” movie (“Battle for the Planet of the Apes”) this is largely based on.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973): The not-so-memorable, not-so-classics.
With its grace and economy of narrative, "Apollo 13" resembles those grand old military exploits - "The Guns of Navarone," "The Dirty Dozen," "The Great Escape" and "Seven Days in May."
Cinematically, Gunn draws on all the gritty men-on-a-mission war movies of his childhood ( The Dirty Dozen , The Guns of Navarone , Where Eagles Dare ).