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Best And Worst Remakes/Rip-Offs Of 2013

No one can deny that most movie studios in Hollywood occasionally run a little low on originality. Luckily for them, there's over a century of classic films that can provide inspiration for new ones... in addition to already-formed characters, plots and dialogue, if need be. So, it's never a surprise when a remake gets the green light - this year alone, we've had many. Now and then, one of these remakes is pretty good. Other times, a remake is bad or just utterly pointless. Sometimes, they're even masquerading as original films. Join us as we count off the top five best (and bottom five worst) remakes and rip-offs from the past year.

5. Oblivion (RIP-OFF)

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This Tom Cruise sci-fi action extravaganza is exhaustingly generic, blatantly lifting and blending the plots of Moon and WALL-E. It doesn’t quite work, maybe because Cruise is nowhere near as good an actor as Sam Rockwell or maybe because he’s nowhere near as cute and cuddly as WALL-E.

The result is a middling, been-there-done-that sci-fi flick that’s deficient on almost every level. The minds behind Oblivion can’t even come up with an original antagonist – robot supervisor Sally (voiced by Melissa Leo) is a second-rate knock-off of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

As director Joseph Kosinski intended Oblivion as an homage to classic sci-fi movies, I’m inclined to let him off for the other instances of thievery, but I’ll list the obvious ones for your viewing (dis?)pleasure: Independence Day, Planet of the Apes, The Matrix and Dune.

Well, that’s our list of the best and worst remakes and rip-offs from this past year. Did we miss any, or do you disagree with our picks? Sound off in the comments section!

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