MovieChat Forums > Them! (1954) Discussion > THEM! (James Cameron already re-made it)

THEM! (James Cameron already re-made it)

posted 19 years ago by [email protected]
56 replies | jump to latest

james Cameoron did a fine job lifting virtually every plot element from the movie THEM!. Don't believe me?

1. The little girl

2. The little girl's doll's head

3. The search for the queen laying the eggs.

4. Entering the nest (the hive)not to mention the eggs.

5. The military going in to the nest and machine gunning them "insects".

6. The flame thrower and destroying the eggs

7. The female scientist who leads James Arness and and James Whitmore into the nest and declares when seeing the eggs: BURN THEM! BURN EVERYTHING!

8. The military going under the streets of LA in earch of the ants which looks like planet Acheron's "heat exchange coolers" in Aliens.

9. Even the WEATHER which in THEM! is a sandstorm and is EXACTLY the same weather conditions on James Cameron's ALIENS. It's sets a great mood.

My point is that ALIENS for me (and I own both films) is a space-age version of THEM! and nothing more.

[–] Flight_of_Fantasy 13 years ago

James Cameron has never had an original idea in his life. In addition to Aliens' similarity to Them!, a couple of his movies were lifted straight from The Outer Limits, Avatar from the episode The Chameleon, and Terminator from the Harlan Ellison episodes Soldier and Demon with a Glass Hand.

"He's already attracted to her. Time and monotony will do the rest."

[–] nickm2 13 years ago

Nope....Ellison is notoriously 'lawsuit-happy' & JC didn't have the fiscal 'firepower' to fight being sued back then; I still don't see how 'Soldier' & 'Demon with the Glass Hand' has ANYTHING to do with Terminator---they involve 'time travel' & that's about it...

NM

[–] croat-hr 12 years ago

All of this thread prooves my pheory that James Cameron is a hudge hoax and one of the worst directors ever. Sure he makes some good movies, but none of his movies has any artistical qualities or heart in them, they are all just made for money. Every scene he makes he just wonders what would make people think that this is a good movie? Ok, I know! Lest put some forced indian recpect-the-nature propananga, this is popular these days; that should make poeple think I am an original director who makes original and heart warming movies!

And he was actually my best director when I was younger,(I still love both first terminators) but since titanic came out and expecially Avatar i started to laugh what a fake wannabe-original director he really is.

[–] nickm2 12 years ago

I have a theory that you wear "Uwe Boll Fanclub" footie pajamas....

[–] franzkabuki 13 years ago

And Them! is also the better movie in pretty much every department except for the action & special effects. Strangely for a 50´s sci-fi movie, the relatively understated drama of it can actually be taken seriously and it´s all presented in a way that renders the story borderline believable.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] distant 13 years ago

Well, Cameron had allready stolen lots of shots from the english black and white film based on the Titanic...

[–] Darvidd 13 years ago

In Cameron's defence the Titanic movies were both showing the same general events based on the same original accounts of them-it would be a great surprise if they didn't appear similar...that being said 'A Night To Remember' is by far the better account of the sinking-as far as 'Them' is concerned I think it's less like 'Aliens' than it is like 'Tremors' especially the first halves of both movies (I'm a big fan of both)-there really are only so many basic plots for film and TV and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

'What is an Oprah?'-Teal'c.

[–] MystMoonstruck 13 years ago

Watch the pilot for the TV series "The Time Tunnel". The first one is set on the Titanic, with Tony ending up in a situation very like Leonardo. I hadn't seen the opening to that series for decades yet, as soon as I saw "Titanic" (thankfully, not on the big screen), it looked like such an outright lift.

I love the comparison of "Them!" and "Aliens"! Very good work, as noted by others already!

*** The trouble with reality is there's no background music. ***

[–] tate89 13 years ago

He speaks about THEM! in this 1986 interview, saying it was probably subconsciously implanted in his mind when he first saw it at 8 years old!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQXZt_vHg14&feature=related

From 0:50 onwards.

[–] scribe1270 12 years ago

You make a good point. He did use the same elements. He's not the first to do so certainly. Take Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" as an example. It was re-made into the movie "West Side Story." Sometimes using the same plot does work. :)

[–] zenithon 11 years ago

I haven't watched this in years and am watching it with my kids as halloween approaches. Your Observation is spot on. It is interesting though that almost as much time has passed between the release of Aliens and today as passed between the releases of Them and Aliens. Maybe it is time to start thinking about a remake.

[–] Doc110894 11 years ago

Interesting comparisons.

[–] zachanscom 11 years ago

cameron's a known plagiarist and klepto, so that isn't far fetched.

[–] nickm2 11 years ago

I don't get it...there is only a handful of 'original ideas' out there after all...