Quentin Tarantino is one of the most
successful and as such most scrutinized
directors of our times but those with a
healthy dose of film knowledge tend to
notice quite a lot of similarities
between his films some of the classics
of the medium this raises a troubling
question is Quentin Tarantino or ripoff
artist before we answer that be sure to
check out our special feature of the top
100 movie moments of the nineties well
if you were to ask the man himself about
his generous borrowing of shots and
moments from classic films he’d say
something like what he said to Empire
magazine quote I feel from every single
movie ever made if my work has anything
it’s that I’m taking this from this and
that from that and mixing them together
well that was a short investigation a
case closed
well maybe not Tarantino is clearly a
movie buff so it’s safe to say he’s
extremely familiar with the concept of
homage and that you could argue is what
he’s doing
when he shows you something like this go
make yourself a drink and I’ll be down
in two shakes of a lamb’s tail which
looks a heck of a lot like this and I do
mean the war here’s a hit with them in
mind so what is an homage and what
separates the concept from a straight-up
ripoff well homage is simply a fancy
French Way of saying homage homage as
you may know is an expression of high
regard or something that shows respect
or attests to the wharf or influence of
another attribute this definition really
gets at what a filmmaking homage is all
about a tribute to another piece of work
a clever nod to something the filmmaker
wishes to reference pay respect to or
just use it a new way as you may be
thinking right now homage is often a
subjective term which is open to
interpretation
at first glance claiming something is
homage seems like a very nice way to
excuse the fact that get stole so if you
take the whole plot of a movie from
another one as Tarantino was accused of
doing with Reservoir Dogs 10 what you’ve
created be considered an homage
well the key here is intent and context
think about when you’re quoting your
favorite movies with your buddies
adventure excitement Jedi craves not
these things one would hope that your
intent is not to pass off these quotes
at something that you made up rather you
want your friends to know that you’re
quoting Star Wars you want to
demonstrate your knowledge of the work
and share in the mutual respect and
enjoyment the classic film hey hey Jedi
craves not these things we’d argue that
this is what Tarantino is doing he is
reusing something he likes sure but he’s
also giving film buffs that are in the
know a little treat kind of like he’s
quoting his favorite movies in visual
form and he’s not trying to hide it
plagiarism or a ripoff is going for the
exact opposite effect it try to take
something and pass it off as original or
trying to capitalize off the popularity
of an original work by producing
something similar plagiarism is done in
the hopes that you won’t notice know
about or acknowledge the work it’s
stealing from omage is done in the hopes
that you will for a great non Tarantino
example of an homage we have to go all
the way back to turn of the century
Russia and prohibition-era United States
well not really just movies about those
time periods on your work here’s a scene
from battleship potemkin
often regarded as one of the most
important movies of all time if you’re a
fan of gangster movies that baby
carriage bouncing down steps probably
reminds you of the heart-stopping climax
from The Untouchables
[Music]
I think it’s safe to say that director
Brian De Palma wasn’t attempting to
steal imagery from the greatest movie of
all time and just hope that nobody would
notice much more likely that he wants
you to notice to acknowledge the
reference and share in the homage he’s
paying to the Russian silent air classic
by the way you gangster movie fans
probably recognized that the unfortunate
lady in the glasses looks a lot like
this poor saps getting a massage in The
Godfather if we wanted to discuss the
other end of the spectrum things that
leave the realm of homage and enter the
darker territory of copycats knockoffs
and ripoffs instances of other people
using Tarantino’s work is ironically a
great place to start film critics often
bemoan the huge swath of me2 movies that
follow the soaring success of Pulp
Fiction whether it be for their
disjointed plots were the expletive
Laden monologues or casual brutal
violence this illustrates another
important point but what makes a good
homage it really doesn’t work if the
thing you’re paying homage to is
currently the big thing in town you pay
homage to the classic you rip off the
flavor of the week remember how many
trench coats pleather outfits and
bullet-dodging acrobatic ladies we got
in the few years following the matrix
with all this in mind it’s relatively
safe to assume that when you go see
Django Unchained Tarantino isn’t hoping
that you don’t remember the title
sequence from Gone with the Wind
nope I’d say he wants to geek out with
the audience and see what they noticed
trying to show you just how many movies
he’s seen and the things he loved about
want more from WatchMojo check out other
great clips on our youtube channel and
be sure to take a look at our special
feature of the top 100 movie moments of
the 90s
successful and as such most scrutinized
directors of our times but those with a
healthy dose of film knowledge tend to
notice quite a lot of similarities
between his films some of the classics
of the medium this raises a troubling
question is Quentin Tarantino or ripoff
artist before we answer that be sure to
check out our special feature of the top
100 movie moments of the nineties well
if you were to ask the man himself about
his generous borrowing of shots and
moments from classic films he’d say
something like what he said to Empire
magazine quote I feel from every single
movie ever made if my work has anything
it’s that I’m taking this from this and
that from that and mixing them together
well that was a short investigation a
case closed
well maybe not Tarantino is clearly a
movie buff so it’s safe to say he’s
extremely familiar with the concept of
homage and that you could argue is what
he’s doing
when he shows you something like this go
make yourself a drink and I’ll be down
in two shakes of a lamb’s tail which
looks a heck of a lot like this and I do
mean the war here’s a hit with them in
mind so what is an homage and what
separates the concept from a straight-up
ripoff well homage is simply a fancy
French Way of saying homage homage as
you may know is an expression of high
regard or something that shows respect
or attests to the wharf or influence of
another attribute this definition really
gets at what a filmmaking homage is all
about a tribute to another piece of work
a clever nod to something the filmmaker
wishes to reference pay respect to or
just use it a new way as you may be
thinking right now homage is often a
subjective term which is open to
interpretation
at first glance claiming something is
homage seems like a very nice way to
excuse the fact that get stole so if you
take the whole plot of a movie from
another one as Tarantino was accused of
doing with Reservoir Dogs 10 what you’ve
created be considered an homage
well the key here is intent and context
think about when you’re quoting your
favorite movies with your buddies
adventure excitement Jedi craves not
these things one would hope that your
intent is not to pass off these quotes
at something that you made up rather you
want your friends to know that you’re
quoting Star Wars you want to
demonstrate your knowledge of the work
and share in the mutual respect and
enjoyment the classic film hey hey Jedi
craves not these things we’d argue that
this is what Tarantino is doing he is
reusing something he likes sure but he’s
also giving film buffs that are in the
know a little treat kind of like he’s
quoting his favorite movies in visual
form and he’s not trying to hide it
plagiarism or a ripoff is going for the
exact opposite effect it try to take
something and pass it off as original or
trying to capitalize off the popularity
of an original work by producing
something similar plagiarism is done in
the hopes that you won’t notice know
about or acknowledge the work it’s
stealing from omage is done in the hopes
that you will for a great non Tarantino
example of an homage we have to go all
the way back to turn of the century
Russia and prohibition-era United States
well not really just movies about those
time periods on your work here’s a scene
from battleship potemkin
often regarded as one of the most
important movies of all time if you’re a
fan of gangster movies that baby
carriage bouncing down steps probably
reminds you of the heart-stopping climax
from The Untouchables
[Music]
I think it’s safe to say that director
Brian De Palma wasn’t attempting to
steal imagery from the greatest movie of
all time and just hope that nobody would
notice much more likely that he wants
you to notice to acknowledge the
reference and share in the homage he’s
paying to the Russian silent air classic
by the way you gangster movie fans
probably recognized that the unfortunate
lady in the glasses looks a lot like
this poor saps getting a massage in The
Godfather if we wanted to discuss the
other end of the spectrum things that
leave the realm of homage and enter the
darker territory of copycats knockoffs
and ripoffs instances of other people
using Tarantino’s work is ironically a
great place to start film critics often
bemoan the huge swath of me2 movies that
follow the soaring success of Pulp
Fiction whether it be for their
disjointed plots were the expletive
Laden monologues or casual brutal
violence this illustrates another
important point but what makes a good
homage it really doesn’t work if the
thing you’re paying homage to is
currently the big thing in town you pay
homage to the classic you rip off the
flavor of the week remember how many
trench coats pleather outfits and
bullet-dodging acrobatic ladies we got
in the few years following the matrix
with all this in mind it’s relatively
safe to assume that when you go see
Django Unchained Tarantino isn’t hoping
that you don’t remember the title
sequence from Gone with the Wind
nope I’d say he wants to geek out with
the audience and see what they noticed
trying to show you just how many movies
he’s seen and the things he loved about
want more from WatchMojo check out other
great clips on our youtube channel and
be sure to take a look at our special
feature of the top 100 movie moments of
the 90s
Please follow and like us: