It stands to reason that with the unbelievable budgets of modern blockbusters that there’s got to be enough cash to go around to at least film everything a director wants to film. The vision/style/feel for one movie can be drastically different from others, so it would be safe to assume that no filmmakers would dare try to cut corners by re-using footage from other films. Sadly, that assumption is very wrong.
In a recent video by YouTube’s Screen Rant, they lay out a few glaring examples of when big budget films have recycled footage from other films in some fairly embarrassing ways. We may not have noticed the first time around, but who could have predicted the era in which we live now where people meticulously re-watch every bit of content and enjoy pointing out the foibles. Hell, that’s practically part of my job description. The list of films included in the video are as follows:
Transformers: Dark of the Moon The Island
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country/Star Trek: Generations
Blade Runner/The Shining
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace/Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Hitman/Dark Angel (TV)
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure/War and Peace
Not to say that re-using footage can’t or shouldn’t be used as it can be quite the time/money saver for the studios. Screen Rant’s examples are all from moments that basically add to what’s going on and don’t exactly take a front seat in what the scenes are about (with maybe the exception of Star Trek). The footage only really becomes damning (and that’s used in the loosest of ways) when pointed out. For the most part, the movies on this list are all still fairly enjoyable and we aren’t hurt by re-used footage unless it takes us completely out of the film. The good news is that this rarely happens the first time around.
Screen Rant gave us six examples but there’s certainly more out there! Let us know your favorite moments of re-used footage in the comments below!
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HT: Sploid
Image: Screenrant/Paramount/WarnerBros
