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1. Arneson says:

   November 22, 2009 at 3:15 pm

   This is just an archtype. Didn’t you ever study mythology or legend in school? This is just one of a very few basic story types.

   In this case, it is the hero’s journey, from youth to adult.

   This article is 100% correct, and its interesting to see these comparisons, but I feel like the creator of this had no understanding of the Hero’s Journey, and thought he noticed something that had never been documented before.
2. Brainstein says:

   November 22, 2009 at 3:55 pm

   They are all propaganda, all gran of ” Alexander Nevsky “. We are unconsiouly controlled.
3. Dixie says:

   November 26, 2009 at 12:57 am

   Warn a girl, will you? I just spewed Diet Coke all over my monitor. Great stuff.
4. Trekkie says:

   November 27, 2009 at 6:59 pm

   Hahaha. So true, so true.
5. Caroline says:

   November 28, 2009 at 2:26 am

   Arneson is right, these are all archetypes, and if you look at most fairy stories or myths, you’ll find the same archetypes and plot devices in there. whoop di do. Its just that now they have stonking special effects instead of imagination to tell it.
6. Chris says:

   November 28, 2009 at 10:57 pm

   You forgot Wanted, Men in Black, many Kurosawa movies, Lord of The Rings…etc..
7. JustAli says:

   November 29, 2009 at 7:37 am

   There’s a perfectly good reason for this. Read “The Writer’s Journey” – Available on Amazon. (If you’re an aspiring screenwriter you probably won’t get far without it!)
8. Nerve says:

   November 29, 2009 at 5:14 pm

   I’m not quite sure I see your point…

   Y’know what?
   You just try and create an epic, special-effects laden blockbuster out of a story that features a protagonist who’s pretty awesome and happy with his life who doesn’t need or want to improve himself over the course of the film, has no challenges or obstacles to overcome and therefore doesn’t actually accomplish anything.

   Now that’ll be a completely original movie. It’ll also be a tedious waste of time and money.
9. foobar says:

   November 30, 2009 at 8:49 am

   There is someone/something to whom something interesting/boring happens and then there is happy/sad ending (and maybe sequels).

   And look, every story ever written is the same (el Gasp!).

   What’s the point, these movies are not the same just because it kinda sorta looks that way if you leave enough stuff out and simplify the rest to a few sentences.
10. Meef says:

    November 30, 2009 at 11:07 pm

    You could do the same exact thing using a synopsis of almost any heroic epic (which is what both HP and SW are). It’s because any good epic uses at least a few common characteristics from the hero archetype. Shall we review?
    (I’ll also throw in some goodies from the legend of Perseus just to make my point.)
    1. Prophecy about them- H had prophecy that he would defeat Voldy, L had prophecy that he would bring balance, P had prophecy he would kill his grandpa
    2. Leaves family or land and lives with others- H lives with aunt & uncle, so does L, P is raised by a fisherman
    3. An event leads to adventure or quest- H finds out he’s a wizard, L finds out he’s a jedi, P is tricked into promising to kill a gorgon
    4. Hero has a special weapon only he can wield- H has wand, L has light saber, P has sword from Hermes
    5. Hero always has supernatural help- H gets help from wizards, L gets help from jedis, P gets help from gods
    6. The Hero must prove himself many times while on adventure- I’m not gonna tell you the whole plot of HP, SW, and P, but you get the idea
    The point is, no matter what epic you look at, you’re GOING to find similarities. That’s not because anyone is ripping anyone else off, it’s just because they’re all following the hero archetype.
    If you’re curious about the hero archetype or the hero’s journey, you can look at these sites.
    http://www.krucli.com/the_hero’s_journey.htm
    http://www.tatsbox.com/hero/
11. Maul says:

    December 12, 2009 at 9:15 pm

    Actually the first half of Star Wars New Hope, is actually almost exactly the same as Fellowship of the Ring.

    Ring/R2D2 is the only weakness of Sauron/Empire, falls into the hands of Frodo/Luke who is told by Gandalf/Obi Wan that he must take it to Elves/Rebels. The go to the Inn of the prancing pony/Cantina. And meet Aragorn/Han Solo who helps them evade the Ring Wraiths/Storm Troopers and leads them to Elves/Rebels. Star Wars takes a detour as they get captured, and Obi Wan sacrifices himself prior to meeting the rebels, where as Gandalf does it after. Then after the death star I would say the movies are different. Although it could be argued that shooting a couple photons into the death stars thermal exhaust port is similar to dropping the ring in mount doom. If Star Wars only turned out to be one film, I would say its almost exactly lord of rings except in space.
12. Anonymous says:

    February 13, 2010 at 2:29 am

    Heh. funneh.
13. aniche says:

    February 20, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    basically they are all telling the old Christian messiah story over and over again
14. Morgan Skye says:

    February 25, 2010 at 11:50 am

    Nicely done, that was as true as it was funny…. maybe throw some Avatar in there?? I would like to say though, true as it may be to this formula, Avatar is the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life….*drool, *sigh…Oh, Avatar…