Contest: ENTER SF&F Avatar Contest: Mocking the Busters!

[Kai "the spy"]

We all know them, the often cheap knock-offs that follow a big hit to make a quick buck. I'm not talking about films or shows that took some inspiration from something else, like Star Wars did from Buck Rogers, Lord of the Rings and Hidden Fortress, but blatant productions and that are really made to look like something else and marketed at fans of the other production. Like Starcrash or The Humanoid were to Star Wars, or Our Man Flint was to James Bond. You know, mockbusters.

The 80s, especially, were a field rich with these, thanks to the new video market being fludded by cheap films made to capitalize on the success of Star Wars, Mad Max, Escape from New York and Conan the Barbarian.

Since then, there's been a steady stream of mockbusters like Carnosaur (Jurassic Park), King of the Lost World (basically The Lost World with a giant ape in it), Atlantic Rim (Pacific Rim, duh) or Sinister Squad (Suicide Squad).

For the sake of google, let's keep the adult-themed parodies like Flesh Gordon out of it.

So there's a lot of material to choose from.

Max. size of 200x200 pixels and/or 1 Mb data.

So, have fun. And, please, don't rip off each other's entries.

 

[dahj]

Does Sharktopus count?

 

[Kai "the spy"]

And, aside from the audience, what was it ripping off?

 

[dahj]

^^
Google says it was released the same year as the seminal masterpiece of cinema Piranha 3D, but both are really a riff on Jaws obviously.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Well, it's borderline, but I'm going to allow it.

Here's my own entry:

1987's "The Barbarians", starring two twins doing their best (yet still not good) Conan impressions.

 

[dahj]

Hang on, I'll change it to something more unambiguously mockbustery...

 

[tharpdevenport]

 

[Kai "the spy"]

I actually didn't want parodies in this contest, but I guess I gave "Our Man Flint" as an example in the opening post, so I guess I'll have to allow it.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I thought it was doing both (the beaming backwards, the ludicrous speed, the size of his helmet, etc.), but if you want, I'll remove it.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

It's okay, leave it.

For one thing, I didn't make myself clear in the opening post, and on the other hand, I don't necessarily want what I had in my narrow mind to limit your creativity. By the rules I laid down in the opening post, parodies are not excluded and, thanks to me naming "Our Man Flint" as an example, actually specificly allowed. Your entry abides by the rules, so it would be unfair of me to disqualify it.

 

[tharpdevenport]

The power of the Schwartz compelled you.

 

[JD]

When I saw Busters in the title, I thought maybe this was going to have something to do with the Ghostbusters.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I initially thought it was about that new "Mythbusters" series.

 

[Orac]

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Ah, yes, very good. I'd even count the Chamberlain version of Quatermain as mockbusters of the first two Indiana Jones movies.

 

[tharpdevenport]

"Rampage" (1986), or AKA: Turkish Rambo. A good example.

There are also other Turkish rip-offs of other films.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

There is still a lot of material to choose from, people. Just check the filmographies of Roger Corman or The Asylum.

 

[Nerys Myk]

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Love it!

Just to clarify for people, this movie had the alternative title "Raiders of the End of the World" and tried to cash in on the success of Indiana Jones. Fun Fact: "High Road To China" starred Tom Selleck, who was originally supposed to play Indy, but was unavailable due to his work on "Magnum, PI".

 

[Aragorn]

You could enter 50 movies made by The Asylum alone -- Independents' Day, The Day the Earth Stopped, I Am Omega, Age of Tomorrow, The DaVinci Treasure, it doesn't end!!!