Nice article.

The Matrix is clearly a rip-off of Invisibles with some bits og Ghost in the Shell thrown in. I had the impression that recently Morrison was paid something to stop complaining about that.

And Robocop was clearly influenced by the Dark Knight, the similarities are so evident.

I would have mentioned also Star Wars that borrowed materials from so many different sources, the New Gods among them.

Agreed, the list of rip-offs could probably be longer if one wanted to split hairs.  The Matrix also ripped off a couple of items from the Blade film (released in 1998, obviously before matrix) - the leather trrenchcoat thing and the bullet time special effect (Blade Vs. Deacon Frost in China town, when Deacon Frost is holding the little girl hostage and Blade shoots at him).  I know people like to credit the Matrix with creating bullet time, but how is that possible if a film released a full year before it featured that effect? 

Robocop also rips off Swamp Thing (though maybe more-so the Wes Craven film than the comic).  Both protagonists are assaulted in a devistating manner by a group of thugs and is eventually "killed" only to be resurrected as a "monster".  The fact that Ray Wise plays both Alec Holland in Swamp Thing and one of the thugs that kills Murphy in Robocop helps with the association.

Cheesey1, Thank you! I've been complaining for years to friends how Blade had "bullet time" before the Matrix.  Actually I'd also add the crazy jumps from impossible distances too.  Aside from being a vampire/human hybrid, you could have put Wesley Snipes' Blade in the Matrix trilogy & he'd probably fit right in as far as abilities and how they translated on screen.

Goldeneyez, you're welcome and I agree with the what you said about the long distance jumps.

Cant really include Star Wars George Lucas has many time mentioned his long list of influences for the films its always been a blatant rip off of so many things.

Interesting article, although it can get tricky, I think, to draw the lines distinguishing ripping-off/copying, inspired-by/influenced by, and "fashion"...

For example, "dark and gritty" is still very much in vogue at the moment, no? In comic books and movies? So we get tons of super heroes and fantasy characters running around in black leather, sweating, cursing, bleeding, etc.  Are they copying each other, or is it an example of  "group-think"/creative timidity?

Also, if you buy into the ol' "HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES" thinking, there are basically a handful of stories, which are told and retold with variations, over time. The variations, of course, ARE important, no doubt. But there is some truth to the underlying notion, IMHO...

Personally, ROBOCOP didn't evoke DARK KNIGHT RETURNS for me. The core story elements were, in my view, quite dissimilar.... ROBOCOP combining a basic revenge motif  (the hero endures a terrible and humilating wrong at the hands of very evil men, and returns to get revenge) with the idea of a hero struggling to recover some of the humanity that was stolen from him (in ROBOCOP, quite literally!); DARK KNIGHT exploring an iconic superhero in old age, deciding to "go out with a bang", and amping up (for the time) the dark elements of the superhero genre. Can pick out some pieces here and there that are similar, but ... I think the low rating of about "1" on the 1-5 scale is right on this one.

Shadow

I always thought of Robo-cop as more of a Frankenstein, and DEFINITELY NEVER thought of TDKR. BUT I'll give you that scene where he breaks through the wall is pretty similar

Hmm for someone who liked the first matrix movie but thought the last two were incredibly bad (oh wait thats everyone isn't it?) is the invisibles worth reading?

That's not everyone, I like all the Matrix films.