"The Island" - total ripoff of "Parts: The Clonus Horror" [View All]

[Fenris]

Director Michael Bay (he of "Pearl Harbor" and "Armageddon" infamy) has a new explosives-laden Ewan MacGregor vehicle blowing up in theaters soon that should seem a little familiar to Peter Graves/Dick Sargent fans...lets read the IMDB summary for "The Island":

Lincoln Six-Echo (McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid 21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the "The Island" - reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie. He and all of the other inhabitants of the facility are actually human clones whose only purpose is to provide "spare parts" for their original human counterparts. Realizing it is only a matter of time before he is "harvested," Lincoln makes a daring escape with a beautiful fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson). Relentlessly pursued by the forces of the sinister institute that once housed them, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a race for their lives to literally meet their makers.

And now, the plot outline (much more bare-bones) for 1979's "Parts: The Clonus Horror":

A young man escapes from a government run project called Clonus only to find out that Peter Graves (Jeff Knight) a candidate for Presidency is a conspirator to keep Clonus a secret. Top government officials are aware of it and support the super secret project, because they are cloning themselves to live longer and better lives, at the expense of their clone counter-part, who is no more than a "slave" as far as human rights are concerned. The ethical and moral values are explored as the escapee (Tim Donnelly) known as Richard returns full circle back to Clonus, only to find his girlfriend lobotomized for government security purposes.



Okay, that's less informative than I intended, but my point is that they're essentially the same movie, only one probably has better acting and special effects (probably). Why do I care so much? Because "Parts" is such a bad film that it needs to be in the Smithsonian. And because "Parts" had a trifecta of hammy acting talent: albino-maned action hunk Peter Graves, Dick York clone Dick Sargent, and Sgt. Bat Guano himself, Keenan Wynn!



Add to that the last big screen credit by the actor playing the main character (Tim Donnelly, Fireman Chet of TV's "Emergency!"), a horribly misguided Adidas product placement, lobotomies, and the host of A&E's "Biography" in short shorts!



See?

Go rent "Parts"! It's terrible and wonderful at the same time! :D

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078062/