A short while ago, I wrote about the movie The Island starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. The studio was sued by the makers of Parts: the Clonus Horror for copyright infringement. A judge agreed that the case could proceed to court, at which point it was settled for a rumored 7-figure amount. Netflix, in a moment of recommender system success, presented me with none other than this movie! Fortunately for me, it was the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version. As usual, it was hilarious and far more enjoyable than if I had watched this atrocious bomb of a movie with no commentary.

Spoilers about Parts: the Clonus Horror and The Island are to follow.

The amount of plagiarism involved in the writing of The Island is truly astounding. I can’t imagine that Caspian Tredwell-Owen will ever work in Hollywood again. His only other writing credit was Beyond Borders, which starred Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen. I never saw it and never intend to. I guess he was chasing the success he felt after that movie and gave in to temptation. I’ll begin by cataloguing many (but my no means all) of the various similarities between these two movies.

Parts: the Clonus Horror (1979) The Island (2005)
The clones all live on a facility in the desert The clones all live in a facility under the desert
The clones are kept docile and are discouraged from asking questions The clones are kept docile and discouraged from asking questions
A presidential candidate has a clone The president has a clone
Different groups of clones are kept separate Males and females are not allowed to touch/be intimate
Clones are kept at the facility until they qualify to go to America (portrayed as a utopia) Clones are kept at the facility until they win the lottery and can go to the island (portrayed as a utopia)
Clones are discouraged from asking questions Clones are discouraged from asking questions
A male clone begins to question his environment A male clone begins to question his environment
The questioning male finds something from the outside world (an empty can of beer) The questioning male finds something from the outside world (a moth that hasn’t been contaminated)
The questioning male discovers his true identity and escapes to go find himself The questioning male discovers his true identity and escapes to go find himself
The questioning male becomes romantically involved with a female who is also questioning The questioning male becomes “more than friends” with a female who is also questioning (later it becomes romantic)
Inquisitive/troublesome clones are lobotomized Inquisitiveness is discouraged/conditioned out of the clones (it is a defect in the product)
Clones are harvested for organs so rich people can live for much longer Clones are harvested for organs so rich people can live much longer
The questioning male finds his original counterpart in the outside world The questioning male finds his original counterpart in the outside world
The counterpart agrees to help the clone and then betrays him The counterpart agrees to help the clone with the intention of betraying him
There is a conspiracy to protect the secrets about the clones There is a conspiracy to protect the secrets about the clones
The questioning male is helped by a friendly journalist The questioning male is helped by a friend who is one of the workers (non-clones) in the facility

The biggest difference between the two movies was that the main characters die or are lobotomized in the Clonus Horror. In The Island, the clones are set free in a triumphal exit from the facility — completely lame. The Clonus Horror had to end on a happy note, though, and the Clonus project was exposed and the presidential candidate was cast down (presumably).