Avatar: Homage, Pastiche, Rip-Off, Whatever. You'll Believe a Toruk Can Fly

There were references to, or total rip-offs of, at least the Wizard of Oz, Pocohantas, The Matrix, Star Wars, Dances With Wolves, mythology, the Bible, and maybe the Last Samurai and Superman. On the other hand, instead of seeing it as lazy and uninspired to not write a new movie, maybe the genius of Avatar is that every scene is familiar not in the contempt-breeding sense, but in the Jungian race memory (which come to think of it is also referenced) sense that allows us to viscerally understand the story even as our viscera are challenged by the very special effects