All literature, and I consider movies as literature, is based in a handful of grand themes. “Wagon Train” is “Silk-Road Caravan,” if you want it to be, or “Star Trek.” Leadership vs. rebellion, order vs. chaos, how romantic relationships bollux everything up, etc.
Michael Hurst, “New Zealand’s most successful Shakespearean actor,” said of his co-star turn in “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” that the themes were no different from the themes of Shakespeare, because people are always the same, only settings (and quality of writing ;-) change.
I have seen several authors make the claim that the two best sources are The Bible, and Shakespeare. Both do so much to describe the human condition and motivation.