Novarix chimes in:

We all know that Lucas sometimes gets inspiration from other movies, right? I think a few months back you guys reported something about the Jedi Starfighter design being lifted from a Japanese anime (can't recall the name). Well I got a new one for you.

During the final battle on Geonosis the Republic forces utilize some form of tank against the detached orbs of the Trade Federation battleships. You know the ones that fired the constant blue ray and sent the ship crashing down and raising one heck of a dust cloud?

Well, I can't help but to believe that Mr. Lucas lifted those blue beam firing tanks from the Maser Cannons from the Godzilla series made by Toho Ltd. They look about the same, they fire the same blue energy; their similarity is striking.

Here's some URLs that have pics-
gvsdestoroyah.com/NewTank.jpg
gvsdestoroyah.com/cltmiss.jpg
gvsdestoroyah.com/cltray.jpg
gvsdestoroyah.com/GDTanks.jpg
eclipse.net/~walshj0/black/weapons/maser/model1.jpg
eclipse.net/~walshj0/black/weapons/maser/model3.jpg

Just to give you a little back history, the Maser Tanks first appeared in the 1960's Japanese film called War of the Gargantuas. They continued to make appearances in the Godzilla film series up until Godzilla Vs. Destroyah in 1995 and are rumored to appear in the newest Godzilla film, Godzilla X MechaGodzilla.

The designs do look similar to the laser tanks used by the Clonetroopers in the Geonosis battle.