MovieChat Forums > Planet of Dinosaurs (1979) Discussion > Acting Quality ( compared to today)

Acting Quality ( compared to today)

posted 18 years ago by derrickshfletcher
7 replies | jump to latest

I would like to point out that the actors in the older B movies seem to exceed the acting of much modern higher budget films. In all both types of films that I've watched, semi no-name actors seem to push harder for perfection than more well-known and renound higher paid actors of today. The lower-paid actors such as most of these participants of the film, seem to have a better, more well-rounded, believable personality about each character. Although with low technology for the day, in the late 70's, the power for story telling and mood setting despite clay mation dinosaurs, seem to have more strength than the modern high-tech computer-animated, amuesment of the 90's digital age. I'd just like to add that the possibilities for this movie were cut off too short and they're not all the possibilities explored. In short, the film had much more potential for sequals and new actors than the studio took an interest in.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] johnnyblaze_48 17 years ago

i agree on many acounts. actors today are more models then skilled acting. many b hired for their skill not looks. in this out cast i felt had the best of both worlds for the time.

[–] mrt_9988 16 years ago

HAVE YOU EVER EVEN SEEN PLANET OF DINOSAURS? You have no idea what you are talking about.

[–] birdog60401 16 years ago

I rate actors based on how well they sold the story. Was it more or less believable? I guess it is subjective, because I might think someone did a bang up job of making me believe what I saw was real and someone else might think it stunk. Having a good story to begin with must help a lot, too.
I'm not for or against today performers. Some do a great job and others seem to 'mail it in'. One thing that I find distracting is stardom. It is very hard for me to see Julia Roberts and try to see past her previous roles. She is a star. She is almost typecast as a pretty woman. To her credit she has gotten me to see her as someone else in movies like "America's Sweethearts" and "Mona Lisa Smile".
Just my $0.02

[–] hocfocprod 15 years ago

The other reason a solid performance in a B movie really impresses me is the time constraints that come with a low budget. Often these movies are shooting an unbelievable number of pages a day. Combine that with a lower budget for film and you get less takes. Rehearsal time gets cut down, sometimes to nothing, so all in all they're starting at a deficit. If an actor can still sell a character with all of that stacked against him/her it shows real talent.

[–] cool302 15 years ago

that's true hocfoprod!

[–] lemon_magic 11 years ago

Ummmm....no. I grant you that this is true in many "B" films, but not here. Not in this case, anyway. I'm not saying that the poor performances in this film were entirely the actors' fault (in fact, I felt kind of sorry for the entire cast) because a good director ought to be able to evoke the performances he needs from even a mediocre actor. And the director here didn't know anything about blocking, composition, or believable dialog. But come on, have you seen this film? Half the time these actors recite their lines as if they were reading the menu at Denny's. (In fact, they were probably reading cue cards).