MovieChat Forums > Spies Like Us (1985) Discussion > Too big budget for it's own good?

Too big budget for it's own good?

posted 16 years ago by TheClassRocks
6 replies | jump to latest

Ok, this is a better than average funny film. not drop dead hilarious, but not bad. I really wish Dan A. and Chevy would have gone on to make other great films together. The very unfunny Nothing But Trouble shouldn't count as a movie that these two "made" together. Caddyshack 2 doesn't count either :)

However, wasn't Spies Like Us annoying in cases like when they had to overlay a thunderous orchestra score over silly things like those flaps opening at the space satellites? They had to show us EACH FLAP DRAMATICALLY OPENING with the music blaring!! Are we supposed to think "oh my gosh, how amazing!" Please. Also the part where the drive-in screens were converting in the desert. THEY HAD TO SHOW ALMOST EACH ONE, complete with the thunderous score playing, in semi slow motion.

The underground 'dramatic' room scenes were very similar to Wargames (1983 just two years earlier) at times. Hmmm, Landis.

I think these overdone scenes took away from the actors and how we could have had more Chevy-Dan A dialogue or other funny things.
There were also lots of mountain shots, desert shots, that were great but just didn't seem to fit the film.

[–] chrysalis1814 16 years ago

Once upon a time comedy films had production value and were made to look like actual movies NOT glorified sitcoms like the cheap looking comedies that are produced today. I personally like Landis' approach which may look OTT today but is actually perfectly appropriate given the tone of the film.

[–] noobzilla 14 years ago

uhh, I have to agree with op, the scenes he mentioned were fakish. I think this movie was 'ok' from start to finish, but not more..

I like the movie myself, it entertains me, but its production looked cheap.

-- “A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.” Humphrey Bogart

[–] aPimpNamedSlickback 14 years ago

Given the effects of the time, these scenes added to the tension of the film. Get over the shoddy effects and appreciate the comedy for what it is. I will let these poor effects scenes slide compared to the movies that come out now that rely on cgi for excitement.

[–] JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies 13 years ago

A lot of that stuff is comedy--sometimes surrealist/absurdist, sometimes spoof, etc.--just as much as anything else in the film. When the spy satellite is opening up, the "punch line" is that there's just a big camera lens there, just like there would be on a consumer camera, with the same kind of focus ring and everything.

http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies

[–] rizdek 12 years ago

Those scenes didn't strike me as out of place. Seemed to fit right in with the over-dramatization throughout. That's not a negative comment, I love this movie.

[–] pastorjwallen 11 years ago

In my opinion, it fits right in with the whole theme of the movie. Everything is over the top, absurd, and in some ways surreal. That's what I love about it.

~j~