MovieChat Forums > Ruthless People (1986) Discussion > So Dated.

So Dated.

posted 16 years ago by TorontoJediMaster
20 replies | jump to latest

I'm watching this film right now on AMC. It's the first time I've seen it since the 1980's.

I thought this movie was hysterical back then, and it still is.

However, in rewatching it now, it's dated in SO many areas. Just watching this brings back memories of the 80's.

Some examples:

-Anita Morris' character puts the (what she believes is the blackmail tape) in a top-loading VCR.

-When Barbara tries to call 911 from Ken and Sandy's house, the operator asks where she's calling from. (Nowadays, a 911 operator can trace any landline automatically).

-The police lab uses a book to visually identify tire tracks found at the scene. I mean, you don't see a single computer in the film.

-The price of a VCR, listed at over $300.

Anyone else pick out any little things in the film that simply scream out 1980's?

[–] MissMargoChanning 16 years ago

The clothes. Especially the gowns that Sandy designed. It`s those bright floresent colors.
The sterios in the store where Ken works. They just don`t make em like that any more.
The wonderful thing about movies, is that they are like little time capsules. They help us remember our past.

[–] mcfly-31 16 years ago

The cop asking Ken to use his phone. No more. Cell phone mania these days.

No cordless phones in the Stone house. Someone that rich. Even Marty McFly had a cordless phone a year earlier in BTTF.

That dumpy car that Earl drove.

[–] PiercedDiva 16 years ago

The furniture/decorating of the Stone's house...so 80's
The hair styles especially Bette's big hair and the way Helen style's her hair when she is trying on clothes with Bette.

I carved your name on a bullet so you would be the last thing going through my head

[–] cryptical70 14 years ago

Movies are definitely a form of time capsules. I was born in 1970 and still can't believe how things were when I watch movies from that year. Strange clothes & glasses, weird hair styles, weird cars. And people used to talk funny.

Even a movie made in the 80s, a time that seemed so hip and modern, now looks dated and it is fun to pick out the weird stuff.

The 90s are still hard to be labeled as "old" but I can see how 90s technology is a bit archaic, especially computer monitors.

[–] LannaDrewzetich 16 years ago

TV in Carol's apartment has control buttons on top, and the TV's back is made of wood. Today wood boxed TVs, CD players, etc. are very expensive, while then it was the other way around.

[–] laurisdelaure 15 years ago

Spandex was in fashion, and selling. (And the mini skirts were revolutionary new technology?!)

Aerobics.

Eyeshadow(s)and slap. Nobody these days has more than 2 different colour eyeshadows on at once...that's if they wear anything more than eyeliner! Make-up was obvious, and piled on.

The stupid guys two-tone black/bleach cut.

Bon-bons, in dishes

[–] l4d 9 years ago

The mini-skirt had been around for a very long time by 1986. The new technology related to them would have been the Spandex, not the skirts themselves.

[–] bluestocking-7 14 years ago

The Memphis style is very collectible and very good original vintage pieces from the short-lived movement are hard to come by. Only serious collectors could afford to bid on them on ebay and pay for the enormous shipping, especially since the authentic pieces are usually from Italy.

Instead of furniture or decor, an average person like me can collect Memphis-style tableware made by a Japanese ceramic company, Kato Kogei.

See 47:20 of the DVD, the point where the cops tell Stone that they need him to identify a body in the morgue. The mug on the table is an example of Kato Kogei.

Billy Wilder Page, Play the Movie Smiley Game
www.screenwritingdialogue.com

[–] SPazzo_1493 14 years ago

I agree that is is dated, but that's one of the reasons I love it. I didn't get to live in the 80s, so I can through movies like this...

I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] MuchToBeGratefulFor 14 years ago

Hey, try watching films from the 40s, 50s, or 60s!

They didn't just have landline phones, they were ROTARY, not push buttons.

Any movie old enough is going to have dated aspects in terms of styles and technology. So what?
In this movie, I don't see it making a difference to the plot. Now in the Tom Cruise movie "The Firm" made in the early 90s, there is an extended chase sequence where he is trying to find a pay phone to make a call for help, while eluding the bad guys. Now THAT is dated. But this movie, the dated aspects don't make a difference.

You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] fortuneman82 13 years ago

Saw this awesome movie a couple nites ago. First time in a lonnnng time. And yea I was getting a kick outta how dated it was but like others have said that's part of its charm. I almost wanna make a drinking game out of all the dated stuff, like clothes, hair, phones, vcrs, tvs, and so forth. Could make an already funny movie even more fun!

[–] lucky17th_samurai 13 years ago

I agree with everyone else about the 80's charm of the film. But when I think about it what artist sings their songs for a film with the movie title in it anymore? Cheesy back then but I don't think it's done anymore. I might be wrong though....

"I never loved anyone like I loved myself.

[–] crockett_john 9 years ago

It is dated for all the reasons you (and others) have said, but not nearly as dated as movies and shows that were trying to be futuristic and got everything wrong or were just plain silly. In this one, the styles and technology are out of date for today's auduence, but it's still entertaining.

---
I'm just expressing my opinion.

You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.

[–] Dan_Garten 9 years ago

The nineties are looking more and more dated as well. The early part may as well be the '50s.

[–] lovedawn 8 years ago

Just wait 'til you're all in your 40s and 50s, and you see kids on here complaining about how movies from the 2000s and 2010s are dated!

We all get a little lost sometimes.

[–] 9 years ago

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