Yes, trying to recreate the mood of the 80's is foolhardy at best. Back then, people went to the movies almost every week. It wasn't just the summer movies, there were great movies in October, even February! Not just sci-fi either, there were great action and dramatic flicks as well as other genres. I remember being stationed near Oklahoma City from 87-89, during those 2 years I saw about 40 movies all over that city..just for fun I'd go to a different movie theater until I'd been to them all. Heck, I remember when they built a brand new Cinemaplex right next to the crossroads mall, maybe just 2 miles from where I lived in Moore. It was packed every weekend right from the beginning. I"m just going to spout off 10 movies I saw back then: Batman, Hellraiser, Indy 3, Colors, Rambo 3, Rain Man, No Way Out, Dead Poet's Society, Let it Ride, Mississippi Burning. I think the only movie that really disappointed me was either Leviathan or Tango and Cash, the other 38 movies or so were mostly above average or excellent.
Of course, nowadays is much different. It's not a must thing to go to the movieplex almost every week. Hollywood still knows how to make money, it's just in different ways like going after the overseas markets, toys, and the kiddies. Hollywood is now a bunch of banks, they know how to make money so they won't let the creative people do what they're born to do! All they have to do is make another Star Wars/Trek/Superman/Spiderman movie and they roll in the dough!
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[deleted]
6 years ago
Movies back then HAD TO BE GOOD to compete against each other. Now, with 10,000 channels, reality TV, TV shows about like movies, "competing" like they used to is out of the question and no longer relevant. We have big screens at home, an many manY MANY outlets for movie watching and the quality is in the dumpster.
But, people will continue funding the crap they are fed, because that is ALL they can get.
Movies have grown AND de-evolved at the same time: those nostalgic 80's films we loved, that WERE great at that time, now pail in many ways: story, acting, pacing, complexity, etc. and don't REALLY stand up, other than in our hearts. New movies can be great, if they stop pandering to the lowest common denominator for a buck.
Oh well. At least we have options, right? AND can always watch Blu-rays and 4K of older movies whenever we want. :)
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ebhaynz (3527)
6 years ago
Good points, I find myself watching older movies..some are still more enjoyable than the new stuff. I find it very hard to even sit through 5 mins of today's stuff. I've had several people tell me all they need is an antenna for their TV and YouTube..If there was some great TV show out there like Sopranos, OZ, Breaking Bad we'd hear about it and find a way to watch/(consume lol) it lol. Lucas said the banks/studios won't let anyone be creative, it's just too risky. Like I said they know how to make money, lot's of it. When practically everything starts to fail then there could be changes. Honestly I think another medium is going to hit us soon, this great technology has to give us something..the last two decades it's destroyed movies/music/books/TV and more. They can probably give an out of the world experience..I feel it coming.
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[deleted]
6 years ago
yes, but it will de-evolve even more instead of get better. Will all porn and Transformers/super heroes expereinces :D I kid.
I watch older stuff too. One good example FOR ME is PREDATOR. It's a crap story, marginal Effects, no depth, but it is just a strait up fun ride to experience. No deep message, no real explanation, just a day in the life of this crazy event. I miss that today because they would shoe horn in some deep message about the environment or politics, or equal rights or whatever. JUST TELL A FRICKEN INTERTAINING STORY! That is all that is needed.
I'd say on QUINTS original post.... generations get their OWN movies and they are horrible TO US. Just like OUR movies are horrible to generations previous to ours. We all attach to our teen times, and dont enjoy anything previous or after - it's just what we do. Things ARE dumbing down, true, but it will be their normal and OK for them. And the next, and the next.
As in music: long ago, they had a quill, a parchment and 200 piece orchestra and made the most amazing complex music. Now, we have computers that let ANYONE make music, that can include millions of sound and intruments, have UNLIMITED music notation abilites, all FREE, and what do we do with it? Repeat four bars, loop forever, add a beat and done. That's it!
ADVANCEMENT & De-evolution coexist
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Quint (935)
6 years ago
Thats not true. Many of my friends seen movies from the 50s and liked them. And we heard music from the 60s as often as music from the 80s. And we really enjyoed it. So its not only nostalgia (indeed, there is nostalgia connected to our perpsective too). Its also the fact, that we live in an era where everything have to make money. And only money. Indeed movie studiuos always tried to make money. Movies always existed to make money. But its one thing to make an huge epos like Gone With The Wind (which still is the largest money bringer of all times), but also has some art included in it. But a completely different one to let greed dominate the "artistic" process. Diversity isnt there cause movie companies are nice. They dont give a dman about diveristy for itslef. But .... they more the integrate different races and skin colors, they more they think the get from markets beside domestic. That alon wouldnt be an problem, cause indeed other races people could be as good actors as white people. But the problem is, that they also start to adopt the remaining parts of stories so that they wont hurt anyone at any other makret. And that way most art will be gone. How should a movie like Ghostbuster or Jaws be done today? Its completely impossible cause of the centering on global markets. Same with the gender theme. Movie bosses dont give a damn about gender. But women are less often at movies. So there is some potential market. And being gender correct is the term to get more money from them. But the problem here is ..... that way you destroy most stories. Cause movies dont have to be PC. They have to be good. I really like Color Purple bac then. One of my favorite Spielberg movies. Cause it was a good and well thought movie. And not cause all the actors werent white (what would been the reason today). Today you cant even make a movie about Lincoln anymore, cause noone in China would give a damn about it.
Todays movie system is as corrupt as possible. Thats the point.
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ebhaynz (3527)
6 years ago
One thing I don't quite understand..why did Hollywood do so many retro 80's movies as compared to other decades? My first instinct is to say those 80's movies were special and that was the biggest decade ever for movies. Obviously it's to get the older audience involved as well. Was there a bigger movie decade than the 80's?
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Quint (935)
6 years ago
Thats easy answered. Cause of us :) . We remember thos movies from our teenage and child days. And you easily could make money that way. The same reason why we had many 50s centered movies in the 80s :) . But the problem here is that they just use the labels and dont offer anything which is connected to this saga. Thats why they start to failing commercialy. You cant combine the funny movies of an era where most people hate perspectives with the mindset of a dark decade. That will always produce trash.
And there were indeed decades with better movies. The 20s were awesome. It was the golden age of movie making. The 1960s had its social revolution transported to the movie makers. And that lasted even into the 1970s (like many "80s movies" were made at the early 90s (Jurassic Park or Fifth Element)). But yes, from the artistic and fantasycentered point of view the 80s were one of the best movie decades in human history.
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ebhaynz (3527)
6 years ago
You definitely make some great points. I'm not sure about this but I think it wasn't until some time in the 80's that more than one or two movies came out per week. So, for 40,50,60 years of movie history we had a handful of movies but then the 80's come around and the numbers exploded.
Actually, I think someone told me once that by the mid 80's there were more movies release in one month than what Hollywood used to release in one year! This certainly could explain why 80's movies receive so much attention!
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Quint (935)
6 years ago
Yep, I remember that there were at least 3-5 new movies (all of them at least on B movie level) per week. It was fun going back then into the cinemas. No wonder many children spend their time sometimes in cinemas instead of their school ;) . Their were even cinemas which started their movie schedule at 9 am. Perfect for this kids :) .
And indeed ..... many of thos movies were trash. But cause of the sheer amount of movies there such a huge amount of classics.
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Quint (935)
6 years ago
The story of thos movies were well thought. Compare Jurassic PArk with Jurassic World. Onyl a real idiot would have accepted such a horrible script in 80s (yes, Jurassic Park was part of the early 90s).
The acting was back then amazing. You had acting schools which learned different aproaches to acting. Todays actor dont even know how to handle the most simple emotions. Take a look at the dumbhead playing Kylo. Even Schwarzenegger offered more facial expressions then this untalented loser.
And when it comes to complexity: Ever thought of the Hitchcock movies. Which got more layers then all of the news "Star Wars" movies added together.
So no, i dont accept that thos money builders they release today on streaming services or at cinemas are anything else then simply money builders done by bankers. Today is the worst era of movies in its history. Even during the streamlined 1950s there were more engaging classics then today.
And yes, we have an option. Most of us hasnt seen all the classics of the 1920s til the 1990s. And even today there are a few huge masterpieces (means beside the indie movies) done (like Edge Of Tomorrow, When Marnie Was There, Arrival, Shin Goshira, etc. ). But today you have to search way, way harder cause most "movies" are complete profit only centered trash.
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[deleted]
6 years ago
Absolutely. The search is harder because the sea turned into an ocean with ANY idiot making movies and many do. Back then, that was so far from a possibility - you could buy an over priced 8mm cam, gather some friends and make a piece of crap.... now, a $200 camera shoots HD in stereo and EVERYONE thinks they are dirctors. Sad. I think movies HAD TO BE thought out better because film was expensive. Digital film is almost free (you erase and try again) so that's not helping.
I think movies seek profits reflecting the times. We (80s) had strong male heroes an princesses in distress, now, they have blank emo loser father killers.... just like society is: focusing on what isn't working for them and whining.
Also NOW we are entertained by silly little, even STUPID things, like youtube. This simply never existed in the past, and wasn't an option. That takes up space, appeals to our inner id voyeur, and is free. How can movies compete with that?? "Jack Ass" movies?
You are right though, pretty sad time for movies right now.
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Quint (935)
6 years ago
Yep, YouTube and BBS are really timeconsuming. But thats just a new way of entertainment. And even YouTube could be used senseful (there are a lot of really funny and educational channels there).
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