re-evaluating older films....
Discussion
SS2. said:
Watched The Sting the other day - again. Released in 1973.
Still looks (and sounds) very sharp, and certainly doesn't feel dated - no CGI, no special FX, just decent acting, a decent plot and a fairly stellar cast makes for a movie which has stood the test of time.
Indeed.Still looks (and sounds) very sharp, and certainly doesn't feel dated - no CGI, no special FX, just decent acting, a decent plot and a fairly stellar cast makes for a movie which has stood the test of time.
A true classic.
I'm stuck in a time warp watching films from a different era.
Try Trapeze ( 1956 ) - A circus film yet to be surpassed in the following 60+ years.
I'm not attracted to animal shows, but Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollabridgia and Nick Cravat on the flying trapeze takes some beating.
No CGI when Lancaster does 'The Triple' - that was in the era of great film-making when stars were stars.
Watch out for the classic bit where Lancaster walks down the cobbled Paris street on his HANDS ! Utterly brilliant.
I was brought up in the local flea-pit, armed with my pea-shooter, watching Hopalong Cassidy and Flash Gordon, moving on to the epics from the war years and then film noir before the classic mob movies like Point Blank and The Outfit. Don't give me tripe like John Wick 3 as an example of the best we can come up with for a Saturday night.
Off tomorrow afternoon to see the remastered 'Don't Look Now', with Donald Sutherland and the lovely Julie Christie. Saw it first time round and a well deserved 9 red rain-coats / 10 last minute surprises.
Try Trapeze ( 1956 ) - A circus film yet to be surpassed in the following 60+ years.
I'm not attracted to animal shows, but Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollabridgia and Nick Cravat on the flying trapeze takes some beating.
No CGI when Lancaster does 'The Triple' - that was in the era of great film-making when stars were stars.
Watch out for the classic bit where Lancaster walks down the cobbled Paris street on his HANDS ! Utterly brilliant.
I was brought up in the local flea-pit, armed with my pea-shooter, watching Hopalong Cassidy and Flash Gordon, moving on to the epics from the war years and then film noir before the classic mob movies like Point Blank and The Outfit. Don't give me tripe like John Wick 3 as an example of the best we can come up with for a Saturday night.
Off tomorrow afternoon to see the remastered 'Don't Look Now', with Donald Sutherland and the lovely Julie Christie. Saw it first time round and a well deserved 9 red rain-coats / 10 last minute surprises.
Gargamel said:
I rewatched ‘An American in Paris’. With Gene Kelly recently, now thats a film !
Amazingly different in production, camera work, the whole street in the studio thing, it’s hilarious. Of course the dancing is amazing, but the plot is aha a little thin !
Yes, that really is one great movie, but as for the thin plot, it was conceived in the 1940s (perhaps even earlier) when the expectations of Mr and Mrs Joe Public were far less than today. Plus musicals like this were churned out for the masses. But being a lover of the classic Hollywood musicals, as I said, still a great movie. Amazingly different in production, camera work, the whole street in the studio thing, it’s hilarious. Of course the dancing is amazing, but the plot is aha a little thin !
I also prefer watching older movies, having seen only a handful made in the last ten or so years. But one recent offering (from 2014) I can recommend is "Keeping Rosie" starring that great British actress Maxine Peake - it has a great plot with (for me) a totally unexpected twist in the tail.
You may note I referred to Maxine Peake as an actress as I find it perplexing that female thespians all now seem to want to be known as "actors" - where did that come from?
There seems very little in the recent past that appeals to me with the exception of "The Shape of Water" which is on my to see list.
Wacky Racer said:
(imo) The best films (with a few exceptions) were made in the 1940's/50's/60's.
Most films made today are full of unbelievable computer generated imagery crap, and the plots are rubbish.
A notable exception being The Shawshank Redemption…(excellent)
Just as much crud back then as is now, in fact more crud, people still went to the movies back then and would watch any old eye candy..Most films made today are full of unbelievable computer generated imagery crap, and the plots are rubbish.
A notable exception being The Shawshank Redemption…(excellent)
I match your Abbott and Costello and raise you George Formby and Elvis's movies
No, I thought ET was utter hogwash when I saw it first, I still think it's a sentimental stinker of a movie.
However Jaws just gets better everytime I see it, same with Duel actually.
irocfan said:
...The Good, the Bad and the Ugly... - slow, with poor acting (kinda expected in the spaghetti westerns) and continuity.
TGTB&TU is meant to be slow. An epic western that has the American Civil War as it's backdrop it's supposed to proceed at a stately pace. The acting is some of the most memorable I've seen (good/bad who cares? Was H Ford's acting good in BR? Who cares? The movie is a one of a kind - the best of the (albeit quite small) genre - in fact the best western ever filmed. The movie transcends any notion of poor this or poor that - it's simply the best spaghetti western the world has known, and you accept sub-Shakespearean levels of acting when you understand the concept of the genre.T2 is still great and the great breaking FX are just good enough, the remastered 4K version has a few tweaks which fixes the obvious stunt double grabbing the kid off the bike in the storm drains.
Aliens has aged badly due to the grainy film used, but I watched Alien on Blueray a few years back for the very first time - a brilliant film.
Some are shyate though, First Blood / Rambo / Commando / Running Man all have to accepted they were ‘of the time’. Most of the Star Wars ones looks shyate too but now body complains about those.
Blazing Saddles however, just lives on...
Aliens has aged badly due to the grainy film used, but I watched Alien on Blueray a few years back for the very first time - a brilliant film.
Some are shyate though, First Blood / Rambo / Commando / Running Man all have to accepted they were ‘of the time’. Most of the Star Wars ones looks shyate too but now body complains about those.
Blazing Saddles however, just lives on...
popeyewhite said:
irocfan said:
...The Good, the Bad and the Ugly... - slow, with poor acting (kinda expected in the spaghetti westerns) and continuity.
TGTB&TU is meant to be slow. An epic western that has the American Civil War as it's backdrop it's supposed to proceed at a stately pace. The acting is some of the most memorable I've seen (good/bad who cares? Was H Ford's acting good in BR? Who cares? The movie is a one of a kind - the best of the (albeit quite small) genre - in fact the best western ever filmed. The movie transcends any notion of poor this or poor that - it's simply the best spaghetti western the world has known, and you accept sub-Shakespearean levels of acting when you understand the concept of the genre.
krunchkin said:
When you look back on them now, all those cool Bond films you enjoyed as a kid are absolute unmitigated s
t. st plots, st acting, st script, st camerawork. The odd decent stunt but that's about it
All the Brosnan films are dire and have aged very badly. t. st plots, st acting, st script, st camerawork. The odd decent stunt but that's about itThe best thing to come out of that portion of the franchise was Goldeneye on the N64.
easytiger123 said:
Try re-watching Who Dares Wins. I loved that film when it came out. Lewis Collins vs 'The People's Army'. Watched it again just last week. My god it's a clunky, ludicrous, dated piece of st. Still loved it though!
Great film, as is the aforementioned Commando.t. Still loved it though!All too easy to get high and mighty over films, but they have one job, to entertain. Were you entertained? Then the job is done.
irocfan said:
I'be been watching a few old, classic (and not so classic!) films and it struck me that all these films I enjoyed as a younger person are more than quite crap in some cases and in most cases insanely slooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Recently I watched (mainly courtesy of Film4):
Commando - crap. I knew it was crap back in the day but it was still enjoyable, I watched it yesterday and, some of the 'iconic' scenes apart, realised that it's actually total, unmitigated ste! The climax of the film where he wipes out half an army was poor 35 years ago - time has not been kind!!!!
The Enforcer/The Good, the Bad and the Ugly/For a Few Dollars more - slow, with poor acting (kinda expected in the spaghetti westerns) and continuity.
Big Trouble in Little China - still fun but slow and the SFX... shockingly bad even for the period
The thing is though that I'm worried that I'll watch some other former favourite films and be disappointed (Terminator and T2 I'm looking at you here!). I appreciate that SFX have moved on but the pacing back then is actually quite laughable by today's standards (in truth I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing!) the music and background noise effects mixes have also changed out of recognition.
Any thoughts?
BTILC is still amazing in my opinion.I went to watch it at the flicks recently, and watched it with new eyes, it pretty darn modern, it flopped, it was too ahead of it's time. THe effects also hold up well in my opinion, apart from the giant snake thing which at the time, I thought it was rubbish.Recently I watched (mainly courtesy of Film4):
Commando - crap. I knew it was crap back in the day but it was still enjoyable, I watched it yesterday and, some of the 'iconic' scenes apart, realised that it's actually total, unmitigated s
te! The climax of the film where he wipes out half an army was poor 35 years ago - time has not been kind!!!!The Enforcer/The Good, the Bad and the Ugly/For a Few Dollars more - slow, with poor acting (kinda expected in the spaghetti westerns) and continuity.
Big Trouble in Little China - still fun but slow and the SFX... shockingly bad even for the period
The thing is though that I'm worried that I'll watch some other former favourite films and be disappointed (Terminator and T2 I'm looking at you here!). I appreciate that SFX have moved on but the pacing back then is actually quite laughable by today's standards (in truth I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing!) the music and background noise effects mixes have also changed out of recognition.
Any thoughts?
Oliver Harper Published on 7 Apr 2012
Big Trouble in Little China (1986) Retrospective / Review
https://youtu.be/5S2l9_nZTPY
I think Oliver covers it pretty well.
Commando was always a 'rubbish film', it's big money b-grade but enjoyable for it. And something I watch and enjoy on that level.
I do love the DOllars trilogy, but cannot think of bad acting in them, apart from a few local day players maybe. Tuco, Blondie and Angel Eyes are all spot on.
I mentioned rereviewing 'old' films to a friend this week (she doesn't consider 30's films to be 'old'), we had a chat about 'old' and I reckoned that pre-millennial is a good spot to say old, since the editing changed too much from early 00s onwards.
I used Highlander and STar Wars as two examples. I loved SW as a kid, and it still holds up today, it's a near perfect example of story telling (still amuses me that weird sorts in the SW thread try to knock it to bump the new stuff) and Highlander, which I loved as a kid, but when I watched it a while ago, I saw how awful it was, bad editing, hokey, poor shots etc. Likewise the 1989 Batman and Batman Returns. I always rated B over BR, but after watching them at the pics in a special double feature, the really poor editing on Batman and pacing let it down, while BR was a more polished film and I actually enjoyed it more than I did...though it's still not great, it's passable for today. But conversely for it's more ridiculous storyline, it's far less hokey than B.
Edited by Halb on Sunday 28th July 21:14
easytiger123 said:
Try re-watching Who Dares Wins. I loved that film when it came out. Lewis Collins vs 'The People's Army'. Watched it again just last week. My god it's a clunky, ludicrous, dated piece of st. Still loved it though!
Interesting because I watched it recently too.t. Still loved it though!And I came away thinking how relevant it was. bankers leaking funds from mysterious bad guys in the shadows, funding violent demonstrators, talk about headlines etc .
Plus he kicked ass and the score was great.
It had a story, built characters with good pacing.
A lot of films miss that these days.
Film is very like fashion. Some fashionable trends of the time date very badly whereas most classics dont. There are also rose tinted specs.
Hence so called greats like The Breakfast Club are revered by middle aged men but laughable to teenagers but all ages will appreciate a western or classic noir. Shawshank won't date. LA Confidential won't date, nor will Raging Bull, Grease, The Godfather, Cabaret or Saving Private Ryan.
Time may be kinder to 70s and 80s films once people who remember mullets and flares have died off.
Hence so called greats like The Breakfast Club are revered by middle aged men but laughable to teenagers but all ages will appreciate a western or classic noir. Shawshank won't date. LA Confidential won't date, nor will Raging Bull, Grease, The Godfather, Cabaret or Saving Private Ryan.
Time may be kinder to 70s and 80s films once people who remember mullets and flares have died off.
I still absolutely love Ferris Bueller's day off - I don't think it's aged at all, other than the computer tech and games arcade obviously - there's some great moments in there like the art gallery visit and the sausage king of chicago scene, prefect pacing in my opinion.
I re-watched the Breakfast Club recently though and it was absolutely terrible - couldn't give too hoots about any of the characters or their issues. I grew up watching Pretty in Pink, etc, so really wanted to like it.
If we're talking about 80s films as well as much older ones, Indiania Jones will always be a classic, no rose tinted specs required. Amazing film. Could re-watch that every time it's shown.
I re-watched the Breakfast Club recently though and it was absolutely terrible - couldn't give too hoots about any of the characters or their issues. I grew up watching Pretty in Pink, etc, so really wanted to like it.
If we're talking about 80s films as well as much older ones, Indiania Jones will always be a classic, no rose tinted specs required. Amazing film. Could re-watch that every time it's shown.
:BryanC said:
I'm stuck in a time warp watching films from a different era.
Try Trapeze ( 1956 ) - A circus film yet to be surpassed in the following 60+ years.
I'm not attracted to animal shows, but Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollabridgia and Nick Cravat on the flying trapeze takes some beating.
No CGI when Lancaster does 'The Triple' - that was in the era of great film-making when stars were stars.
Watch out for the classic bit where Lancaster walks down the cobbled Paris street on his HANDS ! Utterly brilliant.
I was brought up in the local flea-pit, armed with my pea-shooter, watching Hopalong Cassidy and Flash Gordon, moving on to the epics from the war years and then film noir before the classic mob movies like Point Blank and The Outfit. Don't give me tripe like John Wick 3 as an example of the best we can come up with for a Saturday night.
Off tomorrow afternoon to see the remastered 'Don't Look Now', with Donald Sutherland and the lovely Julie Christie. Saw it first time round and a well deserved 9 red rain-coats / 10 last minute surprises.
Another Burt Lancaster film which still stands up is 'The Train' from 1964.Try Trapeze ( 1956 ) - A circus film yet to be surpassed in the following 60+ years.
I'm not attracted to animal shows, but Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollabridgia and Nick Cravat on the flying trapeze takes some beating.
No CGI when Lancaster does 'The Triple' - that was in the era of great film-making when stars were stars.
Watch out for the classic bit where Lancaster walks down the cobbled Paris street on his HANDS ! Utterly brilliant.
I was brought up in the local flea-pit, armed with my pea-shooter, watching Hopalong Cassidy and Flash Gordon, moving on to the epics from the war years and then film noir before the classic mob movies like Point Blank and The Outfit. Don't give me tripe like John Wick 3 as an example of the best we can come up with for a Saturday night.
Off tomorrow afternoon to see the remastered 'Don't Look Now', with Donald Sutherland and the lovely Julie Christie. Saw it first time round and a well deserved 9 red rain-coats / 10 last minute surprises.
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