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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
 Posted - 01/10/2008 : 01:28:32 AM
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I'll start by lobbing a softball: Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Liked it as a kid, but then I was a kid. Watched tonight after I don't know how many years. The whole film is rather slight, with a few good scenes scattered here and there. Sean Pean is esentially the whole show, doing wonders with what's essentially second rate material. (Even the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles got better dialogue to read.)
Generation Xers or Yzers or whatever you call people who grew up in the 80s still rave about this movie as if it was one of the great cultural touchstones of the decade. Wasn't it Vanity Fair that recently reunited the entire cast from the movie just so they could do a celebratory anniversary photo shoot? As if they were reuniting the cast of Star Wars or Roots or something.
I imagine kids today who catch this movie on TV would probably wonder what all the applause was about. |
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Nlneff
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
84 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2008 : 11:07:32 AM
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Any non Terminator/Predator Arnold flick.
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Bobby-G
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
904 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2008 : 11:40:41 AM
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Back when I'd seen FIRST BLOOD and DIEHARD when they first came out, thought they were fantastic (and I still thought thought so seeing them on cable a while after that), but when I got the DVDs more recently, I found them to be something less than I remembered (and in the case of DIEHARD, actually found the characters rather irritating!). I don't think the problem is that I was now watching these on a TV screen instead of a in a theater (all my favorites are still great on the small screen). I was already in my 20s when I first saw the movies, so it's not like when one sees a movie as a little kid and then again as an adult.
As far as FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, I just saw that for the first time a couple of months back -- an "Xer" was in fact raving about it, and lent me the DVD -- I didn't find anything particularly special about the flick (same thing happened with CADDY SHACK, which seems to be another Xer touchstone).
Rob |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2008 : 12:23:02 PM
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A lot of those comedies of my youth don't hold up that well. Stuff like Caddyshack, Stripes, Meatballs, Fast Times... they do have classic moments that give a chuckle but they just aren't the laff riots they once were. The major exception to this (for me) is Ghostbusters which still fires on all cylinders every time I see it.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
Edited by - Sardu on 01/10/2008 4:29:58 PM |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2008 : 3:13:02 PM
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quote:
Sardu wrote: A lot of those comedies of my youth don't hold up that well. Stuff like Caddyshack, Stripes, Meatballs, Fast Times... they do have classic moments that give a chuckle but they just aren't the laff riots they once were
Same here. Two notable examples (at least for me) are "Arthur" and "Porky's"
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://www.henrybrennan.com/
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twitterpate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
1026 Posts |
Posted - 01/10/2008 : 7:01:16 PM
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Part of the reason movies like Diehard lose their bite over time is that we've seen so ... many ... ripoffs homages since then.
For those antiques who remember seeing these things on their first theatrical runs:
Diehard: "Wow! A gritty action film with a hero who pulls no punches yet fires off darkly humorous one-liners! What a concept!"
Star Wars: "Wow! A classic Western tale set in space, with INCREDIBLE special effects! Dig that Leia chick as well - instead of being all wimpy and 'Save me! Save me!', she's tough and actually saves the heros' butts now and then! Wild - what a difference from the screen romantic leads we usually see!"
Remember, just a few years earlier, Hollywood mavens had thought that "movies for the younger set" would all be like Zabriskie Point. |
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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 12:34:24 AM
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3 movies come to mind when I get asked that question. These movies I saw when I was a child. The were on televison. And they were probably on televison because the networks needed something to pad out the time.
Later, I looked for these films because I thought they were hidden gems that I needed to rediscover. I usually remembered these movies in flashes of memory. Like a man with a gun huddling down terrified because a helicopter that looked and sounded like Airwolf was scanning around a farm with a searchlamp looking for him. A man in a radiation suit was walking down a empty city street were the inhabidents were conspiciously missing. A couple hiding in a cabin from bad guys who kidnapped there friend.
You would think that films with cool scenes like that would have other cool things like great acting, lively cinematography, and strong plots, right?
WRONG!!!!!
[url="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082968/"]Race for the Yankee Zephyr[/url]
Race for the Yankee Zephyr is treasure hunt movie. Some would say a lame rip off of Indiana Jones. Whether it is or it isn't, is hard to tell. I haven't found much information about it.
The movie stars Donald Pleasance(a.k.a. Dr Loomis) as a kind of Redneck who's accent we are supposed to ignore. Not to say that he doesn't do a good job. He made a great scruffy S.O.B. with foul manners and a fouler mouth. But his performance is the only saving grace.
The other actors Lesley Ann Warren, George Peppard and the hunky star, who's name isn't worth mentioning, are wasted playing exagorated stereotypes. In this case, space cadet, evil rich guy, and hunk.
The plot is simple. Loomis(I like calling him that) while out in the wilderness(somewhere in the Rocky Mountains) stumbles upon a old World War 2 airplane wreck called The Yankee Zephyr. The plane was carring money, gold, booze and decorative award metals to General MacAurther while he was waging his campaign in the Pacific. Helping himself to some of the booze and using the reminents of the fuselage he makes a temporary shelter for himself. He then takes some of the military metals he found and ambles back to civilization to sell the metals for cash. He then hooks back up with his hunky business partner(a helicopter pilot with a crappy helicopter) who seems to be followed by a woman who, in turn, seems to be a little dense. The plot kicks off in to high gear when the metals that Loomis sold get traced back to the Zephyr. Peppard shows up with goons who dress in off-the-rack suits. He kidnaps Loomis and head in to the wilderness to find the plane. Hunky business partner has to rescue Loomis and find the plane to get his struggling business back on its feet. Hopefully with a new helicopter.
The memories I had about this movie were mostly the action scenes. When I was growing up, if there wasn't a explosion or a laser beam fight, I wasn't much interested in the movie. Now that I pay a little more attention, the problem I see now is the tone. The movie tries to be too light hearted with its action scenes.
For example, there's a scene were hunky guy is trying to get the drop on 2 of Peppard's goons. The goons that Peppard takes in to the wilderness with him are always in dress shirts, ties and slacks. Hunky guy is dressed in jeans and a thick plaid shirt. He manages to disarm one guy. The other suddenly tries to go all Bruce Lee and goes in to a faux-karate stance. But the goon is way to scrawny and hunky, using his wieght advantage, just decks him.
The whole effect came off as stupid.
There's no real feel that there is anything at stake. The prospect of finding a gold laden plane just didn't move these people. The movie for the most part, just wants to make up some gaffs and then call it a day. If anyone, with the exception of Loomis, had given some consideration to the seriousness of the plot, they might of had something here. A more low brow version of Raiders of the Lost Ark?
[url="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083885/"]Endangered Species[/url]
A pre-"X-File" movie to be sure. The movie has cattle mutilations, experimential helicopters, secret military bases and super-secret government types. Too bad they pushed that stuff in to the background.
This Robert Urich vehicle made the same mistake Jaws 2 did. It tended to focus more on the personial lives of characters instead of focusing more on the things I would pay my money to see. A helicopter with robotic arms, put THAT front and center. A military base that does biologicial warfare, put THAT front and center. Government types that will kidnap you and perform surgury on you to make it look like you had a heart attack, put THAT front and center.
Instead the movie wants to go through the motions of finding out what make the Urich's character tick. His drinking problem. His trials and tribulations with being a single parent. His attempts at love with the local woman sheriff. 3/4 of the movie is about stuff like this. GET IT OUT OF THE WAY.
The government stuff gets peppered throughout the film and then culminates in the last few minutes. Even then, it falls flat. One because they never explain what the government was doing. And two there seemed to be less than 10 people running the secret military base.
Even the scene with the helicopter looking for Urich was flat. It's almost as if my mind made up stuff to give it a little more pep. It also doesn't help that the footage is dark and at time you can barely see anything.
[url="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053137/"]On the Beach[/url]
Boring!
I'm sure many people know the plot of this film. Nuclear war, everything going to die, hope, submarines, crushed hopes, and finding love at the end of civilization.
The movie a downer. No getting around that. But movie is all set up. The love story between Peck and Gardner, the morse code signals, and people getting their affairs in order. The movie then breifly puts that stuff in to play when the submarine makes it's journey to America. But the scene only last for a few minutes. It does it's job of dashing everyone's hopes and then moves on. But there is nothing to move on to.
Unfortunately, this movie had no life to begin with. There was nothing in it that hooked me. And now that I look at it, somebody walking down the street of an empty industial complex just doesn't hit me as it did when I was 5.
________________________________________________________________________
"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
Edited by - Capt. Nemo on 01/11/2008 09:27:06 AM |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 02:28:24 AM
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| Thanks for mentioning "Race for the Yankee Zephyr". I just recognised a childhood favourite from your description. |
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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 09:23:06 AM
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Don't do it, Neville.
Trust me. Your memory of the movie will be better than the movie itself.
________________________________________________________________________
"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 10:26:47 AM
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Caddy Shack definitely doesn't hold up well. Although, I've always considered it to be more of a Boomer than X-er movie. X-ers got exposed to it because it was shown endlessly on weekends on TV. The funny thing is that the TV version actually improves the film. In general though, the film has a couple of good setups, but it's mostly a mish-mash. The only thing that saves it is the gopher and Bill Murray.
Let's face it, movies that aim for the teen/young adult crowd don't hang around because of the demographic. The jokes tend to be tied to current events. And once you have kids, watching young people get drunk, get stoned, and get laid leaves you more paranoid about your own kids than induce laughter.
Superman gets my vote. The whole plot just doesn't work.
- Si desea pulse 2 para español, encontrar un país diferente. - |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 10:36:51 AM
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Boy, I have one- Wizards, the Ralph Bakshi movie. As a chemically enhanced teen at a midnight movie it was the coolest thing ever. ("Fritz?? Fritz!! They killed Fritz!! The bastards killed Fritz!!" I wonder if that was the inspiration for Kenny on South Park??) To see it now just make me feel kind of ashamed. Although it does hold up the best of all Bakshi's movies, IMO, that's still not saying much.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 12:13:01 PM
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I've been thinking about this a lot since ZW posted, and my call is Alien.
When it came out I think I was around 13, and I went to see it a whole bunch of times in the theater. Now that I'm much older and at least marginally wiser, I think my enthusiasm for it was totally unwarranted. All it really has going for it is a couple of "Boo" moments. The setting is dank and depressing and none of the characters is at all likable (at least none that don't die right away). And to add insult to injury, the sequel is a far far more exciting film in every way. |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 2:58:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Capt. Nemo
Don't do it, Neville.
Trust me. Your memory of the movie will be better than the movie itself.
But... but my memories of the movie are virtually nonexistent... I was like 3 at the time and all I can remember is the plot setup and one image of Pleasence near the end. |
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Greenhornet
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1791 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 3:57:44 PM
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"Young Frankenstien" and "Blazing Saddles".
Brooks must have been going through his second childhood at the time because they are full of jokes that a TWELVE YEAR OLD would make!
"The Queen is testing poisons." CLEOPATRA, 1935 |
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Capt. Nemo
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
630 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 8:25:02 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Neville
But... but my memories of the movie are virtually nonexistent... I was like 3 at the time and all I can remember is the plot setup and one image of Pleasence near the end.
Notice you only remember the parts with Pleasence. He was the only trying to make something interesting.
I'll just say that you've been warned.
________________________________________________________________________
"Ward, the Beaver blew up the 7-11 again."
"I'll have a talk with him Dear" |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2008 : 10:14:23 AM
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I appreciate it, really, but that's like telling the moths to stay away from flames.
Time for me to start contributing to the thread: All Karate Kid movies have lost whatever charm they had in the first place. As of today the only thing that keeps me watching whenever they air on TV is Pat Morita. |
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