I'd like to discuss some movies that should've been really good, but for some reason or another, just couldn't make it into that "great" category. And before this gets off into a Classics I Hated thing, let me make it clear that I'm not talking about something that was built up by everyone else and completely underwhelmed you. So please don't say Citizen Kane, or Godfather. What I mean is those movies that even time hasn't saved, movies by a master director, or with a seemingly perfect cast, that just didn't quite add up. They're not bad, but they will never get mentioned in the "his best work" sections.
I guess mine would be Broadway Danny Rose. Regarded by some critics as being possibly among Woody Allen's better movies, by others possibly among his weaker films. Neither really hated or particularily loved. Solid beginning, sublime ending, colorful characters, and some super Gordie Willis lighting, but still, just so blah, no matter how many chances I give it.
So is this definition too cryptic, or do you get what I'm on about???
punchdrunklove.
Quote from: pookiethecatpunchdrunklove.
Can open. Worms everywhere.
Quote from: pookiethecatpunchdrunklove.
Why?
Quote from: pookiethecatpunchdrunklove.
Yes, I agree with that but didn't wanna mention it.
Actually, y'know why: it's not old enough. I shoulda said this before, let's not pick anything less than at least 5 years old, so the film's had enough time to have a critical reevaluation.
Taxi Driver...but you know what I think about it.
Silence of the Lambs.
Great performances, great story...it just didn't go where I wanted it to. Went into the field of ordinary thriller too much.
Quote from: Chandler in FriendsCan open. Worms everywhere.
:)
Any film should be open to be named here. Just make everyone at least explain why. That's all.
Sorry, I know you wanted films that weren't made too recently, but the only one I can think of for the moment is The Royal Tenenbaums.
"Ali" - It could have been a great bio-pic, but the opening is too similar to Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" and even feels like it is Malcolm's film. The fight scenes, although shot and edited superbly, go on too long. I liked Will Smith's performance, but Ali the man/character isn't shown in depth to really learn more about him. The film is good, but could have been so much better, especially with Michael Mann behind it.
fellini satyricon - just completely off the wall, but not in a good way. i'd like to give it another go based on things others have said, maybe i missed something, but fuck it, theres too many other movies to see.
the general - buster keaton is good, but this just didn't overwhelm me at all. it was amusing but eh - i'm more of a chaplin fan. it's kinda like that pulp fiction beatles/elvis argument, i think you can love keaton and chaplin, but you like one more thn the other...
hedwig and the angry inch - i had a headache when i saw this and i liked it but i think i expected a little TOO much from it, so my experience was doomed from the start....
pi - made me tired and i really couldnt wait for it to end......
scarface (depalma) - a little too overboard in almost every way....
old ones that come to mind. had great ingredients but didnt add up to a satisfying experience for me.
Key Largo (John Huston)
Bogart, Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore
great cast, great director. just didnt add up to enough for me.
Arsenic And Old Lace (Frank Capra)
Cary Grant and Peter Lorre in a wacky black comedy about a corpse and some criminals even sounds like a great idea when i'm typing it but it was just not entertaining enough for me. too long, didnt ever feel like it was a film instead of the play it was based on. probably made a great play though.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford)
John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin sounds like the greatest movie ever made. stewart is the straight arrow and wayne is the peacemaker and i really wanted to love this movie but it fell short somehow.
i dont think any of these three fall into the 'classics' catagory like godfather or casablanca or something. i think they all had great ideas/directors/casts but somehow (and i cant describe how) just didnt add up to the sum of their parts (in my opinion).
also agree about Broadway Danny Rose.
I was gonna put Satryicon, I fucking hated that movie.
Ali is a great example, at times, I felt it was showing us things and expecting us to know what was going on, by the historical context some of the time, but I just remember not caring that he was running with a bunch of kids, or that he was boxing Foreman (was it Foreman?) in Africa, or any of it. Really underdeveloped.
A lot of recent movies fit this category: Master and Commander, Last Samurai, even In America and the Barbarian Invasions were only ok for me, not outstanding. They just didn't capture my interest much, though In America is the best of the bunch.
Man on the Moon.
Big Fish
...just because it could have been much greater than it is.
I'll agree with Broadway Danny Rose and throw in Nashville, though I'll give Nashville another chance soon (I've only seen it twice).
Quote from: SoNowThenWhat I mean is those movies that even time hasn't saved, movies by a master director, or with a seemingly perfect cast, that just didn't quite add up. They're not bad, but they will never get mentioned in the "his best work" sections.
Quote from: ewardthe general
Wrong on so many levels.
Lost Highway. Another one I'm willing to see again, but... this is the closes Lynch has come to slick goth-kid art. As I recall it, it had very little organic or emotional and Lynch's worst soundtrack- three things that each Lynch film requires to balance it and make it whole and perfect, as so many of his movie are.
Quote from: godardianLost Highway. Another one I'm willing to see again, but...
Please do...
It's the most frustrating (and one of the best) Lynch films I've seen. It may not be fair to compare it to Blue Velvet or Mulholland Drive, because I think its greatness comes from the nuances and implications of that frustration, and not conventional emotion.
Quote from: CinephileQuote from: SoNowThenWhat I mean is those movies that even time hasn't saved, movies by a master director, or with a seemingly perfect cast, that just didn't quite add up. They're not bad, but they will never get mentioned in the "his best work" sections.
Quote from: ewardthe general
Wrong on so many levels.
dont misunderstand me, its not bad by any means, i just dont get from keaton quite what i get from chaplin.....i guess given sonowthens original statement, the in "his best work" sections thing im wrong, but i'm not wrong in saying it didn't 100% work for me.
Quote from: ewardQuote from: CinephileQuote from: SoNowThenWhat I mean is those movies that even time hasn't saved, movies by a master director, or with a seemingly perfect cast, that just didn't quite add up. They're not bad, but they will never get mentioned in the "his best work" sections.
Quote from: ewardthe general
Wrong on so many levels.
dont misunderstand me, its not bad by any means, i just dont get from keaton quite what i get from chaplin.....i guess given sonowthens original statement, the in "his best work" sections thing im wrong, but i'm not wrong in saying it didn't 100% work for me.
You shouldn't have to explain yourself to that reply.
how about The Score? DeNiro, Brando, Norton... and it was just blah.
.i actually thought that Snake Eyes was gonna rock....and i agre w/the Score...and all the other ones mentiooned EXCEPT FOR PI.....also i would like to add....Grannd Cannyon......Gosford Park.....Twin Peaks:FWWM....The Fountain.......Ali was a really good choice....Solaris(sodergergh).....
Quote from: NEON MERCURYGosford Park
how come?
Quote from: ewardQuote from: NEON MERCURYGosford Park
how come?
i was so slow......and im not the kind of person who onnly watches films that have exsplosions ....but this was paced awfully.....i couldn't get into it....the cast was stellar...Altman is badass.....i loved short cuts...m*a*s*h.....the player.....its just this one coul dhave been up to my and (maybe others)..expectatoins it edited/paced better......believe me it has nothing to do with dialogue heavy films ....i can watch thin red line, in the company of men, etc....al day its just this one 'coulda been a contenda'
VERTIGO.
:shock:
i.......i don........i don't.............
say what?!
well to clarify punchdrunk love, it is definitely anderson's least satisfying movie at this point. the ending was halfbaked, the emily watson character never developed, the themes and plot were confuddled (was the basic plot about healthy choice, phone sex, or love?), and the scenes just went nowhere (hence the great chase ends in "why you runnin? we know where you live." one of the cheapest ways to end it, i felt.). the overall movie wasn't funny. there were parts that were genuinely romantic (and funny) such as in the bed (the 'i wanna smash your face' dialogue), but overall i didn't find the chemistry between adam sandler and emily watson to be very palpable. pta also switches between locations as if it's no great deal. the movie felt like a brainfart with ingenius moments if you looked closely at them. it did not resemble cohesion of ideas.
Quote from: pookiethecatwell to clarify punchdrunk love, it is definitely anderson's least satisfying movie at this point. the ending was halfbaked, the emily watson character never developed, the themes and plot were confuddled (was the basic plot about healthy choice, phone sex, or love?), and the scenes just went nowhere (hence the great chase ends in "why you runnin? we know where you live." one of the cheapest ways to end it, i felt.). the overall movie wasn't funny. there were parts that were genuinely romantic (and funny) such as in the bed (the 'i wanna smash your face' dialogue), but overall i didn't find the chemistry between adam sandler and emily watson to be very palpable. pta also switches between locations as if it's no great deal. the movie felt like a brainfart with ingenius moments if you looked closely at them. it did not resemble cohesion of ideas.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.destreedesign.com%2Fgary.gif&hash=38563a35add631c361268f68ca29cbf1a282d260)
Ali, Satyricon and most of all, Dune ! This should have been the greatest sci-fi movie ever.
By the way, these movies have been named on this thread, never forget it :
Taxi Driver
Silence of the Lambs
The General
Vertigo
Goddamn, people ...
Dune, Ali, Man On The Moon = all perfect examples.
Taxi Driver & Vertigo... come on, people. These ALWAYS get mentioned as their directors' best films.
When I think of how good those top three should have been, it pisses me off but big time.
Quote from: SoNowThenDune, Ali, Man On The Moon = all perfect examples.
Taxi Driver & Vertigo... come on, people. These ALWAYS get mentioned as their directors' best films.
When I think of how good those top three should have been, it pisses me off but big time.
Haha yeah me too. When I saw Man on the Moon I was more mad than sad of how disapointing it was.
yeah i thought it sucked too, but jim carrey was good at least....
Wasn't Giamatti (sp?) in that? The lounge lizard stuff was great. But damn I hated the rest of that fucking movie. And everyone went on and on about it at first. I'm glad time has revealed that one to be a limp noodle...
empire of the sun
Ocean's eleven, considering the cast and director ... maybe it doesn't really fit though, because we all knew it would suck after all
Quote from: Pas RapportOcean's eleven, considering the cast and director ... maybe it doesn't really fit though, because we all knew it would suck after all
I'm firmly convinced to this day that the only thing holding it back from being among the great popcorn movies is it's resolution scene. All we needed was a shot of them all drinking on a beach somewhere, and it would have been all good. But instead we get this retarded, almost to-be-continued type of scene... urgh...
(oh, I assume your talking about the remake, right?)
Quote from: SoNowThen
I'm firmly convinced to this day that the only thing holding it back from being among the great popcorn movies is it's resolution scene. All we needed was a shot of them all drinking on a beach somewhere, and it would have been all good. But instead we get this retarded, almost to-be-continued type of scene... urgh...
(oh, I assume your talking about the remake, right?)
Oh, yes, I was talking about the remake. Actually, as for as pop corn movie goes, I guess it was ok ... but talent obviously got wasted there.
yes satyricon for me also. i was so excited to see this....blind bought (shouldve gotten amarcord instead heheh) maybe i jsut need to see it again. i remember it picking up in its later parts.
the discreet charm of the bourgjedjkdsjfk (sp). brilliant directing and idea, but it seemed like after i got what bunuel was doing in the movie it started to get too repetetive. i really wanted to like bunuel because everyone here was saying how lynch is greatly influenced by him but (based on this film only though) its like hed do better in other fields of art. i plan to watch this again though and im trying to get a copy of his other films...
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
I hate the Ocean's eleven bashing. I loved it. Loved it!
I can't see how talent got wasted there...the direction is anything else than flawless. The actors? You can see they all are having a blast and it communicates wonderfully to the audience...
In my opinion, the only thing that didn't work was Julia Roberts as the hottie. But she's great anyway.
How the fuck can you say 'we all knew it was gonna suck anyways'? I don't get it.[/i]
death to smoochy had an amazing premise, cast (robin williams, edward norton, jon stewart), and trailer yet it t - e - r - r - i - b - l - e
Quote from: kotteI hate the Ocean's eleven bashing. I loved it. Loved it!
I can't see how talent got wasted there...the direction is anything else than flawless. The actors? You can see they all are having a blast and it communicates wonderfully to the audience...
In my opinion, the only thing that didn't work was Julia Roberts as the hottie. But she's great anyway.
How the fuck can you say 'we all knew it was gonna suck anyways'? I don't get it.[/i]
I loved it, too. I've seen the movie like three times since it was released and am continually impressed with how precise, smart and talented it is in the movie it is trying to be. The film may suffer from an Out of Sight blacklash too. Ocean's Eleven is clearly Soderbergh trying to out-Hollywood Hollywood in its style of filmmaking these days when Out of Sight was able to represent indepedent filmmaking in some ways. People could have been expecting a different movie with the reteaming of Soderbergh and Clooney.
And with comments like "we all knew it was gonna suck anyways", there is no legitimacy. These threads are continually filled people just bashing movies and others defending them and no analysis to get beyond basic arguing. Its easy to allow someone to disagree with you when they explain themselves because you feel there is at least respect given to the movie when putting it down. This hardly happens anymore.
Quote from: The Gold TrumpetQuote from: kotteI hate the Ocean's eleven bashing. I loved it. Loved it!
I can't see how talent got wasted there...the direction is anything else than flawless. The actors? You can see they all are having a blast and it communicates wonderfully to the audience...
In my opinion, the only thing that didn't work was Julia Roberts as the hottie. But she's great anyway.
How the fuck can you say 'we all knew it was gonna suck anyways'? I don't get it.[/i]
I loved it, too. I've seen the movie like three times since it was released and am continually impressed with how precise, smart and talented it is in the movie it is trying to be. The film may suffer from an Out of Sight blacklash too. Ocean's Eleven is clearly Soderbergh trying to out-Hollywood Hollywood in its style of filmmaking these days when Out of Sight was able to represent indepedent filmmaking in some ways. People could have been expecting a different movie with the reteaming of Soderbergh and Clooney.
And with comments like "we all knew it was gonna suck anyways", there is no legitimacy. These threads are continually filled people just bashing movies and others defending them and no analysis to get beyond basic arguing. Its easy to allow someone to disagree with you when they explain themselves because you feel there is at least respect given to the movie when putting it down. This hardly happens anymore.
I know you hate the Coens but my dream would have been this film...directed by the Coens...the writing is very Coen-esque...
Quote from: slicedeath to smoochy had an amazing premise, cast (robin williams, edward norton, jon stewart), and trailer yet it t - e - r - r - i - b - l - e
I'm on board with this. That silhouette was pretty damn funny, but not nearly worth sitting through that whole film.
Quote from: kotteHow the fuck can you say 'we all knew it was gonna suck anyways'? I don't get it.[/i]
The fuck how I can say it is just by remembering the promotion for this movie. I know this would be a Soderbergh reunion party with his hip star friends. No chemistry in the cast at all, while the Rat Pack was so much more.
I feel worst for Ocean's Twelve
hey u know what never had potential and just plain sucks? this thread!
Quote from: ©boy the cathey u know what never had potential and just plain sucks? this thread!
What's so bad about this thread, I don't recall it raping you in the ass.
"8 mm": I still wish Fincher had gone through with it. But as it is now, I really do like Schumaker's movie anyway, but it had great potential to go even darker and seedier. It played it safe a little too much. It really could have explored the deep, deep underworld of sick and extreme porn. It should have gotten inside Cage's character and fucked up his mind even more. I could understand Andrew Walker gripe and not wanting to be involved because of the script changes, etc., but there are still some great scenes, like the one where Cage calls the mother of the girl (being intentially vague) and builds up his rage and reminds him why he's doing what he about to do.
SLEEPY HOLLOW
This is a huge one for me cause I think Burton is a fucking genius and Johnny Depp is amazing too....this is there lone botched collaboration though. There's no excuse for it either, even though Burton wasn't exactly at the top of his game at the time (his last great movie was "Ed Wood" 5 years before making SH), it still should have rocked though. It was one of the stories Burton was born to tell, the role was perfect for Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci was a fine choice for her respective role, and then on top of it all, Burton had fucking Walken as the headless horseman, it doesn't get any better than that. Somehow, this set up turned into one of the most disappointing movies I've seen.
THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE
A love letter to the french new wave from Jonathan Demme and Mark Whalberg? I was first in line, I literally bought the poster before even seeing the movie, no joke. There is no reason for it too suck so much. It was horrible for no reason, there's no excuse.
SCARFACE (De Palma's)
Completely agree with eward. It's just over the top the entire time...everything from the violence to Pacino's accent....and it annoys me. It shouldn't have taken itself as seriously. With such a great director and cast, I'll never know what went wrong.
MYSTIC RIVER
Great actors, great director, AWESOME trailer...no delivery. Biggest disappointment in awhile. One of the only movies...possibly THE only movie whose faults can be drawn from it being adapted from a book....mostly faults in the dialogue to be specific. Some of it sounded as literary as can be.
i agree about sleepy hollow.
Quote from: SoNowThenBut instead we get this retarded, almost to-be-continued type of scene... urgh...
Well, we know this wasn't the case...
Though, I do think what Ted suggests at the end of his and Steven's commentary would've been great.
And Soderbergh honestly sounds like he didn't see how it could be a sequel-to-come ending.
Silence of the Lambs would be my great dissapointment. The middle of it is so good in understanding how to approach true horror that the genre beginning and ending compromises the film from achieving greatness. For the weak horror genre, though, it is by far the best movie yet.
Quote from: Pas RapportQuote from: ©boy the cathey u know what never had potential and just plain sucks? this thread!
What's so bad about this thread, I don't recall it raping you in the ass.
I'm sure he's aware, he's just playing hard to get.
Red Dawn, interesting idea, poor execution.
obviously i agree about scarface.......
and another depalma one. body double. embarassingly bad vertigo rip-off. depalma at his worst.....it was just shocking to me because there were some cool scenes but then were alot of really retarded ones.....
The One with Jet Li had a cool premise, but bombed.
the tim burton batman movies
they all looked great and had great acting, but I thought they all lacked energy. the action scenes felt very languid and too theatrical (as opposed to cinematic) and just not very exciting. I wish Alex Proyas had directed them batman pictures because Dark City was a much better Gotham than Gotham ever was.
harold and maude
too sappy
old school
should never even tried to have some kind of plot and romance. that whole climax of them just chasing the dean around for five minutes was really disappointing, and the academic decathlon before that was seen in happy gilmore already.
lost in translation
way too many punchlines on the expenses of them Japanese folks
A.I.
too many things went wrong there
gangs of new york
shoulda stayed away from that techno soundtrack in the beginning
last temptation of christ
didn't need to try so hard to re-contexualize the Bible
Stripetease
Demi shoulda shown a lot more
Quote from: pete
lost in translation
way too many punchlines on the expenses of them Japanese folks
That's like saying Stuck on You has too many jokes at the expense of conjoined twins. It's not laughing at them, it's laughing at what sort of living conditions come about from its presence.
Quote from: petethe tim burton batman movies
they all looked great and had great acting, but I thought they all lacked energy. the action scenes felt very languid and too theatrical (as opposed to cinematic) and just not very exciting. I wish Alex Proyas had directed them batman pictures because Dark City was a much better Gotham than Gotham ever was.
oh no he
didnt. i actually kind of fondly appreciate that the action is still kind of clunky and almost 'old school'. watching how tame the action sequences are in the film are a reminder of simpler days. you could never get away with something like that today for a big summer blockbuster. but all the exciting scenes have a sort of older movie feel right before the complete switch into SUPERACTION that swept the 90s.
Quote from: petethe tim burton batman movies
LOL Did u hear what Burton's reply was when Kevin Smith jokingly accused him of stealing the ending of Planet of the Apes from one of his comics? Tim replied with "Anyone who knows me knows I would never read a comic book"
Quote from: peteStripetease
Demi shoulda shown a lot more
LOL Agreed
>>Red Dawn, interesting idea, poor execution.
Wolverines!
Quote from: A Fire InsideQuote from: petethe tim burton batman movies
LOL Did u hear what Burton's reply was when Kevin Smith jokingly accused him of stealing the ending of Planet of the Apes from one of his comics? Tim replied with "Anyone who knows me knows I would never read a comic book"
Hahaha nice quote
Bringing Out The Dead
Quote from: Gambloren das ManhörenQuote from: pete
lost in translation
way too many punchlines on the expenses of them Japanese folks
That's like saying Stuck on You has too many jokes at the expense of conjoined twins. It's not laughing at them, it's laughing at what sort of living conditions come about from its presence.
did you just compare being Japanese to being born of physical deformity? even if you did, stuck on you's heroes are conjoined, you see it from their point of view. lost in translation: white american's p.o.v.
Quote from: themodernage02
oh no he didnt. i actually kind of fondly appreciate that the action is still kind of clunky and almost 'old school'. watching how tame the action sequences are in the film are a reminder of simpler days. you could never get away with something like that today for a big summer blockbuster. but all the exciting scenes have a sort of older movie feel right before the complete switch into SUPERACTION that swept the 90s.
the simpler days from which era? douglas fairbanks' swashbucklers? buster keaton's stunts? bruce lee's fight scenes? pekingpah's gun fights? the explosions in die hard? indiana jones maybe?
I don't think batman went out of its way to make the action sequences tamer, it just focused a bit too much on the background and sets. I don't think dark city or the crow were too incredibly well-choreographed either, they just had more excitement in them. batman's not just a crimestopper, he's a crimefighter.
Secondly, I bet had Tim Burton shot those scenes and made those scenes more fun, nobody would be here complaining right now or missing "the old days". The Batman and Robin animations were exciting. The comics were exciting. No reason why Michael Keaton should be fighting like Adam West.
oh oh oh more movies to the potential but no list:
conspiracy theory
story seems quirky and cool, the huge budget, cast, helicopters and FBI guys on motorcycles just killed it
what dreams may come/ pleasantville
both looked great but both kinda had hots for shallow symbols and philosophy and stuff
Quote from: themodernage02Bringing Out The Dead
there were a few scnees in that movie that just pummelled me...but it added up to the most unsatisfying, uneven bigger picture.
Once Upon A Time In America
i detest this film. what a blunder. how do you take a Sergio Leone epic tale about the mob with Deniro in the lead and make this piece of crap? if it had lived up to its potential it would be mentioned in the same breath as the Godfather or his westerns but the first time i'd ever heard of it was when it was being released on dvd.
well, what version did you see of the film? no wait, erase that, of course you saw the long version. ahmm, what's not to like about this film? great cast , great director, great story , great photography... wait, that was the point of this thread.
i'll agree with the fact that it will rarely be mentioned as Leone's best work .
Quote from: petepleasantville
Quote from: themodernage02
oh no he didnt.
Quote from: chuckhimselfowell, what version did you see of the film?
the dvd with the completely unneccesary and appauling previously edited out rape scene.
Quote from: chuckhimselfowhat's not to like about this film? great cast , great director, great story , great photography... wait, that was the point of this thread.
no idea.
yeah
oh yeah.
you know it.
hell yeah.
what was the point of putting *this movie* in this thread? That, I don't know.
Quote from: petethe simpler days from which era?
the late eighties. watch the blockbuster movies towards the end of the eighties like Batman or Indiana Jones or Dick Tracy and then watch something from a few years after that like Terminator 2 or True Lies or whatever and there's a huge difference in what was considered 'exciting' and acceptable for an 'action adventure film'. action movies just ballooned and ballooned until now, we're at a point where technology has caught up and pretty much anything you can imagine you can put on screen. you arent bound by the limitations of technology like you were a decade or so ago. and i dont think batman needs to be a superaction movie. the characters are allowed to develop without shoving in mindless action every few scenes so we dont get antsy.
Quote from: peteSecondly, I bet had Tim Burton shot those scenes and made those scenes more fun, nobody would be here complaining right now or missing "the old days". The Batman and Robin animations were exciting. The comics were exciting. No reason why Michael Keaton should be fighting like Adam West
like i said, batman didnt need to be a superaction film and i dont think he fought like Adam west at all. the animated series came out after the second film, the comics dont need more money to put in more action, and the film probably had as much excitement as technology of the time would allow.
Quote from: Cinephilewhat was the point of putting *this movie* in this thread? That, I don't know.
Onceuponatimeinamerica was terrible; pointless, badly acted, and one of the worst movies i saw last year.
no way the action scenes in batman were half as cool as indiana jones. indy had a real sense of wit in the chase scenes that batman just didn't have. it wasn't that batman didn't try--he was flying, fought knife jugglers and kungfu dudes, had his car and his gadgets, and ended with like a pretty lengthy fight scene, they were just boring.
I'm not saying its sequels are better, they're not.
well they werent the greatest action scenes, but 1. tim burton had never directed action before. and 2. moving at all (even turning your head) in the batsuit proved to be a huge problem due to its design not being very functional.
still, look at what we have today in Matrix Reloaded, Bad Boys 2, Charlies Angels: Full Throttle. technology allows the imagination to create whatever it wants without worry of how or if it can be accomplished. all i'm saying is that, although at the time of its release it didnt seem 'old fashioned' to me, upon rewatching it recently, and the Indie movies, made me realize how vastly different the action adventure films of today are from those of just a decade ago.
I'm not talking about batman from too much of a retrospective; I remember the hype when I was in second grade and remember how disappointed I was (obviously back then I didn't appreciate the art direction and stuff), then saw it again when I was 13, then once in high school, then once last month. Same reaction, man. Parts of it were cool, but like the suit, it was very clunky and unsatisfying at parts too. Aside from the action scenes, the movie itself was extremely straight-forward, in a boring kind of way.
I still think indiana jones is better than the movies we have today. I mean all it comes down to, most action movies in recent hollywood history are this: american filmmakers stealing stunts from Hong Kong. Even the third indiana jones stole from Jackie Chan. Now I guess they're just hiring Hong Kong choreographers. The Hong Kong guys even steal from their dirty little selves when they come over.
Enough with the bat-bashing. Do the Right Thing may have been the more important picture to come out in 1989, but Batman was the best. The action was fine for what it had to be.
It's a truly great movie, there's more there than you think.