Movies That Don't Hold Up With Age [Possible Spoilers]

[tippy2k2]

I got the "50 Years of Bond" pack from my Dad for Christmas. Since Goldeneye, I've seen all of the James Bonds but I have always wanted to see the older Bond movies, if for any other reason to see where it all began.

I've only watched Dr. No so far but I sure hope the movies age better. It was kind of terrible...

Spoiler: Spoilers for Dr. No

A few problems I had with the film (not age related, though that is kind of hilarious seeing the equipment they used). Keep in mind that I'm going off Modern Bond with some of these descriptions:

#1. Bond has always been cool as a cucumber in danger. When the spider is crawling on him in bed, he looks like he's about to shit his pants.

#2. What the hell was up with his escape? He goes to get into the vent and someone sets off a bunch of fire crackers. Evidently Dr. No figured that one time trap was all that was needed for when Bond tries to kick open the vent again, he is able to break it open and waltz around the base like he owns the place

 

[Nouw]

I nominate Jaws only because of the shark which by today's standards, looks very fake.

only at the very end. the rest of the film is master class in suspenseful film making.

Indeed, but it doesn't help that it builds up the big-reveal either. It doesn't ruin the movie but it's still nonetheless jarring.

 

[sXeth]

I'd chime a 2nd in on Blade Runner. Its still pretty to look at it, and respectful as an innovator of its aesthetic, but its incredibly basic in its premise compared to some of the later work in the field. (And depending on the cut can either be ludicrously blatant, or terribly obtuse).

Almost any of the 80s fantasy films seem terrible in post-LotR era. A few might hold up visually on decent practical effects.

Not so much the first Burton Batman, but Batman Returns just seems ludicrously over the top, and doesn't even have shock value in its grit-dark nature compared to all the similar fare dotting about now.

 

[HardkorSB]

The main problem is that the first Friday the Thirteenth was more about atmosphere and suspense and less about the gory and 'creative' kills. It was later sequels, and later "scary/horror" movies that shifted focus away from creepy atmospheres and suspenseful moments towards gallons of blood, vicious kills with unorthodox weapons.

Actually, the gore scenes were what the movie was about.
Tom Savini created all the gore set pieces and then a screenplay was written around them.
It was basically a cash grab that used violence and gore to lure people into the cinemas (for the time it was released in, it was really brutal).
Aside from Savini's work though, everything else in the movie is bad. The acting is bad, the writing is bad, the music is bad, the cinematography is bad (aside from a few shots here and there), even Kevin Bacon is bad (better than the rest of the cast but that's not saying much).

 

[ghostrider409895]

I enjoy most science fiction movies, and there are a lot of science fiction films that people recommend as really great and inspiring films in the genre. I am sure that a lot of these movies were excellent at the time, and some do have interesting stories and concepts, but once you are exposed to newer films, better story telling, and much better effects some things do not hold up. I know Blade Runner was a film recommend to me, and while I defiantly liked the story, as it was a fascinating idea of androids gaining a mind to not want to die, I thought some of the acting and some of the sets were a little off. The Fifth Element was another film that was recommended and I had a hard time looking past some of the effects.

I noticed thought, that a lot of the films that I think held up perfectly are ones that are not necessarily about anything too unnatural or hard to portray. Old spaghetti westerns, or war films like The Great Escape hold up fine, while some films that relied or needed heavy makeup or effects don't hold up as well. I figure a movie doesn't need to have high end effects to stay good. It is just the same effect playing PS3 games had when I went back to PS2 games. The PS2 games are still quite brilliant, but sometimes the older graphics and controls do take some getting used to.

In the end I figure too that there is also acting issues, and films might have fame and a following around a unique part that I just cannot get as a person looking back to see what all the hype is about.

 

[faefrost]

"Movies That Don't Hold Up With Age"

Song of the South

LOL,sadly it is actually a very well made movie, and holds up extremely well as a movie, and as a story and even as a glimpse at the roles of race and slavery in the old plantation south. It simply is not viewed as PC these days. It touches on several third rails of modern discussion. Things we are just supposed to forget, and never talk about, unless if involves Jamie Foxx killin all the white people.

A

However, there were also some films that while I could see why they may have been great in their day, I felt lost a lot of their uniqueness with age and more modern films improving on what worked.

Some examples that come to mind are: The Thing (1951), Friday the 13th, most 90s action movies, Hammer horror films.

The Thing: I liked the way it was shot. I liked the innovative (for the time) interrupting, thus more 'real' conversations. And I liked the mystery surrounding the first half of the movie. Then the monster shows up and the plot becomes comically stupid. The characters go on and on about how the Thing is so advanced, having traveled millions of miles through space in its super awesome space ship. So what is the master plan of such an advanced being? To try and get at our heroes by breaking through doors, growling at them, then slowing walking towards them in the most direct fashion possible. Frankenstein's monster-style. Ugh.

Friday the 13th: I wanted to like this movie, I really did. I mean I enjoy and appreciate A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and I even have some admiration for Halloween for its interesting and iconic music and maniac design. Friday the 13th though has no likeable or memorable characters, lame deaths, annoyingly repetitive "creepy" noises, and overall ugly cinematography. I will say the twist at the end was interesting, especially for a modern viewer given what the sequels became and would lead to expect retrospectively. My main problem is that every aspect of the film has been done better by other films.

90s action movies: Fight choreography has advanced so much. I men remember when the fight sequences in The Matrix or Ong-bak used to be awesome and as such, we forgave other weaker areas of a film? After watching The Raid: Redemption, or even the impressive fight sequences in children's cartoons such as The Legend of Korra, what wowed me before only induces a resounding meh in me now.

Hammer horror films: These films became famous for moving away from the mood-heavy 30s-40s Universal monster flicks, and instead relied on violence and tits to be edgy. Sadly, violence and tits has become such a mainstay of modern culture that they have even become a sort of currency of quality for advertising and reality television. Hammer films with their bit of fake blood here, and odd tit there has become little more than quaint.

Many of these were not exactly "great" films of the time. The 1951 The Thing being a prime example. The flaws you have with it now, where well acknoledged flaws with it then. It was a B scifi horror. Saturday afternoon schlock. It was well remembered for the good parts, which you picked up on. Some interesting innovative filmaking and a tightly suspenseful first half. That brought it to the attention of some later filmakers, who then set out to take an OK B movie and make it a true horror masterpiece. The good one is the 1982 John Carpenter version. It isn't that the earlier one hasn't aged well. It just hasn't improved with age. People hear the Thing and expect something better that was never really there. The Thing stands as one of the first times that a (non Shakespeare or literature based) remake was substantially better than the original interpretation.

The same with the Hammer horror films. They are fondly remembered by a generation, largely because before the dawn of cable TV there remained a network of unaffiliated independent TV stations around the US. They were not main network affiliates such as ABC or CBS. They were local channels such as channel 9 and 11 out of New York. Well they showed a lot of cheap syndicated fair. and were particularly fond of showing various moster type movies to the after school crowd. So we grew up with Godzilla, Gamera and Hammer films (sadly without the boobies). Really they were for the most part schlock at best and pure exploitation at worst. The main redeeming feature to them was Peter Cushing as Von Helsing and the immortal Christopher Lee as Dracula. Other than those two stars, most of their stuff was even then mentally filed in the same category as SyFy channels Saturday afternoon programing, or the works of Uwe Boll.

Friday the 13th was never "good" It's only appeal was that it was "forbidden" at least to those of my generation. Even then when we did get to watch it we knew it was awful. Like something made by a high school AV club. But it still got attention back then in much the same way as the Saw movies do today. What horrific way will he kill this next one? It's a lousy movie. It just stands out as the begining of the Slasher / Torture porn genre. But actually trying to watch the first one? Oh gods no. Heck it aged badly and ridiculously within a year or two of when it was first shot. (Oh and in a similar vein, with the big new "Amanda Seyfried TOPLESS" movie Lovelace coming out soon... I have some real bad news for any of you thinking that the actual original "Deep Throat". Let's just say that it to does not age well and leave it at that. )

 

[clayschuldt]

It has been said before, but I'll say it again. Reality Bites is nearly unwatchable by today's standards.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

90s action movies: Fight choreography has advanced so much. I men remember when the fight sequences in The Matrix or Ong-bak used to be awesome and as such, we forgave other weaker areas of a film? After watching The Raid: Redemption, or even the impressive fight sequences in children's cartoons such as The Legend of Korra, what wowed me before only induces a resounding meh in me now.

Ong-Bak came out in 2003 bro.

Also, The Matrix still holds up to this day and as for 90's action movies, Terminator 2 totally holds up,

 

[Conner42]

I got the "50 Years of Bond" pack from my Dad for Christmas. Since Goldeneye, I've seen all of the James Bonds but I have always wanted to see the older Bond movies, if for any other reason to see where it all began.

I've only watched Dr. No so far but I sure hope the movies age better. It was kind of terrible...

Yeah...Dr. No isn't exactly the greatest start for any kind of franchise. I will say that From Russia with Love and Goldfinger are genuinely awesome. You Only Live Twice is really silly, but...well, you're just going to have to watch it.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is really damn good as it's also a different kind of Bond film as well.

I'll have to say though, when you get to the Roger Moore movies...well, they are something else to say the least, though I do really like For Your Eyes Only.

The two Timothy Dalton movies are ones I really like as well, though I am going to have to say that apparently Licence to Kill was actually a very dark and edgy movie for its time, but now it comes off as...well, rather silly.

Really, there are shining gems throughout the Bond franchise, just be prepared to have to go through a bit to get to them if you are planning on seeing all of the movies.



As for the movies that have aged poorly for me, well...I honestly can't think of any. I try to see every film in the sort of context that it was released in. I am going to have to say that it kind of sucks that some movies I'll see were very ground breaking and edgy for their time when it's kind of just quaint for me. It would be nice to feel that feeling others were getting when the movie was brand new.

I'll try to think of things, but your looking at someone who really enjoys classic Star Trek.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

"Who framed Roger Rabbit?"

It just looks ridiculous today. And I would have to assume "Cool World" would also suffer if I ever watched it again. No one should of course.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

A lot of older horror movies don't at all just because you can immediately identify the monster as either someone in a costume or anamatronic or bad cg or whatever.

 

[Teoes]

"Who framed Roger Rabbit?"

It just looks ridiculous today. And I would have to assume "Cool World" would also suffer if I ever watched it again. No one should of course.

Spoiler: Obligatory

I loved WFRR when I last watched it a couple of years ago - more than I did as a kid, because I understood some of the more grown-up themes and jokes more.

I'd be tempted to argue against most of the films mentioned so far actually, as I love 'em still.

Honestly I find films that revolve around the birth of the internet back then don't hold up too well either (look up The Net and You've Got Mail).

Yeah ok you definitely get that one!

 

[Mangod]

It still gets a lot of respect as an innovator among movies of it's day but most modern viewers I've spoken to agree that Citizen Kane doesn't hold up at all.

Are you sure that's the movie not aging well, and not just the movie failing to live up to its own hype? I watched it again recently and I still thought it was a good movie, but nowhere near the levels that you'd come to expect from the "greatest movie in history".

 

[Mangod]

Any movie about hacking. ANY. Peoples idea of what the internet (or "super information highway") would actually be like is laughterinducing to the point of tears.

 

[Casual Shinji]

That's true. I just watched Speed yesterday, and crappy acting aside, there were some incredible stunts in that film. And Terminator 2? Best Helicopter chase ever.

It's funny how back in the day those movies were regarded as shallow fluff, but have now retroactively become masterpieces of practical stunts.