Badmovies.org Forum

The 80's were, and always will be, the top echelon of filmmaking. Who's with  me?

Well, compared to the 90s, any decade of filmmaking would look great.

Actually, I think the 90s are way better than the 80s, but considering what type of website we are in...

I think if you look across the decades at EVERYTHING that was made in an era, you will probably find almost a constant ratio of crap to decent movies to great movies.  The thing is that only the better movies (and occasionally the absolute worst) survive to be seen by later generations.  I think this is why everything seems better in the good old days in general.  So regarding the 80s, just because Empire Strikes Back and Raiders still get played on TV and talked about by fans and critics, that doesn't mean that Desperately Seeking Susan never happened.

Dano wrote:
>
> regarding the 80s, just because Empire Strikes
> Back and Raiders still get played on TV and talked about by
> fans and critics, that doesn't mean that Desperately Seeking
> Susan never happened.
>

Or that Tai-Pan never happened...
or Deadly Friend
or King Kong Lives
or Condorman
or Jaws 3-D
or Jaws the Revenge
or Pretty in Pink
or Dracula's Widow
or Blood Beach
or Death Ship
or Superman III and IV
or Wisdom

Or that Tai-Pan never happened...
or Deadly Friend
or King Kong Lives
or Condorman
or Jaws 3-D
or Jaws the Revenge
or Pretty in Pink
or Dracula's Widow
or Blood Beach
or Death Ship
or Superman III and IV
or Wisdom

*****  Well, not to jump on Madonna again (heh heh heh) but Shanghai Surprise and Dick Tracey could also make the list.

Dano wrote:
>
>
>
> *****  Well, not to jump on Madonna again (heh heh heh) but
> Shanghai Surprise and Dick Tracey could also make the list.
>
>

Arghh! My eyes!  Man, I tried to watch Shanghai Surprise once, couldn't make it past the credits.

How about Bullets Over Broadway???

Chadzilla wrote:  "Bullets Over Broadway"

*****  Ugh.  Bad, Chadzilla - Bad indeed (if I'm thinking of the right movie - was Cusak as a 1920s producer who gets mixed up with the mafia?)... but I am pretty sure it was post-1980s.  Wasn't it?

Regarding Shanghai surprise, one review I read once said: "I knew ahead of time that I was going to see Madonna and her husband Sean Penn in period piece/romantic comedy.  I wasn't surprised.  I wasn't surprised at all."  And speaking of horrid 80s movies set in the 1930s- how about Pennies From Heaven?

I think if I sat down and actually went through every movie I had ever seen, Shanghai Surprise would really have to be in the top worst five.  You know, we shouldn't write out the young 21st century either (what do you call this decade?  The 00's?).  I mean I haven't seen it, but the masochist in me just makes me want to slip "Glitter" off the shelf the next time I'm at the video store.  I better hurry while it's in new releases, 'cause after that, you won't be able to find it.

I don't know.  I have pretty clear memories of being aware of it around 88 and 89, but it runs close.

Star Trek 5 was 1989, that I know (Summer of Batman)
and let us not forget Supergirl and Santa Claus, The Movie
Rocky IV
Poltergeist III
House II: The Second Story
Leviathan and Deep Star Six

come to think of it, 1980s aren't looking that hot after all...

1980s aren't looking that hot after all...

Depends...if you are looking for truly great movies like Casablanca or Citizen Kane or Star Wars or whatever...good quality stuff then perhaps.

If you are talking about fodder for the likes of us and out twisted taste for bad movies, then the 80's were great

<>

That's what I'm talking about. Also there were many great (not bad-great, genuinely good) cult films and just plain cheese. I don't think the 90's will be remembered as fondly.

J.R. wrote:
>
> I don't think the 90's will be remembered as fondly.
>
>

WAIT A MINUTE!!! The 90s gave us.......well.......uh.......

nevermind

You want other bad 80 films
How about Vibes and Earth Girls are Easy
Theose are 2 that come to mind that I actually spent money in the theater to see them....thank God it was the $1.00 shows

The 80's gave us latex technology for cool monster props and gore.  The 90's gave us realy awful computer graphics.  I like the 80's better, but thats just my special FX preference.
----ooo-'U'-ooo----Kilroy was here.

The 90's don't look to be great for genre fans, but I wouldn't write off the decade completely.

I think what characterizes the 90's the most is the stratification of the movie industry.  In the 80's you could see a lot of lower budget movies still getting major releases.  Now almost every movie you are likely to see in the theaters has a budget of around $20 million, not even counting the studio support needed to distribute it.

Typical low-budget genre movies usually go straight to video now, or get a very limited theatrical release.  Which decade do we have to thank?  That's right, the 90's.  (To be fair, it really isn't the decades fault.  The people working and living in it are more to blame.)

>WAIT A MINUTE!!! The 90s gave us.......well.......uh.......

Terminator II
Jurassic Park
Candyman

I HATE THE 80's WITH A PASSION ONLY MATCHED BY MY HATRED FOR HYPOCRITES!!!!

THE 80's MUST DIE!!!!

-Scott*

"Anything which is anti-80's is my new favorite thing"

Exactly what I was thinking. The movie industry has become more exclusive. In the 80s, you could go to the theatre and see the likes of Eliminators, for example. If it were made today, you'd probably find a single copy of it sitting in your local Blockbuster, to be noticed only by genre fans and the extremely curious. It probably wouldn't be made as well, either - crappy CGI and all.

I think by the 80s, technology had begun to make it easier to make a halfway decent independent film, and there were quite a few out there. But the industry was changing by that time. By the late 80s, a lot of that stuff was getting very limited release, if it went to theatres at all. Today, I don't think it's possible for a would-be filmmaker  to go on his own and get much recognition or success. Perhaps if it's art films, but not if he's only out to entertain.

I think the 20's were the best movie making era. Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Fritz Lang, Those were the days ;-)

<>

Could Sam Raimi or Peter Jackson make it today? Hell no! I think the elimination of theatrical releases for B movies coincides with the death of the drive-in, and also of privately-run theaters. Schlock films could turn a buck with releases primarily in Southern theaters or something, whereas now almost all theaters belong to chains and only run big Hollywood films. That sucks.

The problem is that (I think) Reagan reversed the ruling from the 30s or 40s that the studios couldn't own theater chains. Now that they own the playing field, they get to standardize the theaters and keep any threats to the system out. Something definitely needs to be done about this.

>Today, I don't think it's possible for a would-be filmmaker to go on his own and
>get much recognition or success.

Three words: Blair Witch Project

Whether you like it or not, the movie was a success made by a handful of people for a shoestring budget that wouldn't pay the catering bill on a Hollywood film.