Movies that were once "hot stuff," but now seem rather inconsequential . . .

[claws]

Well, myself don't watch Silence of the Lambs for the gruesome. I watch it mostly for the superb performances, and those are what really makes the movie.
Anyone who can't appreciate that should stick with TV I guess.

[AndyC]

Porky's comes to mind. In the early 80s, it did push the envelope for teen comedies, which got it a reputation for raunchiness. It was a lightning rod for disapproving adults, at the same time adolescent boys just had to get their hands on the VHS tape, so they could see the shower scene their friends were talking about. Porky's was practically synonymous with teen sex comedies.

Now, I like Porky's. It's a funny movie. But it's not a movie you hear much about anymore. It's certainly been surpassed in terms of sex and crude gags, and is not widely considered a must-see or a scourge on society.

In some ways, I think Porky's reputation hurt it more than anything, because it made many people overlook what a good movie it was. It really isn't that filthy a movie, even by the standards of the 80s, so it also has a reputation it can't live up to.

[Flick James]

Porky's comes to mind. In the early 80s, it did push the envelope for teen comedies, which got it a reputation for raunchiness. It was a lightning rod for disapproving adults, at the same time adolescent boys just had to get their hands on the VHS tape, so they could see the shower scene their friends were talking about. Porky's was practically synonymous with teen sex comedies.

Now, I like Porky's. It's a funny movie. But it's not a movie you hear much about anymore. It's certainly been surpassed in terms of sex and crude gags, and is not widely considered a must-see or a scourge on society.

In some ways, I think Porky's reputation hurt it more than anything, because it made many people overlook what a good movie it was. It really isn't that filthy a movie, even by the standards of the 80s, so it has a reputation it can't live up to.

True. It was the American Pie of it's time. Wait. American Pie. There's another one.

[akiratubo]

I'll nominate Scanners.  When I was growing up, I heard much from older kids about the incredible head explosion.  Scanners was even mentioned, as a particularly violent and notorious film, in a bunch of the books on cult movies I read in my childhood and early adolescence.  Well, exploding heads are a dime-a-dozen now and Scanners doesn't get mentioned much anymore.  Hell, it's become a freakin' joke.  The infamous head explosion, that once shocked so many viewers and was the subject of awed talk on playgrounds amongst those who'd seen it, is one of the most common animated "funny" .gifs on the entire internet.

[Raffine]

Jackson's KING KONG is a good choice. All that hype, and it was pretty much forgotten as soon as it left the theaters.

For me it's the three STAR WARS prequels. Big news in their day but now they just seem like a footnote to the original trilogy.

[66Crush]

The Star Wars prequels prove you cannot repeat history. I don't like most of the blockbusters from the 90's and 00's. "Titanic", "The Matrix", hell I even think "Avatar" is over-rated.

[AndyC]

I'll nominate Scanners.  When I was growing up, I heard much from older kids about the incredible head explosion.  Scanners was even mentioned, as a particularly violent and notorious film, in a bunch of the books on cult movies I read in my childhood and early adolescence.  Well, exploding heads are a dime-a-dozen now and Scanners doesn't get mentioned much anymore.  Hell, it's become a freakin' joke.  The infamous head explosion, that once shocked so many viewers and was the subject of awed talk on playgrounds amongst those who'd seen it, is one of the most common animated "funny" .gifs on the entire internet.

Scanners' whole reputation was built on that head explosion. Overall, it wasn't really representative of the movie. Kind of like what I was saying about Porky's and the shower scene. The movie's doomed because the people who aren't going to avoid it based on its reputation might well be disappointed or at least unimpressed by the reality.

I think that goes for most movies that have a big, shocking scene everyone talks about. Alien's chest-bursting scene is old hat these days, although the movie remains a classic because it has a lot more going for it than that one shock. But a lesser movie just fades into obscurity when the shock wears off.

[Mr. DS]

Jackson's KING KONG is a good choice. All that hype, and it was pretty much forgotten as soon as it left the theaters.

For me it's the three STAR WARS prequels. Big news in their day but now they just seem like a footnote to the original trilogy.

Actually the minute many people saw them the became inconsequential.  Well, at least for me anyhow.

[AndyC]

Jackson's KING KONG is a good choice. All that hype, and it was pretty much forgotten as soon as it left the theaters.

For me it's the three STAR WARS prequels. Big news in their day but now they just seem like a footnote to the original trilogy.

Actually the minute many people saw them the became inconsequential.  Well, at least for me anyhow.

True, with the prequels, there was a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement, and I think even a bit of self-delusion at first, because we really wanted them to be good. In the end, they just weren't that good.

And Jackson's King Kong came along in the afterglow of his Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I know I expected something just as good. Mind you, Lord of the Rings has a lot of story, and King Kong's plot can be summarized in a couple of sentences. I suppose that's the problem. King Kong is all about spectacle, and these days, spectacle comes cheap. That's the case with a few of the movies we've mentioned here - Titanic, The Matrix, Avatar. They dazzled us with the latest special effects, but their impressiveness has been diluted through imitation and overuse of the same gimmicks, and overshadowed by the next big thing to come along. Take away the sense of awe, and there isn't much left to carry the movie. The original King Kong became such an enduring classic because it was ahead of its time, and it remained a unique film for many years. Its imagery became iconic, rather than cliched.

[movie masochist]

Well, myself don't watch Silence of the Lambs for the gruesome. I watch it mostly for the superb performances, and those are what really makes the movie.
Anyone who can't appreciate that should stick with TV I guess.

I actually think Silence of the Lambs is unintentionally funny.  See my blog in my signature if you require further explanation. 

I am going to nominate Gremlins.  Do you remember how popular that movie was when it came out?  Now it's forgotten, and also quite horrendous if you try to watch it again now. 

[Killer Bees]

Hellraiser.

I saw it at the cinema when it first came out and then I bought it on DVD really cheap a few months ago.  When I saw it on DVD I was really disappointed.  That Pinhead guy wasn't scary at all.  It was just lame and I couldn't believe I paid anything for the DVD at all.

[claws]

Well, myself don't watch Silence of the Lambs for the gruesome. I watch it mostly for the superb performances, and those are what really makes the movie.
Anyone who can't appreciate that should stick with TV I guess.

I actually think Silence of the Lambs is unintentionally funny.  See my blog in my signature if you require further explanation.  

I was told about bad movie blogs that think Inception or Schindler's List are unintentionally funny. So I guess the old saying is true: whatever floats your boat  

[voltron]

Independance Day - quite a lot of hype from what i remember, but alas it SUCKED (what else would i expect from Will Smith?)

[AndyC]

Hellraiser.

I saw it at the cinema when it first came out and then I bought it on DVD really cheap a few months ago.  When I saw it on DVD I was really disappointed.  That Pinhead guy wasn't scary at all.  It was just lame and I couldn't believe I paid anything for the DVD at all.

I remember being disappointed the first time I saw Hellraiser on VHS. Pinhead is barely in it.

[Doc Daneeka]

No mention yet of Snakes on a Plane? Biggest thing on the internet for about 2 years prior to its release, got top ratings on IMDb... then people realized it was about as good as a sci-fi channel original!