Breaking the fourth wall: A good movie or bad movie thing?

[Svengoolie 3]

A few movies break the fourth wall. Some are bad, maybe some are good.  Do you think breaking the fourth wall is a good or bad thing?

I remember a bad movie called "The flying saucer" that I found someone here asking about and named for him, that broke the fourth wall at the end, that's almost all I remember it for. it was pretty bad.

Deadpool breaks the fourth wall so much he should just jump out  into the audience already. I kinda like deadpool just for parodying the superhero movie genre.

The abominable dr. phibes kinda tapped the fourth wall sometimes, with Vulnavia, the doctor's lovely assistant, sometimes just giving the audience a long look here and there. It was a good movie.

Christian Slater broke it in a cop movie he made that was so bad no one remembers it now.

So, what do you think of breaking the fourth wall?

[indianasmith]

A mixed bag; sometimes it's effective, sometimes it isn't.

[Trevor]

Christian Slater broke it in a cop movie he made that was so bad no one remembers it now.

I do: it's called Kuffs. 

[Trevor]

Burt Reynolds had a great one in Smokey and The Bandit where he hides from the cop, grins at us and rides away.

My favourite break is this one from Psycho 



Why, she wouldn't even hurt a fly....

[claws]

A mixed bag; sometimes it's effective, sometimes it isn't.

There's a scene in Ax 'Em (1992) where people run around in total chaos, with one of the actors running towards the camera falling on his knees and looking into the camera expressing fear and pain, making direct eye contact with the audience. Since the movie is awful, taking a moment to break the fourth wall to show us how "real" the horror is was just the rofl icing on the rofl cake (movie). At least they achieved something Ineffectively effective  

[Trevor]

A mixed bag; sometimes it's effective, sometimes it isn't.

There's a scene in Ax 'Em (1992) where people run around in total chaos, with one of the actors running towards the camera falling on his knees and looking into the camera expressing fear and pain, making direct eye contact with the audience. Since the movie is awful, taking a moment to break the fourth wall to show us how "real" the horror is was just the rofl icing on the rofl cake (movie). At least they achieved something Ineffectively effective  

I always get a huge laugh out of the fact that one of the characters in that is called Harry or Bum Number 1 

[Gabriel Knight]

I recall that a lot of Mel Brooks comedies overuse it and it just looks incredibly stupid and unfunny, at least to me. I mean, I do enjoy a lot of Mel Brooks movies but sometimes it gets ridiculous at how much aware the characters are of the comedic nature of the film, which kinda takes away the fun of it.

I do believe that breaking the fourth wall can work, but it has to be at the exact moment and only once, otherwise it's just repeating the same joke, regardless of the content.

[Alex]

I agree that it is very much down to the context the joke is used in.

[Trevor]

I think if the fourth wall is broken, it should be totally unexpected, like the Burt Reynolds one was. I didn't expect him to grin at me after hiding from the cops.

[RCMerchant]

Some reporter keeps popping up in the Lugosi film the APE MAN (1943) who is making random statements to the audiance about how strange everything is, and at the ends up with telling us he wrote the movie we just watched.

[Pacman000]

It can be used by good or bad movies.

Do I like it? Depends on how it's used.

I don't mind characters looking at or talking to the audience; it's like the character's making the audience part of the movie.

I used to hate it when a character would reference writers of special FX; that broke my suspension of disbelief.

[WingedSerpent]

Truth be told...while I think it can be used well...I'm also kind of getting tired of it.  I see too many shows uses the whole meta concept poorly. 

When I see it in a comedy I think it works better, when I've seen a few more serious shows use it, something about it doesn't work as well for me.

[Svengoolie 3]

Of course in Blade runner Declare broke he fourth wall heavily, as was some in a lot of film noir.

There was a movie about Phillip marlowe filmed from the actors POV that was nothing but a fourth wall break as the main character talked to the audience all the way thru.

I think bogart talked to the audeince in "the Maltese falcon"

So yes it was used in some damn god movies.

[The Burgomaster]

Woody Allen looks at the camera and talks to the audience in LOVE AND DEATH. I think it works well.

Also, Ray Liotta in GOODFELLAS.

[Trevor]

In the Magnum PI TV series season one, Tom Selleck breaks the fourth wall a few times - especially in the opening credits - and talks to the viewers via narration.