Jaws ?

what about Ben-Hur , etc ....

a blockbuster way before jaws

"Intolerance" 1916 directed by DW Griffith . . ..


Grazie

what about Ben-Hur

Amen to that.

Seeing it in 70 mm IB Technicolor is even better. :O[~]
Maybe in 50 years, HD/2K/4K, etc. will match the emotional experience of seeing old 70mm IB Technicolor movies... Easily worth a trip from just about anywhere to any 70mm revival, next one I know of is in Los Angeles in February at the Egyptian Theater.

I just read that the dangerous looking chariot race WAS a dangerous looking chariot race, with stunt guys risking their lives. Nothing fake, no SFX.

As to Charioteers dying . . .

http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/benhur.htm

http://www.slipups.com/items/2293.html


. .. I would NOT be a stuntman!

Grazie

Thanks for the Snopes link, great info!

Ben-Hur Chariot Race Scene (ONE SCENE!):

42 cameras and 50,000 feet of film in one day....

That is dedication!

"Ben-Hur Chariot Race Scene (ONE SCENE!):

42 cameras and 50,000 feet of film in one day...."

That was in the silent version (1926).

On the Ben Hur DVD Yakima Canutt and his son Joe talk at length about the chariot race--interesting stuff!

A book coming to mind:
"Easy Riders, Raging Bulls / How sex-drugs-and rock'n'roll generation saved Hollywood " by Peter Biskind.

Aw c'mon, you gotta give props to Jaws...it really is considered to be the first Summer Blockbuster movie, in terms of sales and lines around the block, media buzz, etc.

I think people are beginning to be more choosy about where they spend their movie money, and like you said, crap is crap.

Sadly not true, two arthouse cinemas folding down here. There's been a few excellent movies of late and although relatively they've done very well the problem is overall declining attendances.
Yes, patrons are more discerning but there's also less of them. That's not good as we all know how the corporate mind works, cut the big dollar and risky ventures, i.e. focus on the low budget trash.
Bob.

Maybe that's why we are seeing so many remakes. Can you believe we will have a third version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"? I actually liked the first one (OK - not on par with "Ben Hur" or even "Jaws" but fun to watch) and the second one su**ed big time but why a third? Is there no imaginatrion left ?

My all time favorites:
African Queen (story)
Shane (photography, sound track)
Magnificent Seven (Story, sound track)
Patton (acting, sound track)
Naked Prey (photography, story)
Star Wars (story, special effects)
Sound of Music (story, sound track)
Sweet Charity, (photography)
Josey Whales (story)
Saving Private Ryan (acting, realism)
TV mini series with James Garner chasing the Indian gone bad. Don't remember the name but it was so violent I still can't imagine how it got on TV.

JJK

:::That's not good as we all know how the corporate mind works, cut the big dollar and risky ventures, i.e. focus on the low budget trash.:::

Except Hollywood, which (I agree) DOES make low budget trash---but mega-budget crap STILL keeps oozing out their collective exit-ports.

One of these days Hollywood is gonna figure out that it all starts with a good STORY, and no amount of FX, big-name actors, marketing crappola, or anything else they can dream of will subtitute for STORY.

March of the Penguins cost what, $8 million? A lot of $$$ for a doc, and most of that budget probably neccessary because of the extreme location / special equipment / time involved in the shoot, but it's a story about PENGUINS and it's (already?) the 2nd-grossing doc of all time. Thing is, it's a GOOD story, even if it is true and concerns a bunch of penguins. Not an FX in sight, no car crashes, no stupid catch phrases (no penguin spouting "This time it's PERSONAL!"), not much sex (just a quick glimpse of Mr. Penguin doin' his natural-born thang), and perhaps best of all, not even any HUMANS to clutter things up.

Anytime all anyone cares about is max profit, most of what gets produced is shit.

people's taste's are chaing too. When jaws was around you had a handful of TV channels & the movies. Now you've got hundreds of channels, dvd released ~6 months after theature release (this is why most people don't go to movies anymore IMHO. Hollywood shot themselves in the foot on this one), video games with better stories then movies (and interactive).

it's no wonder people going to movies are dying. People want new & better & the big screen is providing old & same. TV is the same way, especially with DVD releases. Whose going to watch syndicated TV with 15 minutes of commercials if they can buy the season on DVD for ~$50-80?

Grazie,

I don't think Intolerance was a hit. Griffith made it to apologize for his genuine box office smash Birth of a Nation which was fantastically successful.

Mr Keaton I stand totally corrected! - G

The three biggest reason I've stopped going to the movies are:

1. Too expensive.
2. Small screens.
3. Rude/noisy audience members.

In case you're interested in following the box office of your faviorite film, here's an interesting site that allows you to do just that.

I read in an entertainment article, think it was attorney Mark Litwak, that the central demographic used by the major studios for greenlighting a project is the viewing preferences of the sixteen-year-old American boy. That's the group said to be generating the most movie theatre ticket sales now. The obvious problem is that if you're going to give films enormous budgets, you make the film's content captive to the single issue of ticket sales.

'Course if you're selling rather than buying, there's always Europe...and India....

I think there is a shortage of World class, Larger than life Actors.. There are some Brilliant films out there though...War of the Worlds I hope will become a classic...riveting Film..

I think there is a shortage of World class, Larger than life Actors.

Interesting. My wife and I were talking about this very thing yesterday. What Mark says is sad, but true. As was mentioned above, there is a dearth of "world class" scripts, too.

"War of the Worlds" - too many holes and inconsistencies in the story, and way too much Tom Cruise.

Personally, I was extremely disappointed in the WOTW remake. SS should really have known better. Special effects do not a movie make (look at "Lost in Space" - great effects - Worst picture I've seen in a theater ever).

However, I fear we have not seen the worst.

Apocalypse Now - Redux

Now there's a movie. Changed everyone in the crew too.

The Redux version really was better, some of the content that was cut from the original theatrical release really was vital, IMHO.

I almost fell out of my chair though, when I heard from the seat behind me, "What the h-ll are these French people doing here?"