Best era of Movies?

Ice Rich

Ice Rich

Ice Rich

Soldato
Joined
3 Dec 2004
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Hi all,

What was your favourite era of movies?

I recently watched the back to the future series again after not seeing it for many years. It such a great trilogy it really is.

The late 80's/early 90's really seemed a great time for films, especially from the US. Films like Jurassic park, Indiana Jones, Rambo, The goonies, Big etc. To name but a few. I haven't seen that kind of quality in a movie in any modern film.
 
Only nostalgia would say that any particular past decade was the 'greatest' for movies. Films like Paranoid Park and Primer are recent so I would hardly say they are unrepresentative of excellent modern movies.
 
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I would say 80s and 90s but I am only 27.

This thread will probably say the same thing since the general consensus of the population here tend to be in there 20 somethings.

If your in your 30s it will probably learn towards the 70s more and so on - for the most part.
 
At risk of generalising, 70s.

The movie industry should really stop and think about why an old film like Blade Runner created a far more believable setting than Transformers with all its cgi. Or compare the older Star Wars films to the new ones (except the last hour of the Revenge of the Sith).
 
Alex53 said:
At risk of generalising, 70s.

The movie industry should really stop and think about why an old film like Blade Runner created a far more believable setting than Transformers with all its cgi. Or compare the older Star Wars films to the new ones (except the last hour of the Revenge of the Sith).
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See I can't agree with that because it just seems like rose tinted glasses logic.

I watched Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi recently and they really are not that convincing. The lightsabers do not look good, the ship models don't move convincingly and are obviously minatures and the puppets are too jarring.

Blade Runner is just a better film than Transformers not to mention totally different. A more logical comparision I would say would be something like Minority Report which is just as believable (if not more so if I'm honest).

Not to mention everyone seems to completely buy into the world building achieved with Avatar and then you have everyone else praising films like District 9 and Star Trek for their special effects..
 
Chimerical said:
See I can't agree with that because it just seems like rose tinted glasses logic.

I watched Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi recently and they really are not that convincing. The lightsabers do not look good, the ship models don't move convincingly and are obviously minatures and the puppets are too jarring.

Blade Runner is just a better film than Transformers not to mention totally different. A more logical comparision I would say would be something like Minority Report which is just as believable (if not more so if I'm honest).

Not to mention everyone seems to completely buy into the world building achieved with Avatar and then you have everyone else praising films like District 9 and Star Trek for their special effects..
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You have a point about Minority Report, totally forgot that film.

I cant agree about Star Wars though. Yes, there are obvious parts where you can tell they are 30 year old films, but the universe they created, as a whole, seemed more tangible than that of their modern counterparts.

CGI Yoda is just a joke. The original Yoda puppet, you could see was a puppet, but it definitely had more character. He ranged from looking funny and a bit ridiculous to quite spooky (when Luke says he's not afraid and yoda says 'you will be, you will be'). CGI Yoda has no depth or charisma whatsoever. And the copy/pasted robot armies were like you were watching a cartoon rather than a film.

IMO if the new Star Wars films (and other modern films) had used CGI in a more measured manner (like for vehicles and settings) but stuck with people and make-up, prosthetics and animatronics for characters they would have come across a lot better.
 
80's-90's tend to be well made family type films, even ones that seemingly suffer on imdb are great films, like 'The Burbs', amazing film :)
 
Actually, having perused the ol' IMDB list, there are quite a few films to support the claim that the 2000s were excellent years for films.

Yeah, there were the inevitable vapid comedy vehicles, chick flicks and asplode-o-fests, but there seems to be a greater public acceptance/appreciation of more... cerebral/sophisticated film-making. :)
 
80's

A few I can remember :p

16 Candles (1984)
48 HRS (1982)
9½ Weeks (1986)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Abyss, The (1989)
Accused, The (1988)
Action Jackson (1988)
Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)
Airplane (1980)
Akira (1988)
Aliens (1986)
American Ninja (1985)
An American Werewolf In London (1981)
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
BMX Bandits (1983)
Bachelor Party (1984)
Back To The Future (1985)
Bad Taste (1987)
Batman (1989)
Beastmaster, The (1982)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Best of the Best (1989)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Big (1988)
Big Trouble In Little China (1986)
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1988)
Black Rain (1989)
Black Widow (1987)
Blade Runner (1982)
Blob, The (1988)
Bloodsport (1988)
Blues Brothers (1980)
Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)
Breakfast Club, The (1985)
Brewster's Millions (1985)
Caddyshack (1980)
Child's Play (1988)
Christine (1983)
Clue (1985)
Cobra (1986)
Cocktail (1988)
Color Of Money, The (1986)
Coming to America (1988)
Commando (1985)
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Dark Crystal, The (1982)
Day Of The Dead (1985)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Die Hard (1988)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
E.T. (1982)
ELVIRA, Mistress of the Dark (1988)
Earth Girls Are Easy (1989)
Elephant Man, The (1980)
Empire Strikes Back, The (1980)
Escape From New York (1981)
Evil Dead, The (1982)
Fame (1980)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Firestarter (1984)
First Blood (1982)
Fish Called Wanda, A

Got bored lol
 
simisker said:
Actually, having perused the ol' IMDB list, there are quite a few films to support the claim that the 2000s were excellent years for films.
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I got bored at work so a quick subtotaling in Excel shows in order of popularity in the IMDB top 250:
2000s - 62
1990s - 39
1950s - 34
1980s - 28
1960s - 25
1970s - 24
1940s - 21
1930s - 12
1920s - 5

I'm a bit dubious of the proposition that films in the 2000s should make up such a substantial proportion of the list, that's not to say there haven't been good films made but I suspect a strong correlation between those recent films being more easily recalled to mind (as well as more likely to be voted on by IMDB voters if they've only just watched them) and their overall placing.

I'm not at all sure there is a "best" decade or era for films but if pressed I'd waver between the 1940s and 1950s - probably just coming down on the side of the 1950s for the following films if nothing else: 12 Angry Men (greatest of all time for my money), Rififi, Shichinin No Samurai, On The Waterfront, The Bridge On The River Kwai and Rear Window. There are more that I can't recall so well and the 1940s has both Casablanca and The Third Man so it was a tough choice.
 
Without doubt the early to mid nineties!

Early nineties you had Stallone, Schwarzenegger & Willis all in their prime but also I never forget that 3 or 4 years where The Rock, Con Air, Face Off & Armageddon all came out

Great times :)
 
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