Movies that didn't age well

[btrage]

Sometimes I think the only non "dated" flicks are period pieces that aren't cheesy, and those are few and far between. Anything with references to current events at the time of filming will be dated by the time they are released.

But... dated doesn't mean bad. I have fun watching my kid see older flicks and hearing references and looking to me like "huh?". So we have a chance to discuss.

Of course my fave non dated flick is GWTW.

I just posted something along this line in one of the recent TV show thread.

OF COURSE MOVIES DON'T AGE WELL. THEY WERE MADE 20, 30, 40 YEARS AGO (sorry about the yelling, just trying to get my point across).

But isn't that what makes them so important? That they capture a specific point in history? Similar to a painting or a novel. As I said in the TV thread, I really think we should concentrate on the movies/TV shows that are just as, or more, pertinent than they were when orignally made. As someone mentioned, we shouldn't equate cheesy with "not aging well"

Sorry to be a downer.

[KSharpe]

I disagree. Great films are timeless because they capture part of the universal human experience, independent of any particular setting.

[Bear Up North]

I debated with myself (clueless left side of brain?) as to whether or not "The English Patient" should be on this list. When it is on HBO I watch it. The female leads were both "hot", the torture scenes were some of the scariest I have ever seen, the thought of dying in a cold cave (waiting for help) stays on long after the flick ends.

Tortured, I am.....

Bear

[KSharpe]

Ahhh...that was the most romantic movie ever....I wish I could marry Ralph....

[Maister]

I watched Soylent Green recently - What a pile of schlock! People refer to it constantly as an anti-corporate/government conspiracy pop culture landmark. But darned if that isn't one terribly acted and scripted movie. Charleton Heston is stiff, amateurish and terribly unconvincing. And the plot line is depressingly thin. Somehow none of this struck me the first time I saw it, but there it is.

Why oh why did I doubt wahday? Watched Soylent Green this weekend and was completely turned off. This is a movie that simply did not age well. Sci-fi as a genre runs a greater risk in the aging poorly department than just about any other film genre. I think the film's social commentary was adequate and topical enough for a 1970's audience that it was able to carry the film back then, but DAYAMN, there is some third rate acting in this flick! Worse yet, knowing the spoiler ending eliminates any vestige of suspense the film ever manages to create. I wonder if perhaps we should all avoid The Crying Game for this same reason?

[mgk920]

Any movie from the 80's (cuz that's my point of reference) that deals with or alludes to Cold War themes.

Although I haven't seen it recently, I would make an exception for The Hunt for Red October (1989). IMHO, that one is a well done and very plausible tale of the mid-late 1980s Cold War era.

OTOH, any of the 'apocalyptic' Cold War flicks are indeed pure schlock and excellent for the campy Saturday-midnight showing in the student union.

Mike

[southsideamy]

We watch a lot of Disney movies around my house (3 little monsters) and I've noticed that many of the Disney classic movies have not aged well. Note that in Peter Pan there are some really obnoxious scenes with Native Americans (sterotypical name calling "injuns" and "what would a Red Man do?" song). We were watching some Disney shorts and there was one about the "angry leprechaun" that had some totally ridiculous stuff about the Irish Catholics. And the Jungle Book??? good grief.

I don't not want my kids to see these movies -- so I take the time to use it as a "teaching moment" about diversity and politeness.

Thank Goodness Disney has a concious now and has now taken the time to develop Princess stories for most ethnical groups so that little girls of any color (not just blond, white girls) can feel princess-ey.....although, I'm sorta fed up with the princess thing. Why can't we get our wee girls excited about being doctors or engineers? (sorry..off topic)

[mendelman]

Ace Ventura - Pet Detective has not aged well....or perhaps I have just outgrown it?

[Maister]

I'm sorta fed up with the princess thing. Why can't we get our wee girls excited about being doctors or engineers? (sorry..off topic)

Because being a princess is a much more rewarding career path. Think about it - guaranteed lifetime employment, good benefits package (e.g. get a castle to live in), get to marry Prince Charming and Live Happily Ever After. Not many programmers or doctors have that kind of package with or without a union.

[Rygor]

Tron

Also, most 80's Arnold action flicks (The Running Man, Total Recall, etc.)

Over the Top with Sylvester Stallone

Even the original Star Wars movies have me thinking about how ridiculous it is that people in a galaxy far, far away and long, long ago dress and wear their hair so....70's.

[natski]

Ace Ventura - Pet Detective has not aged well....or perhaps I have just outgrown it?

Ace Ventura shall never age...

[kjel]

I was going to say Tron too lol.

[Dan]

I've seen plenty of bad films from the late 1980s and early 1990s (which, culturally, was an extension of the 1980s) that seem incredibly dated not so much because of their themes, but because of the music, fashions and dress. Big hair, fashion that was gaudy and almost too colorful by today's standards, a score that sounds like it was composed by one of the Pet Shop Boys, and HUGE cell phones. Add a setting in a blighted and crime-ridden pre-Giuliani New York or Manhattan, or a pre-gentrified Chicago for good measure.

The Last Dragon comes to mind as falling under my criteria of most dated 1980s movie.

[H]

funny, I absolutely love almost every moive listed! I guess I am out of touch with the collective brian

[jmello]

The Last Dragon comes to mind as falling under my criteria of most dated 1980s movie.

Funny, I just watched that last week and thought the same thing. What an absolutely terrible (nevermind dated) movie. The 1980s racial naivete is something to behold. It borders on minstrel show ridiculousness but masquerades as an open-minded portrayal of non-white culture. Funny how progressive we all thought we were back then.

[Seabishop]

Singles - A bad romantic comedy that was cool only because of the soundtrack. The fact that one of the characters is a Planner doesn't even help.

[Tom R]

OTOH, any of the 'apocalyptic' Cold War flicks are indeed pure schlock and excellent for the campy Saturday-midnight showing in the student union.

I still like Dr. Strangelove.

[kltoomians]

The "NEW" Rambo movie!

Old when I saw the first preview!

I've never seen the original Rambo movies...but the new one traumatized me! I couldn't close my eyes without seeing an infant get stabbed with a bayonet!

After a while...I just left the living room for the bedroom TV.

[Iron Ring]

What about any of the 'near-future' sc-fi movies? I watched Blade Runner recently... it supposedly takes place in 2019. Not that it is all of a sudden a bad movie, but it all seems so much less plausible the closer we get to 2019... artificial life, flying cars, settlements on other planets... in the next 10 years?

Also in the same way, post-apocalyptic future movies where the date has already passed like "Strange Days" (takes place in Dec 1999) or 12 Monkeys (1997). Heck the 'future' in "Back to the Future 2" is in 2015, where's my hover-board!

[The One]

Ace Ventura shall never age...

I'll second this opinion.....and add Ace Ventura When Nature Calls, it was just as funny, maybe more so now....

NSFW?
An example: http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip.../wavs/ace4.wav


The modern Rambo was a Anabolic Steroids/Human Growth Hormone Abortion of a movie and you can quote me on that one

Who said Over the Top!!?? The mere mention of that movie should be enough to get banned for LIFE from Cyburbia, I don't care what the context is....ooops

I'm sure people will be complaining in star date 2486.345 a-z about how we really over estimated our progress in the Star Trek series

[Brocktoon]

Howard the Duck
Shazam
As Cool as Ice
The Spice Girls Movie
Any squel from the 80's

Oh wait these movies have always sucked.

[Duke Of Dystopia]

We watch a lot of Disney movies around my house (3 little monsters) and I've noticed that many of the Disney classic movies have not aged well. Note that in Peter Pan there are some really obnoxious scenes with Native Americans (sterotypical name calling "injuns" and "what would a Red Man do?" song). We were watching some Disney shorts and there was one about the "angry leprechaun" that had some totally ridiculous stuff about the Irish Catholics. And the Jungle Book??? good grief.

I don't not want my kids to see these movies -- so I take the time to use it as a "teaching moment" about diversity and politeness.......

Thats fine and all, but those same movies need to NOT be made PC, because they are an interesting window onto the thought process of the time as well as cultural history, good bad or ugly.

You find a lot of this same thing when you listen to NPR's "Old Time Radio Night". They play all the old radio story shows complete with the old commercials. This includes things like Amos & Andy. I think the old radio shows have aged better. Every once in a while though, you really catch a zinger you would NEVER hear today!

[Duke Of Dystopia]

It would seem that none of the Star Trek movies will either.

Their communicators SUCK! compared to a simple cell phone, let alone any iphone or smart phone made this year!

[Bubba]

There's been at least one vote cast in this thread for Red Dawn, which I second. Saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago - probably would have hooked me if I'd seen it when it first came out - now it just seems far-fetched, very dated, and kind of lame.

[Duke Of Dystopia]

There's been at least one vote cast in this thread for Red Dawn, which I second. Saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago - probably would have hooked me if I'd seen it when it first came out - now it just seems far-fetched, very dated, and kind of lame.

You will be very glad to know then, that they are updating and remaking that movie. Instead of Cubans and Russians this time, it will be terrorists. Oh yeah, it will be much better!