Are the days of truly epic films over?
Discussion
Thinking today that there really doesn't seem to be much in the way of great films these days. Well really in the last 20 years or so. It's either endless awful Marvel franchise nonsense or Fast and Furious 25 or whatever they are on now.
Late 90's to early 2000's were peak in my opinion. Think Titanic, Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan.
The overuse of CGI and everything being a bit to clean, a bit too vivid.
Gladiator and Gladiator 2 are good examples of this.
Personally I though Top gun Maverick was the closest it got to the in my opinion better days of films and the last film I enjoyed at the Cinima. Less said about Gladiator 2 the better.
Are the days of the best movies well behind us?
Late 90's to early 2000's were peak in my opinion. Think Titanic, Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan.
The overuse of CGI and everything being a bit to clean, a bit too vivid.
Gladiator and Gladiator 2 are good examples of this.
Personally I though Top gun Maverick was the closest it got to the in my opinion better days of films and the last film I enjoyed at the Cinima. Less said about Gladiator 2 the better.
Are the days of the best movies well behind us?
One thing is for sure, we'll never see a cast list like 'A Bridge Too Far' again.
including:
Dirk Bogarde
Sean Connery
Ryan O'Neal
Gene Hackman
Edward Fox
Michael Caine
Anthony Hopkins
James Caan
Colin Farrell
Maximilian Schell
Hardy Krüger
Elliott Gould
Denholm Elliott
Liv Ullmann
Laurence Olivier
Robert Redford
etc...
including:
Dirk Bogarde
Sean Connery
Ryan O'Neal
Gene Hackman
Edward Fox
Michael Caine
Anthony Hopkins
James Caan
Colin Farrell
Maximilian Schell
Hardy Krüger
Elliott Gould
Denholm Elliott
Liv Ullmann
Laurence Olivier
Robert Redford
etc...
It is sad but true.
We just don't get films of the calibre and frequency that we once did.
Film stars aren't the same either, back in the day they were massive celebrities - Oliver Reed, Michael Cain, Clint Eastwood, Robert Den Niro etc - newer actors not so much. They say Tom Cruise s perhaps the last true movie star.
The anticipation of a 'yet to be relased' film is still there, but with regular disappointment when finally viewed (Napoleon, Gladiator 2 etc)
I love films and find I'm frequently going back to watch older films to get my fix.
We just don't get films of the calibre and frequency that we once did.
Film stars aren't the same either, back in the day they were massive celebrities - Oliver Reed, Michael Cain, Clint Eastwood, Robert Den Niro etc - newer actors not so much. They say Tom Cruise s perhaps the last true movie star.
The anticipation of a 'yet to be relased' film is still there, but with regular disappointment when finally viewed (Napoleon, Gladiator 2 etc)
I love films and find I'm frequently going back to watch older films to get my fix.
Edited by The Gauge on Tuesday 27th January 11:16
IMHO there's a greater reliance on effects to move a film along than actual acting ability these days. Epic films rely on an epic story and epic acting. Very few of today's actors seem to have the ability to carry a story and studios are loathe to take risks. It's also (probably) much cheaper to have an actor act in front of a green screen and have CGI put the mountains in behind than actualy scouting a location, hiring a crew, setting up, flying the actors in and paying for hotels etc etc....
We go to the cinema about once a year now, the last time was to see the F1 film (which was crap in my opinion), partly because it was stinking hot that day and the cinema has air con!
I have no interest in Marvel, DC, Transformers, Jurassic Park, reboots etc. so that rules me out of about 80% of films.
Plus the tickets are nearly £20 each and the cinema is inevitably full of people who can't stay off their phone for five minutes or groups of teenagers who think people want to hear their inane conversations.
So I download the rare film I want to watch, and watch it at home. And even then for free the majority of the time I am disappointed, the last film I downloaded was Sisu 2 and that was rubbish compared to the original.
Struggling to find something to watch on Christmas Day I came across Back to the Future on Netflix and put in on (much to the annoyance of my girlfriend). Thing is, we both watched the whole thing without once picking up a phone and it made me realise that "they don't make 'em like they used to".
I remember watching films like Star Wars, Back to the Future, ET, Superman (the original), Indiana Jones etc. and being amazed by all of them. Even now 40+ years on they are all massively rewatchable.
Now cinema is the equivalent of fast food, you watch it for 90 minutes, think it was OKish, instantly forget about it by the time you have got back to your car and never watch it again.
Looking at the list of films this year, other than the new Toy Story nothing interests me at all.
I have no interest in Marvel, DC, Transformers, Jurassic Park, reboots etc. so that rules me out of about 80% of films.
Plus the tickets are nearly £20 each and the cinema is inevitably full of people who can't stay off their phone for five minutes or groups of teenagers who think people want to hear their inane conversations.
So I download the rare film I want to watch, and watch it at home. And even then for free the majority of the time I am disappointed, the last film I downloaded was Sisu 2 and that was rubbish compared to the original.
Struggling to find something to watch on Christmas Day I came across Back to the Future on Netflix and put in on (much to the annoyance of my girlfriend). Thing is, we both watched the whole thing without once picking up a phone and it made me realise that "they don't make 'em like they used to".
I remember watching films like Star Wars, Back to the Future, ET, Superman (the original), Indiana Jones etc. and being amazed by all of them. Even now 40+ years on they are all massively rewatchable.
Now cinema is the equivalent of fast food, you watch it for 90 minutes, think it was OKish, instantly forget about it by the time you have got back to your car and never watch it again.
Looking at the list of films this year, other than the new Toy Story nothing interests me at all.
Edited by ThingsBehindTheSun on Tuesday 27th January 11:24
RustyMX5 said:
IMHO there's a greater reliance on effects to move a film along than actual acting ability these days. Epic films rely on an epic story and epic acting. Very few of today's actors seem to have the ability to carry a story and studios are loathe to take risks. It's also (probably) much cheaper to have an actor act in front of a green screen and have CGI put the mountains in behind than actualy scouting a location, hiring a crew, setting up, flying the actors in and paying for hotels etc etc....
Yes I think this is a major issue. I think spectacular locations often contribute massively towards a movie. Guess as said above the risk is seen to outweigh the reward these days.
Covid and streaming killed off cinema in the UK. The big movie studios have played it safe for years now and focused upon reboots or other movies within the same universe - Marvel etc.
They seem risk averse to investing in some huge Hollywood production but who can blame them when no-one is filling a cinema. We used to go probably once a month, maybe every other month pre-covid, I doubt it's once annually now unfortunately.
Obviously streaming capitalised on this and lots of the big stars have since moved to Netflix, Prime, Apple TV etc to keep some cash coming in.
The Odyssey has been mentioned and that's the only film currently on my radar, albeit not a subject I am that interested in, but Christopher Nolan pretty much always delivers.
They seem risk averse to investing in some huge Hollywood production but who can blame them when no-one is filling a cinema. We used to go probably once a month, maybe every other month pre-covid, I doubt it's once annually now unfortunately.
Obviously streaming capitalised on this and lots of the big stars have since moved to Netflix, Prime, Apple TV etc to keep some cash coming in.
The Odyssey has been mentioned and that's the only film currently on my radar, albeit not a subject I am that interested in, but Christopher Nolan pretty much always delivers.
I think Villeneuve and Nolan can still do proper movies, but the landscape has changed, inclusion has made some go away, the days of a billion dollar Marvel film every 18 months are gone, they went woke and lost the plot.
A lot more money in tv now, and streaming services, no such thing now as a pure movie actor.
But I think it dtill can exist yes
A lot more money in tv now, and streaming services, no such thing now as a pure movie actor.
But I think it dtill can exist yes
I thought Dune Part 2 was pretty epic. Of course that's an adaptation of a successful book.
IMO, given the financial risks involved, the only types of epic movies we are realistically likely to see are going to be adaptations of a proven property or part of an ongoing popular movie franchise.
It's such a shame when you look at the immense sums of money being thrown at (usually rubbish) movies and TV series by streamers.
IMO, given the financial risks involved, the only types of epic movies we are realistically likely to see are going to be adaptations of a proven property or part of an ongoing popular movie franchise.
It's such a shame when you look at the immense sums of money being thrown at (usually rubbish) movies and TV series by streamers.
I'm hoping the tide is turning.
Certainly for the last 'forever' Super Hero films with massive $200+ budgets have done little other than plaster the screen with flashy visuals and paper thin plots. They seem to be losing favour though.
Seems to be a lot more $50m-ish films with fairly original stories, even with a well used premise or unique within a franchise.
Certainly for the last 'forever' Super Hero films with massive $200+ budgets have done little other than plaster the screen with flashy visuals and paper thin plots. They seem to be losing favour though.
Seems to be a lot more $50m-ish films with fairly original stories, even with a well used premise or unique within a franchise.
entropy said:
I'm struggling to understand OP vs. thread title.
Are you referring to epic film in terms of length, scope and storytelling or is the OP bemoaning the lack in quality, 'great' films in general?
I was the thinking along the lines of large budget, lower CGI, great real locations, masses of extras, in the last 20 years or so. Are you referring to epic film in terms of length, scope and storytelling or is the OP bemoaning the lack in quality, 'great' films in general?
But now you mention it yes, original plots and storytelling are in pretty short supply now. Just replaced by sequel after sequel of franchises.
IMDb has only 2 films in its top 50 in the last decade
vixen1700 said:
The costs are too high and so are the risks of failure.
Safe bets and franchises will outnumber epics and originality.
Yet 'safe bets' and franchises are tanking over and over again.Safe bets and franchises will outnumber epics and originality.
Hollywood at the moment is behaving like a gambler, thinking that the next 'safe bet' will cover the losses of all the other 'safe bets' that they have made up until now. The real problem though is that streaming has broken their business model.
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