Jun-Dai Bates
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Aug 16, 1999
- Messages
- 148
I think one of the problems that people have with films from the 80s is that the bad films from the period haven't been forgotten yet. In time, while some people might consider the 80s a weaker decade than others (or they might not), it won't stick out like a sore thumb.
Incidentally, I was just discussing 80s films with a friend of mine. In the end we decided that of all the decades (since the 40s at least), the fewest great films (that we've seen) have been made. A number of my favorite films come from the 80s (Raging Bull, Do The Right Thing, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Full Metal Jacket, Down By Law et al), but compared to the other decades. . . In any case the 80s has the weakest representation in my dvd collection (the 90s included) of any decade since the 40s.
Another reason why I consider the 80s to be a weaker decade probably has to do with the number of non-American films from that decade that I've seen. Aside from a handful of fantastic films (My Life as a Dog, Ran, Tampopo, Chinese Ghost Story, and others), I have seen precious few foreign films from the 80s, and I imagine that there are some really good ones that I need to see that will raise my esteem of the decade.
One more reason that I don't like the 80s so much is that I associate certain films with the style of the 80s, and generally I don't think that much of the films. Most of the great (for me) films from the 80s are a little outside of the popular spirit of the 80s, whereas certain others I enjoyed but don't have much rewatch-value for me (War Games, Tapeheads, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Earth Girls Are Easy, Project X, Repo Man--I don't even know the names of the people that directed these films) certainly epitomized the 80s. Having not lived in the 70s, the films I love and associate most strongly with the decade (Taxi Driver, Five Easy Pieces, et al) may not have actually reflected the spirit of the times very accurately, but I have always assumed that they do.
Incidentally, I was just discussing 80s films with a friend of mine. In the end we decided that of all the decades (since the 40s at least), the fewest great films (that we've seen) have been made. A number of my favorite films come from the 80s (Raging Bull, Do The Right Thing, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Full Metal Jacket, Down By Law et al), but compared to the other decades. . . In any case the 80s has the weakest representation in my dvd collection (the 90s included) of any decade since the 40s.
Another reason why I consider the 80s to be a weaker decade probably has to do with the number of non-American films from that decade that I've seen. Aside from a handful of fantastic films (My Life as a Dog, Ran, Tampopo, Chinese Ghost Story, and others), I have seen precious few foreign films from the 80s, and I imagine that there are some really good ones that I need to see that will raise my esteem of the decade.
One more reason that I don't like the 80s so much is that I associate certain films with the style of the 80s, and generally I don't think that much of the films. Most of the great (for me) films from the 80s are a little outside of the popular spirit of the 80s, whereas certain others I enjoyed but don't have much rewatch-value for me (War Games, Tapeheads, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Earth Girls Are Easy, Project X, Repo Man--I don't even know the names of the people that directed these films) certainly epitomized the 80s. Having not lived in the 70s, the films I love and associate most strongly with the decade (Taxi Driver, Five Easy Pieces, et al) may not have actually reflected the spirit of the times very accurately, but I have always assumed that they do.