- Community TV & Movies
- Fantasy Land
- TV & Movies
Discussion
Topic: TV & Movies
I hear a lot of people say things like "they just don't make fantasy like they used to". Fantasy from the 80s frequently evokes strong positive feelings and opinions from people in ways that more modern fantasy just doesn't. What do you think it is about 80s fantasy that makes people love it so much that modern fantasy doesn't have? I'm not saying modern fantasy is bad. I love it. But it, "isn't the same". I will say, LotR will likely be spoken of similarly in coming decades.
5 comments
Jessica H I think it's just the power of nostalgia that makes them feel it was better. For example, yesterday I ate a pizza Lunchables for the nostalgia. I know those cold disks are not good pizza, but the nostalgia tells my brain they're good. I will say though, there is a charmingness to the puppets and practical effects of the 80s that modern movies don't have. But we can blame that on Pirates of the Carribean and the lasting effects it had on the cgi industry where people have to undersell and over promise everything and produce garbage as fast as they can.
Like
Road Master I considered the nostalgia factor. I have no doubt it plays a part. But I honestly don't think it's a major part of it. I don't think it's even a big part of it. I think the nostalgia is something that we ALSO enjoy about it. But just about everybody I've ever talked to can look at those movies and point out their many flaws. Namely, the bad (by modern standards) effects. But the Harry Potter kids are all grown up now. No question there is a great deal of love for those movies. But I just don't hear people talk about them in the same way or almost reverent tone that people use with 80s movies.
1 Likes
David Rachau I do see people talking about the HP movies in the same way people talk about '80s fantasy movies, but that's mostly on HP focused subreddits. 🤣
Like
MeYou0 Originality. Everything today is regurgitated and way overdone. Plus CGI is awful for the most part.
1 Likes
Road Master I think cgi should be like makeup. It should be used to enhance. Not create.
2 Likes
MeYou0 I couldn't have worded that better myself. So very true, on both accounts lol.
Like
David Rachau I think there was a sweet spot in the '80s, (and even a little into the '90s) where the practical effects had moved beyond "guy in a rubber suit" and really stilted stop motion, to where those technologies looked pretty realistic. Then, CGI came along, and studios saw how much cheaper it was to just slather that all over everything, and the art of it wasn't there yet. Maybe we'll get to a place where whatever they make doesn't look dated a couple years later, but we're not there yet. It also leads to the mindset of "we'll just fix it in post" rather than coming up with a creative solution on the spot, which IMO, is more satisfying.
Like
Brandon Reed One factor is a willingness to go all in on the fantasy. It seems like a lot of filmmakers try to avoid going too "out there." Even the Aladdin remake cut out basically everything fantastical that didn't come from the Cave of Wonders, right down to making Abu and Iago sound more like animals. Jafar never gets to successfully use his snake staff, and he doesn't use a machine to find "the diamond in the rough." Instead, Iago randomly identifies him, somehow. Watch a movie like The NeverEnding Story, or Willow, or The Labyrinth, and nearly everything is magical in nature and looks or acts the part in some way. Another issue is the overuse of green screen and the underuse of effective lighting. Both of these break immersion, which is essential to all storytelling and especially essential to speculative storytelling.
Like
Jojo I think fantasy is an awesome genre regardless of the decade the movie or show in question was made. I grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s. I don't have the same nostalgia for the '80s stuff many people do. But I appreciate it. My favorite thing about nowadays, though, is that we get fantasy mixed with other genres, which is pretty awesome . For example, we have Wu Assassins, which does a great job of mixing together low fantasy elements with martial arts action. Aside from that, I watch and engage with a lot of superhero stuff, which is high fantasy. I love how fantasy is used in animation. My favorite recent example of that would be invincible fight girl
Like