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What film do you think has aged surprisingly well?
Discussion
By that I mean a film that was perhaps packed to the brim with Digital effects or just a film though you were pretty astonished has held up against the power of time, for one reason or another.
Great movies with groundbreaking VFX have all held up pretty well (T2, Jurassic Park, The Matrix) so I'm not really focusing on those kinda releases, since I think we all felt they would hold up. I'm more talking about films that we maybe felt would age like milk upon release, but has instead managed to look contemporary, all these years later.
I'll start with The Mummy (1999). Unlike it's direct sequel, I feel pretty much everything about this action adventure has held up over 20+ years. The VFX are still rock solid, production design is amazing and the cast was just pitch perfect. It's a movie that got lukewarm reviews back in 99 but has only garnered more admiration as time passes.
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The Thing and Alien.
Yeah I watched Alien for the first time like 10 years ago and was shocked at how good it looked
I watched it and Empire Strikes Back for the first time a month ago. I was blown away by Alien, such a good looking film.
The ironic thing is, the stuff that has aged the most poorly from the original Star Wars trilogy are the effects they added for the late 90s re-releases.
Yeah I kind of wish they’d remaster them again and just do all that shit properly. It doesn’t look like the original versions will ever see the light of day so they could at least not have the added cgi look shit.
2001: a Space Odyssey.
The outer space FX still look astounding for being well over 50 years old. What dates it are some of the computer display screen shots, Pan Am (long defunct airline) space 'plane' to the big rotating space station and a 'Howard Johnson's' restaurant in space. But those are minor quibbles for me and I can ignore them.
Oh yeah, I've watched 2001 2-3 times. Probably the greatest sci-fi film I've ever watched, and still looks gorgeous.
None of the things you're mentioning bothered me, but that's probably because I'm not American so I didn't notice some of those things.
It's got the gritty '70s aesthetic that heightens realism.
It is nearly impossible to explain to today's audiences just how groundbreaking and influential Alien and Blade Runner were in redefining the aesthetics of futurism. Before Ridley Scott, everything set in the future was clean, stark and minimalist. Orderliness, writ large.
And then, suddenly, here's Harry Dean Stanton and Yaphet Koto projectile sweating on a doomed cargo ship... and Edward James Olmos at a seedy sidewalk noodle stand in the filthy, pouring rain. A complete 180, nearly overnight.
EDIT: HDS's middle name is not "Dead". lol
When I rewatched alien for the first time in 4K or blu ray I was blown away.
Both Alien and Aliens could have been made last month. The practical effects are top notch. Both are high amongst the finest sci fi films ever made.
Funny, I read the threat title and instantly though Alien and The Thing. Alien is 43 years old and doesn’t show it.
This is why I love practical effects. CGI ages poorly because our expectations get higher the better it gets. Practical effects look as good today as they did in theatres.
Hence LotR >>>>>>>>>>> Hobbit
Well, Jackson & his crew did it right the first time, blending Practical with digital FX. But the Hobbit films, way, way too reliant on digital FX and tech that wasn't ready yet.
Watch seven again and remind yourself it was released in 1995. Aside from the lack of cellphones, it could have been made last year
Very true. That movie has such a sleek, modern look to it!
Shot on film too. In the commentary, Fincher explained the double exposure (?) technique they experimented with to make the black areas onscreen extra dark
Think you might be referring to bleach bypass? It's the same technique Matt Reeves used on The Batman.
You guys really know your stuff! I have the dvd sitting right there, ill have to rewatch it sooner rather than later i think
I remember hearing something to do with silver retention as well to make the film as dark and gritty as possible.
Its been a while since ive seen that commentary, but i think you nailed it. Silver retention certainly rings a bell
Best buddy cop movie with the best foot chase scene put on screen
Killer flick
Its called bleach bypass. Skipping the bleach portion of the film development process preserves silver is how I remember it.
I just rewatched this the other day, it’s one of my favorite “true crime” serial killer films. Pitt and Freeman are both amazing.
One thing I noticed on the rewatch is that it never really tells you which city it takes place in. I didn’t even realize it was LA on the first watch until they get outside of the city and it’s obviously CA (that and a short shot of a sign that says Pop: 8,000,000 or so). I think that helps the aesthetic, like this could be anywhere. It’s so rainy and dreary throughout most of the film, until they get to the hot desert and wrath comes out.
Always thought in real life terms Seattle was the best fit with all the rain and gloom. Also to add the amount of serial killers WA has. But on my mind I always imagined this took place in Gotham
It's almost cheating to use a Fincher film. He's a fucking genius.
I’d sell my soul for him to finally green light Mindhunter season 3.
Come on dude, it's too early in the day for a broken heart.
Hell they just remade it into a Batman movie.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
This is one of those movies that I enjoyed when I was a kid. But only when I was a grown-up did I realize just how unique of a masterpiece it is. The technology for how they created the effects is amazing. And of course the fact that you have Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny sharing the screen at the same time. I think we can truly say that something that we will never see again.
fun fact: that film was almost a Terry Gilliam film with Paul Reubens (Pee Wee) as the voice of Roger. passing on it was one of Gilliam's biggest regrets, and he said he did it out of laziness/lack of technical animation knowledge, not scheduling.
sucks to hear there's a sequel coming, tbh
Honestly? Terry backing out was good for the film. I love him and his animations are hilarious but without technical knowledge of the medium to that level, I'm not sure he could have pulled it off. Richard Williams is one of very few people at the time who would have been qualified.
zemeckis took the directing position instead of gilliam. they weren't going to be in charge of the animation, just directing. i think gilliam's point is that he talked himself out of it with silly reasoning when he shouldn't have.
To be honest, Terry Gilliam always had production hell with his films. I feel that if he took on Roger rabbit, it would've ended up like Duke nukem forever.
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers just released on Disney+ and is very much the spiritual successor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I couldn't believe how good it was, expecting nothing from it.
Although not necessarily in tone. Roger Rabbit was surprisingly adult
Gattaca.
Edit since quite a few people agree with me.
For those who haven't seen it and are now interested, you are in for a treat. Visually it still holds up very well, thanks to the set and costume design as well as world-building. It has a sort of 70's or 80's feel to it, while being set in the (near) future - think cars of the 70's but electric instead of petrol-based. Costumes are basically formal suits for the elites, and work uniforms / second-hand clothes for the downtrodden.
The themes are still relevant today - basically mankind has evolved past skin colour or gender, and now discriminates others based on their genes. Like Vincent (Ethan Hawke) says, 'they have discrimination down to a science'. You really see all the obstacles and hardships Vincent had to go through in order to reach his dreams.
Even though the film paints a very dystopian future, it still gives quite a bit of hope - without spoiling too much, certain characters change their mindset, and the protaganist is not as alone as he thought.
Anyways, do yourself a favour and watch this film.
Save nothing for the swim back.
So cool to have a sci-fi movie that hardly focuses on vfx at all besides a few CGI spaceships. The premise is so solid and interesting it really will hold up for years and years.
"They've got you looking for any flaw, that after a while, that's all you see."
What a film
Rafi: GATTACA!
Taco: That was a terrible movie.
Rafi: That was a movie?!
POCKETDOGS
Gattaca is a perfect example of limitations leading to better storytelling. They really didn't have a huge budget, especially to show the facilities where everyone works. There aren't little flying cars cluttering up backgrounds and little janitor robots wheeling around at their feet everywhere. People are dressed in conservative, simple clothes and the camera work is very simple and reserved. It ultimately forces you to focus on the characters, their interactions, and the story.
All time great. It's my favorite film of all time. I keep coming back to it. Just so many good things going on with it. Well ahead of its time.
Starship Troopers has held up surprisingly well with the amount of CGI that was used to make it.
Starship Troopers, RoboCop, and Total Recall are Paul Verhoeven’s satirical masterpieces, and I think they’ve all held up really well. Much better than their sequels/reboots, that’s for sure.
Robocop is perfectly paced. Such a good movie that holds up so well.
I read an article not too long ago about how Robocop is an almost perfectly symmetrical movie.
https://dejareviewer.com/2014/04/29/cinematic-chiasmus-robocop-is-almost-perfectly-symmetrical-film/
RoboCop 3 on the other hand has some of the worst special effects to grace the silver screen. The jetpack scene in particular is utter garbage: https://youtu.be/REItHTPjCF4
Rewatched Enemy Of The State recently. Not only does it hold up visually, I think it's more believable now than it was in the late 90s. Felt a bit paranoid on release, now a lot of it has come true.
Always liked Enemy Of The State and feel as if it fell a bit by the wayside in terms of legacy or impact or whatever. Its like The Bourne Identity before The Bourne Identity.
For some reason the most memorable part of this movie for me is Jason Lee jumping his bike into traffic.
If you like Enemy of the State, you should watch the “prequel” The Conversation, Gene Hackman plays the same character. Came out in 1974. Similar themes. Directed by Coppola. Great film.
You're underselling The Conversation a little bit! While Enemy of the State is good, The Conversation is a masterpiece and one of the great thrillers of the 70s (and of all time).
Won the Palm D'Or at Cannes, nominated for three Oscars including Best Picture and Director. Groundbreaking use of sound and sound design by Walter Murch. Masterclass in filmmaking in general.
Smack dab in the middle of Coppola's high point as well - The Godfather (1972), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather Part II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979).
'Why'd you rewatch it?'
'BECAUSE YOU MADE A PHONE CALL!'
Nice non-standard answer
They spray painted my damn dog!
I just watched this too! Pre-Snowden it all felt like a far fetched conspiracy theory. Now I'm sure my username just got a +1 in some NSA database for mentioning Snowden.
I am kinda shocked we don't talk about this movie more considering its relevance today. I always thought that meant it must be a mediocre or bad movie. Glad to hear it is worth revisiting.
Galaxy Quest
Amazon Prime has an entertaining documentary on its making.
historical documentary
"By Grabthar's Hammer, what a savings!"
Came to say this. It’s hard to believe it’s almost a quarter century old.
No, 1998 was last year
Chumbawamba, dude!
12 Angry Men has aged well in both its theming and overall staging/camera movement. Pretty much every camera move that Spielberg frequently uses is used in 12 Angry Men.
I rewatched that just a few weeks ago, and it really has held up well. It’s not the most accurate legal drama (a juror cannot introduce their own evidence in the jury room in the middle of a trial—can you say mistrial?), but the story and the filming is great. And the acting is phenomenal. What a cast!
Right, there are technical errors in the film, but the idea of "innocent until proven guilty" and "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" are the core ideas the movie focuses on and it does excellent examination on why those ideas are so important.
Similarly, A Few Good Men.
Courtroom dramas are just so timeless.
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RIP River Phoenix. He was amazing in that.
Very true. I often think about what his legacy would have became. Would he be an oscar winner and dramatic force like his brother? Or did he want to play parts more to the likes of say a Brad Pitt or Clooney. I would’ve loved to have seen it. A young and iconic talent gone too soon.
I think he would've gone the Joaquin route for sure. He was already leaning that direction by mostly sticking with very serious roles/movies after his Stand By Me breakthrough. And I just can't imagine anybody from the Phoenix family settling for pretty boy type roles.
Timeless
Tremors.
The difference between Tremors 1 which used animatronics and Tremors 3 which mostly used low-budget CGI is really telling. The monsters in T3 look awful.
It doesn't end there! They made four more, each worse than the last. I do like the story of T4 though.
What the hell's in those things Burt?
A few household chemicals in the proper proportions.
From a pure comedy/writing standpoint...There are some movies that I'm sure, in their day, were hilarious (i.e. a lot of Mel Brooks movies like High Anxiety and Silent Movie; or IMO I watched Team America again recently and thought the humor didn't really hold up), but today I don't find very funny (for context I'm 29).
Airplane, however, if anything I have found that movie even funnier than when I watched it when I was younger. That humor still holds up and is amazing.
The humor is less reliant on current events. Shrek for instance got dated far faster than Toy Story just because of the musical cues.
Predator, still one of the perfect action films.
This. I tell everyone this. I will argue to the death. Perfectly paced. The one liners hit hard. If they didn’t show the ship in the opening scene, we wouldn’t know alien involvement until pretty deep in to the movie.
I watch predator 3-5 times a year no problem.
It really is a shockingly well told story for what it is. Whenever I watch it I am floored by how well it moves along, quickly establishes its characters and the conflict and just keeps the tension high. Amazing movie.
Distinct lack of people marvel at the Stan Winston creature. It’s one of the most organic looking movie creatures I’ve ever seen, and still looks amazing today
I hope to God that you're talking about 1987s Predator.
Must be considering The Predator didn't even hold up on release let alone till now.
That’s what happens when you skip an epic handshake and quips that only Ahhhrrnold can deliver. A film that produced two governors has no equal.
They better be ... 🔪😂
Maybe not for SFX but "The Sixth Sense" holds up really well, even after all this time, and knowing the twist
Saw it at the cinema when it first came out and I already knew the spoiler but it didn't change the shock for me.
Watched it for the first time in years and nearly had tears when I see dead people kid tells his mom about the pendant in the car. It's an amazing scene and Toni Collette absolutely kills it along with seeing dead people kid.
The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs all do. I even think the Village is gorgeous but I know that is more controversial.
I know!
That guy with the toupee...? That's Bruce Willis the whole time!
Gotta keep up, lotta twists..
Halloween (1978)
Alien (1979)
Rear Window (1954)
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Everyone is so SWEATY.
Grace Kelly….ummmmmmmmm
The original Blade Runner feels like dystopian retro futurism and could have been made in the 80's, 90's or 2000's. The only thing that gives it context is Harrison Ford's apparent age.
The CGI for Davy Jones from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ rivals Thanos from the MCU, despite first appearing about a decade before Avengers: Infinity War
this article goes into it a bit, but there’s tons of info online why davy jones looked so obscenely good. the crew really prioritized what would benefit the CGI department to achieve the most natural look, similarly to the way neill blomkamp has done with all his films. he used to do CG work before becoming a director so he’s always tailored his directorial work to ensure it allows the FX department the freedom to make hyper realistic CG elements mixed with real life scenes and actors.
The first three pirate movies in general have held up really well
Just rewatched Dead Man's Chest and At World's End and yeah Davy's CGI was epic loll
Ernest goes to Camp
Ernest Scared Stupid is still one of the best Halloween movies ever made.
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Jaws has aged well specifically because the shark looked like shit (so they didn't show it much).
Lord of the rings trilogy. It looks better than half the movies that come out today.
Just rewatched all the original extended cuts in ultra 4k and really the only parts that are starting to show age are the scenes where a CG character is alone on screen and talking. The Treebeard scenes specifically are the most noticeable and some of the Gollem scenes look a bit robotic.
There's some floaty and wonky cg when they cgi replace a character to do something a human couldn't realistically do. So, for example, when legolas has to jump onto a horse or when he's encountering the oliphants.
In my opinion, those scenes have always looked a bit off. But I think they were a product of their time. Lots of movies had rubbery CG in the early 00's.
One thing I've noticed is that the additional scenes in the extended cuts generally have worse CG than the shots that made it into the theatrical cut.
It does show its age, which is inevitable because Jackson and his team were pushing boundaries, but holds up remarkably well, on the whole.
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Yes and the Hobbit looked shit from the start. The mine(?) and the barrel ride is burned in my brain because of the infuriating cgi.
Agreed, the cgi in that scene is some of the worst iv seen. I think it's the colors, trying to be so vibrant that it looked terrible.
The Princess Bride
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2001
I agree with this. It's funny that the only scenes that don't hold up so well to me are the ones that are the most down to earth -- the Pan Am trip to the moon.
I'm going to send you a very nice present though. Can't you think of anything else you want for your birthday? Something very special? Take care now and have a very happy birthday!"
Watched it in 4K and was blown away at how well all the models aged. They put so so much detail into the tiniest parts of the ship. Wild.
The first time I saw it, I thought that it was made in the early 80s. I was astounded to find it was from 1968.
This. The movie is so incredibly CLEAN
They even have iPads in 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Open the pod bay doors HAL
I also agree with this. Not only does it stand up so well with time, that time is so much longer than other films. That this was made in 1968 is extraordinary.
I was 11 when I first saw it, in the theater. I was alone, and hid in the seat so I could sit through it a second time. Most films that impressed me as a child, which I later saw as an adult, disappointed me. Not this.
It was a vision of so much that would come to happen, but with the 60's styles, it is now almost like a past that did happen, it looks that real.
North by northwest
Network (1976). Any one of those great monologues can be relevant today.
Also I recently watched A Face in the Crowd. Basically a timeless movie about genuine talent being corrupted by money and fame.
Network is so good
Great movie. The ease at which the masses are manipulated. And a fantastic reminder at how great an actor Andy Griffith was.
Unfortunately, the ending has been ripped off so many times, it's a cliché now.
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That movie was downright subversive, and in the best possible way.
Contact. It feels like the spiritual sibling of Interstellar and it predates by almost 20 years.
The Big Lebowski.
I think Jaws still looks phenomenal. Timeless movie.
I agree. The movie is 100% watchable and still sucks you in, especially watching it for the first time.
"Cube" a 1997 Sci-fi thriller. Despite it's age, the dynamic between the characters is still worth watching.
Secondly is "The Thing." Again, thanks to it's characters it holds up very well.
I love both these films because it uses the genre as a way to explore the psyche of it's characters.
When you watch Cube and The Thing, it's never explained the lore behind it all. That's not the point of the films, it's the human condition that's the focal point.
Never once are we told 'why', but rather 'how'. How are these characters going to handle this situation they are in.
Sneakers.
A movie about hackers in the 90s should feel instantly dated, but I this movie is still relevant and on point decades later.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It does not look like a movie done two years after The Matrix. And even the CG still holds up really really well.
FotR is the GOAT
there are movies being done nowadays with worse CGI than LOTR
Gladiator
Introduced it to my SO recently, and I hadn’t seen it in years. I always look at the cast on the IMDB app when watching TV/movies.
Oliver Reed played Proximo. His IRL death was pretty wild, happened in 1999 and the film was released in 2000.
From Wikipedia
Strange Days. Considering it's sci fi that takes place New Year's Eve 1999.
Awesome movie!
I'm gonna go with one that was decidedly not packed with effects, but has nonetheless held up very well:
Office Space.
There are a few moments where it gives away the time when it was made (referencing the Y2K software issue, for example), but on the whole it was a timeless classic about people stuck working dead end jobs in cubicles.
The only aspect it’s missing is the massive pay discrepancies modern workers now have to deal with.
Dealing with a Bill Lumbergh is so much worse when he’s on 3x your salary and your wage has stagnated the last 7 years..
I'm going with Wizard of Oz (1939) . For a movie made 83 years ago, it still looks pretty damn good.
Das Boot.
Although, might be cheating with a '97 remaster, but all the VFX hold up surprisingly well
The Shawshank Redemption. No special effects, but think about how easily relatable everything in the movie still is given that it was made in the early 90's and is about the 1940's-1960's.
Andy sits in his car listening to music on the radio. He wears a modern looking suit and tie at his trial in a courthouse that would not seem out of place today. He works in the laundry with industrial size washing machines. Brooks gets a job bagging groceries at the grocery store.
Andy and Red talk about the Wardens scams, and Red mentions the FBI, and the IRS, and Andy replies with info about birth certificates, social security cards, and driver's licenses.
Tommy Williams talks about from stealing TV's from J.C. Penny's and even holds his hands out like he's grabbing a flat screen TV.
It's so easy to slot your own life into a movie that takes place 75 years ago.
Demolition Man: I remember watching this film when it first came out and was blown away by it. I watched it again yesterday and was still impressed. Their vision of the future (a future which is only 10 years from now) was pretty spot on (the only noticeable difference being that the TVs were all CRT screens)
Small Soldiers- just watched it again for the first time in years, the CGI is surprisingly decent and could hold up today.
Also, how the hell was that a kids movie!?
It was literally a movie about a war between sentient action figures, man. That's how it was a kids movie.
People don't give kids enough credit. They can handle more than Mickey Mouse and Paw Patrol.
To be clear, not arguing that the movie doesn't hold up, it's a dope movie. Just pushing back against the how is it a kids movie sentiment, because I see it pop up way too frequently when there is even a modicum of violence or sadness in a movie or show.
Casablanca-still might be the greatest screenplay ever written.
Alien. Aliens
Back To The Future
Metropolis. Even though most of the effects rely on matte paintings and miniatures, it still looks super realistic. Sure, the weird machine furnace thing looks like a silly theatre prop, but all the background effects really stand the test of time and can easily be compared to something like The Fifth Element. I can't imagine how awe inspiring it must've been when it was first released back in 1927.
The 5th Element has aged wonderfully and may have been under appreciated upon release
"I hate warriors, too narrow-minded. I'll tell you what I do like though: a killer, a dyed-in-the-wool killer. Cold blooded, clean, methodical and thorough. Now a real killer, when he picked up the ZF-1, would've immediately asked about the little red button on the bottom of the gun."
it banked $260M, in the top 10 of the year and never went away culturally. definitely not under appreciated
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I am very DISAPPOINTED.
An American Werewolf in London
Practical effects for the win
One of those films that somehow manages to be both completely of its time, but also kind of timeless in its humour and horror.
You mentioned the Matrix but it really is shocking how well that holds up. The technobabble is kept pretty minimal despite being a Hacker Movie, and other than the phones and Neo's computer at the beginning it could easily pass as being made more recently.
The Dark Crystal
Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing could have been made yesterday and it would be even more relevant.
Blade Runner
SHREK, holds up surprisingly well for old animation.
Terminator 2
A couple of the morphing shots are looking dated, but it's a 31-year-old movie. The themes of technology and stakes of a coming nuclear war seem as modern now as back then.
Dark city
Starship Troopers. Was amazing back then as a kid when I saw it, still love it today. The mummy is another fav of mine.
Ferris Buellers Day Off
Blade Runner
Star Trek First Contact. The absolute pinnacle of the TNG aesthetic. 25 years old now and still looks great.
Waterworld. It had a great cast, great settings, and good production values. Its theme is now more topical than ever.
You mean Wet Mad Max?
Moist Max
Terminator 2, the actions scenes are so well done, some of the CG with the liquid metal aged poorly other than that it still looks great.
Blade! Special effects don't look too dated and the action scenes are top notch.
Silence of the Lambs. Obviously, it’s one of the greatest movies of all time, but after watching it for 5 minutes, it’s extremely easy to forget it’s 30 years old. It seems like it could’ve been filmed this year. It’s really crazy how timeless it is.
I feel that the original Exorcist belongs here. It was made in like 1972, it's still scary af, and I think the make-up/special effects meet today's standards...
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Meanwhile the Hobbit movies were made ten years later and they looked like trash from day 1.
Mean Girls
Children of Men
Fight Club (1999)
Se7en looks like it was filmed this year.
Predator. The FX are slightly dated but they are other-worldly enough to work with the premise of the movie and the storytelling is pretty tight otherwise.
The first 3 Die Hard films, Short Circuit, and Ghostbuster 1&2 for me
2001 still blows my mind.
Mad Max Road Warrior
Amadeus. There’s not special effects but the whole movie is so sleek and grandiose and each time I watch it I can’t believe it was released in 1984!
Nightmare on elm street (1984) Texas chainsaw massacre (1974) Halloween (1978) The films that no matter how many times they’re remade, will never be as good as the originals that still hold up after all these years.