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To me, back then, movies were something local you went to in order to get away from the world for 90 minutes or so. You gave at most a Lincoln, and enjoyed the flick. Enjoyed, went home, rarely talked about it to anyone else because the Net didn't exist then.
Maybe there was no Net, but films generated much banter, regardless — think schoolyard, classroom, water cooler, circle of friends. If the movie failed to impress, then yes, it wasn't discussed (as) much.
But you'll always have friends who like cheesetastic films. Heard of a 1980 dumpster fire called Hawk the Slayer? I knew someone who was obsessed with that film. I mean he wouldn't stop talking about it and it became annoying. He was the same friend who routinely bagged on Willow till it was discovered he hadn't seen the film. He just wanted more buzz (as if there was any) for Hawk the Slayer.
P.S. The same friend also insisted George Lucas' first Star Wars trilogy was peak SF cinema and everything else paled in comparison. Naturally, when Spaceballs went into orbit, I insisted it improved on all of Star Wars' weaknesses.
Heard of a 1980 dumpster fire called Hawk the Slayer? I knew someone who was obsessed with that film. I mean he wouldn't stop talking about it and it became annoying. He was the same friend who routinely bagged on Willow till it was discovered he hadn't seen the film. He just wanted more buzz (as if there was any) for Hawk the Slayer.
HAWK THE SLAYER is one of the best bad movies ever made. Rent that along with FLASH GORDON and BEASTMASTER, and you got yourself a great movie night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AFtrEFkt
Naturally, when Spaceballs went into orbit, I insisted it improved on all of Star Wars' weaknesses.
I say this as the world's biggest Mel Brooks fan: SPACEBALLS is over-rated. A few great scenes, yes. But as a whole? It's probably one of his weakest movies.
HAWK THE SLAYER is one of the best bad movies ever made. Rent that along with FLASH GORDON and BEASTMASTER, and you got yourself a great movie night.
For all its errors, The Beastmaster is way better than Hawk & Flash. It has a much better story and it has the best score. Dar stomps that poser boy Hawk!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark S.
I say this as the world's biggest Mel Brooks fan: SPACEBALLS is over-rated. A few great scenes, yes. But as a whole? It's probably one of his weakest movies.
Nah, it rates right about where it should. You've just seen it too many times.
Maybe there was no Net, but films generated much banter, regardless — think schoolyard, classroom, water cooler, circle of friends. If the movie failed to impress, then yes, it wasn't discussed (as) much.
But you'll always have friends who like cheesetastic films. Heard of a 1980 dumpster fire called Hawk the Slayer? I knew someone who was obsessed with that film. I mean he wouldn't stop talking about it and it became annoying. He was the same friend who routinely bagged on Willow till it was discovered he hadn't seen the film. He just wanted more buzz (as if there was any) for Hawk the Slayer.
P.S. The same friend also insisted George Lucas' first Star Wars trilogy was peak SF cinema and everything else paled in comparison. Naturally, when Spaceballs went into orbit, I insisted it improved on all of Star Wars' weaknesses.
Hawk the Slayer I have. It is in the library somewhere, waiting for its spot on Clubs & Swords night. Generally, films in that category can be pretty bad but still useful. Generally for I think Dragons of Camelot and some other flick that was pretty, pretty bad manage to get the bad cake.
Curiously enough, Dragon Crusaders, while roasted (all puns intended) on IMDB, I though was pretty good. Why? It satisfied the criteria of being entertaining for 90 minutes or so.
The thing about Star Wars is that one must appreciate the world we were in when they first came out, of all the mysticism we could create from it, explore, dream of, before Lucas decided to "write that all in". "Splinter in the Mind's Eye" may not be that great of a book, but when it came out, that was all we had and we grabbed it up.
The curious thing about Spaceballs (a flick where both Daphne Z. and Bill Pullman could have gotten their start before they were famous) (sure, Daphne had a music video but if they don't recognize you then (like Caroline Munro in Goodie Two Shoes) are you famous?) is that I didn't see it till around 1994 and jokes I thought were somewhat original....weren't. Spaceballs was 1987 but in 1984 or before, the comic strip in the TAMU paper, The Battalion, did a joke about Jabba introducing his brother, Pizza.....and in 1994, I didn't know the movie had used that joke.
Does a spoof improve the weaknesses? IMHO, no, but then again, I am not muck for spoofs, anyhow. I've seen Our Man Flint, Casino Royale, and now, Little Rita, once on Top Secret and lightly on the Airplanes and that's about it.
Our Man Flint exists in its own right (and James Brolin in an early role). Little Rita I found irritating with all its song and dance numbers that I fast forwarded through them. Casino Royale (1967) (and Jacqueline Bisset in an early role) is enjoyable in its own right but does it fill in the Bond weaknesses? Depends on how one sees the flick, any flick.
Long story short, one must remember two things about a Bond flick. First, it is a spy movie and whatever is said in the movie should not be taken instantly as truth.....because it is a spy movie. It is like Anya in The Spy Who Loved Me saying she is a major in the Russian Army. Technically, that is in correct BUT she is a spy and she may be saying things in a way to influence the minds of others. Secondly, us the audience knows all what is going on but do the people inside the movie know. We know 007 is spy but to them, maybe Bond is just a Playboy.
That said:
The Girl Most Likely To----Annette O'Toole, 21, an early role
The Graduate--Mike Farrell, Richard Dreyfuss, Elaine May, Ben Murphy, Kevin Tighe in minor background roles
The Adventurers--Jacqueline Smith
Back from Eternity--Barbara Eden
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark S.
HAWK THE SLAYER is one of the best bad movies ever made. Rent that along with FLASH GORDON and BEASTMASTER, and you got yourself a great movie night.
.........
To each their own. I rather like Flash Gordon, it has great lines and a powerful supporting cast. Now, I hope one has the theatrical version for when I got the DVD and found out they cut out Dale's gymnastic duel with the guard and Klytus's nap, I felt cheated!
As far as Beastmaster, also a pretty good movie in my book for it meets that criteria.....it entertains, it allows one to dream.
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 10-06-2021 at 03:58 PM..
Hawk the Slayer I have. It is in the library somewhere, waiting for its spot on Clubs & Swords night. Generally, films in that category can be pretty bad but still useful. Generally for I think Dragons of Camelot and some other flick that was pretty, pretty bad manage to get the bad cake.
Oh, I love cheesy '80s sword & sorcery cinema. Conan the Barbarian spawned so many knockoffs (I don't consider The Beastmaster one of them, since it also arrived in 1982). This year alone, I've [re]watched The Warrior and the Sorceress (a good story impaired by a small budget), Amazons, Sorceress (not the same movie), Deathstalker (a terrible good time), Barbarian Queen (stars the late Lana Clarkson, who would have made a much better Red Sonja than Brigitte Nielsen),
Dragonslayer (1981) is epic fantasy, not sword & sorcery, but it's really good and definitely underrated. I need to revisit The Sword and the Sorcerer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TamaraSavannah
The thing about Star Wars is that one must appreciate the world we were in when they first came out, of all the mysticism we could create from it, explore, dream of, before Lucas decided to "write that all in". "Splinter in the Mind's Eye" may not be that great of a book, but when it came out, that was all we had and we grabbed it up.
Sure. For its time, when many fewer guideposts existed and endless possibilities ripened, Star Wars (especially the 1977 film) was rad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TamaraSavannah
Does a spoof improve the weaknesses? IMHO, no, but then again, I am not muck for spoofs, anyhow.
It's a joke. You know, somebody loves and defends Star Wars so much, you draw comparisons where none should exist. Yes, Spaceballs is a spoof. But the Schwartz-saber choreography is no worse than the real thing.
Breezy (1973) Is 20 years old young enough when you are Kay Lenz and topless?
Quote:
Originally Posted by AFtrEFkt
Oh, I love cheesy '80s sword & sorcery cinema. Conan the Barbarian spawned so many knockoffs (I don't consider The Beastmaster one of them, since it also arrived in 1982). This year alone, I've [re]watched The Warrior and the Sorceress (a good story impaired by a small budget), Amazons, Sorceress (not the same movie), Deathstalker (a terrible good time), Barbarian Queen (stars the late Lana Clarkson, who would have made a much better Red Sonja than Brigitte Nielsen),
Dragonslayer (1981) is epic fantasy, not sword & sorcery, but it's really good and definitely underrated. I need to revisit The Sword and the Sorcerer.
Seen them all....and more, such as Throne of Fire. Poor Maria Socas, having to go through her entire flick, one above, topless.
The thing about Deathstalker is that the first was pretty good and bears repeated watching. The second, well, I rather hate it when someone takes a flick and uses the name only and trashes it. ALTHOUGH, John La Zar makes an excellent sword villain......and the outtakes weren't bad.
Hundra, Italian Hercules, Sinbads, and more, I collect them all for Monday's movie theme is "Clubs & Swords", from When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth to the Klingons.Just check out my posts in "last movie watched" for Monday night.
Here, though, we have an issue that where David Carradine swung a sword, we can probably say stealing from the Conan ............ and how old was Olivia d'Abo in Conan the Destroyer in the spirit of our topic?
But not necessarily so when we have the "Spaghetti Barbarian" flicks of the 60s, the Sinbads of John Phillip Law. Who ripped off who?
As it is, I have stopped seeing movies in that light, as a rip off of someone else, and just accepted the flick for what it is on its own merit.
For all its errors, The Beastmaster is way better than Hawk & Flash.
I don't disagree. But it is still very cheesey in parts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AFtrEFkt
Nah, it rates right about where it should. You've just seen it too many times.
That's really not it. Unlike Brooks's previous work, none of the jokes are very smart. It's all easy pickings. And the tone is all wrong too.
BLAZING SADDLES is very much a satire, having fun with all the Western tropes. But it's also very obvious Brooks loves those tropes, and every joke has more than a little homage in it.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is the same way, only with the Universal horror genre. Biting smart satire, but it is also a love letter to the genre.
SPACE BALLS was just Brooks mocking a genre he obviously hated and didn't understand very well. All the jokes --- even the funny ones --- are pretty dumb. There is very little actual wit in the movie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TamaraSavannah
To each their own. I rather like Flash Gordon.
I love FLASH GORDON. But it is extraordinarily eye-rolly in places. "Go, Flash go! Go, Flash, go!" while Flash plays football with Ming's guards.
Breezy (1973) Is 20 years old young enough when you are Kay Lenz and topless?
Seen them all....and more, such as Throne of Fire. Poor Maria Socas, having to go through her entire flick, one above, topless.
The thing about Deathstalker is that the first was pretty good and bears repeated watching. The second, well, I rather hate it when someone takes a flick and uses the name only and trashes it. ALTHOUGH, John La Zar makes an excellent sword villain......and the outtakes weren't bad.
Hundra, Italian Hercules, Sinbads, and more, I collect them all for Monday's movie theme is "Clubs & Swords", from When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth to the Klingons.Just check out my posts in "last movie watched" for Monday night.
Here, though, we have an issue that where David Carradine swung a sword, we can probably say stealing from the Conan ............ and how old was Olivia d'Abo in Conan the Destroyer in the spirit of our topic?
But not necessarily so when we have the "Spaghetti Barbarian" flicks of the 60s, the Sinbads of John Phillip Law. Who ripped off who?
As it is, I have stopped seeing movies in that light, as a rip off of someone else, and just accepted the flick for what it is on its own merit.
When I say "Conan the Barbarian spawned so many," I am specifically referring to the slew of low budget sword-and-sandal flicks that emerged in the remaining years of the decade. These low budget productions were populated by musclebound leads and/or supporting players, scantily clad babes (some lethal, some not), and big bads who more often than not were emboldened by sorcery à la Thulsa Doom. Throw in a strange creature or two for the protagonist to hack to bits.
These movies derive directly from Milius' Conan movie, and to some extent, the writings of Robert E. Howard, not Tolkien and his imitators. There aren't elves and gnomes and hobbits and dwarves and any of that nonsense.
Another one I like is Lucio Fulci's Conquest.
The '60s & '70s Sinbad movies (and Jason and the Argonauts, The Odyssey, etc.), all of which I love, aren't the same thing. Those are based on ancient mythology.
And if you want to see a truly bad movie, you ain't see nothin' till you've sat through Jess Franco's Golden Temple Amazons.
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