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Game: Bring movies back in time to impress filmwatchers

Mar 31, 2014#1

bhamv3

Thirty years ago, 1984, was the year films such as the Terminator, the Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters, the Nightmare on Elm Street, Gremlins etc were released. Previous years also included classics such as Scarface, ET, Blade Runner, Rambo: First Blood, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Star Wars Trilogy.

Suppose you're given the task of traveling back in time with a DVD player, a high definition TV, and a stack of DVDs. You will travel back to December 31, 1984, and must impress a group of movie aficionados with more recent movies. Movies released after 1984 are all eligible, but it'd be cool if you use the newest films. Basically, your objective is to get these people to say, "Wow, you future people make some damn good movies!"

So, which movies would you bring back to show them?

(If it's easier, you can choose to bring one movie from each of the following genres: drama, crime, science fiction, fantasy, horror, comedy, action, adventure, romance, animation, and whichever other genres you can think of)

Mar 31, 2014#2

Celt Z

Frozen.

*watches Zero Esc's head explode* :troll:

EDIT: Head-explosions aside, if I remember my Disney history correctly, it was around 1984 they decided they were going to integrate CG into their animated projects. I think it would be cool to show them where it's heading.

Mar 31, 2014#3

Bubble181

The Star War Prequels. Perhaps we can prevent the first trilogy becoming so iconic, so that someone with half a brain can take over and do proper prequels instead

This may sound ridiculous, but for romance, I'd probably take along Titanic.

Fantasy: hands down LOTR - to show the poor D&D and fantasy nerds of back when that one day, in the distant future, their hobby becomes OK to admit to in public.

As for animation...While my personal favorite may be Lion King, I think Up! or Wall-E would be more "impressive" to an eighties person.

Mar 31, 2014#4

jwhouk

The LEGO Movie.

Mar 31, 2014#5

Ravenpoe

Norbit, just to warn Eddie Murphy of what he will become.

Mar 31, 2014#6

Dave

I'm going for a movie that is really well done but doesn't get as much pub as it should, but would blow the minds of people in 1984.

Reign of Fire.

The CGI dragons are amazingly well done and the story of survival is timeless.

Along those lines...Jurassic Park.

Mar 31, 2014#7

General Specific

Avatar

The Matrix (1st one only)

Pixar/Disney-CG films, too many to choose one, but probably several in this list: Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Incredibles, Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Up, Brave

As for regular animation - Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle (I may have a Miyazaki bias in this category)

Definitely LOTR trilogy

Batman Begins

Iron-Man and/or Captain America

And then I'd also take back something like Son of the Mask to show that even movies that are terrible, have amazing special effects.

Mar 31, 2014#8

sixpackshaker

Transformers, Avatar. Because I like to make people sad that bad movies make a lot of money.

Mar 31, 2014#9

ThatNickGuy

The Avengers. It's been every superhero fan's dream for decades.

Mar 31, 2014#10

sixpackshaker

ThatNickGuy said:
The Avengers. It's been every superhero fan's dream for decades.

I think the dream was Justice League (I think most casual fans know DC big 3 better.) But we got Avengers instead. And I am not complaining, because Warner Brothers will not be able to pull this off.

Mar 31, 2014#11

ThatNickGuy

sixpackshaker said:
I think the dream was Justice League (I think most casual fans know DC big 3 better.) But we got Avengers instead. And I am not complaining, because Warner Brothers will not be able to pull this off.

I've lost all faith in WB.

Mar 31, 2014#12

Just Me

Moulin Rouge!
For a visual and probably also accoustic overkill sensation.

Mar 31, 2014#13

sixpackshaker

Just Me said:
Moulin Rouge!
For a visual and probably also accoustic overkill sensation.

And to shock them that Disco would be used in a movie again.

Mar 31, 2014#14

PatrThom

Some of these I haven't actually seen, just going by reputation:

Inception (Mindblowing, get them ready for what's about to come)
Ratatouille (which won out over Wall-E just because the artsy-fartsy crowd will relate more to its ultimate message)
The Matrix (They will be stupefied)
How to Train Your Dragon (which is here as the "it's a cartoon but CGI" representative, as opposed to Ratatouille which is the "serious" CGI animation representative)
Pan's Labyrinth (It'll blow what's left of their minds)
V for Vendetta and Gladiator (Revenge/justice porn)
Saving Private Ryan (The War Movie)
Forrest Gump (Let's face it, they'll eat up the flashbacks)
Die Hard (One against an army)

And just making it in under the wire...

The Back to the Future trilogy. (Appropriate!)

--Patrick

Mar 31, 2014#15

Yoshimickster

All three live action Dragonball films, and I would FORCE the executives of Shueisha to watch all three so that they would get an actual good director to make a movie for it.

Mar 31, 2014#16

bhamv3

ThatNickGuy said:
The Avengers. It's been every superhero fan's dream for decades.

Wouldn't watching the previous MCU movies be necessary to really appreciate the Avengers though?

"Sit back, people of the past, we're going on a SUPERHERO MARATHON!"

Mar 31, 2014#17

klew

Can we affect the future with our choices?

Hackers/Johnny Mnemonic - so we might actually get computing to look and work the way they do in the film
An Inconvenient Truth - to get an extra couple decades worth of serious global warming discussion
Anything starring Steven Seagal - to warn studio executives early

Apr 1, 2014#18

Just Me

sixpackshaker said:
And to shock them that Disco would be used in a movie again.

To quote Eddie Izzard's character from Mystery Men: Disco is NOT dead!

Apr 1, 2014#19

Espy

Snakes on a Plane.

Apr 1, 2014#20

PatrThom

Espy said:
Snakes on a Plane.

"This is how we make mezzo-forte movies in the mezzo-forte future!"

--Patrick

Apr 1, 2014#21

GasBandit

Most of the ones I'd bring have already been covered. The Matrix, LOTR, Avengers, Jurassic Park, Life of Pi, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, The 5th Element, Terminator 2 (which would be a doubly special one since T1 just came out), Inception, Gravity, and just to show them you CAN make a movie out of an amusement park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean.

Also it may not be the most recent movie, but I bet Hunt for Red October would have gone over really well in 1984.

Apr 1, 2014#22

Yoshimickster

I would go to 1995 and show Toho the American "Godzilla" film. That film was so bad it caused them to make a new godzilla series the year after, so theoretically if I were to show them the movie- BEFORE it was released we'd get like three more godzilla flicks.

Apr 1, 2014#23

PatrThom

Asked Kati (prior to tainting her thought process by reading any of the suggestions already made), and she said the following:
Kung Fu Hustle
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover
Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee, 1995)
The Matrix
Chocolat
Pirates of the Carribbean ("Because if you were to go back to 1984 and say, 'Hey, you know that cheesy ride at Disney World? They're going to make an entire movie about that, and it'll be really cool!'")

Next she walks over to our movie collection, saying, "I think something from the Pixar collection, since they probably weren't doing that whole CGI thing back then. Toy Story or Monsters, Inc., I can't decide."
Bride and Prejudice, "..because in 1984 I bet nobody would believe we would want to watch a bunch of people dance in ~~saris~~ salwar kameez."
Idiocracy
Zach and Miri Make a Porno

--Patrick

Apr 1, 2014#24

Hailey Knight

Celt Z said:
Frozen.

*watches Zero Esc's head explode*

EDIT: Head-explosions aside, if I remember my Disney history correctly, it was around 1984 they decided they were going to integrate CG into their animated projects. I think it would be cool to show them where it's heading.

I think Frozen as a story would have been less impressive to viewers then because the Disney Princess thing wouldn't really be hammered into Disney or our society until another 10 years had gone by, so Frozen wouldn't have a cultural norm to counter.

Yoshimickster said:
I would go to 1995 and show Toho the American "Godzilla" film. That film was so bad it caused them to make a new godzilla series the year after, so theoretically if I were to show them the movie- BEFORE it was released we'd get like three more godzilla flicks.

I don't think so. Godzilla vs Destoroyah was supposed to be the final Godzilla movie by Toho. The aim became for Paramount to pick up the franchise anew, but had that not happened, Toho might have just quit entirely. They only made Godzilla 2000 because the 1998 American movie was so bad that it tarnished Godzilla's good name.

Apr 2, 2014#25

Celt Z

Zero Esc said:
I think Frozen as a story would have been less impressive to viewers then because the Disney Princess thing wouldn't really be hammered into Disney or our society until another 10 years had gone by, so Frozen wouldn't have a cultural norm to counter.

Agreed about the Princess part, but Frozen becoming the highest grossing animated film of all time is an anomaly for today as well as back then, since even in 2013, only 15% of Top Films have female leads and only 30% have women in speaking roles, despite making up 51% of the population and 52% of movie ticket purchasers. And sadly that's much higher than it was in 1984.

They should know that 30 years later, film execs still don't think that women can carry a successful film, and they're still wrong.

Apr 2, 2014#26

HCGLNS

Something like the Blair Witch to encourage them to think outside the box.

And several of the tv show movies so maybe they would stop themselves.

Apr 2, 2014#27

ThatNickGuy

Come to think of it, it'd be fun to troll them and show them The Room. Then tell them that movie culture has movie towards this and they're ALL like this, now.

Apr 2, 2014#28

Dave

Firefly and Serenity. Maybe they'll see the light early and actually make more!

Apr 2, 2014#29

evilmike

ThatNickGuy said:
Come to think of it, it'd be fun to troll them and show them The Room. Then tell them that movie culture has movie towards this and they're ALL like this, now.

Yeah! And while we're at it, we'll tell them that all restaurants are now Taco Bell.

And, of course, that we don't use toilet paper anymore, just 3 seashell-like devices. We will have to look amused when they can't figure out how that would work.

Apr 2, 2014#30

ThatNickGuy

evilmike said:
We will have to look amused when they can't figure out how that would work.

Dude, WE still don't even know how that would work!

Apr 2, 2014#31

Ravenpoe

Sharknado.

'Nuff said.

Apr 2, 2014#32

ThatNickGuy

On a separate note, I've always wondered what it'd be like to go back in time and show soon-to-be famous creators some of their best (and maybe worst) work that they haven't created yet. Somehow with the addition that they'd forget after I left so as not to affect the time stream or something, but show them a copy or their greatest work, or maybe even movie adaptations of their work.

Like, showing a young Terry Bolea some of his greatest matches as Hulk Hogan.
Showing a frustrated Jack Kirby how beloved and well-known he is today, especially all the people inspired by his work.
Showing George Lucas the original trilogy at that point where he's trying to sell the idea to studios, to show him yes, it'll work.
Blowing Shakespeare's mind by showing him film adaptations of his work and showing how far theatre and acting evolves.

Apr 2, 2014#33

bhamv3

ThatNickGuy said:
Blowing Shakespeare's mind by showing him film adaptations of his work and showing how far theatre and acting evolves.

"Who is this Baz Luhrmann and what has he done to my play?"

Apr 2, 2014#34

Hailey Knight

Celt Z said:
Agreed about the Princess part, but Frozen becoming the highest grossing animated film of all time is an anomaly for today as well as back then, since even in 2013, only 15% of Top Films have female leads and only 30% have women in speaking roles, despite making up 51% of the population and 52% of movie ticket purchasers. And sadly that's much higher than it was in 1984.

They should know that 30 years later, film execs still don't think that women can carry a successful film, and they're still wrong.

True, but keep in mind:

1. People kept going back to see it partly because it was memorable to them, and I feel part of that is because it surprised them the first go-round.
2. It wouldn't have made near that much in 1984 due to inflation

Apr 3, 2014#35

Celt Z

Zero Esc said:
True, but keep in mind:

1. People kept going back to see it partly because it was memorable to them, and I feel part of that is because it surprised them the first go-round.
2. It wouldn't have made near that much in 1984 due to inflation .

But I thought the point of the thread was to impress film aficionados? In 1984, an entirely CG film was unheard of, not to mention the level of technical sophistication that it uses. Not to mention, in 1984, people were wondering if the House of Mouse was going to survive. The 9 Old Men had left, the new class had yet to produce a hit animated film, Don Bluth had left to form his own (reasonably successful) studio and there was a big overhead change: Michael Eisner and Jeffery Katzenberg were brought it to try and turn the Disney brand around. Even then, they wouldn't have a hit animated movie until 1989 with The Little Mermaid. Couple this with the highly-publicized flop of The Black Cauldron later in 1985, there was talk that Disney could be done for good. I'd argue that bringing both The Little Mermaid and Frozen, which managed to be made even though Disney had closed their main animation studio in the early 2000's in similar dire straights, is important to prove Disney can AND does bounce back and produce the blockbuster, all-audience films we take for granted today.

Apr 3, 2014#36

Bubble181

ThatNickGuy said:
On a separate note, I've always wondered what it'd be like to go back in time and show soon-to-be famous creators some of their best (and maybe worst) work that they haven't created yet. Somehow with the addition that they'd forget after I left so as not to affect the time stream or something, but show them a copy or their greatest work, or maybe even movie adaptations of their work.

Like, showing a young Terry Bolea some of his greatest matches as Hulk Hogan.
Showing a frustrated Jack Kirby how beloved and well-known he is today, especially all the people inspired by his work.
Showing George Lucas the original trilogy at that point where he's trying to sell the idea to studios, to show him yes, it'll work.
Blowing Shakespeare's mind by showing him film adaptations of his work and showing how far theatre and acting evolves.

Johnny Depp what he's become, mister "I only do movies I feel good about, artistically"?

Apr 3, 2014#37

Covar

ThatNickGuy said:
Showing a frustrated Jack Kirby how beloved and well-known he is today, especially all the people inspired by his work.

Apr 3, 2014#38

Hailey Knight

Celt Z said:
But I thought the point of the thread was to impress film aficionados? In 1984, an entirely CG film was unheard of, not to mention the level of technical sophistication that it uses. Not to mention, in 1984, people were wondering if the House of Mouse was going to survive. The 9 Old Men had left, the new class had yet to produce a hit animated film, Don Bluth had left to form his own (reasonably successful) studio and there was a big overhead change: Michael Eisner and Jeffery Katzenberg were brought it to try and turn the Disney brand around. Even then, they wouldn't have a hit animated movie until 1989 with The Little Mermaid. Couple this with the highly-publicized flop of The Black Cauldron later in 1985, there was talk that Disney could be done for good. I'd argue that bringing both The Little Mermaid and Frozen, which managed to be made even though Disney had closed their main animation studio in the early 2000's in similar dire straights, is important to prove Disney can AND does bounce back and produce the blockbuster, all-audience films we take for granted today.

That's fine; I'm just saying that bringing up its box office status doesn't mean anything in this context. All those reasons you're mentioning now are good ones.

Apr 3, 2014#39

PatrThom

Celt Z said:
[Disney] wouldn't have a hit animated movie until 1989 with The Little Mermaid.

I know everyone seems to have a big stiffy for Mermaid, but it was Beauty and the Beast that made me start taking Disney seriously.

--Patrick

Apr 3, 2014#40

Hailey Knight

PatrThom said:
I know everyone seems to have a big stiffy for Mermaid, but it was Beauty and the Beast that made me start taking Disney seriously.

--Patrick

Yeah, I was pretty critical of Disney at the time.

Critiquing those movies with fellow first-graders was a bitch though. You'd think none of them ever had a debate online before.

Apr 6, 2014#41

Kovac

Cabin in the woods

It's a great movie and it gets pretty crazy.

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