Josh H

Yes, I'm 27, and while their are great movies and music from the 80's the bulk of it just comes across as horribly cheezy to me. The 70's movies are just as bad for different reasons, though the non-disco music was very good.

DonnachaOne

Calm yourself. I'm not attacking you, so don't make it like I am.
My response was on-topic. I do not like the fact that it confused you. From this response, you show that you understand you were wrong. Drop it.

Now that that's settled, we move on... what are some films set in "the present day", whenever that was, that have never appeared to look dated?

BigDan

There are many 1980s movies that seem dated to me (and I'm 34 years-old), especially stuff from the early 1980s. There are many movies that defy this, but that's not universal, obviously.

The early 1990s also saw many things that look dated today in movies in terms of fashion that show in movies from that era and look weird to me (though, being an out-of-fashion type of guy, they probably looked weird to me then, too).

jeffkjoe

I think THE BREAKFAST CLUB, without the soundtrack, could have taken place in 2005.

The look is generally the same - Emilio's sweatshirt, Judd's denim get-up....Only Claire's seems slightly outdated.


But the attitudes, the manner-of-speaking - they remain the same.

DonnachaOne

Fair point. That would be an interesting project, redoing it's soundtrack.

No, I don't mean that in a DONNACHA RAPED MY CHILDHOOD! kind of way, just as an experiment. Just like that dude who re-edited and added different music to The Shining to make it look like a trailer for a heartwarming drama.

UAIOE

Oh tell me about it. I can usually tell when a movie was made in the early 90's just from the fashion in the movie.

In some instances the fashion that translated into those movies is as bad or sometimes worse than the worst 80's movie.

And this is coming from a guy who liked the 1990's alot more than the 1980's.

Terrell

I agree with Jeff that the soundtrack to Breakfast Club is what dates it. There's no way to watch that movie and not think about the time period that music is from. However, I do get the feeling that it is an 80s comedy. Perhaps because I'm so familiar with John Hughes style, which was so prevalent in the 80s.

I'm not familiar with that. I can only imagine how funny and odd that must have been.

Speaking of the early 90s, Total Recall, a film I really enjoy, feels dated to me. The music and the effects date it. This might be a sacrilege, but this is a film I wouldn't mind seeing remade.

StuddThunders

Okay. Here's a prime example:

The score to Peter Weir's "Gallipoli." That synthesizer really stands out as dated.

And, for that matter, any movie with a score by Tangerine Dream.

Another example of a dated movie:

"Rambo 3" with the title card at the end that says something like "Dedicated to the brave men and women of Afghanistan who are fighting for freedom."

"Dedicated to the Taliban" is what that basically means. We had different enemies then.

JaxComet

I think to most twentysomethings anything made before 1995 seems dated. It's just the way they are these days........

EddieN

Heck, I was born in '65 and many 80's movies look and sound terribly dated. I can usually get past the haircuts & such but if synth is featured prominently in the score I will turn that sucker off imme-jutly.

Johnny Boy

Not me. I'm 26 and most of may favorite movies came from the 70s.

I thought the 80s for the most part was terrible though.

StuddThunders

I remember seeing "Ice Pirates" in the theater when I was six. I thought that movie was the best ever. Now I'm like, "Cathy Crosby? Robert Urich?"

Still holds some sentimental charm, though. Still laugh when the robot craps out the fluid and bolts.

atlantamoi

I've gotten to the point that I almost quit showing my younger wife movies I thought were hilarious in the 80's. Cheesy music and sometimes long moments between laughs. There are still some winners, but many are hopelessly dated.

Puzznic

Im 24 and I love 80s movies, especially teen movies like Ferris Bueller. When i watch stuff like Revenge of the Nerds it is only dated by my "they don't make stuff like this anymore" point of view. But then again, I like the 80s in general. It was the one time where the US reached almost Japanese levels of quirkiness.

sarah99

Unforgiven
Good, the bad, & the ugly
The Hunting Party
Ulzana's Raid

those westerns sure are dated, guess they need to get rid of the flares and put some CGI in.

Groucho

I love how people mock the fashion in these older films, as if today's fashions and hairstyles are somehow better:

DRG

I actually like when movies look dated, to some degree. It takes me back to that era, as in a movie about the 70s made in the 70s feels much more genuine to me than a movies about the 70s made in 2006. The big exception here for me is movies from other eras or fantasy/sci fi worlds. A movie thats supposed to take place in the year 2020 but looks liek the 70s is bad.

Mordred

If you can't see how that's better than '80s fashion then you must be from some backwards place like Utah.

Mordred

I remember thinking that was the greatest movie ever at the age of six as well. I went to see it with my best friend at the time, Jon Cobb. We came home and drew all sorts of pictures of spaceships and what not.

I finally saw it on TV about a year ago. After about 5-10 minutes I couldn't take anymore.

thematahara

I dont think the 80's were any worse than any other decades. I'm sure that in 20 more years we'll be talking the same about films today.

Just the other day I watched Aliens again, and beside the parts of the ship flying through the clouds, the effects hold up amazingly well. James Cameron and Winston did such a amazing job with that movie. Makes me wish movies didnt rely so much on CGI these days. I'll take solid makeup and creature design combined with good editing and camera work anyday.

I'm 25.

jeffkjoe

I agree.

When I watch THAT 70'S SHOW, I have to keep reminding myself that it takes place in th e 70's.

Same with HAPPY DAYS. That show really lost the 1950's feeling as the series went on.

I know I'm talking TV and not movies, but it's the same idea.

Count de Monet

Talk to you again in about 20 years...

Count de Monet

Keerrist...seems like you're just as up your own ass as Terrell.

The comment I was directly responding to, which you have now failed to grasp twice, was that today's films are uniformly good and films of the '80s are uniformly bad. I merely presented titles from both decades to prove that point wrong. Then you got your Yoda Underoos in a bunch about issues that had nothing to do with what I was talking about.

Drop it, indeed.

Dead

Count de Monet, personal attacks are against forum rules and this is clearly over the line.

Dead

I'm going to reopen this thead, but I would *highly* suggest that post from here on out ignore the previous bickering and personal attack.