bluetoast

And by that I mean a period move that has strange or unique elements from the then-current year it was made in regards to acting (and maybe casting choices), filmmaking trends, or use of music, that would now be distracting in a period piece.

AaronHernandez

A lot of 80's Period Drama it's hard to go all in causes the Scores are very distinctly Vangelis,Tangerine Dream,Moroderesque and synth heavy in a way that feels unique to that decade. Whereas something like the Titanic,Shawshank or Piano Score in the 90's you can slide into those worlds cause the Score's are timeless and fit the mood of the movie and feel like they could just have easily been composed in 1940 as 1990 or 2017.

Perkinsun Dzees

Ash Ketchum

Every 1950s or '60s western or war movie that had teen idols in them, like Frankie Avalon (THE ALAMO), Fabian (NORTH TO ALASKA), Bobby Darin (HELL IS FOR HEROES), etc. Just takes me right out of the movie. James Darren is very good in GUNMAN'S WALK, though. There's a scene in THE LONGEST DAY, where you've got Paul Anka, Fabian and Tommy Sands (Nancy Sinatra's then-husband) as Rangers who've just successfully climbed and taken Pointe du Hoc. It was just such a sop to the young audience in 1962. I remember liking that scene as a kid, though.

Yet I would leave Elvis out of this equation because I thought he was excellent in the two westerns he did, LOVE ME TENDER and FLAMING STAR.

Fabian, Paul Anka, Tommy Sands in THE LONGEST DAY:

Perkinsun Dzees

bluetoast

This is what sort of got me thinking about it- The Untouchables. Just seemed somewhat off with the music, the cast. Some of it seemed overly comedic with that nerdy guy with the shotgun, or unintentionally like with that baby carriage.

Josh-da-man

Godfather III looked like it was taking place in 1990 instead of 1979.

I remember watching a Vietnam War movie that filmed in the 80s (Hamburger Hill?) and the soldiers had spiky gelled 80s hair.

rw2516

Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo is another one. To me it's always come off as desperation to stay relevant to the younger generation. John Wayne was the worst. His later films always seemed to have a younger actor and actress for the love story, whatever. James Caan, Glen Campbell, Katherine Ross, etc.
John Wayne for the old folks, young newcomer the young folks.
TV shows were even worse. The one instance where it worked well was the Beverly Hillbillies. When the Clampetts encounted beatniks, hippies and rock and roll it was a riot.

This may qualify more as a cliché than the thread subject, but the male/female scientist team ups in 1950s sci-fi movies. I get a laugh in every time I watch Revenge of The Creature. After Lori Nelson is taken captive by the creature the newscaster, "Still no sign of the pretty young scientist".

Giantrobo

Lot's of 90's RomComs have same corny ass scores/music. When i see those films the scores immediately scream 90's to me.

davidh777

Definitely the synth scores, including Blade Runner, which probably sounded futuristic at the time but now sounds dated.

Groucho

Not everyone is understanding the thread title. OP is looking for PERIOD movies that have become dated.

My pick is “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”

tommyp007

Easy Rider.

William Fuld

heh

Obi-Wanma

McLovin

Ladyhawke with its Alan Parsons synth score and Matthew Broderick channeling Woody Allen feels very 80's.

Mabuse

Blade Runner's whole sound mix, including the score, is amazing. There are times you can't tell if what you are hearing is a sound effect in the scene or part of the score. It's so layered.

Mabuse

Shortly before tho IMDb message boards shut down I stumbled into the Untouchables forum and was very surprised to see the comments were nearly universally negative. People saying the score was dreadful, even when it was pointed out who the composer was. People saying the Al Capone theme sounded like carnival music and the triumphant portions too triumphant. They said the overall tone was too earnest. People saying the baby carriage was absurd, then others pointed out that it's an homage to Potemkin, but that didn't change any minds. It was really wild to me because I've always seen it as a big, crowd pleasing movie; it was a big hit in '87.

Oh people also felt the moments of violence were gratuitous. When it was explained that they're supposed to be, very few cared.

I disagree with all of those people, but they are a vast majority. So it would seem that many things about that film are now dated with audiences. I still love it.

Now go home and...sleep well.

Nick Danger

When I watched The Sting a couple of years ago, it was a disappointment. I thought it was flatly lit, the acting was hammy, that Scott Joplin theme hadn't aged well, and they used the same grinding-gears sound effect for every single car. But the underlying scam is still great.

Mabuse

Regarding the Longest Day: I've always been aware that it was full of pop stars, but I first watched the film in 1991, and having been born in 1978 I don't recognize who they are. They are forgotten to me. I recognize Wayne and Fonda and Burton and all the big stars, but the pop stars don't bump me because to me they are like extras. And none of them give a bad performance.

Crocker Jarmen

Wow, I'm surprised to hear this is a popular opinion. I have a lot of complaints about The Untouchables but the score isn't one of them. You're right when you say "crowd pleaser". It's a completely entertaining movie, one that milks every emotion. It tries so hard to make you feel sad when Malone is killed, wants you to be excited when they charge with Mounties, wants you to cheer at the end of that ridiculous court scene. I'm not saying that to disparage the movie--I completely buy into all the melodrama, and I think that gorgeous score is what ties it together and keeps the movie from being silly. With a more traditional score, The Untouchables would probably be unwatchable.

For the OP's question; I was looking at Last Temptation Of Christ recently, and it just looks like a bunch of New York actors hamming their way through the desert. Jesus Christ Superstar seems more like a proper period movie than that.

Perkinsun Dzees

I also enjoyed Morricone's score for The Untouchables. I also like the film itself but consider it one of DePalma's least interesting movies. It's all very skillfully done, but just feels like DePalma was trying to be a Hollywood player at this point and went all out to make a boxoffice blockbuster, painting the good guys and bad guys in very broad strokes while reining in the darker, more provocative obsessions that pepper his other films.

For the most part, the movie comes across as rather impersonal and artificial with the most DePalma-ish elements being the baby carriage setpiece and when the guy stalks Connery in his apartment. Mamet's script is also one of his least interesting and, yes, the ending courtroom scene is quite ludicrous.

Ash Ketchum

I hated THE UNTOUCHABLES when it was released and I haven't revisited it since. But as a Morricone fan, I bought the soundtrack album. It's not one of his best scores, though.

Ash Ketchum

I never thought of it that way, but yeah, why would you have recognized Paul Anka and Fabian? They'd faded from the public eye long before you were born, whereas Wayne, Fonda, Burton et al, are still a big deal. And, true, none of the teen idols gives a bad performance. After they've reached the top of the cliff and driven off or killed the remaining Nazis, they stop and rest and Fabian asks Paul Anka why he's wearing a life jacket. Anka responds, "Because I can't swim!" which always got a big laugh when I saw the film in theaters back then. George Segal is part of their group. He wasn't known at all when I first saw the film, but when it was reissued in 1971, he was by then a big star and his presence came as quite a surprise.

kd5

To me, it's not so much Matthew Broderick but the Alan Parsons score. I get that they wanted to be hip at the time but the score never did really fit the movie, and now it seems really dated because of that score. If they were to eliminate the AP score and fill the void with serious orchestral music, I think Ladyhawke would be goddamned near a masterpiece of a period fantasy.

whotony