EVERYTHING was changed!!!

[Trubinator]

I think it's arguable to say that no science fiction film since Star Wars has changed everything. Sure, T2, ALIENS, Blade Runner and the like were classic science fiction films, but they were all cult classics or big blockbuster action films ... hardly films people will talk about 20 years from now. Even Lord of the Rings and POTC were trilogies that, although they did well at the box office, will probably be quickly forgotten.

It's my hope that Avatar may pioneer a new age of Sci Fi, even though I know I'm hopelessly alone in this because everyone seems to not believe the hype.

 

[Canadave]

^ But people are talking about those movies 20 years after they came out. I don't see why they won't continue to for the next 20...

They may not be as pervasive as Star Wars, but they're still influential.

 

[Scout101]

Kinda agree on Aliens and Blade Runner (popular movies, but what did they CHANGE?), but not T2, if only because of the innovative CG work that has since become a popular thing.

Actually, to raise a question, what about Star Wars was a game changer? certainly mega-hit, popular, spawned more things, but what did it do NEW? Really more derivative of 50's pulp fiction...

 

[Reverend]

Films like Star Wars & 2001 had an instant impact, Blade Runner was a bit of a delayed reaction and took a few years to kick in. But yes, I'd say those three are on par in terms of impact.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Films like Star Wars & 2001 had an instant impact, Blade Runner was a bit of a delayed reaction and took a few years to kick in. But yes, I'd say those three are on par in terms of impact.

What about a movie like DARK CITY. The 'world isn't what it seems to be' is, I think, more interesting than Matrix's. The noir feel to Dark City is, I think, pretty cool. And it doesn't hurt that Roger Ebert named it the best movie of the year when it came out.

But no one seems to really care for Dark City. I do...i think it deserves an honorable mention...

Rob
Scorpio

 

[Scout101]

we're not really talking about 'big' movies, or popular movies. What did Blade Runner, for example, CHANGE about the way movies were made (theme or technique)?

And again, Star Wars was a pop culture hit, but what about it was NEW? It really was just a 50's pulp novel in space. Impact on the pop culture, but what was the impact on other movies?

2001, definitely. Matrix, for the filming techniques alone, yes. Blade Runner? Eh...

 

[Mr Light]

Blade Runner introduced the depressing grim n' gritty view of the future where everything is decaying and falling apart and everyone hates themselves. To movies, anyway.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Blade Runner introduced the depressing grim n' gritty view of the future where everything is decaying and falling apart and everyone hates themselves. To movies, anyway.

A Boy and His Dog kind of did that too, as did Logans Run. But yeah, i see your point. It gave a noir look to the future that many other movies would try to replicate as well..

Rob

 

[Scout101]

Blade Runner was a little more Emo about it, but the future of Star Wars was dirty, gritty, and falling apart, and that was 5 years earlier. Sure there are better examples, but that was the first to come to mind.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Blade Runner was a little more Emo about it, but the future of Star Wars was dirty, gritty, and falling apart, and that was 5 years earlier. Sure there are better examples, but that was the first to come to mind.

Damnation Alley was another screwed up future as well...COCKROACHES!!!

Rob

 

[Canadave]

we're not really talking about 'big' movies, or popular movies. What did Blade Runner, for example, CHANGE about the way movies were made (theme or technique)?

In terms of the score, BR has been pretty influential. It was among the first movies with an all-electronic score, and paved the way for similar scoring in future SF films (The Terminator and Terminator 2, for instance).

 

[Rackon]

Films like Star Wars & 2001 had an instant impact, Blade Runner was a bit of a delayed reaction and took a few years to kick in. But yes, I'd say those three are on par in terms of impact.

What about a movie like DARK CITY. The 'world isn't what it seems to be' is, I think, more interesting than Matrix's. The noir feel to Dark City is, I think, pretty cool. And it doesn't hurt that Roger Ebert named it the best movie of the year when it came out.

But no one seems to really care for Dark City. I do...i think it deserves an honorable mention...

Rob
Scorpio

Rob, I LOVE Dark City. Guess it's just you and me and Ebert

It's not hard SF, more like sci-fi...nightmare, dream reality. But I love it dearly and think it's underrated. You gotta see it in the DC though, without the dorky voice over.

So I agree it's a significant piece of SF/fantasy filmmaking...but I don't know that it's been particularly influential - yet.

Star Wars DID change everything. Both for good and bad.

I gotta say, I'm glad I was around for the original theatrical releases of 2001, A Clockwork Orange, THX1138, A Boy & His Dog, Blade Runner, The Man Who Fell To Earth, Solaris, Silent Running, Alien et al.

Thinking person's SF is not high on studio's agendas in these days of "releases must be FX laden whiz-bang blockbusters to pay the production costs" type of movies. A notable exception is the current release "Moon". And a few others have slipped under the radar - Pi, Code 46, Donnie Darko - all independents, all small scale.

 

[Rackon]

Blade Runner introduced the depressing grim n' gritty view of the future where everything is decaying and falling apart and everyone hates themselves. To movies, anyway.

A Boy and His Dog kind of did that too, as did Logans Run. But yeah, i see your point. It gave a noir look to the future that many other movies would try to replicate as well..

Rob

Logan's Run, now there's a goldie oldie. Seeing it again after a loooong time it looks very "plastic" to me. But the grit and grime of Blade Runner has influenced the look of several films...including Dark City and Strange Days, and even (dare I say it) The Matrix.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Star Wars changed the whole bloody movie business, never mind "sf."

 

[Reverend]

Another huge fan of Dark City right here, I just wouldn't say it changed things because it's relatively obscure.

As for Blade Runner's influence, you can see it's fingerprints all over subsequent films, directly and indirectly.

Off the top of my head it was a HUGE influence on the likes of 'Akira' and 'Ghost in the Shell', which in turn were very influential on 'The Matrix' (right down to the exploding watermelons.) Ron Moore has repeatedly stated BR's influence on Galactica and (ironically) there's even a trace of BR's aesthetic in the Star Wars prequels, at least in the Corascant scenes. Any futuristic cityscape filmed since BR has either seamed to try and emulate/pay homage/rip off that opening shot; I realise it's not the best example, but the Judge Dredd movie used loads of BR in Megacity One.

 

[TheArsenal]

Rob, I LOVE Dark City. Guess it's just you and me and Ebert

... and me. But I see it as a great movie as opposed to one that created change in its wake. I feel the same way about Brazil, one of my all time favorite films.

 

[Michael Chris]

Another huge fan of Dark City right here, I just wouldn't say it changed things because it's relatively obscure.

As for Blade Runner's influence, you can see it's fingerprints all over subsequent films, directly and indirectly.

Off the top of my head it was a HUGE influence on the likes of 'Akira' and 'Ghost in the Shell', which in turn were very influential on 'The Matrix' (right down to the exploding watermelons.) Ron Moore has repeatedly stated BR's influence on Galactica and (ironically) there's even a trace of BR's aesthetic in the Star Wars prequels, at least in the Corascant scenes. Any futuristic cityscape filmed since BR has either seamed to try and emulate/pay homage/rip off that opening shot; I realise it's not the best example, but the Judge Dredd movie used loads of BR in Megacity One.

Yes, I have to agree the Blade Runner style has been used quite a bit. Even recently with the new Terminator movie, when they came over the debris barrier on Juan Tabo to reveal San Francisco the first that came into my mind was, "Somebody's been watching Blade Runner."

I'd also say the Matrix was the most influential in recent years.

 

[Harvey]

Star Wars changed the whole bloody movie business, never mind "sf."

Jaws started that whole change two years previous, but you're right that Star Wars accelerated Hollywood's direction towards high concept blockbusters and away from the smaller fare made from 1967-1981.

Anyone who argues that Blade Runner has not been influential, or won't be talked about in 20 years, has no perspective. The production designs in that film have had a pervasive influence on nearly every science fiction film with an urban setting since. It's been 25 years, and the film has had two successful theatrical re-releases and continues to be wildly popular.

I agree that Dark City and Brazil are great movies that haven't had as much of an effect on other films as, say, Blade Runner or Star Wars.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdome of the Crystal Skull...

How to ruin a movie series in two hours flat...that is this movie's legacy!!! Though I guess JAWS-4 was the template it used...

Rob

 

[Harvey]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was hugely profitable, earned generally positive reviews, and will probably spawn a sequel after the franchise was dormat for almost two decades. How it will be remembered as a film has yet to be determined.