This segment from the July 15 Salon Saturday radio show was broken out for those interested in film. I love film, wrote two screenplays, so far, and I’m a certified film junkie. I’d love to hear your thoughts about film.
Since I didn’t cover blockbusters after 1997 last week on the radio show I went back and decided to cover the rest. Anyway, here are my eight remaining favorite blockbusters from a list of 50 on Syfy.com. I liked that they listed them chronologically as I do rather the rating them best to least. I did not include sequels, good as they were, but the original movie that set the trend.
CGI to the rescue:
The first use of computers and film goes back to 1958 and the intro to Hitchcock’s Vertigo. As computers became more powerful, I’ve trained countless students in computer science, CGI became more powerful until it almost engulfed film with many wondering if future movies would be all CGI. Not yet, but sometimes you wonder; is this real?
The first digital animation in film was 1973’s Westworld with the robotic Yul Brenner. The first combination of CGI and live action was Disney’s Tron in 1982. Then in 1989 in The Abyss industrial light and magic (ILM) spent 6 months to create the 75 seconds of computer graphics needed to bring the creature of water to fluidic life. The first digital de-aging was in 2006.
This might partly explain the employment of comic book heroes and Sci-Fi movies popularity. Since many directors, notably Hitchcock used the concept of panels in comics for storyboarding; that basic element is already in the comic. So why not use it?
The result is that if you want to make a blockbuster, you use lots of CGI; sometimes to the detriment of the film. If the CGI is not good, you’ll hear about it from every movie critic, so there is a downside.
Blockbuster Films:
The Sixth Sense (1999): Dir M Night Shyamalan, with Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment
A smash hit for Shyamalan at the beginning of his career that provides a real head knocker of an ending, but subsequent viewings reveals the subtle clues left along the way. In fact, you have to see this more than once to appreciate the screenwriting skills at play here. An unexpected subtlety from Willis and with good chemistry with Osment.
Gladiator (2000): Dir Ridley Scott, with Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery. In The Insider (1999), Crowe portrayed a slightly dumpy executive of a tobacco company. A year later he’s the very buff and dramatic Maximus in Gladiator. I was blown away by his performance, and surprised how nasty Phoenix could be; even for a Roman emperor. The arena looked very real and so did the tigers jumping out of cages.
Shrek (2001): Dir Andrew Adamson, with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz
And so yet another series is born, here’s one of the funniest animated comedies of all time with one of its most lovable characters, er, make that two; don’t forget the donkey!
Not long after this came out we attended a performance of Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas at the old church of Corrales, a great musical venue. Scotsman Fraser related doing a concert for a group of school children that implored him to say “donkey.” When he did they all broke up laughing. Such is the power of film.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001): Dir Chris Columbus, with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Richard Harris
An orphaned boy enrolls in a school of wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. J. K. Rowling’s first in a long series of adventures has captivated just about everyone; except a few woke nuts. My wife has the entire series in books so no way I could avoid seeing this. And now we have extra copies of each movie; how did that happen?
Minority Report (2002): Dir Steven Spielberg, with Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton
In a future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes, an officer from that unit is himself accused of a future murder. The Philip K. Dick cautionary tale of full reliance on AI is worth revisiting now, considering the hubris over AI and surveillance.
Spider-Man (2002): Dir Sam Raimi, with Tobey McGuire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe
After being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, a shy teenager gains spider-like abilities that he uses to fight injustice as a masked superhero and face a vengeful enemy. I loved the tongue-in-check style of the comic books when I was a kid. Yes, they did have comic books then, but no one would have predicted that Marvel and Dell would so dominate the movie world. I’m not a fan of many of the sequels to these movies, but the fact that Sam Raimi of the Evil Dead series directed, I had to see it.
Wonder Woman (2017): Dir Patty Jenkins, with Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright
When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny. There have been some impressive actresses taking on the role of Wonder Woman; Linda Carter being a memorable one and Gadot fits the mold in this and the sequels.
I did read Wonder Woman comics when I was a kid, but didn’t mention it to most of my buddies. You know; those strange looks?
Top Gun: Maverick (2022): Dir Joseph Kosinski, with Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly
And so we come full circle in the post pandemic world with another sequel, but this one was 36 years ago. How did it age? Well Tom seems ageless, er, is that CGI or Tom I’m looking at? Tom Cruise’s soaring return to the high-flying role he made famous has helped galvanize the viewing public’s desire for a return of the summer blockbuster.
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