Define A Decade

[Pirate]

I was having conversation the other night about films that defined a decade and I thought that would be something interesting to talk about here. So, pick a decade (or several) and choose a film that you feel best describes that time and place.

P.S. I just read Peter Bracke's HD review of Top Gun (which reminded me to post this) and I think his review is a good example of what we'd be talking about here.

[ganthc]

70's = Star Wars
80's = Real Genius
90's = Jurassic Park
00's = LOTR

It's hard to decide one film to define a decade, because a lot happens in that decade, and it also varies on movie preferences. For example, I could have said Halloween defined the 70's if I was a horror fan, and that A Nightmare on Elm Street defined the 80's.

I chose Star Wars in the 70's, because it crystalized the Cold War (good versus evil), and it began the path to sci-fi movies and special effects. I chose Real Genius for the 80's, because it was the teen comedy, with the requisite questioning of authority, and the "made-for-the-movie" song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Everytime I hear that song, I picture myself laughing and rolling around in popcorn, and about how happy that decade was for me. For the 90's, I selected Jurassic Park as the choice to represent the arrival of the Summer Blockbuster, movies that scored hundreds of millions and were loaded with special effects, while perhaps a little light in the writing department. I chose LOTR for the 2000's because it represented the acceptance of longer movies, and the use of more advanced special effects. It also captured the trend of books to movies, like Jurassic Park did, and also the beginning of the "remakes."

[rixrex]

No really wrong answer here unless you pick one from the wrong decade, as it can be pretty much a personal thing on how you view the decades and how they affected you. Here's my choices, starting with when I began watching films, and some are definitely personal as they are the ones that defined the decades from my experiences:

50s - Tarantula, just because I saw it at the drive-in in 1959 as a brat in the back seat and was both terrified and then hooked on sci-fi. Would not pick it as a seminal decade film though, as the others below are.

60s - Easy Rider

70s - Texas Chainsaw Massacre, tough choice with Exorcist in there.

80s - Raiders of the Lost Arc, et al

90s - Jurassic Park, agreed, due to the use of CGI at such a level.

00s - Sorry, LOTR, I take the 1st Harry Potter and the series in this decade, but it's close.

While separating by decades is a useful and natural method, one of the problems with this is that seminal films and film trends are not decade bound. Some trends transcend decades and some are shorter periods within a decade. I would also say that Psycho is an important choice from the 1960s, but it really effected horror film styles much later on.

[Pirate]

The idea behind this thread is probably to broad, but I was thinking more in terms of a film that captured the mood or spirit of the decade. For example, I would place The Graduate near the top for the 70’s (even though it was released in 67).

[Iguana Man]

I wouldn't be suprised if movies that capture a certain decade come -after- said decade, or in some cases -before- said decade.

Take a look at Apocalypse Now for example.

I'm probably reading this all wrong so just tell me so.

[David St. Dubly]

Originally Posted by rixrex

00s - Sorry, LOTR, I take the 1st Harry Potter and the series in this decade, but it's close.

An inanimate object is very mad at you.


Also, Ganthc, with regards to the acceptance of longer films (and adaptations of potboiler/fantasy/mass acceptance novels thought of as "important" movies taken seriously*), the first two Godfather films would be more influential and earlier on this count, reaching its burn out point with Heaven's Gate.


*As opposed to something of equal airplane reading fodder, like Valley of the Dolls.


The most influential film of the 90's and most representative of the era is clearly Pulp Fiction.

If Taxi Driver was the best movie of the 1970's, Jaws, the most financially influential, and Star Wars the most [ironically] imitated, then the success of The Conversation is the most important, because it is so stubborn and depressing, and moving, without very much happening at all, quite representative of the era's films. In terms of the progression from the 70's to the 80's, with serious themes and intentions mixed with Tangerine Dream/Venetian Blind style, the most important film would have to be American Gigolo.

Though it is hard to gauge a representative evoking a time and place without any hindsight, Bowling For Columbine is probably the one that is most important in the 2000's for the debates it sparks, the way that it fueled the fire for activists on either side, the fostering of material for the burgeoning of cable news networks (the increased "value" of a pundit), and the most obvious, the proof that a documentary can make money, which allowed for wider releases for both propaganda and slightly more objective material.

[rixrex]

Basically the replies here kind of show why I thought the choice of a single film per decade would rely as much upon it's influence on a person's life as it's influence on society in general. So perhaps wise to watch out making a dogmatic statement regarding any single choice. Of course, it's fine if you don't mind rebuttals.

Like I chose Easy Rider for the 1960s but that's a film that influenced a certain sociological group within that decade, and not everybody. I know for a fact it did not influence my parents or their friends. They never even bothered to watch it and just thought of it as a teenager's flick.

I know they preferred films like Cool Hand Luke and the Clint Eastwood/Leone series. And then there's Poseidon Adventure in the 1970s. That was their favorite.

[David St. Dubly]

Originally Posted by rixrex

Basically the replies here kind of show why I thought the choice of a single film per decade would rely as much upon it's influence on a person's life as it's influence on society in general. So perhaps wise to watch out making a dogmatic statement regarding any single choice. Of course, it's fine if you don't mind rebuttals.

Forums are a terrible place for rebuttals. Only unchallenged opinions, which should be accepted as fact.

[rixrex]

Originally Posted by David St. Dubly

Forums are a terrible place for rebuttals. Only unchallenged opinions, which should be accepted as fact.

That's pretty funny and ironic too. You just rebutted my opinion.

[David St. Dubly]

Originally Posted by rixrex

That's pretty funny and ironic too. You just rebutted my opinion.

I have no idea what irony means.

[Iguana Man]

Posts 6-10: You dudes talk weird.

[rixrex]

Originally Posted by David St. Dubly

I have no idea what irony means.

That's okay, it's still ironic.

[rixrex]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

Posts 6-10: You dudes talk weird.

Certainly, and funny too, ha ha ha ha!

[David St. Dubly]

Originally Posted by rixrex

That's okay, it's still ironic.

I love you.

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by David St. Dubly

I love you.

So uhmmm....no pre-nup between you two?

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

The idea behind this thread is probably to broad, but I was thinking more in terms of a film that captured the mood or spirit of the decade. For example, I would place The Graduate near the top for the 70’s (even though it was released in 67).

Interesting idea. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

Peace...

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Interesting idea. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

Peace...

Don't go putting this thread back on topic Tom!


I think this is tougher when you don't live through certain decades. I was 8 years old when the 80's ended so I didn't really have my mind on defining traits of the decade.

To through some out there anyway for entertainment purposes...

70's - Rocky - the down and out protagonist representing a nation
80's - Predator - Terrible dialogue, terrible acting, terrible music, Predator is what 80's movies were.
90's - Jurassic Park - Everyone else is right. A movie that brought CG work to the forefront of movie making
100's....00's - The Chronicles of Narnia - Fantasy is here to stay and will continue to represent this decade as we once again learn to imagine.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

Don't go putting this thread back on topic Tom!

Oh ok.... Um... your post was PhotoShopped!!!!!

pwned

Is that better?

Peace...

[Jesse C.]

Shit! This thread is three months stale, but I had to chime in.

70's - Saturday Night Fever - If there is something we all want to get over, its Disco!

80's - Fast Times at Ridgemont High - It is totally 80's!

90's - Reservoir Dogs - It set the tone of every other freaking movie after it!

00's - LOTR - Excess, Excess Excess!!! Set the stage for CGI overdose!!

Ok, commence fire!