Here today, gone tomorrow...

...well not quite, however i was thinking (as i do) whether we will still think the blockbusters we watch and say are amazing today are that good in several years. With ever advancing CGI, it seems Blockbusters are very much a product of the time, unlike say Indiana Jones which is just as enjoyable now. I was thinking of The Mummy after seeing Transformers and how much i had enjoyed it but also how dated it looked in comparison with Transformers. Subsequently i couldn't think of hardly any other summer Blockbusters (save franchises with recent installments). I know Blockbusters are for money and entertainment, not necessarily art and aren't great films per se, nor likely too be put into many generic canons (holding Action suppose) but i never really noticed how their watchability is confined to their release date.

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I kinda thought of King Kong (2005) when I read this post. I really enjoyed it at the theater and I bought the DVD awhile back, but I have yet to watch it again.

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

Sometimes a blockbuster can blow you away and make you thoroughly entertain by the amazing CGI! then later down the track the effects then look old and dated and because of new advancements you are not as thrilled by it (the man behind the curtain, breaking down the illusion kind of thing).

With films like Indiana Jones and even Star Wars original trilogy, those sorts of things don't bother us coz it's not the spectacle we've come to see, we get absorbed by the story and characters so outdated effects are forgivable.

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Jurassic Park looked amazing at the time, but not so much now. Or maybe that was because I was about 12 when it came out.

Jurrassic Park had groundbreaking effects back in 93' the guys at ILM have outdone themselves back then

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Watched Titanic the other day... the CGI when it hits the iceberg is now laughable!

Most of the stuff on T2 still looks pretty good though from what I remember?

Just interesting to think which of today's spectacles will be forgotten in times to come. King Kong is a good example, also got the DVD and watched it once and forgot about it.

I still think the CG in Jurassic Park looks better then more recent CGI films... remember it was the first film to use CGI... or the first to use it so extensively (that genius Spielberg!)

I think The Abyss and T-2 were before?

Independence Day (1996). Never truley went away considering it's played endlessly on TNT and FX.

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Jurassic park never really went away because it's so damn quotable.

"Hold on to your butts..."

"Clever girl"

and a thousand others. Very few movies have that kind of replay value (the only ones I can think of currently being Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, and, shockingly enough The Mummy (at least for me)).

It's not just the CGI blockbusters that fall in this category. Try watching "Beverly Hills Cop" or any John Hughes flick ("16 Candles" comes to mind). They are funny now for all of the wrong reasons. I loved the '80s, but I didn't know they were so aesthetically awful until I started watching the films from that decade.