Damn! Several times I've correctly predicted what would come next on the countdown (
District 9, Minority Report, Men in Black) but I've not posted it. My guesses for today were going to be
Independence Day and
Fifth Element.
Anyway, woohoo for
Independence Day!!!
I was actually beginning to worry about it a little in terms of showing up. I had been 100% confident on it making the list but at the same time I didn't see it making the top 25/30 so we were beginning to run out of slots. I've loved ID4 since the first time I saw it as a 10 year old and still do to this day. It's a film that embodies the spirit of all those 1950s flying saucer movies but could really do it justice. So often those films had phenomenal posters that made promises they just couldn't live up to, but by the time
Independence Day came around the filmmakers had the technology and budget to actually make those promises a reality. And it's a film that is holding up very well actually with the CGI still able to impress
As has been my justification for several films that made my list, ID4 is just a tremendous amount of fun. It's a simple story simply told, and all the better for it. It's a completely unpretentious thrill ride of special effects and a host of fun performances. In terms of big, dumb blockbusters it's actually got one of my favourite efforts from the cast in terms of an ensemble.This was Will Smith at his movie star best before 'Will Smith fatigue' started to affect audiences; largely down to the fact that these days the only performances he seems to give are phoned-in, 'the same as every other time' turns in blockbusters and award-seeking performances in dreadful, pompous dramas. Alongside him you've got the always wonderful Jeff Goldblum leading a rather eccentric cast (as far as blockbuster films go) including Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch and Randy Quaid.
As for
The Day the Earth Stood Still, I know a lot of people won't agree with this (at least 9 people seeing as that's how many lists it made) but am I the only one who doesn't think it's really that good? I admire some of the production values it was able to pull off given the rudimentary material and effects available at the time but beyond that I found it rather dull and uninvolving. From what I remember there were also several plot holes, or perhaps 'logic gaps', that were just absolutely ridiculous. Like the fact that a spaceship has landed in the middle of Washington and a giant robot is standing guard over it, and yet the only security left to monitor it are two soldiers! Two!!! Or my absolute favourite bit when Gort came back to life and rescued Klaatu from prison. Now Gort may well have many abilities in his locker; however I wouldn't say 'stealth' was amongst them. He's an 8 foot tall metallic being and yet he is able to wander the streets of Washington, smash through the prison and return Klaatu to the ship; all apparently without alerting a single person. If a modern film, the
Day the Earth Stood Still remake for example, featured a scene like that it would rightly get torn to shreds.
In my mind it's a film where the message has almost blinded people to the actual quality of the film. It seems to happen with films that have positive, powerful messages that they get conflated with the actual films themselves. So TDTESS's societal message about us destroying ourselves if we continue to give in to our basest instincts covers up the shortcomings of the film as a whole. I think that
Silent Running is another example; it's environmental message obscuring what is a rather bland film. To be honest I fail to see how
The Day the Earth Stood Still is all that different from so many other 50s B-movies, beyond its anti-war denouncement of course. And yet while most of them are written off as cheap, pulpy crap this is seen as a classic and a masterpiece. I just don't see it.
Seen - 52 / 62
My List
2. The Truman Show (#94)
10. Back to the Future Part II (#42)
12. Men in Black (#61)
14. Demolition Man (#68)
15. Independence Day (#40)
16. They Live (#45)
17. Guardians of the Galaxy (#77)
20. Galaxy Quest (#88)
22. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (#58)
25. Gattaca (#51)