Is it fair to judge a movie based on it's budget?

When I posted my favourite movies people were surprised I could like a movie like Frank (2014) so much yet also like a movie like Spider-Man 2 (2004) a lot as well. I've encountered many people who would call themselves film buffs but they haven't seen a single blockbuster in their lives (at least one they haven't hated just because theres OH MY GOD! CGI!!!!!! As an aspiring VFX director I think you can be as artistic with CGI as you can with things like lighting or shots. My question to you is will you not watch a movie just because it's got a 100 million dollar budget or vice versa will you only watch big action blockbusters, personally I'll watch any movie of any genre as long as it seems to have good reviews or lots of friends recommend it to me. My message to you is that not every summer action blockbuster is Transformers 4, yeah theres a lot of Transformers 4's out there but for every 3 Transformers 4's you get a Spider-Man 2 or a Guardians of the Galaxy.

"I'm not a Hollywood basher because enough good movies come out of the Hollywood system every year to justify its existence, without any apologies." -Quentin Tarantino

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I don't think there are any MoFos who've never seen a summer blockbuster or who hate them universally.

Budget isn't something I usually take into consideration when deciding if I want to watch something. I'm more interested in cast and subject matter than anything else. I'll also watch movies based on recommendations from MoFos and have found some of my biggest favorites that way.

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The film should stand on it's own.

I looked up the Highest Grossing 50 films, and I didn't like most of them. There's a lot of politics and many other reasons why some films don't make money.

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I looked at the top Highest Grossing 50 films and I haven't seen and won't see 90% of them. It's interesting as you can really see who Hollywood targets...teenage boys.

My take is that very low-budget films (especially comedies) tend to be pretty bad.

But very high budget films aren't necessarily good, especially when most of that budget is going into the special effects (Transformers, anyone?)

Clerks - $27,000 budget. HILARIOUS!

Pluto Nash - $100 Million - NO laughs...

I rest my case.

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews

Then call me a teenage boy!

I judge a film by the finished product. Budget has almost nothing to do with quality because the best script can overcome lack of an effects budget and a fun movie with a $100 million budget can overcome a weak script.

However, I judge you people from the high perch on my high throne in my mighty castle of judgmental judgement. Bow before me and grovel for my affection!

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Of course... the bigger the budget, the better the movie.


Look at John Carter, Jupiter Ascending, RIPD, Green lantern, The Adventures Of Pluto Nash, The Lone Ranger, Superman Returns, The Golden Compass, Spider Man 3, Van Helsing, Alexander, Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor, Poseidon... all magnificent movies.

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I bet ya my throne is higher

....*cough*.

Agree about Clerks.

My hunch is that on the very-low end of the budget spectrum though, you're going to have a lot more half-assed directors out there

Once you reach a certain threshold though, "more money" definitely doesn't equate to better. Usually it just means "more special effects" if anything.

Oh my post was directed at the OP more then you. Though it does fit either way. And let's face it a lot of those hacks fail up to the big time.

The demographic who goes to the theaters the most are the aged 17-23 so the biggest budget movies target this demographic.

Interestingly the top selling manga magazines are also classified as teenager boy's manga. Sales of those are 10 times larger than adult women's mangas for instance.

I guess another reason is that stuff like that is also accessible for older people as well. While stuff made for middle aged adults doesn't appeal to the younger cohorts. Teenager boy's stuff appeals to wider range of demographics than anything else.

Hold on I'm sorry I think you misunderstood the point of my post. I'm saying there are good blockbusters and bad ones the same with indie movies, so these are the ones you've seen but I've seen bad indie movies before. I've also seen f***ing phenomenal indie movies and yeah I've seen two of these bad films, I walked out the cinema in Jupiter Ascending. But I only saw that because I do like the Wachowskis, other than spider-man 3 which i'd actually give a 5 or 6/10 it's not horrific I haven't seen any of these other movies in full. Usually I wait for a critical response and see what people think of it. Mad Max:Fury Road is great apparently and as a Mad Max fan I can't wait too see it. Kingsman was great (I am biased as I wen't to the premiere ) 80% of what Marvel Studios puts out these days is always at least a 7/10 for me. I enjoy indie movies, yet I also enjoy GOOD blockbusters.

I judge movies based on the cast all the time.
And that is most definitely a function of the budget.

Sometimes a film made for low budget can be a really great motion picture. Movie makers don't need to spend a massive load of money on a picture, just to make an interesting story with good actors.

I'm not a low budget and/or arthouse fanatic by any means but blockbusters are pretty hit or miss for me. Take Avatar for instance (not the Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra TV shows which are amazing). Highest grossing film of all time, 230 million dollar budget, 83% on RT, Roger Ebert gave it 4/4 stars and I had trouble keeping awake after half an hour or so.

Some of my favorite films like Titanic and the Lord of the Rings wouldn't be able to pull off the scale and detail they have without a big budget but in general, the bigger budget, the less creative a film is. Sometimes I'm OK with that, I enjoy Furious 7 and the first Avengers film for what they are but on the other side of the scale you have crap like Man of Steel and anything with Michael Bay's name attached.

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