The Tripods (the BBC show). I loved it so much, still love it tbh. Still angry, that there was no season 3.
Oh, I forgot to mention the not good movies that I watched over and over again on VHS in my childhood.
Number one would be the 1959 version of Journey to the Center of the Earth where James Mason plays a Scotsman and doesn’t even bother with an accent and Pat Boone also plays a Scotsman but gives up on the accent after about 10 minutes. The whole plot is moronic and the effects are terrible and I love every single minute of it. The only true compliment I can give it is that Bernard Herrmann’s soundtrack is terrific.
Then there was the 1980 attempt that Disney made to appeal to college kids, Midnight Madness. It was a total flop and I love every single minute of it. FAGABEEFE!
Third would be an animated movie that was made in France and dubbed into English called The Secret of the Selenites. It was a Baron Munchausen film, but I’m guessing they thought Americans wouldn’t know who that was, so they left his name out of the title. It has a terrible pop song in the beginning that is in the “so bad it’s good” territory.
For me its Fatty Finn. A 1980 movie adaptation of an Australian cartoon strip character from the 1930s. Why it was translated and published in Norway and what made my mother buy it I don’t know. But I have seen it enough times that now over 30 years after I last saw it I can probably quote parts if it Verbatim.
I would love to see a director’s cut of that film because it was a victim of massive executive meddling after the fact.
It was directed by Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton, who created and directed both the British and U.S. versions of Max Headroom, which is why it has a cyberpunk look. It was co-written by Ed Solomon, who wrote Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Men in Black.
And then executives shat all over it.
You also have to remember that in 1993, there was almost no Mario lore. Mario was a guy who jumped on mushrooms and turtles to rescue the princess and sometimes got extra powers to help him. Luigi was his brother who could basically do the same thing. There was really no characterization and plot to speak of. They had a ton of freedom to do whatever they wanted and that freedom was taken away from them.
There is a cut out there done by my friend Garrett Gilchrist, who also restored The Thief and the Cobbler, where he tried to get it as close to Jankel and Morton’s original cut as he could, using things like workprints. But we’ll never know exactly how good it could have been.
Tank Girl was a very similar situation, but still ended up an okay film.
From the stories I’ve heard, the husband and wife directors ran a terrible production with daily rewrites and an extremely unhappy cast and production team. I don’t think studio meddling was the major factor there.
yeah the leads being drunk all the time has to be a factor
Krull the conqueror which not only is a terrible movie but also a terrible game and I love both. Then again Im 50 and I love many bad videoganes from the Atari era such as ET or Delta Force (also bad game and movie also produced by Cannon films)
Krull or Kull?
The langoliers will always have a spot for me to watch it.
Also : OH HI MARK
Underrated classic
Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick
Pitch Black is pretty alright, it isnt great, but it is far from terrible. The rest of the films have a pretty strong downward trend though.
I watched the Mario Bros movie as an adult a few years back and really enjoyed it. It was a fun take on the lore!
The only thing I felt was weak was Dennis Hopper. His performance had strong “I’m too good for this” vibes. Based on the other things I know him from, that’s wildly untrue - it should have been a great fit for him. Chew the scenery and be an arsehole - basically be the Deacon from Waterworld, or the villain from Speed!
Try watching him in better movies. Hopper is incredible when he works with David Lynch types.
Hook my beloved. I understand objectively why it is not a good movie, but having watched it 852 times throughout my childhood, I could not find fault with it on a recent rewatch.
edit: I watched that movie so early and so often, that I can recite whole scenes not by word, but by phonemes and cadence, because my language skills weren’t fully developed at the time.
…why is it not a good movie?
It’s a terrible story that makes littke sense. I was in high school when it came out and people my agewere surprised it became a classic as it was received poorly.
IDK, I think it’s a great story that makes a lot of sense
I haven’t seen this since my childhood, so I still assume it’s a fantastic movie.
I understand objectively why it is not a good movie
You fucking what, mate?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.
Go ninja go ninja go…
Drop Dead Fred did it!
Team Sanity here, that movie is bad.
Willow 1988 my first taste of fantasy
Airborne 1993 put me in a rollarblading phase
Tremors 1990 all three are good fun
You seem like a man of culture.
Does anyone else remember The Pagemaster?
I had a vague recollection of a fantasy movie about libraries and a them traveling to a “book world” sort of. I would prolly get pretty immense nostalgia from watching that. Or I’ll ruin the memories I have. Perhaps better not?
Hell yeah pagemaster.
Also that one movie with a cubby that brings toys to life. Kid brought an native american to life and his friend brought a cowboy to life… The Indian in the Cupboard
I didn’t know I had that memory.
Ah, thanks for unlocking some more nostalgia.
That was one sassy Indian guy if I recall correctly.
Yeah the native american carried that movie.
He did yeah. I hope you weren’t judging me for my use of “Indian”. No offense meant if it was accidentally given.
I’m not gonna comment on it more but there is a nice 40 second clip from Slavoj Zizek on him telling a story about talking about the nomenclature with a native American.
Not judging. I myself wrote Indian first and went back to fix it. Twice.
The Indian in the Cupboard is a great kids boook too
Hell yes. Pagemaster is top tier nostalgia. Loved it.
At grandma’s, raining outside, fire in the living room, small-ish CRT tv with a VCR, granny on a rocker with the cat in her lap. Sitting on the floor.
Nostalgia used to be fatal, better take care to avoid too much of it.
Willow and Tremors are S-tier
I love all the Tremors movies
I’ve not had a chance to experience this infamous Mario Bros movie. Hope I can find some time to sit down and really immerse myself.
Also, can I interest anyone in the masterworks of Neil Breen?
The Breen is something you need the moral support of others to watch. I traumatised a colleague by making him and another friend watch Twisted Pair with me. I watched two Breens alone after that, since the other two refused to watch any more with me, and it was painful.
“I’m not seeing another psychiatrist. I’m not. I’m not seeing another psychiatrist. I’m not seeing another psychiatrist. I’m not.”
(Is that lines from a Breen film, or my reaction after watching a Breen film?)
They maintain the Breen is a troll, but I think he’s got delusions of grandeur and really thinks he’s making these deep masterpieces.
SpyKids trilogy, and Shark boy and Lava girl rule still rules.
“Do you think God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he’s created?”
…Is that a quote from Spy Kids?
Spy kids 2 IIRC
Maximum Overdrive and Over the Top for sure.
I can count on one hand how many people I’ve met that have seen Maximum Overdrive. That was one of my favorite movies growing up, and now I’m a huge fan of Stephen King.