Has the internet ruined movies?

[DARTH SABER]

So what are your thoughts on this?

Remember back in the day (for you old farts like me) when movies like Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark came out?
Remember when trailers came out a few months before the film?
Remember when the commercials came out mere weeks before the film?
And that was ALL the info you ever got regarding the film?

No secret photos of the set on the Internet, no "leaked" footage, no leaked screenplays, no blogs by people who have a friend of a friend who worked on the movie.

Remember when films came out and they were a true surprise when they came out?

Nowadays a film is lucky to get within 3 months of its release date without every secret already being exposed and bashed.

So, do you think the internet is the reason we dont have that same movie magic we had back in the day?

 

[Strickler]

I for one tend to stay away from googling a movie I'm really excited about.

 

[Michael Bergeron]

So, do you think the internet is the reason we dont have that same movie magic we had back in the day?

Nope.

Most stuff is easy enough to avoid. I think the reason there isn't the same magic is because we're all older.

 

[Wolfie138]

90% of that stuff is only a spoiler through your own fault. you can't stop idiots posting pics of stuff w/out spoiler tags, but you sure don't NEED to read blogs and scripts and reviews etc. i'll only watch a trailer, maybe the odd interview/making-of article but that's it. if leaked footage and screenplays ruins your movie going experience, there's only one person to blame for having watched/read it, isn't there...?

 

[Apollo]

No not really but I can understand your point.

I remember Charlie Lippincott button holing me at a Star Trek con in 1976 showing me McQuarrie pre-production pics of Star Wars saying spread the word this is the next big thing! :lol

 

[DARTH SABER]

edit-
without the internet, even those people who would seek out spoilers would not have access to it.
they were basicalky forced to be clueless until the film was released.

 

[Apollo]

Hey that was what Starlog was for!

No secret photos of the set on the Internet, no "leaked" footage, no leaked screenplays, no blogs by people who have a friend of a friend who worked on the movie.

 

[Mr Webber]

I remember vividly the first pre release trailer for Blade Runner and the feelings it stired up and how excited I was as it got closer. Movies were teased back then, now we`re carpet bombed.

Having said that, the internet has only been a benefit to my movie experience, I mean, look at this place and all the other releated forums, incredible. Its the Studios format of publicity that is most to blame but like you, I am old.

 

[Mr Webber]

Hey that was what Starlog was for!

Starlog and cinefex were the internet back in the day, as was Entertainment Tonight, back when it had cred. Always went behind the scenes and let us know what was upcoming and as it was a Paramount program, had constant updates of what ever was dion with Star Trek. Ahhhh Mary Hart.:love

 

[Apollo]

Yep so were a lot of the Conventions but you did have to pay to go to them.

It's a different world now you know and I do miss those days when you first saw a trailer and your jaw dropped as you muttered WTF??? can't wait for that one to come out! :lol

Starlog and cinefex were the internet back in the day, as was Entertainment Tonight, back when it had cred. Always went behind the scenes and let us know what was upcoming and as it was a Paramount program, had constant updates of what ever was dion with Star Trek. Ahhhh Mary Hart.:love

 

[Mr Webber]

Yep so were a lot of the Conventions but you did have to pay to go to them.

Growing up in suburban Australia in the 80`s Apollo, we never had them, the only conventions we had were all crime prevention releated. :confused

 

[Strickler]

Yep so were a lot of the Conventions but you did have to pay to go to them.

It's a different world now you know and I do miss those days when you first saw a trailer and your jaw dropped as you muttered WTF??? can't wait for that one to come out! :lol

Heh half the time that happens to me now. I see a trailer at the movies that I really like thinking it must be brand new, come on to therpf and do a forum search. Lo and behold its been talked about for awhile :behave

 

[SPS]

This reminds me of a thread from a while back.
http://www.therpf.com/f12/internet-death-appreciation-120608/

 

[Lflank]

I think what ruins movies today is that most movies today plain ole suck, and are mostly vehicles to sell toys and happy meals.

The plot-less theme-less CGI spectaculars of today don't even compare with Star Wars or the Wrath of Khan or Predator.

 

[Apollo]

I feel your pain! :eek

Growing up in suburban Australia in the 80`s Apollo, we never had them, the only conventions we had were all crime prevention releated. :confused

 

[Raza Crew]

Studio executives and marketing gurus have ruined movies.
"New Media" (i.e. pseudo-celebrity bloggers who have used the relative ease of access of the internet to somehow lend credence to their "voice") have ruined movies.
Producers, directors, and actors who "phone it in" have ruined movies.

We need a new revolution that goes outside the Hollywood system. The internet can help with that, but its just i the infancy stage.

 

[Lflank]

This reminds me of a thread from a while back.
http://www.therpf.com/f12/internet-death-appreciation-120608/

On the upside, the Internet is the world's biggest library and gives access to virtually the sum of all human knowledge to anyone anywhere. It also allows any ten year old kid to put up a website and reach a larger audience than best-selling authors could just 20 years ago.

On the downside, 99.99% of everything posted on the Internet is utter complete illiterate uneducated useless balderdash.

 

[Redtogusa]

Studio executives and marketing gurus have ruined movies.

Agreed. The media in general has ruined movies.
Take Iron Man 3 for example. We've been bombarded with teaser trailers, teaser trailers of the trailers, teaser trailers for posters, posters advertising teaser trailers, and so on. And that's before we even get to leaked behind the scene photo's etc that gets posted on the internet.

Gone are the days of one trailer and a few tv spots a couple weeks before the movie comes out.
More often than not I feel like I've seen most of the movie before even getting to the cinema.

On the plus side all this pre-movie coverage does help with making movie accurate costumes/props and having them ready in time for the release.

 

[The Wook]

So, do you think the internet is the reason we dont have that same movie magic we had back in the day?

Nope, I don't have a problem staying spoiler-free.

The reason "movie magic" doesn't happen any more, is because films today suck. We haven't had a truly great one released since Gladiator, some thirteen years ago. And when it came out in 2000, Gladiator was the first truly great film we'd had in a long time, at least 5 to 10 years. The Shawshank Redemption, from '94, was truly great...but not really the "type" of movie that we associate with "movie magic". Juraissic Park in '93, on the other hand, was that "type" of movie, and while not a "truly great" movie in the traditional sense, it definitely possessed the kind of movie magic we'd experienced as kids watching films like Star Wars and Raiders, with its first-ever depiction of life-like and terrifying dinosaurs.

Sadly, Hollywood today is populated by talentless hacks. Television, cable and network, is where the freshest and most creative stories exist. And to think, back in the day, how Hollywood actors, directors and writers looked down their long noses at television. What a role reversal of talent. :lol

The Wook

 

[Wes R]

It's just as bad with gaming too. Back in the day you would get a preview about development and a review before release and now you get the entire storyline and other info a year before it comes out. I agree with The Wook, the magic is gone thanks to crap movies. It's why i keep going back to the movies of the 40s until the mid 90s.