are blockbusters worse or better now test

BlitzKrieg

running off from this thread. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055328002

Go to http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/

and go through as many years as you want and count how many films in the top 20 for each year you actually loved and see if blockbusters are getting better or worse for you.

keep it only to the top 20!

(note: this is not a lists thread, its a study to see how much the general audiance taste over the years has diverted from those of boards)

for me

1980: 5 films (blues brothers, empire strikes back, the shining, airplane, friday the 13th)

1981: 3 films (superman 2, raiders of the lost ark, time bandits)

1982: 6 films (ET, Conan, star trek 2, first blood, dark crystal poltergeist)

1983: 2 films (return of the jedi, scarface)

1984: 7 films (red dawn, ghostbusters, indiane jones 2, karate kid, police academy, amadeus, gremlins)

1985: 3 films (back to the future, the goonies, the breakfast club)

1986: 6 films (aliens, platoon, american tail, stand by me, ferris buellers day off, star trek 4)

1987: 4 films (robocop, predator, letheal weapon, the untouchables)

1988: 12 films (who framed roger rabbit, coming to america, big, twins, die hard, naked gun, beetlejuice, a fish called wanda, scrooged, willow, oliver and company, a land before time.)

1989: 8 films *gah I quit writing them out it takes too long*

1990: 8 films

1991: 9 films

1992: 6 films

1993: 6 films

1994: 9 films

1995: 6 films

1996: 6 films

1997: 5 films

1998: 10 films

1999: 6 films

2000: 2 films

2001: 3 films

2002: 5 films

2003: 4 films

2004: 3 films

2005: 4 films

2006: 6 films

2007: 1 film

2008: 3 films (and a number of the top 20 aint out here yet.)

so noting I was born in 1985, its no surprise 1988 and 1989 being so strongly tied to my childhood that the films from this era have stuck with me the most. but looking aside from that and watching myself grow up and tastes change I dont think there has been a huge change though i do notice that I hate the films from 1 year (2007) but the year before or after I love alot of the films (2006) other examples being 1983 and 1984. The 90's had a long stretch of blockbusters that appealled to me as I grew up with alot of the really good disney and early pixar keeping that list propped up. A good number of films I hadnt seen until recently have also kept the late 80s and early 90s propped up aswell.

heyjude

For me I would say:

1980: 3 films

1981: 2 films

1982: 4 films

1983: 5 films

1984: 4 films

1985: 4 films

1986: 6 films

1987: 4 films

1988: 5 films

1989: 3 films

1990: 7 films

1991: 5 films

1992: 6 films

1993: 4 films

1994: 5 films

1995: 2 films

1996: 6 films

1997: 3 films

1998: 2 films

1999: 0 films

2000: 2 films

2001: 2 films

2002: 2 films

2003: 4 films

2004: 3 films

2005: 1 film

2006: 2 films

2007: 4 films

So for me I'd have to say that the blockbusters are getting a bit worse, from an average of 4 films a year during the 1980s and most of the 90s but tapering off from 1996 onwards.

I was struck looking at the list of blockbusters(top 20 box office), how many of them haven't remained in the public consciousness in terms of appearing on TV regularly and also at how many well known films that we would think of as blockbusters today, didn't do so well when they first appeared. For example, Terminator only ranked 21st in 1984, finishing behind such blockbusters as The Natural and Greystoke:The Legend of Tarzan, but how often do you ever see them on TV, in fact only maybe Beverly Hills Cop of that years' top 20 would match The Terminator for airplay now.

I'm sure looking back over the 1980-2007 period, you could make a pretty impressive(or well known) list of films that finished outside the top twenty

Dont be at yourself

I'll go for the last ten years, from 1998:

98 - 6
Saving Private Ryan, Armageddon, The Truman Show, Blade, The Man in the Iron Mask, Ronin

99 - 8
Sixth Sense, Austin Powers, The Matrix, Payback, Bowfinger, Three Kings, South Park, The Hurricane

00 - 4
Gladiator, Crouching Tiger, Traffic, Unbreakable

01 - 6
Oceans Eleven, Black Hawk Down, Training Day, Behind Enemy Lines, Zoolander, Memento

02 - 7
Spiderman, Catch me if you can, Minority Report, The Bourne Identity, Road to Perdition, Red Dragon, The Count of Monte Cristo,

03 - 4
Daredevil, Old School, Kill Bill, 28 Days Later

04 - 11
Spiderman 2, The Bourne Supremacy, Dodgeball, Collatoral, Man on Fire, Kill Bill, Saw, Hero, Napoleon Dynamite, Team America, The Life Aquatic

05 - 5
King Kong, Batman Begins, Sin City, Memoirs of a Geisha, Crash

06 - 12
Casino Royale, The Departed, Inside Man, V for Vendetta, Poseidon, Blood Diamond, The Prestige, Apocalypto, Pan's Labirynth, Children Of Men, Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima

07 - 11
The Bourne Ultimatum, 300, American Gangster, No Country For Old Men, Charlie Wilson's War, 3:10 To Yuma, Zodiac, 30 Days Of Night, We Own The Night, The Mist, Hot Fuzz

08 - 2 (so far)
Iron Man, Be Kind Rewind

For me, the overall trend is that there are more quality movies coming out year-on-year. This is perhaps because I've gone to the cinema a lot more in recent years than I did when I was younger. I really do think that 2006 was the best year for cinema in a long, long time though.

BlitzKrieg

we were only taking the top 20 for each year so far

Dont be at yourself

Oops.

MagicMarker

i'm confused...

Did American Tale really come out in 86? Because i saw that in the theatre with my school, but i was only 3 in 86, and i didn't start school till i was 5... So, confusing.

speedboatchase

Top twenty only people, The Mist isnt a blockbuster! Gonna do the last ten years as well, will add the other 10 years on my break - these are only movies that I LOVE though.

98 - 3
Saving Private Ryan, Something About Mary, Truman Show

99 - 6
Sixth Sense, Austin Powers, The Matrix, American Beauty, American Pie, Toy Story 2

00 - 3
Gladiator, Crouching Tiger, X Men

01 - 5
Black Hawk Down, Training Day, LOTR, Shrek, Vanilla Sky

02 - 4
Spiderman, Catch me if you can, Minority Report, LOTR:Two Towers

03 - 6
Pirates, X2, Finding Nemo, Elf, Bad Boys 2, Last Samurai

04 - 4
Spiderman 2, National Treasure, Dodgeball, Bourne Supremacy

05 - 4
Episode 3, Wedding Crashers, Batman Begins, 40 Year Old Virgin

06 - 4
Casino Royale, Pursuit of Happyness, Departed, Over The Hedge

07 - 5
The Bourne Ultimatum, 300, Transformers, Juno, I Am Legend

08 - 1 (so far)
Iron Man

Well done 1999 and 2003!

BlitzKrieg

MagicMarker wrote: »

i'm confused...

Did American Tale really come out in 86? Because i saw that in the theatre with my school, but i was only 3 in 86, and i didn't start school till i was 5... So, confusing.

Re-release probably, very popular with animated films before the rise of vhs/dvd

BKtje

1980: 4 films

1981: 3 films

1982: 4 films

1983: 5 films

1984: 7 films

1985: 4 films

1986: 3 films

1987: 6 films

1988: 5 films

1989: 5 films

1990: 6 films

1991: 4 films

1992: 4 films

1993: 8 films

1994: 11 films (!)

1995: 5 films

1996: 7 films

1997: 7 films

1998: 9 films

1999: 8 films

2000: 5 films

2001: 9 films

2002: 6 films

2003: 5 films

2004: 7 films

2005: 5 film

2006: 2 films

2007: 6 films

2008: 4 films (thus far)

The 90's seem to have been my favourite period which is not really surprising really seeing as i was born in 83and the 90's is really when i'd have seen most of the films of my childhood.

Blisterman

Since I was born

1986 - 3 films
1987 - 3 Films
1988 - 6 films
1989 - 2 Films
1990 - 3 Films
1991 - 3 films
1992 - 3 films
1993 - 5 films
1994 - 6 films
1995 - 3 films
1996 - 3 films
1997 - 1 Film
1998 - 4 Films
1999 - 4 Films
2000 - 2 Films
2001 - 3 Films
2002 - 2 Films
2003 - 1 Film
2004 - 4 Films
2005 - 5 Films
2006 - 5 Films
2007 - 4 Films

So it really hasn't changed that much for me. Admittedly, the majority of films, I hadn't seen, so couldn't judge.
There were a lot of Iconic movies in the early years. But a lot of them I never really thought were great.

Strangely, 2000-2003, when I probably watched the most movies, seems to have been a particularly barren period.

Mackman

1980 - 4
1981 - 1
1982 - 5
1983 - 5
1984 - 5
1985 - 4
1986 - 6
1987 - 8
1988 - 9
1989 - 10
1990 - 12
1991 - 9
1992 - 10
1993 - 12
1994 - 11
1995 - 14
1996 - 11
1997 - 8
1998 - 11
1999 - 12
2000 - 10
2001 - 8
2002 - 7
2003 - 10
2004 - 12
2005 - 6
2006 - 5
2007 - 8

Seems like from the late 80's to the late 90's was my favourite, i would have guessed that anyway

faceman

1980: 5
1981: 6
1982: 7
1983: 5
1984: 8
1985: 9
1986: 8
1987: 9
1988: 10
1989: 7
1990: 5
1991: 7
1992: 5
1993: 6
1994: 2
1995: 3
1996: 6
1997: 5
1998: 3
1999: 3
2000: 3
2001: 2
2002: 3
2003: 2
2004: 2
2005: 3
2006: 1
2007: 3

Thats me.

djkeogh

Interesting thread. After making out my list and reading over it again I questioned whether I really did love some of the films on it and whittled it down again. This is based on films I would watch again if they were on the telly and ones I love and watch often.

1980 - 3
Empire Strikes Back, Airplane!, The Shining

1981 - 4
Raiders of the lost Ark,Superman 2, Arthur, Clash of the Titans

1982 - 6
ET, Tootsie, Rocky 3, Star Trek 2, First Blood, Conan the Barbarian

1983 - 3
Return of the Jedi, Trading Places, Scarface

1984 - 7
Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters,Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, Romancing the Stone, Star Trek 3, Amadeus

1985 - 5
Back to the Future, Rocky 4, The Goonies, A View to A Kill, The Breakfast Club

1986 - 6
Top Gun,Crocodile Dundee, Platoon, Aliens, Ferris Bueller, Stand By Me

1987 - 7
Three men and a baby, Beverly hills cop 2, The Untouchables, Secret of my success, Lethal Weapon, Predator, Robocop

1988 - 8
Rain Man, Big, Crocodile Dundee 2, Die Hard, Naked Gun, Cocktail, Beetlejuice, Scrooged

1989 - 9
Batman, Indiana Jones the last crusade, Lethal Weapon 2, Back to the future 2, Ghostbusters 2, Parenthood, War of the roses, Born on the 4th of July, Tango and Cash

1990 - 6
Home alone, Total Recall, Die hard 2, Kindergarten Cop, Back to the Future part 3, Misery

1991 - 7
Terminator 2, Silence of the Lambs, City Slickers, Naked Gun 2, Cape Fear, Backdraft, JFK

1992 - 7
Home alone 2, Batman returns, Lethal Weapon 3, Few Good Men, Basic Instinct, Unforgiven,Dracula

1993 - 9
Jurassic Park, Mrs Doubtfire, The Fugitive, Schindlers List, Cliffhanger, Groundhog day, Grumpy old men, Demolition man,Tombstone

1994 - 4
True Lies, Speed, Pulp fiction, Interview with the vampire

1995 - 4
Goldeneye, seven, Die hard 3, Braveheart

1996 - 7
Independance Day, Mission impossible, Jerry Maguire, The Rock, Scream, Star Trek First Contact, Broken Arrow

1997 - 3
Titanic, Face/Off, Con Air

1998 - 6
Saving Private Ryan, Armageddon, There something about mary, Deep Impact, Lethal Weapon 4, Enemy of the state

1999 - 6
Toy Story 2, The Matrix, Austin Powers 2, The Green Mile, American Beauty, American Pie

2000 - 5
Gladiator, Meet the parents, X-Men, Crouching Tiger, Traffic

2001 - 6
Lord of the rings 1, Shrek ,Monsters Inc, American Pie 2, Black Hawk down, Vanilla Sky

2002 - 5
Spider Man, Lord of the rings 2, Star wars EP 2, Die Another Day, Minority Report

2003 - 6
Lord of the rings 3, Finding Nemo, Xmen 2, Elf, Bad Boys 2, Somethings gotta give

2004 - 7
Spider Man 2, Passion of the christ, Meet the Fockers, Harry potter 3, Bourne supremacy,50 first dates, dodgeball

2005 - 4
Star wars EP3, Harry Potter 4, King Kong, Batman Begins

2006 - 7
Xmen 3, Casino Royale, Talladega Nights, Click, MI 3, The Departed, Borat

2007 - 7
Harry Potter 5, Bourne Ultimatum, 300, Knocked up, Juno, Die hard 4, American Gangster

Pigman II

2008 1
2007 1
2006 2
2005 2
2004 4
2003 1
2002 1
2001 2
2000 2
1999 8
1998 3
1997 3
1996 0
1995 3
1994 4
1993 3
1992 2
1991 5
1990 5
1989 5
1988 4
1987 2
1986 7
1985 4
1984 6
1983 2
1982 2
1981 4
1980 2

I'm surprised anyone could have double figures for any year, let alone several of them.

matrim

1980 - 4
1981 - 2
1982 - 4
1983 - 3
1984 - 5
1985 - 2
1986 - 5
1987 - 4
1988 - 7
1989 - 5
1990 - 6
1991 - 5
1992 - 3
1993 - 5
1994 - 5
1995 - 4
1996 - 3
1997 - 3
1998 - 4
1999 - 7
2000 - 4
2001 - 4
2002 - 7
2003 - 3
2004 - 5
2005 - 5
2006 - 2
2007 - 5

Eglinton

Which films count as good in your mind is definitely reflected in age. Definite peak between the ages of 8 and 16. Obviously I didn't actually see the films when I was under 5 at the cinema so I'd say these too could be added to the 8-16 year old lines too.

1988: 6 films
1989: 8 films
1990: 7 films
1991: 9 films
1992: 8 films
1993: 10 films
1994: 8 films
1995: 9 films
1996: 6 films
1997: 11 films
1998: 9 films
1999: 12 films
2000: 6 films
2001: 8 films
2002: 9 films
2003: 7 films
2004: 9 films
2005: 5 films
2006: 9 films
2007: 9 films

Dirk_Diggler

Haven't watched too many of these but still, I'm not willing to accept any old crap thrown at me.

1988 - 2 films
1989 - 0 Films
1990 - 1 Film
1991 - 2 films
1992 - 0 films
1993 - 1 film
1994 - 2 films
1995 - 3 films
1996 - 1 film
1997 - 0 Films
1998 - 2 Films
1999 - 0 Films
2000 - 1 Film
2001 - 0 Films
2002 - 0 Films
2003 - 0 Films
2004 - 1 Film
2005 - 1 Film
2006 - 1 Film
2007 - 1 Film

L31mr0d

1994: 8 films

The Specialist, Stargate, Pulp Fiction, Speed, Clear and Present Danger, Dumb and Dumber, True Lies, Forrest Gump

1995: 9 films

12 Monkeys, Bad Boys, Outbreak, Get Shorty, Congo, Crimson Tide, Die Hard: With A Vengeance, Seven, Toy Story

1996: 12 films

The Long Kiss Goodnight, Mars Attacks!, Dragonheart, The Cable Guy, Broken Arrow, Star Trek: First Contact, Phenomenon, A Time to Kill, The Rock, Ransom, Mission: Impossible, Independence Day

1997: 10 films

Amistad, Starship Troopers, The Jackal, The Devil's Advocate, L.A. Confidential, Dante's Peak, Conspiracy Theory, Good Will Hunting, As Good as It Gets, Men in Black

1998: 7 films

Ronin, Meet Joe Black, Snake Eyes, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Truman Show, Deep Impact, Saving Private Ryan

1999: 13 films

Forces of Nature, Three Kings, Life, The Bone Collector, The Thomas Crown Affair, Galaxy Quest, Payback, American Pie, American Beauty, The Green Mile, The Mummy, The Matrix, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

2000: 8 films

Me, Myself and Irene, Gone in 60 Seconds, Traffic, Crouching Tiger, X-Men, Meet the Parents, Gladiator, Cast Away

2001: 11 films

Heist, Memento, Monster's Ball, Amelie, I Am Sam, Bandits, K-PAX, Behind Enemy Lines, Training Day, A Beautiful Mind, Shrek

2002: 13 films

One Hour Photo, The Pianist, The Mothman Prophecies, The Count of Monte Cristo, Insomnia, Gangs of New York, Road to Perdition, The Bourne Identity, The Ring, Minority Report, Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets


2003: 9 films

Monster, 28 Days Later, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Holes, Old School, Mystic River, Cold Mountain, The Matrix Reloaded

2004: 17 films

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Garden State, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Napoleon Dynamite, Hero, The Chronicles of Riddick, The Forgotten, The Terminal, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Million Dollar Baby, Collateral, DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, I, Robot, National Treasure, The Incredibles, Spider-Man 2

2005: 12 films

Serenity, Capote, Hostage, Munich, Syriana, Crash, Jarhead, Sin City, Constantine, Walk the Line, Fantastic Four, Batman Begins, War of the Worlds

2006: 16 films

Crank, Employee of the Month, Babel, Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, The Illusionist, Hostel, Apocalypto, The Prestige, Blood Diamond, V for Vendetta, Eragon, You, Me and Dupree, Open Season, The Departed, Casino Royale

2007: 22 films

(Hot Fuzz, Grindhouse, The Mist, Breach, Smokin' Aces, Stardust, Fracture, There Will Be Blood, Shooter, 3:10 to Yuma, Charlie Wilson's War, The Golden Compass, No Country for Old Men, Disturbia, Beowulf, Superbad, Bee Movie, American Gangster, Knocked Up, Ratatouille, 300, I Am Legend)

sprinkles

I must have missed the memo where we're all to ignore transformers from now on....

Blockbusters in general are getting worse. They have become a formulaic franchise with very little variety from film to film (I'm talking about the traditional summer blockbuster here - Terminator 2 still ranks as my fav in this category!)


That said Transformers, Iron man and Batman have been good/great examples of Hollywood trying to freshen things up with good scripts. Here's hoping the trend continues

Eglinton

L31mr0d wrote: »

2007: 22 films

How did you manage to watch 22 of the top 20?

L31mr0d

Eglinton wrote: »

How did you manage to watch 22 of the top 20?

lol, I was wondering why my numbers where so much larger than everyone elses and why it was taking me so long to go back through the years