Things aren't always as good as remembered

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Kittenunleashed@reddit

I made my husband watch the Outsiders the other night..ugh.. WTF?

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Independent-Lab-3680@reddit

Sandra Locke may just be the worst actress in history. It's astonishing that Clint used her so often - she was a drag in every scene in every movie.

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Elses_pels@reddit

Well… she attended school in Shelbyville! That explains it

She’s dead now :(

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As a kid I found her creepy as hell and I’m not even kidding. She looked detached from reality. Can’t name it but there was something very off-putting about that lady and I never could understand why she was on all these movies. Just reading her name triggered some weird 70s trauma response but I couldn’t place the face… the moment I saw her tiny little head and giant hair it was over lmao

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thisgirlnamedbree@reddit

She was in an episode of Barnaby Jones and even there her acting was odd, and she wasn't even playing the villain.

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LetThem_1972@reddit

100%. She comes off cold and detached no matter what emotion she was trying to convey. Awful actress.

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Anon_Gen_X@reddit (OP)

60% of Every Which Way but Loose was hysterical. The other 40% had Sandra Locke in it.

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Independent-Lab-3680@reddit

Clyde the orangutang had more emotional range.

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ezgomer@reddit

i only knew Bronco Billy and she fit that role well

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Rafi89@reddit

I remember seeing her first in The Outlaw Josey Wales and thought she was doing an amazing job playing a traumatized innocent being forced to face the cold brutality of the world. But that's her in every movie.

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Solid-Wish-1724@reddit

They were involved, is why

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Independent-Lab-3680@reddit

Right. Another puzzling fact in and of itself.

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Solid-Wish-1724@reddit

Truly!

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Buckeyebornandbred@reddit

Seems like even he early on knew that too lol. "Locke and actor/director Clint Eastwood entered a domestic partnership in October 1975.[50] She first met Eastwood in 1972, when she unsuccessfully lobbied for the title role in his film Breezy (1973);"

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Express-Ad-6404@reddit

I think it is so.. odd, that they were dating and almost every movie he had her in had some scene of her being s.m.'d in some way. Disturbing honestly.

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chatterwrack@reddit

I went to watch one of my favorite Rob Reiner films last night (The Story of Us, with Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer) and it was so bad. Han-fisted acting and so much dude-bro writing. You know when you can tell a man write a woman? Yeah. I should’ve kept that film as a memory.

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Disastrous-Fly9672@reddit

Watching Michelle Pfeiffer attempting to cry authentically at the end. Seeing near the school buses, is painfully awful

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LetThem_1972@reddit

Can attest that this movie sucks and should be avoided. Trite.

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chatterwrack@reddit

It gave me such warm fuzzies when it released 😞

I think the remake of Scenes from a Marriage (Oscar Isaacs and Jessica Chastain) is the caliber of relationship film that I now need.

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Klutzy_Ostrich_3152@reddit

I recently rewatched Platoon with my wife, who’d never seen it. I don’t recall last time I’d watched Platoon but I’ve always remembered it as an awesome movie with a good soundtrack. Unfortunately, I was so underwhelmed. Like OP, I apologized during the movie. Then it made me sad that I ruined a great childhood memory! My wife thought it was good though, keeping in context when it was filmed. So, I’m trying to appreciate it again for what it is/was. I’m definitely reconsidering my plans to go through a bunch of my childhood movies!

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Disastrous-Fly9672@reddit

What was wrong with it

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TotalRichardMove@reddit

My brother and I, along with our buddy from high school got together and watched the original 48hrs and OH MY GAWD it was pure brutality.

You forget, because it’s Eddie Murphy and it was such a huge movie when we were kids… there are things said and done in that movie that are straight up shocking. “Cringe” ain’t enough. Disturbing for real.

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LetThem_1972@reddit

48 hours is a harsh movie. I like it but you're right, calling it a comedy is misleading.

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TotalRichardMove@reddit

Nick Nolte unironically calling Eddie Murphy a “spearchucker” in any context in which Nick’s character is presented as the hero of the story is truly telling as to where we were in this country at the time (and the fact that some folks couldn’t care less is a sobering indictment on where we remain… kinda depressing)

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Disastrous-Fly9672@reddit

Stop trying to be revisionist with your morality. Nick noltes character ain't a "hero," he's just the lead character. And I'm sure Eddie murphy is fine with the movie the same way Richard Pryor the co-eroter was fine with Blazing Saddles and the n-word.

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Severe_Intention_480@reddit

Unpopular opinion: Trading Places, 48 Hours, and Coming To America are the only Eddie Murphy films I can stand. Beverly Hills Cop is a pretty one note film with a few funny bits and a lot of filller.

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TIPtone13@reddit

"Who's WE, sucker?"

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grumpvet87@reddit

a fight scene in star trek (original) was so bad i laughed hard. some of the people fighting were just standing there , waiting for their turn of the camera ... it was tragically bad

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Disastrous-Fly9672@reddit

They had to shoot TV shows in 5 days. What do you expect?

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LindensBloodyJersey@reddit

The unicorn at the end

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weird-un-normal5150@reddit

I grew up in the Bay Area in the 6070s and 80s he was like the Schwarzenegger of the time he was the mayor of all of California to us. I’m so glad he’s still around when he goes. He’s gonna be a tough one. It’s gonna be like losing an uncle or a grandfather🙏🏻😈🥰

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Motor_Breath_83@reddit

He looks like Hugh Jackmen Wolverine there

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high_everyone@reddit

Just watched Fisher King last night for the first time and I was actually surprised at how good it was. Watching them run an adult video section was hilariously weird and awkward.

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PuzzleheadedOwl1191@reddit

“…it’s kind of a big-titty, spread-cheeky kind of thing…” still gets me.

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kcfdr9c@reddit

I was gonna say… that was a great movie!

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Necessary_Switch_879@reddit

The Dirty Harry movies will never get old to me

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DallasMotherFucker@reddit

Just curious, when is the last time you watched one start to finish? I liked them as a kid but haven’t rewatched.

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Necessary_Switch_879@reddit

It's been about 2 years, but I've watched them all many times. I should add that I love vintage Clint. There's very few classic Eastwood flicks that I don't love.

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DallasMotherFucker@reddit

I’ve been on a 70s action movie kick and they’ve been fun, but I am spoiled by modern special effects (NOT including CGI) and more realistic-looking fight choreography. Except car chases. Those have mostly declined in quality.

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Necessary_Switch_879@reddit

I agree in general, but Clint's style is in a league of it's own.

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Drawn66@reddit

Me neither

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akiralx26@reddit

I recall the Dirty Harry one where he dates a young Patricia Clarkson, just after a bounty has been put on his head. During their date assassins attack and he kills a few, so they have to reschedule their date.

On that second date he kills another two when they machine gun a lift they’re in - but she is bizarrely willing to go out with him a third time.

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gr8d4ne@reddit

Same goes for Bullitt. That car chase is legendary but the movie absolutely sucks.

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TreyRyan3@reddit

This is true for “The Thomas Crown Affair” as well. The remake with Brosnan was so much better. McQueen had a certain quality but his movies weren’t really that good

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Bokononfoma@reddit

The Benji movies are not good. I watched one recently and half the movie was just Benji walking back from town, down the road, to the house, under the fence, thru the shrub, across the plank, and thru the screen, into the window... Only to go back to thru the screen, across the plank... I could watch a cute dog walk around, but I didn't remember it being this bad.

I also fear that Savannah Smiles won't hold up, So I refuse to ever watch it again.

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Shartfer_brains@reddit

Dude, "Benji the Hunted" imho was one if not THE worst movies ever made. My grandparents took me to this as a child and all it was was Bengi going back and forth through his daily trail. I recall being irritated watching it even as a child.

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Confirmationbias10@reddit

Yes. As a kid I loved the movie I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

It blows

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chtakes@reddit

I still think the “how much for an odder of ribs?” bit is funny

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Bokononfoma@reddit

There are some good bits/jokes, but that's all the movie really is, a series of bits. That said, "UGH, MY BUNYONS!"

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Either_Pangolin531@reddit

Got change for a hundred?

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ku_78@reddit

Never gets old

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donaldtrumpshearts@reddit

I did love when it was on TV and they had that announcer after the commercials say, “And now return to I’m gonna get you sucker.”

In the whitest middle aged voice ever.

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Pavementaled@reddit

I thought this was High Jackman at first…

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LoganShang@reddit

I thought the same thing.

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jmg362@reddit

It’s Wolverine!

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largos7289@reddit

the dead pool is better, Watch that one.

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nonotburton@reddit

Too much fourth wall breaking.

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180secondideas@reddit

Very young Jim Carrey...and an unknown Guns & Roses.

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LittleMsLibrarian@reddit

How about movies that were terrifying when you were little but are now laughable? Children of the Corn scared me beyond belief, but I watched it a few years ago and it was so nonsensical. Poltergeist has held up well, though, I think.

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Turkzillas_gobble@reddit

Wild thing about COTC is how many sequels, prequels, and reboots it got.

How long was that short story, 16 pages?!

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Turkzillas_gobble@reddit

If anything Sudden Impact grew on me as I got older - as a kid it was the dreary and dour Dirty Harry movie, its villains lacking the conceptual hook of Scorpio or the extrajudicial murder squad, with few options on the table for a satisfyingly cathartic ending. But it does moral ambiguity better than any of these movies, the plotting gives women a little more agency than Tyne Daly got, and the early chapters are kind of hilarious for being so event-dense for shit happening to Harry even though he's attemptedly on vacation.

Honestly if this keeps happening to you - watching an old favourite makes you cringe and squirm with the badness now - don't be too quick to assume the change was in the movies. You can frame it as maybe you outgrew them...or maybe you just forgot how to meet them where they are.

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Severe_Intention_480@reddit

It should've been a straight private eye film with no connection to Dirty Harry.

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desmobob@reddit

“Meet them where they are”. That’s perfect. It’s sort of suspension of disbelief adjacent.

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peacefinder@reddit

I never before realized how much Clint Eastwood and Hugh Jackman’s faces look alike

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Severe_Intention_480@reddit

I'm surprised they never did a Man With No Name reboot with Jackman.

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Most_Maintenance5549@reddit

I came here to say that. The shadow right where wolverine’s chops would be does a lot of it.

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vphan13_nope@reddit

Watched LadyHawk with a friend. While the story is still great, movie is so dated, corny..and that horrid soundtrack

This one deserves a reboot I think

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Severe_Intention_480@reddit

The Andrew Powell (of Emerson, Lake and Palmer) score is mostly what kills it. Matthew Broderick's is a bit too "modern" somehow, but I could've lived with that. Not the score though. That had to go.

One other slight issue is the eclipse the film keeps promising is surprisingly underplayed and muted when it finally comes. It's hardly even shown and is no where near as interesting visually in terms of lighting as we would expect, especially with Vittorio Storraro doing the cinematography. The sword fight also wasn't as well choreographed as it could've been. It almost seemed like it was rushed.

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Djsinestro_techno@reddit

Hawk the Slayer still slaps. That soundtrack is choice. Medieval disco ftw

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Georgiaonmymindtwo@reddit

The multi-arrow effect still holds up as a stylized way of showing that.

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The_Latverian@reddit

Hawk the Slayer is the absolute peak of that genre of movie (Shitty Sword and Sorcery)

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seoulbro@reddit

OMG that soundtrack. Definitely ruins the rewatch.

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JoWhee@reddit

Still better than “paint your wagon” or any movie he did with Sondra Locke, the exception being The Outlaw Josey Wales, we won’t even mention the “any which way” franchise.

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Critical_Seat_1907@reddit

"Right turn, Clyde."

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180secondideas@reddit

Do you know The Rose of Alabamy?

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JoWhee@reddit

Old brown poise !

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CT_Reddit73@reddit

I think the quote “Go ahead, make my day” — which is still in our lexicon is a big reason for the film’s longevity. Otherwise it wasn’t much different than Dirty Harry — up and down pacing, over the top or under acting, and ridiculous situations. Still, I love all the Dirty Harry movies 😂

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Severe_Intention_480@reddit

It would have been better if Clint had just made a stand alone private eye film. The baggage of being a DH film got in the way. It really doesn't have much to do with Dirty Harry once he gets to the little town. It hardly feels like a Harry film because SF setting was almost a character in itself in the other films.

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Elses_pels@reddit

Clint Eastwood did way better films as a director. I never rated those Dirty Harry films very good. I did watch them though :)

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frockinbrock@reddit

Yeah That first one with Garak is the best by far, and it makes the most "sense" for the Harry character, the rest of them sort of don't.
Although, they are all enjoyable enough, it just never reaches that quality of the original.

Also isn't there a spiritual sequel that doesn't have "Harry" but almost could, I think it's Blood Work with Jeff Daniels. I enjoyed that one. Only problem is they should have had some big name actors for the minor roles, it would have helped a lot.

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Severe_Intention_480@reddit

Tightrope kind of seems like it could've been a Harry film, but Clint's character was named "Wes Bloch" or some such and it took place in New Orleans

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Takin_Up_Space70@reddit

Nope. Still love this one.

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zionzednem@reddit

But Sudden Impact has the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk….

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Poultrygeist74@reddit

How far is Santa Cruz from Carmel?

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OrrinFraag@reddit

Traffic. None (which never happens except in the middle of the night) 30-45 minutes. Otherwise bring provisions.

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zionzednem@reddit

I once had a Clint shirt from Carmel when he was mayor. It was a dirty Harry image and it said Curb Your Dog. Loved that shirt.

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OrrinFraag@reddit

…..oooooh. That sounds cool. Maybe have an internet entity remake it? If you do and you think of it dm me. (Lifelong central coast Californian)

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zionzednem@reddit

https://resetvtg.com/products/vintage-clint-eastwood-i-said-curb-your-dog-mayor-of-carmel-by-the-sea-t-shirt-90s-red-l?srsltid=AfmBOopX3ZPyvv-4dxvg3v3GpPtkhUJg-vHRjC88vm9USSpI3jdXcP42

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KitchenNazi@reddit

“In the warm California sun. BOARDWALK”

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BenefitAdvanced@reddit

I love Sudden Impact! Still re-visit it once in a while. Talk about a great revenge film.

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Roboticus_Aquarius@reddit

All the time. Almost any cartoon I loved as a kid. The original Battlestar Galactica. I could go on.

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wexfordavenue@reddit

Battlestar Galactica and The Incredible Hulk were it for me.

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Either_Pangolin531@reddit

For me it boils down to, we were kids watching things with imagination and wonder, and seeing things for the first time.. I've noticed as Ive gotten older I just know enoungh about how life works to make it hard to suspend disbelief anymore. That's why I love newer more technical science fiction movies.. I'm still way dumb in that area, so it's all cool and new to learn.

But watching old stuff I find myself being like " you're not getting up that easy, dude your clearly over 40" Just takes me out of the fun too fast.

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Exciting_Direction_9@reddit

Rewatched Clash of the Titans years back. Turned it off it was so bad.

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Moontoya@reddit

Which one, there's 2

The original with Ray Haaryhausen stop motion puppets and one with a similarly limited puppet, Sam Worthington

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Exciting_Direction_9@reddit

The original. I refused to watch the remake because I was afraid it would hold up to the original. 😂😬

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wexfordavenue@reddit

It doesn’t. Skip it if you can’t bring yourself to think of it as its own thing.

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AintEverLucky@reddit

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

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Available_Wolf1059@reddit

Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Back To The Future never get old. I’ll have to revisit those Dirty Harry movies. Haven’t seen them in decades.

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Captain-Pig-Card@reddit

Still good with McFly but I just checked in with Damone and Spicolli last week and it did not go well. Was thinking about a rewatch after seeing a post a few months ago. I’ve seen it too many times to count but this was the first time in five or more years. And now, I think we’re done.

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Available_Wolf1059@reddit

Phoebe Cates makes up for anything else that doesn’t cut it today.

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PrymTym66@reddit

I tried watching Time Bandits with my SO who hadn't seen it. Told her it was great! I couldn't get past 15 minutes and had to apologize to her

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Brock_Savage@reddit

Nah, Terry Gilliam still holds up after all these years.

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Monocle13@reddit

Aw HELL no. Time Bandits has only gotten better with age.

Saw it in theatres for my stepbrother's birthday. The moment that knight on horseback smashed out of his wardrobe I knew I was in for a ride.

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Shopworn_Soul@reddit

I experience no challenges when rewatching this film. It is definitely disjointed and weird, with an awful ending, but it's always been that way.

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LetThem_1972@reddit

Yup. That's what I thought of it when I first saw it and still pretty much holds up today. Amazing scenes but an uneven movie.

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CatsMcganny@reddit

Oh, this makes me sad. I still love Time Bandits.

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imcrowning@reddit

Same here. Even better now with closed caption on.

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mild_shart_attack@reddit

This was the first ‘R’ rated movie I saw in a theater! We went to the movies as a family, my mom wanted to see Yentl. My dad was like ok have fun, and took us kids to see Sudden Impact.

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krack1925@reddit

Watched red dawn as kid, my reaction was "Hell yeah" watched again close to 30... my reaction.... "How stupid was i?"

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iftheygivinitaway@reddit

Star Wars too.

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georgewalterackerman@reddit

With Red Dawn that’s how I felt too

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TheHandsOfFate@reddit

My family was passing through Las Vegas, NM a year ago and stayed at the hotel where cast members resided during the filming. I decided it would be a great time to show the movie to my kids for the first time.

Yeah, it's not great - way too long and kind of boring in the back half.

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SushiGradePanda@reddit

Cobra did not do well upon re-watch.

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schmearcampain@reddit

It lives on only to show you her viewers the proper way to eat pizza.

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BeerMoustache@reddit

That’s something I always think about every time I think about that movie - why did he cut such a tiny piece of that slice and not eat the rest ?!

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schmearcampain@reddit

Not the fact that he used scissors in the first place?

I have a theory about what happened on that set. They are ready to shoot the scene and Sly notices there aren’t any scissors and he loses his shit. Full on, movie star diva blowup. “WHERE ARE THE SCISSORS!?!? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT PIZZA WITHOUT SCISSORS!?!? WHY DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE!?!?”

And everyone is mortified and yessir-ing because Sly is the biggest star in the world, and nobody has the balls to ask him why he needs scissors and definitely don’t question it when he cuts a tiny piece off to eat, even though they all know it’s gonna look stupid on the Final Cut.

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BeerMoustache@reddit

🤣🤣🤣 that whole scene was weird. Doesn’t everyone keep their gun cleaning kit in an egg carton in their freezer along with their leftover pizza?? My brother and I were both fixated on why he cut that tiny piece off the pizza instead of eating the whole show and then made a meal out of a one inch bit that we never even thought about about the scissors. I guess that’s how guys on the Zombie Squad rolled back then

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BoneDaddy1973@reddit

When I was a kid I bought a replica of that stupid knife the bad guy had. I’ve still got it in the bottom of a trunk somewhere.

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BeerMoustache@reddit

Those spikes looked so cool back then 🤣

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BoneDaddy1973@reddit

The US Cav catalog would sell you any kind of nonsense.

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LetThem_1972@reddit

I had a similar "Rambo knife" that I've never used once.

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BoneDaddy1973@reddit

Not even the compass, the matches, or the wire saw?

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Turkzillas_gobble@reddit

Cobra is a funny watch; an action setpiece might be "the same two stunt performers falling off their motorcycles, again and again and again and again", while the villains are an underground nihilist cult of axe murderers who show up to cult meetings in their work attire in one scene, and then for the rest of the movie they're just faceless bikers. It's soaked in 80's style and "vibes", but Cobretti reminds me less of Snake Plisskin than of Kip Winger. Sometimes it's bad in fun ways, sometimes in fascinating ways, and sometimes in just sloppy, halfassed shitty movie ways - but it's always bad.

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BGOOCHY@reddit

Haha I knew that movie was bad even when I was a kid and saw it on HBO 😂 Over The Top is terrible too

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MrPolymath@reddit

I remember Over the Top being silly but fun (I quoted the hat turn forever), and Cobra taking itself way too seriously. As a kid I liked the car and cutting the pizza with scissors.l, though.

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Klutzy_Ostrich_3152@reddit

😂 although, two classics from my childhood!! But, nah, won’t rewatch them and ruin those “memories”

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CNote_89@reddit

I want your eyes pig! I want them!

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surfinbird@reddit

Do you wanna go to hell with me?! Pig!

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Whosez@reddit

MST3K should have riffed it.

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Glennica@reddit

There is a Rifftrax for Cobra!

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Dan-68@reddit

IMO it didn't do well on first watch.

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Sumchap@reddit

One of the old Bond movies where tyres literally screech when they're driving on a beach, those old Bond movies are just cringe worthy when I look at them now

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DJs_Second_Life@reddit

Had the same experience with Point Of No Return. Tried to watch it 30 years later. It did not age well. I was bummed.

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reardonlovechild@reddit

La femme nikita is still good.

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Patinghangin@reddit

Time Bandits was it for me.

Now I start to wonder how overrated nostalgia must be and how underrated the future will be like.

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

Yeah, it's hit or miss with me when I revisit the old movies. I rewatched Buckaroo Banzai a while back, having fond memories of it from 1984. It was dreadful, laughably bad. Some of Clint's old stuff holds up, typically I still like stuff that he himself directed, such as Unforgiven.

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TheVioletEmpire@reddit

I still love Buckaroo.

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

All good, movie appreciation is highly subjective, and you may have sentimental stuff going on with it. I am curious if you've seen it recently. I thought I liked it too until I tried to watch it a few months back.

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airbornesimian@reddit

I watch it about once a year. It still holds up. It was a fun, cheese ball, sci-fi romp in 1984 and it still is 40+ years later. It never intended to be anything other than that. John Lithgow's performance is magnificent; he devours so much scenery that he probably needed to diet for a year after they wrapped filming. Christopher Lloyd's ad-libbing in the spaceship pre-launch scene (and his performance at large) is hilarious. It has a ton of fun details hiding below the surface for its audience to find on subsequent viewings. It's a campy pulp joyride from the opening sequence to the closing credits.

Lots of movies (including many of the ones mentioned in this thread) didn't age well, and/or don't hold up over time, but The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension isn't one of them. It might be a time capsule of 1980s filmmaking, but it has charm, it has heart, and it has an abiding love for early 20th century pulp adventure stories (a lot of it was based on Doc Savage pulp magazines), all of which give it a timeless quality.

I understand and respect your not enjoying it; most people didn't. It bombed at the box office on release, which is a shame because as a result we never got Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League (lol), but it has more than earned its cult classic status in subsequent years.

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

I appreciate the time you took to reason out why you like it! Honestly, I mean no real criticism. There are a number of '80's films that didn't do well in the theater, that I LOVE, so I get it.

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airbornesimian@reddit

Yeah, it's a really interesting phenomenon. And our tastes are obviously all different from one another, which is honestly a great thing. I'm a bit of a film buff, so I enjoy taking deep dives and doing some analysis on these topics. I probably should have led with that haha. It sometimes makes people not want to watch movies with me XD

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TheVioletEmpire@reddit

100% sentimental stuff. I have it on DVD (!) and watched it in it's entirety, probably about three years ago. We finally have a nice media room setup, and I occasionally pull out old favorites that I never saw in an actual theater (1984 was such an awesome year for movies.) I otherwise don't rewatch movies all that regularly. I watched Buckaroo myself because I knew the rest of the family would not sit through it. I enjoyed it, but I probably saw it too many times when I was young. It might not add up to much in the end, but I enjoyed it as this almost quirky series of vignettes. The jet car scene, the nightclub scene ("no matter where you go..."), the Black 'Lectroids, Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems (Thomas Pynchon!), Scooter Lindley: "Dad, Bucakroo's in trouble!" I can still obnoxiously quote more of this movie than I realized. The pacing and humor are admittedly not to modern tastes. But I'm not a modern guy. I still chuckle at the watermelon gag. I still laugh when Buckaroo tells Perfect Tommy to give Penny his coat. "Why me?" "Because you're perfect."

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Gloomy-Bridge9112@reddit

Wherever you go, there you are.

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SushiGradePanda@reddit

Same.

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Dr_Drax@reddit

I made the mistake of rewatching Buckaroo Banzai with the family when my daughters were teens. It was bad, and made worse by the stone-eyed judgmental stares of the girls.

Such a bad life choice on my part, but I was so confident it was good!

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

We made the same mistake with Purple Rain. My wife and I remembered loving it so much in the '80's. We watched it with our teen kids at the beach, it was ASTOUNDINGLY bad and I think we permanently lost points with our daughters.

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LetThem_1972@reddit

I saw Purple Rain in the theatre and even as a huge Prince fan, thought it was uneven at best. The performance footage is good but everything else is not.

[-]

Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

Yeah, that makes some sense. I've actually never been a Prince fan, just not what I was looking for in music, but I do respect the talent and showmanship. My wife loved the film back in the day. I was dragged to it in the theater in 1984 by a high school girlfriend.

[-]

LetThem_1972@reddit

I went with a young adult couple that were leaders of a Christian youth group. They asked me what movie I wanted to see and reluctantly agreed to "Purple Rain". They were horrified during the sex scenes and asked me if I wanted to leave. I of course said no.

[-]

airbornesimian@reddit

Purple Rain has the distinction of being a terrible movie that happened to give us one of the greatest albums of all time. Just play that for your daughters and they'll probably come around lol

[-]

Unver1f1eduser@reddit

I have not rewatched it in decades but I told a younger coworker around the the week that Prince passed that I saw it in the cinema when it came out as a 12 year old and scored instant points.

[-]

AdmiralJaneway8@reddit

Try being excited to show your older teenager Eddie Murphy Delerious, and within 10 minutes realizing what a big mistake of a heinous decision that was. My. God. Heinously bad. Stone-eyed judgment, indeed.

[-]

Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

I still enjoy Delirious, own it on DVD. Murphy was genius as a standup. I don't get hung up on making stuff from 40 years ago pass a modern test of "what's offensive", etc. I get why a modern teen might not get it.

[-]

LetThem_1972@reddit

Are you referring to the homophobia or other reasons?

[-]

AdmiralJaneway8@reddit

The massive homophobia was the #1 offense. And boy was my son right.

[-]

anillop@reddit

It was never supposed to be a good movie. It was so bad that it looped around and became good.

[-]

Dr_Drax@reddit

But it was intended to be good. Unlike those other movies, Banzai wasn't meant as a spoof, but rather a wacky yet sincere movie set in a self-consistent comic book-like universe. Think something like True Lies: simultaneously sending up the genre while still telling a compelling story.

It had actors who had real talent, like Christopher Lloyd and John Lithgow. The laughs were generally not cheap ones.

[-]

anillop@reddit

But it was intended to be good.

I just cant believe it. It was a weird shitshow and I loved it.

[-]

XavierPibb@reddit

Big-boo-tay!

[-]

Dr_Drax@reddit

John was my favorite character.

[-]

airbornesimian@reddit

Laugh-a while you can, monkey boy!

[-]

Glennica@reddit

John Smallberries

[-]

CNote_89@reddit

I mean BB was sort of intentionally bad always that was sort of the point. It’s so weird and out there and crazy that it’s great. You just have to be in the right mindset for it.

[-]

airbornesimian@reddit

What's that watermelon doing there?

[-]

RobsHereAgain@reddit

The Dirty Harry movies were dated when they dropped. I think he found his way when he came at us with Pale Rider.

[-]

canigetahint@reddit

Pale Rider, Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven are legendary. The others, not so much.

[-]

RobsHereAgain@reddit

I think the best movie he made was the one he wasn’t in. It’s called Bird

[-]

Affectionate_Sun1360@reddit

The Dead pool is worse than this one but both are bad. the enforcer and dirty Harry are the best of the series.

[-]

penilesensorydevice@reddit

The first Dirty Harry was good, the second was OK, but then they just became parodies of themselves, on the level of Death Wish. Harry cleans up the streets, dispatches the scum, cuts through the BS and so forth. Yawn.

[-]

Sufficient-Pin-481@reddit

I rewatched Gremlins for the first time in decades and halfway through I realized I had made a huge mistake.

[-]

LetThem_1972@reddit

I've still never seen Gremlins. I plan to keep it that way.

[-]

Sufficient-Pin-481@reddit

Based on the downvotes several others feel differently so maybe it’s worth a shot for you to try I guess.

[-]

flyboy_za@reddit

Surprisingly violent and gory for a kids' movie.

But I thought it held up okay when I saw it last maybe 18 months ago.

[-]

CNote_89@reddit

Ya I agree, it doesn’t hold up. The first half is fun but the whole third act is just sort of annoying now.

[-]

JoeyKino@reddit

Wow, I watch it almost every Christmas, love Gremlins. It's cheesy like an 80s horror should be, but good fun

[-]

Hab_Anagharek@reddit

Complete opposite here

[-]

osricson@reddit

Nooo not Mogwai!

[-]

nottodaysatan317@reddit

It’s always been terrible. The original Dirty Harry was the only good one.

[-]

Funkgun@reddit

For me, magnum Force was also pretty decent. Deadpool was cheesy fun. Sudden Impact or Enforcer are the hard ones to rewatch

[-]

RockSteady65@reddit

“A lot of things can happen to dogshit”

[-]

Anon_Gen_X@reddit (OP)

Best line of the whole movie... that and the hot dog scene

[-]

ImFromDanforth@reddit

I watched " see no evil hear no evil" Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, fairly recently... It was such a let down from what I remembered.

[-]

Cautious-Ease-1451@reddit

This is actually one movie I didn’t watch because of Siskel and Ebert. They both said they didn’t laugh once.

[-]

ezgomer@reddit

i remember it being a flop

[-]

Aggravating_Bat3618@reddit

Oh, it’s pretty bad. The only funny scene is when Gene Wilder character is being interrogated by the cops.

Was there or wasn't there a woman?

Fuzzy wuzzy was a woman?

He reads lips your, talking to fast.

Lol. I use that line a lot. I don’t understand what someone is saying.

[-]

OhTHATKayKay@reddit

Eastwood tried so hard to make Sondra Locke a star, but she had zero personality.

[-]

Anon_Gen_X@reddit (OP)

LMAO... I said that too. "Not that same chick from Every Which Way but Loose... there's no monkey to save this movie."

[-]

Infamous-Yak2864@reddit

Coincidentally....was talking to a friend last week. He said over the weekend he found a DVD containing 4 Eastwood movies. He was stoked and couldn't wait to spend all weekend watching his new DVD, because he remembered how good they all were when he watched them decades ago. He said that was some of the worst f'ing crap he'd ever watched. He sat through them because 'he knew they were going to get better at some point ' and had nothing better to do. He said he now thinks old Eastwood movies suck. Play Misty for Me was the only one mentioned by name....

[-]

ofthrees@reddit

people are going to downvote the absolute shit out of me for this, but:

my first (of many subsequent) experience(s) with this was when i was only 24.

i was a diehard prince fan, and so to was my then-boyfriend (eventually husband) and his best friend. i had never seen purple rain, despite mainlining the album my entire life from the point of its release. (my mom never let me watch rated R movies, and even when i was old enough to see it on my own, i for whatever reason didn't bother.)

once my bf and his bff heard this, they were like OH YOU GOTTA SEE IT. we went to blockbuster (as one did), got some drinks, and piled up together to watch it.

i think it was maybe 20 minutes in that i was privately thinking "omg, this is terrible," while smiling along because WHO THE FUCK THINKS PURPLE RAIN IS TERRIBLE. as they looked at me with expressions saying "are you loving this?" i smiled back with enthusiasm disguising my disappointment.

a little bit later, my bf/husband cracked. "maybe this isn't as good as we remembered."

"nah," his buddy said, "give it time."

then he cracked. i don't recall the precise moment in the film we all gave up, but i know we didn't see the end. the acting was just SO bad.

the most notable recent rewatch for me of something i actually HAVE seen before though, and was like sliding into my couch in embarrassment, was a few months ago.

again, more downvotes incoming: diehard.

i've never been one who watched it annually at christmas time. i love bruce willis, but that was never my genre. so i saw it a few times in my youth and then never again until a few months ago when i was on a spree of rewatching stuff that i missed or had otherwise not thought of in years.

it was so campy and dumb, i hated it.

bring to me the downvotes for all of this, i know i deserve them, but i'm just speaking my truth!

[-]

Agent7619@reddit

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is boring AF.

[-]

dilithium@reddit

he's a cop who plays by his own rules

.. yeah that

[-]

geodebug@reddit

Back when the first Dirty Harry came out, it was controversial as well.

People were arguing about fears of authoritarianism and vigilante police against the growing fear of urban unrest and crime.

[-]

LetThem_1972@reddit

May be a stretch, but this could be comparable to the first few Tarantino movies in the early 90s. They shook up the movie going crowd's expectations, but that novelty wore off in his later movies. I wonder if Dirty Harry was the same back in the day.

[-]

geodebug@reddit

It just happens a lot I think. First Rambo movie was a well thought out story about a man dealing with his demons and how society treated Vietnam vets.

Second movie was dumbed down fun.

First Rocky movie was an Academy Award winning indie film about a man trying to achieve something beyond his status and the dichotomy of someone who uses his body for violence yet is sweet and thoughtful to the woman he’s interested in.

By the third Rocky, it became a cartoon. An amazingly fun cartoon because Mr T killed that role, but no real depth in the script.

[-]

browndeskchair@reddit

You probably already know, but the first Rambo movie (First Blood) was based on a book by David Morrell. Of course the book was much better and the ending was very different from the movie. I won’t spoil it just in case.

[-]

dodgycool_1973@reddit

My elderly mother is a big Clint Eastwood fan so I got all the Dirty Harry films for us to watch.

Harry is certainly a bit of a cliched character but is entertaining enough and there is no doubting Eastwood star power can carry all th films.

The thing that stuck out to me was any time there was a bank robbery or stick up, that isn’t part of the main story, the antagonists are always black. I don’t know if it’s deliberate but it doesn’t sit right with me.

[-]

ThirdSunRising@reddit

The Dirty Harry stuff may not have held up well, but his spaghetti westerns held up incredibly well

[-]

browndeskchair@reddit

The Outlaw Josey Wales is still one of my favorites. “It ain’t for eatin’, it’s for lookin’ through!” I quote that all of the time.

[-]

Zaphod1620@reddit

I watched Firefox a couple weeks ago and liked it. I remember it being panned when it came out, but I thought it was pretty good. I wonder if it was the marketing. The box art makes it look like some fighter jet action movie. It's an old-school cold war spy thriller. The actual jet and flying is the last 10 minutes of movie.

[-]

Korvanacor@reddit

The part when he is having the PTSD attack in the shower was excruciating for me as a kid. Come on! Get in the plane already!

[-]

AdamAlways@reddit

You laughing at my horse 🐎

[-]

Tricky_Anybody_4153@reddit

Naked Gun was unwatchable!

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the_dali_2112@reddit

Nonsense.

[-]

Idaho_In_Uranus@reddit

The dated Zsa Zsa cop slap means nothing if you didn’t live thru it.

[-]

Tricky_Anybody_4153@reddit

Naked Gun was unwatchable! Believe it or not…I did.

[-]

jrock146@reddit

I blame Sondra Locke and I’ll die on that hill !

[-]

Dukeshire101@reddit

She was the worst

[-]

Dan-68@reddit

The Warriors is still great!

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ThisMomIsAMother@reddit

No, no it’s not.

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ThirdSunRising@reddit

I kinda get it, we took it dead serious back in the day and today we look at it and realize it’s campy af. But it’s still freakin awesome. It’s a little like when you’re watching the old 1966 version of Batman as an adult, you suddenly get the humor behind it and it becomes the greatest inside joke ever

[-]

schmearcampain@reddit

It’s all about the vibe. The plot details are ludicrous, of course, but its core about a group having to fight its way home is timeless. There are some good/great performances along the way too. Cyrus and David Patrick Kelly cementing himself as the go to creepy bad guy in about a dozen other movies. Deborah Van Valkenberg is so hot too.

[-]

BeDeRex@reddit

Your Gen X card has been revoked.

[-]

-Granby-@reddit

I still enjoy it but not as much as I did back then. There is a lot more running in the move than there is fighting and the fight scenes are pretty lame.

[-]

schmearcampain@reddit

One of the GOATS. The soundtrack still kicks ass.

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geodebug@reddit

The first Dirty Harry movie stands the test of time. Lean, stylish and mean. That jazz soundtrack is killer.

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carlivar@reddit

It is one of the movies Tarantino writes about in detail in his book about his favorite movies.

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schmearcampain@reddit

That’s such a great book.

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Mikeyjf@reddit

I'd say the first 3 are great, then it drops off.

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geodebug@reddit

I’d agree with 1 and 3. Two had a few moments but didn’t hit hard. Tyne Daily was so fun in the Enforcer.

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airbornesimian@reddit

Tyne Daly's performance low key made The Enforcer watchable. The Dirty Harry schtick had already grown tired by that third film.

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geodebug@reddit

Fair, but they had chemistry. Not romantic of course but as actors.

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airbornesimian@reddit

They absolutely had chemistry. That's what made it watchable XD

[-]

schmearcampain@reddit

https://youtu.be/cVJiQZ3ebnk?si=1WH1LD4cpTyOY4Ze

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CaptMerrillStubing@reddit

Porkies is so terrible. The 'high schoolers' are all 35 year old dudes. By today's standards it would never get made.

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ezgomer@reddit

live action cartoon

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mobfather@reddit

The man in the photo is Dirty Harry, not the owner of Porkies.

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TotalRichardMove@reddit

Same universe?

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CaptMerrillStubing@reddit

Read the last paragraph of OPs post

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islandcatman@reddit

I remember Midnight Run being a lot better. It's the pacing in movies then, very slow comparatively.

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Georgiaonmymindtwo@reddit

I’m a white collar criminal

[-]

Distinct_Treat_4747@reddit

Nostalgia is the junk food of emotions.

[-]

TheSilentC@reddit

Go ahead. Make my breakfast.

[-]

KK1998Pgh@reddit

I know what you’re wondering. Did he make six sausages or only five…

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TheSilentC@reddit

Stellar 🤣🤣

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OneFortyEighthScale@reddit

I hear you. Some of these old movies aren’t as good as I remembered and some are just as good as I remember.

I’d suggest skipping Saturday Night Fever. Watched it recently, regretted it

[-]

Ornery_Old_Man@reddit

Yeah, SNF is just tacky garbage now

Try Smokey and the Bandit again, it still works (made my daughter laugh a lot)

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OneFortyEighthScale@reddit

I agree with you on that-hasn’t been too long since I’ve seen it. It’s pretty decent, especially considering it’s just some drivers smuggling Coors and dodging the law!

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Repulsive_Client_325@reddit

Every. Single. 80s TV show. Try watching an episode of Knight Rider or Air Wolf.

I did and thought to myself “ok, I was a kid, but adults watched this and thought it was awesome??!”

[-]

erilaz7@reddit

I loved Square Pegs when I was in high school, but when I went back to rewatch it, it was absolutely painful. The laugh track didn't help.

[-]

freerangeXkid@reddit

Bite your tongue. Every couple of years I rewatch CHiPs. The wife is so tired of me saying "you know where (insert famous actor's name) got their start? CHiPS!"

Miami Vice has similar cache with me. Some of the bad guys defeated every week were played by some heavy hitter actors way before their prime

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oSuJeff97@reddit

Miami Vice was famous for this. There are YouTube videos that show all of them. The list of big-time actors who did guest spots on the show is incredible.

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freerangeXkid@reddit

My wife gets so mad at me when we're watching a current show and I say "I know that actor, he played so & so on an episode of St Elsewhere in 1986" and she calls BS. Then she's furious when I pull up IMDB and show her the episode credits.

If only I could monetize this bank of useless knowledge in my head

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Repulsive_Client_325@reddit

Hey, are you me?!!

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Repulsive_Client_325@reddit

True story: we used to play “Miami Vice”.

I used to get flour from the pantry and put it in a little sandwich bag as cocaine and one of my friends would be the drug smuggler and the rest of us would put on sport coats and take the super realistic uzis, mac-10s and 9mm Berettas that you could buy at any department store and run around the neighbourhood “shooting” at each other.

Ahh, memories!

[-]

MrPolymath@reddit

I rewatched a bunch of Murder She Wrote and Magnum PI recently, thought they held up ok. I forgot the theme song everyone remembers from Magnum was not the original theme song.

I loved Knight Rider and also rewatchef some of it recently and...yeah.

[-]

LonelyMachines@reddit

I laughed my butt of at Better Off Dead in high school. I rewatched it a few years back, and it's awful. The whole cavalier attitude about suicide is just horrible.

Same goes for Heathers, which also throws in homophobia for a bonus.

[-]

The_Latverian@reddit

I think both of those *really* hold up 🤷🏻‍♂️

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ChoakIsland@reddit

You need to watch these types of films through the lense of your childhood and you'll enjoy them once again.

[-]

larz0@reddit

Yeah people, how long has it been since you’ve entertained your inner 12 year old?

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Wild_Locksmith_326@reddit

My inner 12-year-old gets out and watches movies on a regular basis sometimes we actually enjoy this.

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Ic3Giant@reddit

Casandra Crossing

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rotomangler@reddit

Don’t watch Night of the Comet

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Due-Release2014@reddit

I hate to say it but most of Clint Eastwood's movies are horrible. There are a few good ones, Unforgiven, Trouble with the curve, Gran Torino, but unpopular opinion here, he is one of the worst actors to be held in such high regard

[-]

zestfullybe@reddit

Ray Liotta agreed with you! (FF to 2:25)

YT - Ray Liotta Thinks Clint Eastwood Is Overrated

“I don’t give a shit!” RIP, he was a real one.

[-]

LetThem_1972@reddit

spot on

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ShookMyHeadAndSmiled@reddit

And directors. He is famous for one-take-and-let's-move on. He's more of a storytelling crafter than serious artist. He's never been a great actor and doesn't care about the art as long as he gets the meaning across.

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spicolie22@reddit

Sorry, I never thought that movie was good.

[-]

LetThem_1972@reddit

Sandra Locke is a shitty actress. He put her in all of those movies.

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zestfullybe@reddit

That’s because despite being married to other people, they were seeing each other.

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Same-Sun-2361@reddit

Friday the 13th movies

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snarfled1@reddit

I think that about a lot of movies actually.

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georgewalterackerman@reddit

I know what OP means about Sudden Impact but I still like it

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carlivar@reddit

This happened to me with Highlander.

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Unver1f1eduser@reddit

What! I rewatched it last year and thought it held up pretty well. We did not know how lucky we were in the 80s compared to now when everything is a sequel or reboot

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carlivar@reddit

What? The main character actor is absolutely terrible. And Sean Connery, despite BEING SCOTTISH IN A MOVIE ABOUT SCOTTISH PEOPLE plays an Egyptian from Spain.

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bookant@reddit

I just watched it a couple days ago. Still as awesome as ever. Totally deserved it's Oscar for Best Movie Ever Made. (Fuck the unnecessary remake.)

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ajax81@reddit

Omg Highlander. I still remember the opening music. “In am immortal. I have inside me blood of kings. I have no rival.No man can be my equal”

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Nihlisa666@reddit

I implore you to not rewatch Lethal Weapon. I loved those movies back in the day but oh, today….not so much. Still bummed.

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Nihlisa666@reddit

I totally forgot to mention, one movie that DID hold up is Airplane! Just rewatched, laughed my ass off just as hard as the first time I watched it. Cannot recommend enough!!

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Poultrygeist74@reddit

I disagree, I think it holds up well. LW and Die Hard are two of my favorites

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HDC48@reddit

Yep, those are 2 action classics.

There is always people “debating” on whether Die Hard is a Xmas movie, but not really for Lethal Weapon for some reason.

Overall I think Die Hard is a little better, but the emotional impact hits harder for Lethal Weapon to me. That near suicide scene in the beginning hits hard (Riggs puts the gun in his mouth).

[-]

LetThem_1972@reddit

I still like parts of Lethal Weapon (Busey is a good villain) but like a lot of 80s cop movies, the cops are total dicks and use illegal excessive force constantly. I guess we thought that was cool back then.

[-]

Kuildeous@reddit

Watching the edited version is a trip.

"And this is a real firing gun." Yeah, that'll show 'em.

[-]

Nihlisa666@reddit

OMG, I have that version!! lol

[-]

CNote_89@reddit

The original is still great. I rewatch it every Christmas. The others not so much.

[-]

CarlatheDestructor@reddit

Me too

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Ok_Echo_6528@reddit

Maybe you’re not watching them right?

[-]

Zakkrazy@reddit

Lethal Weapon was and still is amazing.

[-]

CNote_89@reddit

I had these great memories of The Last Dragon being so awesome so I rented it for my best friend to watch who’d never seen it. About halfway through I paused it and apologized to him for how bad it was 😆

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HDC48@reddit

I’ll always love that movie. It’s ridiculous and silly but entertaining.

I think the only movie I’ve rewatched more is another “so bad it’s good” movie from 1985, Commando.

[-]

ChoakIsland@reddit

Take that back! else I'm going to have to ask you to step outside.

[-]

fernincornwall@reddit

OMG you take that back!

The Last Dragon is the height of eighties cinema!!

Sho’ Nuff!

[-]

CNote_89@reddit

I know! I love it still. You have the power of the glow! But it’s really bad, the whole Eddie and the popstar subplot is so terrible. Vanity cannot act at all. It’s rough haha.

[-]

fernincornwall@reddit

Yeah… it’s firmly in the “great bad” space for me.

The best actor in this thing was Sho Nuff (Julius Carry)

He was making a meal out of the scenery every scene he was in.

Somehow he made walking around 1980s Harlem in hockey pads work!

[-]

PuppytimeUSA@reddit

I tried to watch “Batteries Not Included”and could only make it about a half hour in. It was so cornball. Loved it when I saw it at the theatre as a kid.

[-]

-SQB-@reddit

Yup. With Clint Eastwood as well. When we were kids, my cousin, my brother, and I, used to love those two silly movies he made: Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can. We watched them multiple times from video — betamax.

I started the first one the other day, but turned it off not even halfway through. It just didn't hold up.

[-]

deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

[-]

evasion-guard@reddit

MovingTarget- evading a ban is bad, m'kay.

[-]

Chade_X@reddit

Rewatching New Jack City was excruciating.

[-]

GreenestPure@reddit

Fear Of A Black Hat is a mockumentary that manages to nail that whole film in a scene lasting about three minutes.

[-]

HDC48@reddit

That was a really good mockumentary. I thought it did so much that CB4 wanted to do.

[-]

HDC48@reddit

The ending never made sense.

Nino Brown is the #1 target of law enforcement throughout the movie. Midway thru the trial, all he says is “Christopher Williams is the real CMB leader….they forced me to do this, I have a whole bunch of names”.

He provides no evidence, no details on crimes, nothing. They just take Nino (again, the #1 target of law enforcement) at his word and say “you’re definitely telling the truth, you can maybe get out in a year”

[-]

Silver_Daikon6974@reddit

Re watch red dawn… horrible

[-]

ggibby@reddit

Our town high school mascot is the wolverines, and their football 'pep' theme this year is 'reddawn' which I think is terrible.

[-]

Public-Clothes-5078@reddit

gif

[-]

Cigarrauuul@reddit

Well, it was always horrible.

[-]

geodebug@reddit

Seeing it in theaters as a teen, I remember the parachutes at the beginning when the commies attacked and the teacher was shot was pretty shocking/effective.

What was shocking back then even doesn’t register today with audiences.

[-]

Silver_Daikon6974@reddit

It was my favourite as a kid.. only watching decades later realizing it sucked.. hence the topic of post

[-]

JCCZ75@reddit

Some time ago we were walking through Walmart when they still had the bins full of discounted dvds by the checkouts. Right on top was Red Dawn for like 2 bucks. I told my wife I remembered this as a good movie and purchased it. What a shit show of a movie it was. After I was done watching the movie it went straight to the trash because I didn’t want to make that mistake again.

[-]

mcmixtape@reddit

I remember, I remember all of it

[-]

pseudonym19761005@reddit

Now you listen here, you rooskie bastard

[-]

MrPolymath@reddit

Have you guys ever run into this... where you watch something that you used to think was good, and It's just bad today?

That was a recurring theme in The 80s All Over podcast. I remember them being disappointed in rewatching Never Ending Story and thinking Revenge of the Nerds was gross viewing as an adult. On the flip side, there were also a lot of films that held up and others they liked better as adults.

They had intended to watch EVERY movie from Jan 1980 to Dec 1989, sadly they ended about halfway through.

[-]

justpuddingonhairs@reddit

There's many 80s movies that still stand up to time but way way more of them that had 1 or 2 great memorable scenes wrapped in 2 hours of unwatchable crap.

[-]

charliefoxtrot9@reddit

Sounds like someone should finish

[-]

Honeybee71@reddit

All the time! Some of the old Sly Stallone movies are just cringe haha. Stop! Or my mom will shoot! Or the one about arm wrestling

[-]

sasquatchbrokers@reddit

Over the Top is hands down the greatest film about arm wrestling.

[-]

ggibby@reddit

Kenny Loggins' theme song is a banger, though.

[-]

schmearcampain@reddit

n=1

[-]

Same_Lack_1775@reddit

The only reason Stallone did stop, or my mom will shoot is he heard a rumor Arnold wanted to be in the movie. The rumor was started by Arnold specifically to get Stallone to do the movie.

[-]

Honeybee71@reddit

I heard that too lmao

[-]

Hab_Anagharek@reddit

Well those two examples were super cringe at the time.

[-]

-Granby-@reddit

You hush your mouth. Over the Top is fantastic.

[-]

pseudonym19761005@reddit

Meet me halfway

[-]

StimpyUIdiot@reddit

Holy smokes for a second i saw High Jackman as Wolverine?

[-]

phrozen_waffles@reddit

I did too, the shadow looks like his beard

Now he's going to play the Clint biopic in 15 years.

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Ivotedforher@reddit

Clint will still be here to direct that biopic.

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ChenderasMedallion@reddit

And star

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mostlygroovy@reddit

Goonies is actually terrible now

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nixtarx@reddit

Never liked it to begin with

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Ok_Orchid7131@reddit

Nope, how dare you. You’re out of the house until you do the truffle shuffle.

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CNote_89@reddit

It’s unwatchable now, it’s just kids screaming the whole time.

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LetThem_1972@reddit

Unfortunately, that is most of Eastwood's 1980s output. I thought a lot of them were B level back then, today they're unwatchable.

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starsNjars@reddit

Looks like wolverine

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ixnine@reddit

That’s what I saw at first

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filtersweep@reddit

Was watching Dirty Harry last night— don’t believe I saw anyone wearing seatbelts— ever.

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geodebug@reddit

Shoulder restraints existed since 1968 but wearing seat belts didn’t become mandatory till the early 80s and that was state by state.

Like reducing smoking, public safety campaigns take a long time to reach saturation.

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filtersweep@reddit

I get that. I was there. We never wore seatbelts as kids unless we drove out of the city.

I recall that NOT wearing seatbelts was considered a rather macho ‘right’- and the movie led me to wonder if Eastwood and McQueen characters drove that type of thinking into the American psyche….. made seatbelts seem ‘uncool.’

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geodebug@reddit

I was there as well but probably wouldn’t blame Hollywood since nobody wore them.

My dad fixed tvs as a side hustle in the 80s so a lot of the time we didn’t even have seats in the back of his van and just sat on equipment or the floor.

Belts just weren’t on the radar until national campaigns started pushing them.

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filtersweep@reddit

No doubt, but it was surreal how even after they were mandatory, in my state, it was illegal for a cop to stop someone solely for seatbelt compliance. They could only be fined if they received a fine for something else— like speeding or running a red light.

I had a 62 Olds that didn’t even have belts…..

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geodebug@reddit

Right. It just took awhile to saturate.

I’d guess they also became more important as the US grew, more and more cars were on the road and highways, and accident data started to be better collected and analyzed by insurance companies and government.

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Advanced_Tax174@reddit

It was the 70s, no one wore seatbelts period.

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Konorlc@reddit

They weren’t the law then.

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Roland-Of-Eld-19@reddit

If you want a great 70s movie watch Mr Majestyk 🍉

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Advanced_Nose_7738@reddit

I see what you did there 🤣

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BeGreatful24@reddit

The theme is my ringtone! Love that movie

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charliefoxtrot9@reddit

But, "go ahead, punk, make my day."

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GuiGuru123@reddit

I think that line is from Dirty Harry. Sudden Impact is a sequel and he loses the “punk”. This is one of my father’s favorite movies! Have seen it many times.

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charliefoxtrot9@reddit

No punk. I always want to add punk to dirty harry quotes

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UnderwhelmingAF@reddit

Definitely the weakest of the Dirty Harry movies.

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sstokes2746@reddit

I don't know, I think The Dead Pool may have that honor.

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CNote_89@reddit

Dead Pool is pretty bad.

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surfinbird@reddit

Jim Carrey’s 1st big movie!

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UrsaMajor7th@reddit

No kidding; I'm sure you've changed over those 43 years and see things with different eyes.

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GuiGuru123@reddit

You know what makes me sick?! It’s watching you stuff your face with those hotdogs. Nobody, and I mean nobody, puts ketchup on a hotdog!!!

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Fritzo2162@reddit

The Death Wish movies are in the same boat as Dirty Harry. The acting is like they’re reading their lines off of quecards. Those movies were super popular when I was a kid.

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Advanced_Tax174@reddit

The first one was pretty good, in that at least it was a serious movie.

All the others were poorly made excuses to show gratuitous violence.

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Advanced_Nose_7738@reddit

Elderly Bronson had to pay his bills like the rest of us.

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ol__spelch@reddit

Yes!

I LOVED the Death Wish movies as a kid. I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane and rewatched DW4.

OH. MY. GOD.

It was SO bad!

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Advanced_Nose_7738@reddit

Bad guy catches Bronson hiding in the kitchen.. Bad Guy: "What the fuck are you doing here?" Bronson: "I was makin' a sandwich" And then he beats the shit out of the guy and throws him out of the window of a high rise.

Epic.

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Natural_King2704@reddit

They remade death wish. Bruce Willis is in it. Meh

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ol__spelch@reddit

And that one was somehow worse!

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Natural_King2704@reddit

Yep

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GuiGuru123@reddit

Go Ahead, Make My Day…

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imcrowning@reddit

Every Which Way but Loose. I loved them when I was a kid mainly for the orangutan. I recently watched it again and its horrible.

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TightStool@reddit

Still love this one. The mom is so funny. I even named my beagle Philo.

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Ornery_Old_Man@reddit

You guys are going to hate to hear this but Fast Times at Ridgemont High is lame now. All the funny lines that people quote are the ONLY good parts of the movie. It just doesn't stand up at all anymore.

On the other hand even though it's obviously dated now Smokey And The Bandit is still very funny and totally watchable.

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ChuckYeagerWV@reddit

And Jackie Gleason almost stole Smokie, he was soooo damn funny in that.

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Ornery_Old_Man@reddit

Yeah, he was great.

I watched it with my youngest daughter and she thought it was really funny (I had to explain the whole CB radio thing though, lol)

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ChuckYeagerWV@reddit

I feel the same about Ferris Bueller. I end up just thinking he needed a good beat down.

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Continuum_Design@reddit

On rewatches, Ferris is so smarmy and self-absorbed.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

No Politics - Political posts or comments of any sort are not permitted. If you wish to have political discussions, you may do so on our other sub r/GenXPolitics.

Breaking this rule may result in bans, either temporary or permanent.

Before you make the claim: No, providing respite from political discussions does not infringe on your rights.

Also, this politics ban was put before the sub over a year ago, and members have spoken.

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Advanced_Nose_7738@reddit

I watched some Walker Texas Ranger reruns when Chuck Norris passed. It's pretty bad.

There was another action 90s show called Renegade.. "He was a cop and good at his job until he testified against bad cops. Now he roams the badlands"... It's cheesy, but I enjoy it anyway.

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Swimming_Ad_8856@reddit

Lorenzo Lamas

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Southern-Picture-146@reddit

Only part of this movie I remembered from childhood was the dog farting. Quickly found a clip.
https://youtu.be/-XEjC8IDmKs?si=xOlzsjVqISk1zc9y

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DarrenEdwardsVR@reddit

I saw this when I was probably way too young. Then a few weeks later saw the Muppet Babies version where they reenact the end of this movie, only the person being chased off the roller coaster is caught by a horse on the carousel instead of impaled.

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Gluverty@reddit

Is this the one where Guns’n’Roses have an acting cameo?

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blueblocker2000@reddit

That's the Dead Pool. There is a guy that lip syncs Welcome to the Jungle but I don't think GnR is actually in the movie.

https://share.google/CPpHU5OIiITLFuL3C

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EagleCrewChief@reddit

That was Jim Carrey.

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blueblocker2000@reddit

Ok. It's been a minute since I watched it.

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EagleCrewChief@reddit

It’s all good.

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karma_the_sequel@reddit

I saw it in the theater when it came out. The dark-haired guy from Air Supply was in the row in front of me, along with his entourage.

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ninemountaintops@reddit

The rock star guy was Jim Carrey and his producer/director was Liam ' I have a very particular set of skills ' Neeson.

Everyone has to start somewhere I guess.

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Poultrygeist74@reddit

Liam Neeson was in Krull (1983)

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Finfangfoom2000@reddit

Yeah they have a brief cameo

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system7777@reddit

I remember going to see it at the movies with my dad. Was very excited about GnR in it.

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OneFortyEighthScale@reddit

The guy who plays the rock star is Jim Carrey haha! I almost forgot that.

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NikitaKhruiseship@reddit

For years I thought I had seen it, but eventually realized I’d only read the Mad Magazine parody The Cesspool.

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blueblocker2000@reddit

It's decent. Little corny in 2026 but ok to watch.

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Western-Calendar-352@reddit

That was The Dead Pool, five years later.

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Gluverty@reddit

Ah right, memory gets fuzzy after 40 years

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sobuffalo@reddit

No, thats the one with Jim Carrey

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worstpartyever@reddit

The shadows on the photo made me think Hugh Jackman was starring in a remake

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hordaak2@reddit

While scrolling i thought it was another wolverine movie...

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nhh@reddit

Yes some old movies now look ridiculous. Even good ones.

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Dr_Drax@reddit

My side and I both loved Rocky and Bullwinkle as kids. When it came out on DVD, we tried watching it with our own kids. Wow, was that show stupid. We tried skipping to a "fractured fairy tale" segment, and it was just moronic.

Similar disappointment when Greatest American Hero came out on DVD. My family couldn't even make it through the pilot, it was so bad. I don't know how we liked it even as children!

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Honeybee71@reddit

I tried to do a rewatch of Gilligans Island recently and lawd it’s so bad, I think I lost some brain cells

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Dr_Drax@reddit

I know I watched Gilligan's Island as a kid, probably all of the color episodes. Yet the only thing I remember was a persistent confusion as to why all the men acted like Ginger was so hot when Mary Ann was so much prettier.

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Honeybee71@reddit

Ginger is constantly coming on to the men

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Dr_Drax@reddit

I meant I was confused as a kid. Although, even now I remember Ginger seeming blatantly disingenuous, only being nice when she needed something, which was all the time. That reminded me a lot of my older sister, which was probably part of the reason I didn't see her Ginger's appeal.

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Honeybee71@reddit

Exactly! I’ve watched like 8 episodes and she’s all over them in every one

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RaygunMarksman@reddit

Ah damn, I loved those reruns as a kid and stoned teenager.

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Honeybee71@reddit

Same here 🤣

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XavierPibb@reddit

gif

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Appropriate-Bid8671@reddit

Rocky and bullwinkle was the only cartoon on on Sundays where I grew up and even then I rarely watched the whole thing. I think I preferred doing chores.

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Static-Age01@reddit

Sudden impact was never a good movie.

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Silly-Power@reddit

Thank you! I thought I was the only one thinking that while reading the OP's post.

The only really good Dirty Harry movie is the first one. Each after that there's an exponential drop in quality.

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kimapesan@reddit

Just about every movie from our childhood doesn’t hold up. Maybe 1 in 20 is still watchable.

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schmearcampain@reddit

Really depends what you consider a movie from your childhood. Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the lost Ark, Alien, Aliens, Escape from NY, Die Hard, The Road Warrior etc etc all are still fantastic.

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geodebug@reddit

Each of those great movies spawned dozens of lesser knockoffs so the ratio of 1/20 seems generous. There’s a mountain of crap we enjoyed as kids alongside the few gold nuggets.

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lemmysbetter@reddit

I'm about to try the last starfighter today. Last time I watched it was around 1987 or 88.

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Dive30@reddit

Your memory, and the joy you had is better than the re watch.

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lemmysbetter@reddit

I'm watching it because talking about it with a friend the other day I realized I don't Remeber much about it. I remember I liked it and the main guy was playing a standup archade at a trailer park. And that's about it for specifics. I'm expecting to be horrible.

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Illustrious-Grl-7979@reddit

I think that is ok, though, from the standpoint that it is for entertainment. Maybe it was serious the first time around, and now you can get a good laugh from it. 😆

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TideWaterRun@reddit

It was the origin of the popular phrase “Make my day” wasnt it? Haven’t seen it in years but remember it being full of plot convenience and bad acting by the bad guys. Was this his last movie with Sandra Locke?

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HintonBE@reddit

Yep, this is where it came from.

Go ahead, make my day.

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ProfessorExcellence@reddit

Even when movies like this first came out I considered them campy fun, not great works of art. I rewatch them with the same mindset. They are cotton candy, not a fine steak dinner. They were never meant to be anything else.

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schmearcampain@reddit

Yeah, they’re like Reacher for the early 70’s.

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GuitarHeroInMyHead@reddit

I love Dirty Harry...but some were better than others

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schmearcampain@reddit

First two were great. Rest of them, not so much. Magnum Force is my favorite.

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sasquatchbrokers@reddit

I remember thinking Cocktail was a fun movie, I man I was wrong awful really fucking awful.

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LetsgoooSonny@reddit

Cocktail is absolutely a fun movie for the first half. Then it turns into a schlocky mess for the last half hour, but it’s still a fun movie for all its flaws

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Protovision_Inc@reddit

I don't remember it being awful, but it there is definitely a dark undertone story about life in there.

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Free_Donkey4797@reddit

I dunno. I’m able to watch old flicks and maintain the mindset of the time. It’s not often I get sucked into the whole bad acting vibe. I mean, I can enjoy what would be bad movies when viewed fresh today.

Now new movies? Yeah I can spot crap and constantly point it out.

That’s said, Spaceballs is always fantastic. Really, everything Mel has done is always fantastic.

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LordZany@reddit

The mindset at the time, for me at least, was that a lot of these 80s movies sucked

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DriveIn73@reddit

You guys are all breaking my heart.

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MikeOrTara@reddit

Happens all the time for me. Movies and TV shows. I finally decided I was going to watch one of my all time favorite movies as a kid last weekend, so was fired up when I started The Warriors. I tried... I really did. But I couldn't make it through half an hour.

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oboingadoing@reddit

Still love The Warriors and most of the movies of that time.

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MaximumJones@reddit

I find that so many of the 70s and early 80s movies do not hold up in retrospect due to poor/mechanical acting and terrible cinematography.

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Apawling_Behavior@reddit

IIRC the coolest part of that movie was Clint’s pistol, the 44 Automag. As a movie, not so good. While like many of us I watched every Dirty Harry movie when they came on TV, but when I eventually got to see the first one, Dirty Harry, from 71. For me it was, and on rewatch still is, the best of the bunch. A close second is the 2nd installment in the series, Magnum force. After that things go downhill.

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