The Movies of 2002 - Best Year Ever?

[Brown Jenkin]

That alone makes it way better then this year. I'm sure there are a few other good ones that you didn't list as well.

That was just the Sci-Fi/Fantasy 1981 also had:
For Your Eyes Only
Stripes
History of the Worldart I
Body Heat
Cannonball Run
On Golden Pond
Reds
My Diner with Andre
Great Muppet Caper
Mommie Dearest
Nice Dreams
Wolfen
Polyester
Das Boot
Fort Apache the Bronx

The only area that I would say Geek culture is doing better is the superhero genre.

 

[Mark]

Additionally: Thanks, Mark for adding that much longer list to my own. I should edit my post.

I figured there might be a couple of gems, or movies of somewhat debatable quality, somewhere in that additioanl mess. If nothing else, I think the rerelease of ST2 and ET on DVD were notable as making this a pretty damned good year for movie fans of our genres.

 

[John Crichton]

Said Mark:
I figured there might be a couple of gems, or movies of somewhat debatable quality, somewhere in that additioanl mess. If nothing else, I think the rerelease of ST2 and ET on DVD were notable as making this a pretty damned good year for movie fans of our genres.

You make a valid point.

On 1981- That was a damn good year for movies. There are some real gems in there! Raiders, Mad Max 2, Excalibur, Escape From New York, Time Bandits, Das Boot, Clash of the Titans, Chariots of Fire, etc. etc. etc.

I guess one of the problems with this question is that many of those movies had an impact but weren't instant classics (altho, a few of the ones I listed actually were). They were liked at their release but time has made them slightly bigger than they were. It's a natural thing, really. You can also find people who thought a few of those films (just like many from this year's crop) were total crap.

Also, there are quite a few films on that list that were hardly even noticed until later years (Das Boot for example). So there are probably (as evidenced by me forgetting a ton of movies from this year) a few potential "classics" waiting around to be discovered for this year. Personally, I think Brotherhood of the Wolf is one of them.

Hmmm, so maybe the best way to break it down would be to count the "classics" from each year and the amount of shear genre films released. That would probably give a clearer idea of what years stand out.

I'm thinking to count:

• Comic Book Adaptations
• Science Fiction
• Fantasy
• Action/Adventure
• Spy Movies (usually overlaps w/ Action)

Sound about right?

Disclaimer: I am really tired at the moment and none of this may make any sense....

 

[Mark]

On 1981- That was a damn good year for movies. There are some real gems in there! Raiders, Mad Max 2, Excalibur, Escape From New York, Time Bandits, Das Boot, Clash of the Titans, Chariots of Fire, etc. etc. etc.

I guess one of the problems with this question is that many of those movies had an impact but weren't instant classics (altho, a few of the ones I listed actually were). They were liked at their release but time has made them slightly bigger than they were. It's a natural thing, really. You can also find people who thought a few of those films (just like many from this year's crop) were total crap.

Also, there are quite a few films on that list that were hardly even noticed until later years (Das Boot for example). So there are probably (as evidenced by me forgetting a ton of movies from this year) a few potential "classics" waiting around to be discovered for this year. Personally, I think Brotherhood of the Wolf is one of them.

Hmmm, so maybe the best way to break it down would be to count the "classics" from each year and the amount of shear genre films released. That would probably give a clearer idea of what years stand out.

I'm thinking to count:

• Comic Book Adaptations
• Science Fiction
• Fantasy
• Action/Adventure
• Spy Movies (usually overlaps w/ Action)

Sound about right?

Disclaimer: I am really tired at the moment and none of this may make any sense....

There are a couple of categories that regularly get crossed over with certain stars. Arnold is one with movies like Terminator, Total Recall, etc. and Bruce Willis with Twelve Monkeys. It might be safe to say that most Sci/Fi crosses into Action/Adventure.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Hmmm, so maybe the best way to break it down would be to count the "classics" from each year and the amount of shear genre films released. That would probably give a clearer idea of what years stand out.

I'm thinking to count:

• Comic Book Adaptations
• Science Fiction
• Fantasy
• Action/Adventure
• Spy Movies (usually overlaps w/ Action)

Sound about right?

Looking over the years of movies out there I tried to check the various catagories you listed but noticed that only two catagories realy only apply to geek culture: Fantasy and Comic Book Adaptations. The other three Sci-Fi, Action, and Spy are things that have been around forever and in fact make up large chunks of any year. Name any year and there are at least 10-20 of these that could count as some form of classics. To add to this there are series that never end and and can be expected to put out a movie every couple of years at least: James Bond, Star Trek for example and really need to be discounted because of that.

The Fantasy/Comic section is much smaller. In the lean years this dropped to 1-2 a year, but you are right that the last couple of years has seen an upswing that was last seen in the late 70s early 80s. Even still only amounts to 4-5 a year. As for quality, that is debateable. Are they better stories or is it just that special effects have continued to improve.

 

[Mark]

Just as an aside, but perhaps appropo of how far we've come, I find it curious that the year tossed out as a comparably more monumental year included Dragonslayer. Although many folks had a probelm with the feel or tone of the movie (or the story, though I enjoyed it), almost everyone gave high praise to the special effects based on the portrayal of the Dragon. Conversely, Reign of Fire (released early this year and coming on DVD for the holidays) was reviled even moreso as a story than its 1981 counterpart, had incredibly excellent effects in regard to its Dragons, and yet it seems that is no longer enough for the public to consider it a passable film for our genre(s).

 

[Eridanis]

2002 was a good movie year for us (says the man who rarely is able to get to the movie theatre), but 2003 will be even better for at least three reasons:

LotR: Return of the King
Matrix Reloaded
Matrix Revolutions

...and X-Men 2, if that's your taste (I wasn't a gigantic fan of the first one, myself). Waht else is due out next year?

 

[Hand of Evil]

1981 That was a wonderful year!

The biggest problem with asking this question is the age of the reader. See, I am 42 and in 1981 I was 21, wild, free, hanging with buds and dating. Movies had not yet become formatted roller coaster rides, things were new and magical.

Now, if I was 21 now, I would not have seen most of the movies in 1981, at least not on the big screen they would have been on video and TV for at least 10 years! The movies I would be seeing would be cookie cuttings of prior fare, action action action and very little new, I could only compare to my movie going years, leaving out so much in movie history.

So, poll is broken.

 

[John Crichton]

1981 That was a wonderful year!

The biggest problem with asking this question is the age of the reader. See, I am 42 and in 1981 I was 21, wild, free, hanging with buds and dating. Movies had not yet become formatted roller coaster rides, things were new and magical.

Now, if I was 21 now, I would not have seen most of the movies in 1981, at least not on the big screen they would have been on video and TV for at least 10 years! The movies I would be seeing would be cookie cuttings of prior fare, action action action and very little new, I could only compare to my movie going years, leaving out so much in movie history.

So, poll is broken.

Well, it is an opinion based poll. Ya can't be wrong.

Eridanis said:
2002 was a good movie year for us (says the man who rarely is able to get to the movie theatre), but 2003 will be even better for at least three reasons:

LotR: Return of the King
Matrix Reloaded
Matrix Revolutions

...and X-Men 2, if that's your taste (I wasn't a gigantic fan of the first one, myself). Waht else is due out next year?

Daredevil, Hulk, Kill Bill, Jersey Girl... and I'm sure a ton I am forgetting.

 

[Welverin]

Matrix Reloaded
Matrix Revolutions

When are these two supposed to be out?