RE: Michael's Halloween Lase-O-Rama: The Blob (1989, RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video)
Of course, as with all rules, there are exceptions which prove it. John Carpenter's update of The Thing From Another World is phenomenal. Philip Kaufman's 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is excellent. David Cronenberg's 1986 update of The Fly is arguably better than the Vincent Price original. And to that list, I have no problem adding Chuck Russell's 1988 remake of The Blob.
So true. When I started reading this, I wondered if you were gonna say that you preferred the 1958 version. I definitely prefer this one from the late 1980s, although I might have only seen it once or twice, a long time ago.
I wonder if, in the future, we're gonna say that we prefer the reboots from the 2010s 2020 over the scifi / horror movies from the late1970s / 1980s. I seriously doubt it. Most 1980s movies are just so much fun and practical effects ( and early CGI ) easily tops whatever is being done these days.
See you around and please keep those awesome posts coming!
P.S. That see you added is amazing! Love it :>)
I tend to think that, eventually, there will be an entire generation who grew up with ONLY the 21st-century reboots/remakes, and will look on them fondly. There's a huge generation who prefer the Star Wars prequels to the original trilogy, not because they look on them as superior films, but because they came out when they were children and they saw them first.
The 80's was a great period for remakes/updates because that's when practical effects really hit their peak, and it became possible to show and do so much more, especially when you're talking about science fiction and horror, where often the effects are the largest piece of the budget.
CGI isn't all bad, of course. There's a reason Terminator 2 is looked upon as such a fabulous movie, but mainly it's because Cameron was forced to limit himself to using the computer-generated stuff only when it was absolutely necessary. Everything else, the explosions, the nightmare sequences, the cut scene where they reset the T-800's CPU, the gun battles and car crashes, they're all still done with practical effects. Same with films like Jurassic Park and even The Lost World to an extent. We've seen what happens when everything is computer animated, and the results just aren't as magical. :)
Vincent, Michael -- you guys rock! The Philip Kaufman version of Body Snatchers is one of my all-time favorite films! I actually saw it in the theatre when it first came out (one of my college movies, lol!) Seen it several times since then -- the last time was when Nimoy passed away (I love his character in the film). I'm so glad you love it also!!!!!