Stallone is definitely true regarding the fact that not many action movies are made today in the vain of the 80's films which starred himself,
Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But is this evolution or
regression?
Speaking to ET about The Tomb (2013) alongside Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone pseudo-lamented the fact that the action movie genre is seemingly being replaced by superheroes. Have the likes of John McClane, Rocky Balboa and The Terminator indeed been replaced by Batman, Captain America and The Hulk? Said Stallone on the prospect---
"This genre unfortunately is becoming… let's just say
it's fading away. "You have the superheroes today which are possessed
with all extraordinary powers; they can blink and a fireball comes out
of there. It's great. And then you have a bunch of us which is just your
basic male-pattern badness. … Kind of like hands-on action."
While Stallone, Willis and Arnold are still making movies today, they aren't making them the same way they did once upon a time.
Even when they're continuations of the same film series, it's obvious
that Live Free or Die Hard (2007) is not the same type of movie as the original Die Hard (1988. Even Rocky Balboa (2006) tried and failed to capture the same aesthetics and tone of Rocky (1976) and I'm sure the same will probably occur with Total Recall (2012). By no means am I saying this shift is evil but the action films of the past had a certain ability to get the testosterone flowing that
just isn't matched today. It's part of an industry-wide trend that I
feel was summed up quite succinctly by Meryl Streep recently --- [Source: CBS viaFilmDrunk]
Oh I don’t see those (comic book movies). That’s called the narrowing of the audience. The movie business has worked assiduously to discourage intelligent, discerning
people, FROM the theater. They have worked hard to get rid of you,
because you don’t go and then buy toys and games.
Be honest, there's far more Ghost Riders(2007) and Fantastic Fours (2005) out there than there are Avengers (2012) or Batman Begins (2005). And while all of the past action movies were far from cinematic masterpieces I'd take the worst 80's
action flick over the worst superhero movie any day. Obviously I don't
have to prove that I'm a major supporter of comic book movies but if you've watched movies for the last 20+ years like me, you'd have
to be blind to not notice the shift in who and what the movie industry targets. Often times it appears that the movie is merely a speed-bump on the way to merchandising. There are no Cobras (1986) or Predators (1987) being made today. The closest we've come in recent memory was Drive (2011) from Nicolas Winding Refn and while that's a fantastic film, even that had the synthesized feel
of the 21st century. Unfortunately, it's hard to pinpoint one moment or
aspect of film-making which led to the current state of the action genre. All I can say is that it's not the same and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I sure do miss the old days.
Says the 60-something year old man who tried to milk both Rambo & Rocky for every dime he could get, despite being WAY too old to make either role plausible.
Action can make a comeback as soon as they find a new actor/actress that can catch the interest of thousands because I while the old actors are cool and everything but they're old
I don't recall him complaining when Superman 1, 2,3 & 4 were in theaters. Not a peep for Batman and Batman Returns or all of the horrible follow ups. Come on man there's room enough for both.
Says the 60-something year old man who tried to milk both Rambo & Rocky for every dime he could get, despite being WAY too old to make either role plausible.
Old, faded stars trying to recapture their youth with film sequels 30 years later are the problem. Try coming up with a new character and not relying on what worked so long ago. Besides, Will Smith and Tom Cruise seem to be doing just fine.
Superheros are like Disney...the audience never changes and so the appeal is always there. Super hero movies are a hit because it has brought comic books to life for a generation that actually knew what a comic book was. Superhero movies would be a fail if not for the adults who grew up reading these books and watching the Saturday morning cartoon shows as well as evening television programming about these characters. Hollywood just needs some original material so that they can stop remaking the SAME movies over and over again.
Sure.
Really?