The Great Movie Tournament - 1980s: Round 1 - Group 13 of 32

[mae]

During the first round of The Great Movie Tournament, please vote for up to six films you would like to move onto the next round. The top six films will be moving on. Keep in mind that the percentage of the vote a given film receives will determine its standing going forward.

The poll will run for seven days. Discussion is greatly encouraged!

The nominees are (please let me know if any video doesn't play for you):

Lucas (1986)
Directed by David Seltzer

Watch Trailer

Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Watch Trailer

Time Bandits (1981)
Directed by Terry Gilliam

Watch Trailer

My Left Foot (1989)
Directed by Jim Sheridan

Watch Trailer

Field of Dreams (1989)
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson

Watch Trailer

Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
Directed by Jeff Kanew

Watch Trailer

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Directed by John Hughes

Watch Trailer

The Running Man (1987)
Directed by Paul Michael Glaser

Watch Trailer

[Merlin1958]

Finally, a thread that I can vote for more than 2 films!!!!!!!


Bueller.........Bueller.............Bueller....... ........................

[Garrell]

Finally, a thread that I can vote for more than 2 films!!!!!!!


Bueller.........Bueller.............Bueller....... ........................

Lol. Had that problem on a few myself

[mae]

Poor Lucas...

[Heather19]

I love Lucas

[Iwritecode]

I've never understood why The Running Man gets so much love. I don't know if it's because I compare it to the much better story in the book (which it has almost nothing in common with sans title) or what but I've never liked it that much.

I can only assume it's because people like the actors in it. Especially Richard Dawson (who I'll admit was probably the best part of the movie). I just wish they would've stuck closer to the plot of the book instead of simply turning it into just another 80's action movie staring Arnold.

[mae]

How can you not love Arnold in skin-tight spandex?

[Iwritecode]

How can you not love Arnold in skin-tight spandex?

[Heather19]

I always thought The Running Man was widely hated. Surprised to see it getting so much love here.

[fernandito]

It's just good ole campy 80's fun with some creative visuals. And of course, having Arnold as your lead doesn't hurt either.

[St. Troy]

I've never understood why The Running Man gets so much love...

Huge +1.

I know TDT is a King-oriented site, but The Running Man was a historically atrocious movie and one of the most criminally bad King adaptations given the nail-biting excellence of the source material. Again, we all love King, but are we going to pretend that Thinner was also a good film? Yikes.

...Especially Richard Dawson (who I'll admit was probably the best part of the movie)...

Dawson was excellent at giving the producers what they apparently wanted in the movie, but for me, it worked against what the short story was. (For a host, I pictured someone more stern, maybe a Robert Stack type).

[St. Troy]

Speaking of huge:

How can you not love Arnold in skin-tight spandex?

No doubt Arnold was a tremendous physical specimen worthy of our admiration, but for me, this was another case (as was Dawson in my comment above) of "excellence" that wasn't "excellent" for this story (I thought Ben Richards was much more of an everyman type than a whoa-it's-Arnold type, emphasizing the difficulty of the struggle - you take one look at Arnold and you know he's going to kick ass and stack 'em ten-high).

[Iwritecode]

Speaking of huge:

How can you not love Arnold in skin-tight spandex?

No doubt Arnold was a tremendous physical specimen worthy of our admiration, but for me, this was another case (as was Dawson in my comment above) of "excellence" that wasn't "excellent" for this story (I thought Ben Richards was much more of an everyman type than a whoa-it's-Arnold type, emphasizing the difficulty of the struggle - you take one look at Arnold and you know he's going to kick ass and stack 'em ten-high).

Agreed. If they were ever to reboot it and cast an actor that could play more of a normal guy like Paul Rudd or something (just throwing it out there as the first name that came to my head) AND follow the plot of the book a little more closely, I would totally watch it.

Keep Ben Richards as a poor, broken-down man that goes to the network because he doesn't have any other choice. Keep the fact that he has a wife and sick child at home. And keep the game a nation-wide thing where the entire country is part of it instead of just a single abandoned city. That would be really interesting set in today's time where basically everyone has a camera in their pocket and there are millions more in houses, restaurants, on traffic lights, etc...

They'd have to change the ending of course but I'm sure they could come up with something.

They will probably never do it though. There's no female love interest and no happy ending, both of which they had to add to the movie.

[St. Troy]

Keep Ben Richards as a poor, broken-down man that goes to the network because he doesn't have any other choice. Keep the fact that he has a wife and sick child at home.

Yes!

They'd have to change the ending of course but I'm sure they could come up with something.

No! The original ending is the only ending. Just have a shot of the wreckage dropping to the ground around the building as the credits run. No music, just that.

There's no female love interest...

The wife, remember? I mean, their not exactly having date nights and such, but that's part of the idea - bleakness infects every part of his life.

...no happy ending, both of which they had to add to the movie.

Ahhhh! No to both! Basically, I want the book on the screen - it reads like a screenplay (meant in the best way possible); they could even have the countdown numbers flash up to separate the scenes.

That book could've made an awesome movie, with all the darkness of a Nolan Batman film, but so lean and mean, it could've been like 80 or 90 minutes of tension building to the crash and that shot of wreckage I mentioned above (maybe I should've been a director). Have people walking out of the theater like "wow, he didn't make it, but what a goddamn ride." Instead, we got Outdoor Family Feud with Arnold in an American Gladiators uniform.

(Side complaint: novels require many cuts in order to fit into movie length, but short stories often have just enough to fit a movie - but then the screenwriters always think "compact story? I'll just pad this baby out here, and here," and then we're presented with a bloated sack of crap (not always, but often enough to rankle).

(Another side comment: any mention of The Running Man (the story) always reminds me that I want to look up just which of King's short stories (I know this was a novel, but having read it in the collection, it turns my mind in that direction) have had standalone book releases (as with My Pretty Pony), and come up with my own list of short stories for which I'd like standalone editions (I'm sure Suntup could do something mindbending for N., for example)).

[mae]

The poll has closed. The following six titles are moving on to the next round:

1. Full Metal Jacket (86.21%)
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (68.97%)
3. The Running Man (65.52%)
4. Field of Dreams (51.72%)
5. Revenge of the Nerds (48.28%)
6. Time Bandits (34.48%)

And the following two titles have been eliminated:

1. My Left Foot (31.03%)
2. Lucas (24.14%)