Quote from: Hamster1066 on Aug 27, 2017, 08:12:26 PM
Gladiator was certainly more of a risk that T2. Cameron was already famous for expensive epic (bloat) and state of the art special FX thanks to The Abyss. Arnie was at the height of his popularity. The Terminator had been rediscovered and re-evaluated in the wake of Aliens. It could be considered a risk because of it's expense but it had a lot going for it.
Sword and sandal epics had been out of fashion for more than thirty years and Crowe was only really known for a supporting role in LA Confidential IIRC.
Personally I find the story in Gladiator a lot less simplistic than the framing fantasy fitted around Titanic. Titanic is full of faults, but it has spectacle. Likewise with Avatar. Gladiator also has spectacle but as a revenge story with interesting motivated characters it is pitch perfect. I guess it is all down to personal taste.
Quote from: Hamster1066 on Aug 27, 2017, 08:12:26 PM
Gladiator was certainly more of a risk that T2. Cameron was already famous for expensive epic (bloat) and state of the art special FX thanks to The Abyss. Arnie was at the height of his popularity. The Terminator had been rediscovered and re-evaluated in the wake of Aliens. It could be considered a risk because of it's expense but it had a lot going for it.
Sword and sandal epics had been out of fashion for more than thirty years and Crowe was only really known for a supporting role a LA Confidential IIRC.
Personally I find the story in Gladiator a lot less simplistic than the framing fantasy fitted around Titanic. Titanic is full of faults, but it has spectacle. Likewise with Avatar. Gladiator also has spectacle but as a revenge story with interesting motivated characters it is pitch perfect. I guess it is all down to personal taste.
Quote from: PierreVW on Aug 26, 2017, 07:18:16 PMHow are Blade Runner and Star Wars even relevant in an Alien vs Aliens discussion?Quote from: SiL on Aug 26, 2017, 01:03:53 PMQuote from: Hide on Aug 26, 2017, 12:57:21 PMAnd yet it's basically defined the look of an entire genre for 30 years. Every sci-fi action series since has drawn heavily from the art and design of Aliens.
Sure aliens is a great movie, but it hasn't the great artistry that alien has.
That's a lie.
BLADE RUNNER and STAR WARS are far more copied and admired than any Cameron movie.
Quote from: Highland on Aug 26, 2017, 03:31:22 AMQuote from: PierreVW on Aug 26, 2017, 01:06:51 AMQuote from: Highland on Aug 26, 2017, 12:02:55 AMQuote from: PierreVW on Aug 25, 2017, 10:22:41 PM
I disagree.
James Cameron is Michael Bay with the Biggest Budgets of All Time.
Ridley Scott is Better. He is like Steven Spielberg. Both of them made ALL kinds of Films and in ALL Genres.
Nah, there's only one Spielberg.
I think Scott is better than Spielberg. But back to the topic, I mean it in the sense that both of them made small, dramas, big, thrillers, War, Suspense, Action, all kinds of genres, etc....
For example: both of them are releasing their new dramas this December in time for Oscars.
What does better mean.
If I'm on a desert island and have to pick a Directors catalogue, I'm taking Spielberg's after about 2 seconds of thought. That's even with Scott having two of my all time favourites.
Quote from: SiL on Aug 26, 2017, 01:03:53 PMQuote from: Hide on Aug 26, 2017, 12:57:21 PMAnd yet it's basically defined the look of an entire genre for 30 years. Every sci-fi action series since has drawn heavily from the art and design of Aliens.
Sure aliens is a great movie, but it hasn't the great artistry that alien has.
Quote from: Alionic on Aug 26, 2017, 03:55:47 PMQuote from: Hide on Aug 26, 2017, 12:57:21 PM
For me Aliens isn't on par with Alien.
Alien is a masterpiece. It is up there with the great classics.
Sure aliens is a great movie, but it hasn't the great artistry that alien has.
Good lord, I find myself agreeing with a Hide post here.
Quote from: Hide on Aug 26, 2017, 12:57:21 PM
For me Aliens isn't on par with Alien.
Alien is a masterpiece. It is up there with the great classics.
Sure aliens is a great movie, but it hasn't the great artistry that alien has.
Quote from: Hide on Aug 26, 2017, 12:57:21 PMAre you a fan of X-Japan by chance?
For me Aliens isn't on par with Alien.
Alien is a masterpiece. It is up there with the great classics.
Sure aliens is a great movie, but it hasn't the great artistry that alien has.
But, Cameron hasn't directed a bad movie for about 30 years, the man knows how to tell a story.
And even if the story isn't that great or has been told before, like Avatar, he knows how to deliver a thrilling ride. He knows what works for the audience and what doesn't. He is a scientist of movie filmmaking.
Ridley has a lot more bad movies and failures than great one's, it's like he doesn't knows what he is doing all the time and works on a whim.
Prometheus and Alien Covenant are bad movies with great ideas.
They have problems that could have been very easily been fixed by an average director.
I don't know how Ridley managed to make a movie as bad as Covenant, maybe he was his intention to end the franchise. Who knows...
Quote from: Rudiger on Aug 26, 2017, 06:40:14 AM
I think it's safe to say that this thread is now knee deep in "my dad's bigger than your dad" territory.
Quote from: Hide on Aug 26, 2017, 12:57:21 PM
For me Aliens isn't on par with Alien.
Alien is a masterpiece. It is up there with the great classics.
Sure aliens is a great movie, but it hasn't the great artistry that alien has.
But, Cameron hasn't directed a bad movie for about 30 years, the man knows how to tell a story.
And even if the story isn't that great or has been told before, like Avatar, he knows how to deliver a thrilling ride. He knows what works for the audience and what doesn't. He is a scientist of movie filmmaking.
Ridley has a lot more bad movies and failures than great one's, it's like he doesn't knows what he is doing all the time and works on a whim.
Prometheus and Alien Covenant are bad movies with great ideas.
They have problems that could have been very easily been fixed by an average director.
I don't know how Ridley managed to make a movie as bad as Covenant, maybe he was his intention to end the franchise. Who knows...