Movies that molded on the shelf or didn't stand the test of time.

Movies are funny things. What makes "The Godfather" seem ageless and timeless while "The French Connection" seems dated and old? Why does "The Maltese Falcon" satisfy while "Shaft" and "Dirty Harry" are stale as last Monday's toast? It's easy to understand how "fad" movies "Saturday Night Fever" and "Smokey and the Bandit" have a shelf life of 2 minutes but other movies should be more timeless but aren't. What movies have you seen that you once thought was all that and now just look silly?

Worf

Just my 2 cents, but with the movies you stated I would say that the Godfather is timeless due that the story is about intangible items: Family, trust, loyalty,pride

Others rely upon the current trends in life. Good Cop, Bad Cop gets old and the only thing you can update is the scenery.

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Originally Posted by recoveryone

Just my 2 cents, but with the movies you stated I would say that the Godfather is timeless due that the story is about intangible items: Family, trust, loyalty,pride

Others rely upon the current trends in life. Good Cop, Bad Cop gets old and the only thing you can update is the scenery.

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That's a very good answer, seems to me.

It explains a lot but not necessarily everything. E.g. why do I keep coming back to Ghostbusters or Fifth Element?

Ghostbuster? I have no clue on that one, I take that back, Comedies seem to have a life of their own, depending on ones taste. Fifth Element has those intangibles again, Pride, Love/lust, Loyalty. Somebody has to be that guy, so why not me. Same recipes as in all the Die hard series

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Originally Posted by Worf101

Movies are funny things. What makes "The Godfather" seem ageless and timeless while "The French Connection" seems dated and old?

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Maybe because French Connection is not in the same league as Godfather :D

I think some movie are so good that it seem they never get old or get tired of watching it. Movies like Ten Commanmnets, Ben Hur, Malcolm X, Cincinnati Kid, Goodfellas, Rio Bravo or Star Wars seem to never get too old to be watched and enjoyed.

However I agree with recoveryone that comdey films have more wachable factor than non comedy genre.

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Originally Posted by recoveryone

Just my 2 cents, but with the movies you stated I would say that the Godfather is timeless due that the story is about intangible items: Family, trust, loyalty,pride

Others rely upon the current trends in life. Good Cop, Bad Cop gets old and the only thing you can update is the scenery.

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I too agree with this.

Also, any vehicle in which the central plotline revolves around technology will eventually become "dated". In today's world of digital photography and satellite view, The Parallax View never gets made.

Also, if anyone has read the Ludlum books, the Bourne trilogy, though fine action/adventure, resembles the written version very little. Undoubtedly, this was purposefully done to avoid the "dated" feel.

My wife watched this on Netfilx which suprised me so I thought I would give it a spin with my 16yr old son.

Well it was slow and not funny at all, except the "that's the fact Jack" line. Maybe I had too many beers when I watched it like 20 years ago but very disappointing, and I did not even make it to the end.

I just watched Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstien (also featuring the Wolfman and Dracula) with my five year old. He loved it. He thought Costello was hysterical and was scared by the monsters. Not dated at all.

Comedies and faddy movies can overcome being moldy on the shelf though. Movies that feel dated or faddy but I think pierce through anyway:
1. The aforementioned Smokey and the Bandit;
2. Cannonball Run;
3. The original Bad News Bears (could not get made today);
4. The Silver Streak;
5. Trading Places;
6. Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World;
7. Caddyshack.

Historical period pieces tend to hold up because their period specific.

However when fashions change it can look a bit jarring when you see an older film that is supposedly set in the future and people are wearing 70s clothing. I can't think of an example off hand but they're out there.

I find action films tend not to hold up as well unless they were very good at the time. Westerns to me rarely hold up and the likes of Dirty Harry don't because they're somewhat cartoon like in character development. Everything is too one dimensional and it comes off flat. Certain comedies don't hold up because audiences are far more savvy - and a number of older comedies are too tame for newer audiences. I liked stuff when I was 7 like the three stooges but now I am laughing but not in a good way - in a - "this is so terrible" I can't believe my taste was this bad when I was 7.