RE: [Epic] 5th Element and Batman rant

From: Miller, Chris <CMiller_at_...>
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 17:22:51 -0500

>but fantasy movies don't have much of a track record...

I was talking about his with a friend of mine. I think it's because a
fantasy movie simply requires too much background development. There
are
too many variations of magic and monsters and how it's all supposed to
work.
OTOH, Sci-fi has several stock characteristics that everyone
immediately
knows. this was especially true of cyber-punk (Keanu Reeves not
withstanding). If you consider the fantasy movies that are classic,
they
are usually very close to real-world history, and the magic is very
fuzzy,
and not central to the plot (as far as how magic works, that is).
Highlander, LadyHawke (passable), etc. came out as good movies because
of
this. Sci-fi movies that are very rich in background, but not
necessarily
"sci-fi cliches" also do very poorly, like the fantasy films. _Dune_
stand
out in my mind. OTOH, movies like _Star Wars_ (a western, set in
space) are
extremely popular, because the science is based on very simple,
commonly
known concepts.

Temp

----> I also think there are some tech reasons : A robot looks
artificial, it's OK because it's supposed to. Same for armor, guns,
spaceships, etc - you can do a semi credible job with these and get the
look right even if the story is marginal, but with so many fantasy
stories using other creatures (like Orcs, for ex) you just can't get
past the funny suit. Makeup & costuming are a big bottleneck IMO. Even
in Return of the Jedi, the Gamorrean (?) guards at the beginning look
pretty iffy on the realism scale to me. Hopefully, some of the newer
CGI stuff will help smooth this out.

Also, I think fantasy & the supernatural is less "acceptable" nowadays
in the mainstream except in a horror context. Tech is cool, magic
ain't.

        Chris Miller
Received on Fri May 23 1997 - 22:22:51 UTC