No Respect: Thread of Underappreciation of the Media Variety
 

I noticed that a lot of things I love get no respect, no respect at all. I think that's a damn shame because I love the things I love. However, I'm sure that's a given. My thing is, why does it seem few if any people love the things that I love?

If you've ever thought that than I believe this may be the thread for you. We shall celebrate the things in entertainment that seem to get no respect.

Well, for me, I'm going to start with Mystery Men. Back in 1999, the man who directed those Taco Bell dog commercials gave us a fantastic movie about second-string heroes protecting the Rust Belt metropolis of Champion City. Based on characters from the fringe comic, Flaming Carrot, Mystery Men featured such hilarious personalities as the Blue Raja, the cutlery throwing RP-accented hero who refused to throw knives, Mr. Furious, a man who prided himself on the ability to go off at any moment, despite the fact that most of this ability was feigned and actually more a reflection of mild impatience, the Shoveler, who's handiness with a shovel could rival any swordmaster, the Bowler, a woman out to avenge her father's death with the help of a posssesed bowling ball that contained his skull, and Invisble Boy, who could only become invisble when no one looked at him.

I happen to think this movie is one of the best superhero films ever made. The casting was absolutely perfect on all sides, and it had a script that had no illusions of the seriousness of the premise while also being quite quotable as well. However, this movie is not quite loved by too much of anyone at all. Though it's not quite hated to be brought up frequently in arguments for what's wrong with comic-based properties. I think it's fair to say that this movie is more remembered for its contribution to the Smash Mouth video, "All-Star" than anything else.

One strange thing though, is that out of all the movies in the past 20 years based on comics, this is one of the few where the creator of the property was closely involved with the making of the film. It was never lauded for this fact though. In fact unless you spent enough time to listen to the commentary of the movie and extra features you'd never know. Another fact, Ben Stiller refuses to admit to this film. He talked Janeane Garofalo into doing the flick and when it bombed it seemed like he could never live it down. For a guy who's claim to fame is suffering the most humiliating comic moments onscreen, you think playing any angry man in a failing flick wouldn't be such a big deal for him.

I still believe this to be an awesome and entertaining film with inspired casting from Paul Reubens to Tom Waits. And I think this film gets no respect.

So, what do you think gets no respect and why?

For the record I just want to say I own Mystery Men, I loved the movie and in fact think it is one of the more creative and original comic book movie attempts around.

There are alot of other movies I actually love very much and I think gets NO respect when in fact, they should. I'm saving what I really feel is disrespected for later since I have too many movies to list I love that get no respect. These movies are:

Crank, Mind Hunters, Armageddon, Small Soldiers, Super Mario Bros, and Big Trouble (I was REALLY pissed off at how people treated that movie).

The thing I feel people don't give any credit or rightful respect to these days is cartoons, old new and whatever. People always associate such negative aspects to cartoons be it to the person who watches them, or the cartoons themselves. People these assume cartoons are either for pea brained, innocent, bambi eyed children.

Or grossly acne covered nerds who have shallow lives and think cartoons are too baby-ish and anyone who watches them past the age of 10 is a loser devoid of any kind of reality or maturity (grow up indeed). To me, I think people these days should stop being ashamed of what they watch and hiding it from others and learn to accept cartoons no matter what age you are.

I do not in any possible form of comprehension understand why people think there are "right" and "wrong" ages you can like something, I cannot fathom that. Since when did love have an expiration date? Is it really so disgusting and pathetic for a person in his/her 20's or even 30's to find enjoyment out of watching a cartoon show? Is that really such a definition of being a loser?

I think people don't give cartoons any respect and constantly write off anything that is animated and doesn't originate from a prime time or late night programming block, to be for kids. People don't think animated characters can envoke the same kind of emotion, sympathy, or inspiration as RL programming. I say I watch Kim Possible, people will look at me like I've got the plague.

I get so tired of being told or indicated what people have to do to be considered acting your own age. I think cartoons share alot of good, honest, and encouraging material that can be helpful and amusing to people even in their 50's. Not everything animated is happy sunshine cutesy baby stuff.

I've found more inspiration and stimulation from watching Darkwing Duck then I have most TV dramas. There's alot to be said about cartoons and how they are hardly becoming a kids only demographic any longer, but it still bothers me that society and norms have instilled a public "insecurity" for people who still like cartoons as they are older.

It's disgusting, degrading, and despicable to me that people can look down so easily on people who like things that are supposedly beyond their age. And how anyone who's over the age of 18 that looks at a cartoon is labeled with being either a freak or only watching the show to derive some kind of sexual pleasure from it.

I find it unfair, unjust, and unbelievable that people can have the gall or nerve to be able to tell someone else when you have to stop loving something.

I loved Big Trouble, though being a huge Barry fan that's no surprise. I remember when they cancelled its September '01 release date for obvious reasons. I'm glad I know someone else who likes that film, because it truly gets no respect.

While there's plenty of things I could talk about here, its late and I don't really have the time. I do however, run one of the only Mystery Men fansites, and wrote out a transcript of the movie simply by watching it line by line. I also found a copy of the original script (much different from the final movie) on eBay and retyped it to post online. I saw the film about 7 times in theatres, and I roleplayed the Spleen on an online game for years - and to my surprise enjoyed it very much.

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Good topic idea, Aerostar. :)

I'm going to start with one that I've championed a few times here, and that I still feel gets a raw deal: Pixar's Cars, a wonderful, quietly uplifting and beautifully crafted little film that absolutely does not deserve the black sheep reputation it's ended up with. More than anything, I think the lukewarm reception afforded to Cars shows demonstrates how much damage the wrong expectations can inflict, because this film was saddled with an unhealthily large amount of them. Admittedly, part of that can be blamed upon Disney and Pixar themselves for their ill-judged and misleading decision to sell this slow-paced, gently comedic character piece as a wacky and action-packed racing romp, but I think the real killer was that Cars had to follow in the footsteps of The Incredibles, a creative milestone that had seen Pixar really going above and beyond what anyone might have expected from an animated movie in more or less all respects. Cars, with its sedate atmosphere, slim story and "take-it-easy" message, was never destined to be the film that topped it, but people expected it to anyway, leading to widespread disappointment with a movie that I thought was outstanding on its own, more modest terms. For starters, it's visually peerless, in more ways than people give credit for; its technical successes are well documented (six words: neon lights on a car bonnet :wiltshock:), but for me the outstanding achievement is how they manage to bring a mechanical world to life, with refined, subtle animation giving these cars amazing personality and expressiveness. Audio-wise, it's equally excellent - as ever, Pixar's policy of casting actors rather than star names pays dividends with some really warm performances, particularly from Owen Wilson, Paul Newman and Bonnie Hunt, whilst music-wise we get a nice mix of the familiar (Randy Newman's pleasant score and ballad) and the new (some well-chosen country/rock songs). Curiously, though, what impresses me most about the movie is its narrative; it's by far the most heavily criticised part of the film, but in its own way, I actually believe the plot of Cars is perhaps the ultimate expression of Pixar's "Story Is King" mantra. Think about it; the movie is a slow, wistful nostalgia piece about an era most of the perceived "target audience" would be unfamiliar with, with very little of the broad comedy or action set pieces expected from the cartoon blockbuster, but John Lasseter went ahead and made it anyway. Why? Because it was a story that meant something to him, the one he wanted to tell, and as a result we got a film that felt earnest and heartfelt. That's a virtue that can't be prized highly enough in Hollywood movies and it's for that reason, more than any other, that I feel that Cars is a movie to be treasured; I urge everyone to give it a chance. :frankiesmile:

Still, if I'm calling the multi-million-dollar-grossing Oscar nominee Cars underappreciated, I don't know where that puts my other choice, our mutual friend Craig McCracken's The Powerpuff Girls Movie. It honestly breaks my heart to look over at Box Office Mojo and observe the commercial ignominy suffered by PPG; $11 million domestic gross + $5million internationally = a pretty grim fate for Cartoon Network's first and to date only (not counting Aqua Teen) theatrical feature. :( I don't know what happened; maybe it was bad timing (the show's popularity peaked around 2000/2001, whereas this film was released in July 2002 against Men in Black II), bad marketing (it was distributed by Warner Brothers, who had previously screwed up the release of Brad Bird's The Iron Giant) or other factors (a lot of older fans felt awkward about seeing the movie in theatres, a feeling exacerbated by an apparent lack of evening screenings), but whatever the reason, the fact is that the closest thing I can find to a box office achievement for PPG is a place in the Top 20 of Biggest Theatre Drops (ie, the films which lost the most screens in their third weekends), alongside classics such as Gigli, Alone in the Dark and Pluto Nash. :sadbendy: I can only imagine how gutted Craig, Lauren and co. must have been, because you need only watch it to see that it was clearly a labour of love. So many TV spin-offs are content to take the easy route and simply throw out something that feels like a padded extended episode, or else like two episodes stiched together; on Powerpuff, on the other hand, Craig really went the extra mile to make a genuine movie. The production values impress right off the bat, particularly for a relatively low-budget production; the already great artstyle was refined into something really striking and worthy of the big screen, whilst similarly PPG and Foster's veteran Jim Venable expanded the score's scope and depth tenfold whilst maintaining its quirkiness. What's most impressive, though, is the way that Craig was able to take a formula which had previously only been applied to 10-20 minute comedy shorts and use it to create a perfectly-formed 70-minute story with enough depth, emotional resonance and darkness to almost feel epic at times; the PPG rhythms and character dynamics are all still in place, but in a heightened, expanded form that really gives a cinematic sheen to it (movie Mojo, in particular, is a great villain with tons of presence). I remember Craig mentioning in an interview that he wanted The Powerpuff Girls Movie to be the ultimate realisation of the PPG concept, to be everything that Powerpuff had always dreamed of being; as far as I'm concerned, he succeeded totally, box office be damned, and I sincerely hope that he realises that his hard work was appreciated. :frankiesmile:

I think people's problems with Cars were these two reasons, many geeks couldn't separate it from the very similar Michael J Fox vehicle, Doc Hollywood, and many moviegoers, such as myself found the entire mechanized world to be kind of creepy. Many have voiced that it seemed like a world where automobiles and other machines have finished off humans and created their own world. Though you were absolutely right about the killer blow. This movie came under a lot of pressure coming hot on the heels of The Incredibles. Except for one person that I know. She adores anything to do with anthropomorphic cars, and loves all the movies about them. Though, this may only be me, I find this quite hilarious. She made it seem like there was something outside of Maximum Overdrive and Love Bug movies, and saying those were actually anthropomorphic is really stretching it. I mean I guess you can throw in Knight Rider, but once again that's a stretch. I did enjoy the movie for what it was, and recognize all the effort they've put into the movie. Though I applaud the animation on The Incredibles more. Pixar has noted the fact that they have an impossible time with people and anyone who knows anything about CGI knows how hard hair is to animate. Cars leaps in technology seem to lie more in lighting, texture, and reflection more than more obvious things. Probably the reason why it's not noted by many for its own milestones.

As for the Powerpuff Girls movie, I did quite enjoy what I've seen of that movie. I really wish to see more of it. Though in my current situation its nigh impossible to do so without some horrible ridicule I'd rather not shoulder until October. Thanksgiving probably would've been a better release date for that film. It had all the hallmarks of a decent holiday release, and as far as I can remember no one huge occupied the spot at the time, except for the Chamber of Secrets, and that still works out for WB either way.

From what I've heard, Warner Bros. sabotaged The Powerpuff Girls Movie because they wanted that vapid song during the credits in the middle of the movie and Craig objected. WB took umbrage as a result.

Consider also: the original budget tag for the movie when it was announced in 2000 was $25 million. The final cost was $10 million. With virtually no promotion, some folks on WB's board of directors had their pockets lined quite nicely.

Speaking of Warner brothers animated features, one film I think not only doesn't get respect or acknolwedgment is the musical film Cats don't dance. This film got close to zero promotion or advertisement from WB and only had like one trailer release in other theaters.

Many people don't even know the film exists, and hear of every other animated film but this one. Hell I know people that know Rock a Doodle more then this one. I thought this movie was amazing, it had beautiful songs and it really was impressive how they actually brought some reality into it.

How it's not so easy to become a big star in hollywood and that people's dreams sometimes get crushed in hollywood. I read that this movie was mostly crushed out of existence thanks to the poorly timed release date against Disney's Hercules, which really was a great movie actually.

But still I really enjoyed this movie, i think it's sweet, it's down to earth, and one of the few non disney animated features that made a decent sized impact on my life.

Yes, the PPG movie was very good. I was never a big fan of the PPG's but it does make me sad to think that a wonderful movie like that one just couldn't get the attention it deserved.
Something I feel that gets no respect is the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Yes it could have been better. Yes it had its flaws. But what really gets my goat is how people tear Lucas apart for it. The man was doomed from the start really. How could he be expected to to reach the expectations that the fanbase had? I say that they brought it on themselves.
Lucas is a good guy and he wanted to make his movies his way, not the way that the fans wanted them to be made. I think the fans just felt that SW was theirs and forgot who's it really was. He tried to avoid the obvious and give us movies that he thought worked. While I love the original trilogy to no end, I still feel that the prequel trilogy was very good and worthy of the Star Wars name.

I really can't speak for the PPG film, as I have never seen it in its entirety. As for the SW Trilogy prequels, yeah, I'd have to concur that many fans were too harsh on Lucas for not having the film the way THEY wanted it be. I enjoyed Ch. IV-VI more than I-III, but the prequels were tons of fun, too (or I thought so, anyway).

I know a few films that I felt didn't gain the recognition that I felt it deserves at the time.

Aside from a few animated features such as Cats Don't Dance or The Iron Giant, there was an animated feature that I felt was so amazing, and in spite of being based on an old book, I considered it to be a fabulous film. It was Disney's own take of Treasure Island, but with a sci-fi twist, and a new title: Treasure Planet.

When I first saw the trailer, I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked; the character designs were fitting with the movie, the combination between CGI and traditional was very unique and I like the style this film bought on the silver screen. Unfortunately, it bombed in theaters when it was released, due to competition with Harry Potter and Die Another Day.

Hopefully, should the Simpsons Movie be successful in theaters (which I hope), then the public might be convinced that 2-D animation isn't a thing of the past.

I think Lucas works best with others. All of the best films with Lucas' name attached were in tandem with others. One of the best scenes in the prequel trilogy was the Obi-Wan and Anakin battle. That scene was storyboarded by the Beard himself, Steven Spielberg. Not saying that Lucas is horrible like so many others say, I actually like the prequels. It's just that he works best with others. But I think he hit it on the head when he said that most fans don't want to admit that the films were always intended for children. He gets a lot of guff, but the world he created is absolutely incredible. You should hear him explain how he came up with the podracers. I applaud anyone who never let adulthood get in the way of imagination.

One of my picks for unsung movies is one that is despised by many, and I actually can see why. That movie is Wild Wild West starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek. First of all, it really alienated fans of the original tv series, because in truth other than titles and character names it had absolutely nothing to do with the series. Second, summer burnout, it couldn't hold its own with the blockbusters of that year, The Matrix, and The Phantom Menace. Third, I understand that it's there but I'll never quite understand why, the utter hatred of Will Smith by many moviegoers. Just read anything about a movie that has just cast Smith and you'll see some of the most hateful things uttered about a movie star.

However, I still loved this movie. The production design, the score, the story, all of it. I must admit even I was a bit peeved by the way it strayed from the show, but after reading a few websites that actually went away. If you suscribe to a Wold Newton type universe the entire movie actually takes on a complexity that is quite interesting. Not only are there two James Wests and Artemus Gordons, but both Miguelito and Arliss Loveless are direct descendants of Ada Lovelace herself. Will Smith's Jim West is the son of the famous John Henry, and Kline's Gordon was an actor who was originally just a decoy for the real one who went on to become much more. But even if you don't apply this you still have a fun movie. Branagh's Loveless is just one of the greatest screen villains I've ever witnessed. A cultured and educated Confederate vet who has no qualms about undermining the entire US government simply to get revenge for the surrender at Appomattox, and with his current condition you can tell why he's more than just a bit bitter about the whole ordeal. His steam-powered inventions are glorious mixes of steampunk and malicious whimsy, such as the 80 foot tall Tarantula that rampages through the Utah desert, or the land ironclad the decimates everything in its path.

One of the best turns in the movie was Ted Levine's Bloodbath McGrath, a man who simply wanted the Confederacy back but had no idea what it would cost him. In his last moments you can even see that it wasn't really the Confederacy he wanted back but his name cleared and honor restored.

I cannot say enough about Elmer Berenstein's score. Acclaimed for such Western scores as The Magnificent Seven, Berenstein mixes the modern sensibility of the film and the nostalgic themes of the Wild West itself. Plus, he even sneaks in the original tv theme a couple of times.

In recent years, the director Barry Sonnenfeld has had some very hard times. After the lukewarm reception to both MIB II and Big Trouble, and the almost unredeemable RV, Sonnenfeld has really stumbled lately. He's no longer the Hollywood Golden Boy who lensed Raising Arizona or brought us the incredibly entertaining Addams Family film series. However, I hope he's able to bounce back. With movies like Addams Family, Men In Black, Get Shorty, Big Trouble and Wild Wild West on his resume, I think it would be a shame to lose such a talent.

Yes, this is probably the biggest defense for Wild Wild West you'll find on the entire internet because this movie gets no respect.

I'll admit, I actually didn't really LOVE Wild, Wild west but i by no means hated the movie. I enjoyed it for it's sharp dialogue and excellent acting performances, especially as you noted Monk, Loveless. He truly was a great villain and I thought he was a riot. Both as a menacing bad guy and as a comedic character.

I was totally shocked when I realized that's the same guy who played Gilderoy Lockheart in Potter:Chamber of Secrets. However I can agree that I think there was too much absurdly advanced technology in that movie in comparison to the fact they are in the west. My biggest beef would probably be the pointless "cyborg" bad guys Smith faced on the giant robo spider at the end.

That to me just seemed a bit much. Yes Smith made it funny as usual but it just seemed a bit much for my tastes. I also enjoyed Levine's performance as Blood bath. I also want to jump in on the Star wars prequels. I think it's truly unfair of fans to honestly expect a double hat trick, no one will EVER be able to top the first 3 Star wars movies.

It cannot be done, it really can't, no matter how much money or time Lucas has when making these prequels. And while the movies are indeed flawed (and I'm more then eager to feed Jar, jar a glass of shut-the-hell-up), i really enjoyed them and enjoyed both Ewan and Hayden's performance as a young Anakin and Obei-wan.

I think Anakin's face is pretty much iconisized (not a word I know) in my brain, and i honestly feel that actor brought Anakin to life the way he was meant to. The best thing about the prequels to me comes in 2 forms: 1- Revenge of the Sith, the best prequel film and the ONLY one that I think was magnificent enough to stand somewhat, slightly on par with the older Star wars films.

I stress the word slightly. And 2- the villains. The Prequels gave us some of the most incredibly bad ass and memorable villains I've seen in a long time. Count Dukoo, Jango-Fett, Palpatine (not new but kicking even more ass then the first time we saw him) of COURSE Darth Maul and my personal new favorite: General Grievous. I thought he was an excellent new villain.

His voice, his appearance, and the fact he acted (and even hunched) like an old Snidely Whiplash kind of villain was very cool. Now since were bringing up turd films that have been globally despised and spit on by pretty much everyone, I personally would like to say (and I know I'm probably the ONLY person who will admit this or say this) I actually really liked the 1998 "Godzilla" movie.

Not at all. I adore the 98 Godzilla film and the cartoon series that is spawned. In fact if you look closely enough most people did, or at least would've if it weren't for the fact that it was called Godzilla. That's the biggest beef, everyone wanted the Japanese Godzilla not a mutated monitor lizard. I did not share this beef at all. If you wanted Japanese Godzilla watch Japanese Godzilla, this one is whole different monster. But apparently according to die-hards and regs alike you can't label a film Godzilla that isn't kaiju in anyway. It's a real shame really. It had just the right mix for a modern monster movie, and could've spawned a whole series of cinematic features. The real Catch-22 that sickens me to no end is the fact that if it had not been called Godzilla it would've been spurned as nothing more than a half-baked rip-off. The American Godzilla is one of the few movies that actually works but because of its giant monster trappings is destined to get no respect either way.

I personally am a HUGE Godzilla fan, I've seen all 28 Japanese Godzilla films and can see how people can hate this being called Godzilla. However, I always go into movies with open minds and closed comparisons, I went in this movie to watch it as a movie, not to debate on how much it was or was not like Godzilla in Japan.

I felt this movie was done in something obviously very risky: making Godzilla realistic. It's not always easy to sell to Americans that you got a monster that can't be killed at the end of the film, Godzilla has been pretty much become immortal in his film series so they had to make it a bit easier to swallow. I thought the film had a great cast and an EXCELLENT musical score. The chasing sequence with the helicopters was amazing and really well shot.

The only thing I honestly, really disliked about the film was the fact Godzilla didn't breath fire and instead breathed this nitro based gas that ignited when fire struck it. I seriously didn't think having him breath fire would have been too much to ask. The cartoon series kicked just as much ass, I loved the show and it had some REALLY original monsters.

Not to mention mad props for actually bringing back the movie Godzilla to life as a cyborg in creating an excellently recreated "Destroy all Monsters" set up. I didn't mind the fact they called this creature Godzilla, it's just another version of him, doesn't mean that it makes him evil for having the same name.

Spider man in India has a skirt like carpet on his outfit, and in Japan he drives a high tech race car and a super robot. Different packaging, same product (more or less). I also know personally that Japan does NOT totally hate Godzilla 98 because they incorporated 98's Godzilla into the Japanese Godzilla movie series TWICE.

Once by a verbal reference in "GMK: Godzilla, Mothra, Ghidorha all out attack", and actually appearing AND facing Japan's Godzilla in a battle in Godzilla's (to date) last film "Godzilla Final wars".

I always tell that to the die-hards. I mention that the Japanese wouldn't have even allowed the name to be granted much less included in their series if they didn't respect our Godzilla. But it always falls on deaf ears, go figure.

Rumors abound say if Emmerich had not done The Patriot, Godzilla would've been fighting an Americanized Mothra. That movie I would never have seen. Not because of the fact that it sounds terrible, it doesn't, it's that little phobia of the class Lepidoptera that would've kept me away from that one. Same reason why I don't watch the original Mothra, and I have no idea why Ben Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms.

Mostly due to praise from Kevin Smith and Jay, but I did enjoy Affleck in Phantoms and thought he was better in there then he usually is in most of his bombed out roles. The moth in "Phantoms" though doesn't last for very long on screen.

Mothra however would have had been to necessary considering she's actually Godzilla's greatest enemy. She is actually "the good guy" or girl rather, and she's been more of a threat to big G even more so then King Ghidorah. The other monsters rumored for the sequel were Ghidorah and Rodan as well.

The most commonly heard plot was that Godzilla's body would be hit by a nuclear missile, truck, or vehicle in order to bring Godzilla back to life but also to mutate him into resembling a more accurate form of his older appearance in Japan.

I love Godzilla! I haven't seen many of the films but the 98 movie was my first. Granted, I'll take King of the monsters over that one but it was still very enjoyable. And its spin-off series was great Saturday morning fun!:D

I highly recommend you checking out some of the older Godzilla movies, some of them are absolutely amazing. I personally recommend the following:

Godzilla vs. Hedorah
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
GMK: Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, all out monster attack!
Godzilla: Final Wars

Thanks for the suggestions, Mr.M! I do pick up any Godzilla flicks I find. I've see King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs the Sea-monster and Godzilla 2000. I really want to see any that star my fave monster, Anguirus.
Back on topic, another movie I feel that gets no respect (outside of the fanbase, anyway) is the 1986 Transformers movie. Yes it was a cheesy hour in a half 80's cartoon movie filled with Corney 80's music with the soul purpose of selling toys to kids, but it showed just how great the characters were (and still are). Who didn't shed a tear when Optimus Prime died? Who didn't think Unicron was freakin' menacing? Who didn't want to slap duct tape on Wheelie's mouth and throw him into the vacuum of space?
I will always love this movie. The animation was slick, the music, while Corney, will always be in my top ten list. And it showed just how dark and violent a kids property could be taken. All of this would affect future animated films that followed for a long time...by showing them what not to do if they didn't want to bomb at the box office.;)8D

Then I suggest the following Godzilla films, all which feature Angillas or Angurius in a pretty decent sized role:

Destroy All Monsters
Godzilla vs. Gigan
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla: Final Wars

Also back on topic, I feel the Super Mario Bros. live action movie gets no respect at all. While I admit it was a totally warped way to look at a game that was so simplistic in the first place, I have to say i really, really enjoyed this movie. There was top notch actors here and I LOVED Dennis Hopper as Koopa.

I don't think even Bowser in the games gave off as menacing and evil a prescence as Koopa did in this movie. I also liked this movie because it was an really original way to look at the games, and I give the creators credit for at least trying to bring the world of Mario bros. into theaters one way or another.

I can understand that. While it definitely isn't my favorite movie, SMB was a fun romp, if only for a laugh at how movies were done in the 80's. (a time I really miss) Another good example is the Van Damm Street Fighter movie.
It's awful, but it's fun when you just want to laugh at something. And like you said, Mr.M, like Mario, it's another take on the source material. For those points alone these movies do deserve even a little respect.

I believe something must be said for Mars Attacks! Because nothing is ever said for Mars Attacks! It is neither ridiculed or applauded it seems. It seems to only pop up every so often in the media. The last time I heard anyone speak of this movie in the media was Chris Rock. Entertainment Weekly was reviewing him just before he hosted the Oscars a couple of years ago. He said his favorite movie that no one else likes is Mars Attacks! He always tries to talk to Burton about it but Burton always thinks he's being a wiseass and just ignores him.

Now, this movie is far from perfect, but it's just as far from horrible. There's quite a bit of charm to be seen in this film. For one thing, the fact that it was even made was a miracle. I don't know how many people have seen the grimly hilarious cards, but they really aren't easy source material to adapt. A true faithful adaptation in live-action would've been a hard R at best. But somehow Burton was able to capture the spirit of the whole idea and make it a mild PG-13. What's more is that many exact scenes from the bubblegum cards are still there. He planned to go on and adapt yet more bubblegum cards with the equally gruesome Dinosaurs Attacks! However due to the bad box-office returns with this film it never happened. I think this may have been due to the fact that the audience wasn't quite clear. It was obviously aimed at kids who would've loved the cards had they been released in the 90s rather than the 60s, but many of B-movie and sometimes Kubrickian overtones of the film seemed to be aimed at adults. I don't think those two things meshed too well with many who did see the film.

The all-star cast of the film was wonderful. Basically a who's who of has-beens, were-nows, and will-bes. From Pam Grier and Jim Brown to Natalie Portman and Jack Black, and everyone in between. The great thing about having a huge all-star cast is that you were actually surprised by how much screentime many of them actually had. I remembered thinking Michael J Fox would live through a great amount of the film only to be killed one-third into the story. Jack Nicholson pull double duty as the President and greedy land developer Art Land. Jack was ecstatic about working with Tim again and actually wanted to play every role.

One also must give credit to the Martians and their weapons. Actually straddling the fine line between comic and meancing, the Martians were a formidable adversary throughout the film. Trick robot hands, colorful lasers, shrink rays, giant mechs, and faulty translators made up their terrible arsenal. One of the funny things about the death rays colors is that they were only chosen because the movie was being released during Christmas season. Another equally funny thing is the Martian language was originally just a temp track, but because so many thought it was funny it was ultimately kept in the film. A very fine line was also walked with giving the entire outer space invasion a realistic feel mixed with the 50s Bs the movie was aiming for. If one pays attention they'll notice that the Martian saucers are actually updated versions of the same design used in Earth Vs Flying Saucers.

Overall, I could go on about this film all day. And over time I'll start to sound like an old man talking about the good old days. But that won't get you any closer to giving this movie another chance, because this movie gets no respect!

I think there are more films that are more below respectable then Mars Attacks. I think the film itself wasn't really seen as a bad movie despite the box office amount, I think the problem with the movie (and that i have with it) is that it is really, really, REALLY weird. It's one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen.

Why you ask? Because of the down right confusing aspects of the film. Tim Burton has never done a film like this, if you told me someone else made this I'd totally believe you because this is far gone from his style. All of his movies use black and dark colors where as this is like the exact opposite.

The huge celebrity cast list was an interesting move, having so many big name stars in there and then killing them off was a very original idea. Natalie Portman and Jack Black however were not famous yet, back when this came out no one even heard of them. It's one of those super ass early movies people forget these celebs ever did.

Like Johnny Depp in the first Nightmare on Elm Street, or Kevin Bacon in the first Friday the 13th, very few people know those guys were in those movies. Back to Mars though, the thing I loved the most was easily the aliens. Their goofy costumes, weapons, but most importantly: their language. It was hysterical! :D

They sound like ducks hepped on helium and pep pills. The movie is very funny and I do respect my main man Burton for trying something different, but there's one thing that always makes me feel bad about watching this movie: the deaths. For someone who's seen so many violent, gore stuffed, big body count movies, this movie really makes me feel iffie about re-watching it.

The concept of death can easily become funny, Monty Python's Black knight showed us that. However, I think the fact Mars had SO much death and especially seeing the skeleton thing, it started to make me feel icky. A person can only take and see so much death and reactions to it that it starts to get to you.

I also cannot stand watching animals get hurt on film, like "pet" animals. Seeing that dog got killed makes me cringe and look away every time considering I was a pet owner and i loved my dog very dearly, so seeing something like that even if presented comically makes me feel crappy inside. There are even some movies I have trouble watching because certain people's deaths are so excruciating to think about.

Movies like the "Jurassic Park" films, "The Mummy", "Terminator 3: Rise of the machines (the bed scene with Claire Danes fiance') "The Blob" (remake). Call me a pansy if you like but some of those movies do have scenes that rub me the wrong way, regardless of rating, sounds, thoughts and stuff like that can all paint very nasty pictures in your mind.

Alot of people also ripped on Burton's "Planet of the Apes", I didn't like the film personally but I didn't hate it either, it was like okay for me. But, I think people really didn't respect the very authentic and accurate displays of the apes. Their hand shakes, their climbing, everything was VERY, very accurate stuff. I didn't love the movie but I think it's still a movie that had alot of good effort put into it.

Just didn't turn out right.

I guess I can understand that. I had a hard time watching horror movies as a kid because I could literally feel the pain the characters were feeling, although in a muted way of course. It took me a long time to become desensitized so to speak.

Mars Attacks! was a movie that walked a very fine line for me, because it actually is one of the few movies that I've seen that is both terrifying and funny at the same time. I would be laughing as the movie rolled on, but when I stopped to think about it later on it never really sat right. Still I really love this movie.

I can't believe I went the whole way without a single mention to Danny Elfman's score. A great throwback to the old Bs of the 50s. He spent many cues Mickey Mousing it but it really worked. Such as the cue The President's Speech which actually makes you feel the crawling robotic hand, or Message to Martians as a discordant saxophone gives way to a screaming string section that actually sends chills up your spine. Of course my favorite themes of the entire score are only named by superfans and of course are not the actual titles, those are Mars Triumphant and Martian War March. These two themes are the most used. The War March is of course first heard in the beginning credits, and Triumphant's best turn was at the end of the attack during the first landing. Though you don't grasp the true nature of the theme until it's used during The President's Speech when it's revealed the Martian sign of peace is actually a representation of their conquering flag. Like the movie the score succeeded in being both funny and horrifying at the same time. If anyone is interested I suggest downloading the extended edition seeing as it was never made available for purchase.

The first movie I ever went to see by myself was when I was thirteen, and it was Mars Attacks! I loved that bloody movie, if just because I felt like seeing it was some kind of odd "Coming of Age" experience.

I'm going to switch gears from movies for a moment to talk about a soundtrack I don't think gets enough respect, that being the soundtrack for the original Hellsing anime. Now, while the anime itself gets more than enough respect (and, in all fairness, I feel too much respect especially when compared to the superior manga and OVA, which get nowhere near as much respect from the American audience), the soundtrack is, sadly, one of the features most passed over. This really kinda irks me, as I think the soundtrack is one of the best features of the series, and the only thing about the original that's superior to the OVA series.

The form of music itself is sort of hard to describe. There's a general style there, but each piece has it's own distinct form. The fact that I myself have a very limited knowledge of music and musical terminology doesn't help either. If I had to describe it, I would describe it as (primarily) being rock and roll with slight traces of ska, soul, and the occasional discordant piano thrown in, as well as slight traces of spiritual. Again, I'm sure there's someone on this forum who, if they heard it, could describe the form much better than I could.
Each track is utterly incredible for the most part, some of my favorites being Logos Naki World (COOL-World without Logos, the opening theme song), Musical Play Smiling Rebellious Flower, Certain Victory Lotus Sutra Tune, Mask of the Priest and the Bell of the Cathedral and When you Start the War, Fight with Arrows, Spears, and Swords. And these are only my favorite songs on the first OST of the series, Raid. There are even more favorites on the second one, Ruins, though I'll not put them here for sake of length.

The best thing about the soundtrack is, I think, this: while it perfectly sets the mood for the series and the scenes in which the tracks play, you can easily enjoy them without ever having seen the series. For the most part, I would say that anime soundtracks, a lot of the time, tend to be....dull on their own. Usually, for most of the anime I've seen, the soundtracks really just build up the atmosphere for the scene in the episode and have little value if just listened to on their own. Not the case here. You can easily enjoy it without watching the anime. Definantily something I would suggest getting on its own merits, fan of the anime (or anime in general) or no.

I love Mars Attacks! It's just so wacky and zany what with all the celebrities and the cookie aliens.8D