Welcome to the Untouchable Classics Series. Here, we’ll take a look back at films which captured our hearts and imaginations, and the hope they are never given the dreaded ‘Reboot’ treatment. Once a month we will pick five ‘Untouchables’ and discuss why they should be left to bask in their glory.
So without further ado, let’s begin.
1. Back To The Future
Released in 1985 and directed by Robert Zemeckis, this is one of the greatest trilogies ever made. Back To The Future is a clinic in storytelling and continuity, which is full of twists, turns, and laughs. It’s a testament to the quality of film-making when watching today, just how good it looks and how much fun it is. This film has a partnership which has more chemistry and feeling in it than you can shake a stick at. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as Marty and Doc are excellent and their partnership is the driving force behind the trilogy. It does make you wonder if this would have been the case if Eric Stoltz would have been Marty as originally planned.
The look and feel of the film is something I don’t think could be replicated if it’s ever re-booted. Sure the effects would be a lot better, but it wouldn’t look as authentic as it did back in 1985. You have to smile when the 3-D shark appears in part II.
If you missed it, then you only need to watch the reaction to seeing Michael J. Fox and Chris Lloyd together for the 25th anniversary, to see how much these movies meant to people.
You may have watched when originally released or with a parent, but, either way, this film has been around a long time and doesn’t show any signs of losing its fans just yet. This would change if rebooted, though, so let’s just leave it alone shall we?
2. The Usual Suspects
Directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie, The Usual Suspects is a neo-noir crime thriller with an all-star cast. The film tells the story of Roger “Verbal” Kint, one of only two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship. Verbal recounts his story and the story of a shadowy criminal known as Keyzer Soze.
Kevin Spacey won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Verbal and it’s easy to see why. Singer does a fantastic job keeping the story moving along and dealing with double and triple crosses easily. The film also boasts one of the best endings in film history. When the big reveal happens, it’s a jaw on the floor moment.
The cast list for the movie is top-notch and includes Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri and Pete Postlethwaite. Each actor brings their A-game in this film and its one of the coolest heist/murder mystery flicks ever made. Even after the movie is over and the big reveal has happened, it will make you review everything you have just watched and becomes a completely different movie.
3. Jaws
In 1975, people became very hesitant about going for a dip in the sea. Based on the 1974 Peter Benchley novel of the same name, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws tells the story of a great white shark terrorizing the residents of Amity Island.
I can clearly remember the first time I ever watched this film and feeling completely terrified. It was more to do with the fact that you hardly saw the shark. It was enough to just catch glimpses of it, or to see from its point of view. Speilberg got this right and scared you by using just your imagination. It makes finally seeing the shark properly for the first time all the more shocking. This film also has some of the most recognized music in film history. All it takes is “Da Da, da da” and the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
The film also succeeds by giving you a hero to root for who isn’t the typical type of hero you would normally have. Roy Scheider is Brody, the town sheriff, up against the monster shark and a town who for a large part of the film, don’t believe him. It makes the ending much sweeter when he delivers the “smile, you son of a bitch” line.
4. The Matrix
It’s not very often that you can say a movie came out and changed the trajectory of cinema. In 1999, The Matrix pulled it off. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving, directed and written by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski, the film blew away audiences when released.
It wasn’t just the story which had people talking, it was also that amazing fight sequences. Using techniques never used before, The Wachowski’s created “Bullet Time”, which has since been used in many other films, but never as effectively as in The Matrix. What this film also did was show how committed to the roles the actors were. Each member underwent intense training so the fight sequences could be done by themselves as much as possible.
Filming these kinds of scenes today seems simple, and is seen in films and even tv shows. the technology has far surpassed anything we were first shown back in 1999. In the sequels, they started to use CGI more when it came to the fights, and it took some of the magic away from the sequences as they became less believable.
This first film is one of the best sci-fi films made in the last 30 years. If they had never made the sequels then this would have made an already great film, perfect. The ending poses so many questions, it would have been nice to just leave it there for people to discuss and debate.
The training sequence in this film is one of the coolest fights ever put on film, so much so, I’ll just leave this here for you.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12u1nA7bXzc[/embedyt]
5. Pulp Fiction
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in 1994, Pulp Fiction is still considered one of the best-written films of all time. From the style of the film to the order the movie plays out (out of chronological order for those who haven’t seen it), it is just a masterclass in filmmaking.
The movie had one of the most impressive casts on board including Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Christopher Walken andTim Roth. The main players were Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, and John Travolta. Travolta was nominated for an Oscar and had his career resurrected thanks to the success of the film. Pulp Fiction is famously known for the dialogue and speeches that the actors get to deliver. Mainly the Samuel L. Jackson speech reg The Path of The Righteous man
Pulp Fiction made it clear the Tarantino was an extremely talented voice and a one of a kind director. This remake will never happen, I’m sure of it.
I’ll be back next month with five more ‘Untouchables’.
Are there any you want on the list? If so, let me know.
That’s all for now.
See you soon.
