The old movies are gone from our tvs. For good reasons.

I guess the reason they are gone is they don't look good in the high def age. Most of them don't stand up in other ways. Usually the acting was melodramatic.

It's funny how they still are sometimes given 4 star ratings on the tv screen when they deserve one or two stars. But I guess back then the 4 star rating was deserved. These movies are gone from tv, much like Gilligan's Island.

Yes, Casablanca and It's a Wonderful Life are still worth a view, but do you really want to see Ben Hur again?

a reply to: droid56

Well I love Ben Hur the 1959 version. They made the new version in 2010 but I find it okay but not as good as the 1959 version. I very much prefer the 1959 version rather than the 2010 version.

Old movies are the only ones worth watching. Modern "cinema" simply imitates/regurgitates the classics, and does a piss poor job of it...

...when it even bothers with pathetic imitation anymore. Today, making a movie "look good in the high def age" is more important than actually telling a story, developing interesting characters, or even making sense.

Pop culture has an ADD fever. And the only cure is more hand-held lens flare. Sigh.

a reply to: droid56

there are many old movies that you may enjoy in a different way.. they are remade either as outright remakes, or more often just re-hashed.

Gilligan always irritated me for the Prof building all these cool gadgets but NO BOAT?

although if on an island Mary Anne

originally posted by: starwarsisreal
a reply to: droid56

Well I love Ben Hur the 1959 version. They made the new version in 2010 but I find it okay but not as good as the 1959 version. I very much prefer the 1959 version rather than the 2010 version.

Johnny Depp couldn't compare with Gene Wilder as Wonka. some performances were unbeatable.

Just because they are old and not in Hi Def it doesn't mean they are not on TV nor a bit rubbish.
They are on telly all the time you just have to know which channel and also some of the best films ever are old and black and white.
Black and white to me can give a great artistic setting and adds to the tone of the film some of my faves here.

The 39 steps.

I'm all right Jack.

Whistle down the wind.

Billy liar.

Throne of Blood.

There are loads more and If you gave them a chance you would really enjoy them.

In fact I think the black and white era holds up better than movies made in the seventies.

It is so competitive that they cannot simply remake the movie, they need to recreate it times 10!
Don't point fingers because, sorry, but everything was easier back then. An example, in Nascar over 20 years ago, it was so much easier to win. Petty and Earnhardt have 7 championships a piece. Jimmie Johnson is racing currently and has won 6 of the past 8, including 5 in a row. Competition is at an all time high everywhere, and that is why remakes suck. If you see one not knowing it was a remake, it may be good, but to try to put it up beside the original, you can't even compare the two. Just the same basic story line.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
some of the best films ever are old and black and white.

The 39 steps.

Hitchcock was superb much of the time.

My favorite actor perhaps -- Toshiro Mifune..
the B&W Kurosawa films are among the best movies EVER made.

a reply to: droid56

Yes, Casablanca and It's a Wonderful Life are still worth a view, but do you really want to see Ben Hur again? - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Don't look on them purely for entertainment although that is the primary reason to watch old movies. They have become cultural historical artifacts of the way we were 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 years ago. That's why some films get saved in the National Archives and some are preserved, re-conditioned and re-released on HD.

I recently watched John Wayne in "The Conqueror" 1956 produced by Howard Hughes. I also did some research on the film. It turned out to have quite a story behind it... radioactive dirt, cancer, too. It's one of Wayne's most memorable performances. He didn't win any awards for it but it was very memorable. For $750,000 dollars in 1956 could convince The Duke to act like Temujin Genghis Khan!

It looks like a dog's ass on DVD. They used a ton of compositing... it must have looked even worse on the big screen in 1956.... but our eyes are different. We have digital video eyes now not Technicolor Panavision eyes.

Oh well.. I've given up on all these modern Hollywood remakes with special effects it bores me and I'm mad that people get money to make them!

a reply to: droid56

I still see some re-runs of Gilligan's isle

a reply to: droid56

I find the writing and dialog much better in older films and TV. This CGI crap just has ruined the movies; it's all just blow-em up; shoot-em; over the top dung.

Even Star Trek, and I like the idea of the reboot - but it's all CGI. The writing is good, the dialog is good, the characters are wonderfully presented but all the fights and explosions take up too much screne time. It's great when used to promote the story, the Fellowship of the Ring, is a good example, but then you have the "Hobbit" movies where the CGI has destroyed the story.

I have an imagination and don't need everything handed me complete.

The scariest movie I've ever seen what the original black and white "Night of the Living Dead", I still shiver from some of the sounds in the movie.

Today's movies are all reeling of older movies, give me the original any day
Most actors can't hold a candle to the likes of John Wayne

Some are borderline racist by todays PC standards.

Mostly exaggerated stereotypes, not actually racist but since we live in a time where even acknowledging someone of another race is being racially insensitive in some way. Some reason the 80's seem to have most of these movies.

Some of the old movies have outstanding clarity and colour after digital copying owing to the high quality film they used back then. Take a look at Wizard of Oz and see how good the colour and quality is. Now they have high definition of course but back then film was superb.

a reply to: droid56
Surely another factor is the modern celebrity obsession which means that a younger generation will no longer tolerate watching actors who are not in the current gossip columns.
That's why so many great films have been re-made, purely and simply so that the old stars can be replaced by modern stars.

originally posted by: Luuke123
a reply to: droid56

I still see some re-runs of Gilligan's isle

Thurston Howell is one of the greatest characters ever conceived, in the history of TV or cinema.

I can not believe how nice the reply's have been to such a thread.

If my TV got nothing but old movies I would be just as happy. I could watch Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes all day. Then next day I could watch a Charlie Chan marathon. Then next day some Alfred Hitchcock and Thin Man movies. Then next day some Three Stooges, even the Shemp ones. I could also spend a day watching Hammer films.

I could spend a week watching Perry Mason episodes, that was a damn good show! Even better than Columbo. I've probably seen over 100 Perry Mason episodes and solved maybe 5. The look on Hamilton Burger's face when Mason is explaining the crime sums up the way I feel perfectly. Confused, bewildered, foolish, stupid and a little angry. That was some very imaginative writing. SPOILER ALERTS: If the sum of $5000 is mentioned, most likely the murder victim was blackmailing the killer. Also, if Perry can't represent a person because of a legal conflict of interest, that person is most likely the murderer.

originally posted by: HomerinNC
Today's movies are all reeling of older movies, give me the original any day
Most actors can't hold a candle to the likes of John Wayne

You think John Wayne was a good actor? Oh... wow...

a reply to: droid56

The old movies allowed for the new ones to be created. Without them in black and white, mellow-dramatic and yes...somewhat cheesy by todays standards...you wouldn't have this thread.

"5.1 Surround Sound", "3-D", " H. D." "Blue Ray" and Digital, Cinema Scope, Panavision, Technicolor, and CGI Animation and all the other cool innovations...would never have been here.

One should watch old movies once in awhile. And they should stay on tv for that very reason.