A while back, I put out a list of five movies that don’t seem to get that much attention these days for one reason or another. That list was just a small snippet of films that most people seem to have forgotten to have existed. Well, as that was just a tiny selection of films I believe need more attention, I’ve decided that, for this week, to expand on that list and add five more movies I would like to draw people’s attention towards!
Now, like last time, I’m not going to just show you the trailers of these movies. I would rather show you people reacting to these movies just to show you that, even by today’s standards, you can still have a good time with them. So, without further ado, let’s go through five more movies that deserve a little more love!
Before they made the first movie based on a video game, Hollywood was busy making movies based on fake video games! Disney first tried to capitalized on the the burgeoning video game craze with Tron, most people seems to have forgotten that, a couple of years later, Universal Studios came out with their own original movie based on a fake video game: The Last Starfighter.
The Last Starfighter follows teenager Alex Rogan who lives in a trailer park in the middle of nowhere. The only way for him to pass the time is to play a standup arcade called Starfighter, wherein the player controls a starfighter (natch!) against an alien invading force. One day, Alex breaks the game’s highest score of the game. Later on, it’s revealed that Starfighter isn’t just a video game but a recruiting tool for an alien group who are trying to fend off the same invading force as depicted in the game.
The Last Starfighter may come off a pretty, shall we say, simplistic but it’s still a fun movie, especially if you’re very young. There is something about the idea of being the chosen one just because you’re super good at using a controller after all! That’s indeed something any kid could get behind.
Okay, because of the way the world is turning out right now, a lot of fans in the know are saying that Idiocracy predicted the current state of the times. Now, I don’t know if they actually believe it or they’re just making light of the dire situation society seems to be in. But I do have to wonder how many who reference the film actually saw it.
Idiocracy focuses on Joe Bauers, a typical average guy living in the 20th century. He’s selected to be the test subject for a suspended animation experiment from the government as he’s, well, just your average Joe. However, the government cuts all funding to the project, leaving Joe Bauers frozen until he’s accidentally resuscitated. During all that time, the world’s population has become dumber as only the dumb people kept breeding while the smarter people stopped having kids. As such, when Joe is revived, despite being normal in the 20th century, he’s now the smartest person in the world.
Despite Idiocracy coming out almost two decades ago, it does seem like a timeless movie. It manages to make fun of how society seems to be getting dumber and dumber as the years go by and it’s still poignant even today. I don’t believe (or rather I hope) the general population won’t become so dumb we stop drinking water and just wash everything down with energy drinks. But, if/when that happens, you can bet someone in the future will be quoting something from Idiocracy… and not understand how ironic that would be.
Is superhero fatigue a real thing nowadays? The concept is that moviegoers are just overwhelmed by the number of superhero movies coming out in a short span of time. Personally, I don’t think so as, if the movie is good, whether or not it involves superheroes, people will go see it. Then again, perhaps I think this way is because I grew up during a time when we also had a lot of superheroes coming out of the woodwork. That was way back in the ’90s, by the way! While I will admit there was a lot of uninspiring superhero movies back then, one that did stand out. That would be the superhero comedy movie, Mystery Men.
Mystery Men takes place in a world where superheroes are pretty much commonplace. As such, some, such as Captain Amazing, stand out over the more mundane heroes. However, as his sponsorships are dwindling due to his effectiveness, Captain Amazing releases his archenemy, Cassanova Frankenstein, and is captured by the villain. Now, it’s up to a ragtag bunch of superheroes, including Mister Furious (who supposedly gets super strong when angry), The Shoveler (who is proficient with fighting with his shovel), Blue Raja (who can throw cutlery with super accuracy), Invisible Boy (who can turn invisible when no one is looking at him) and The Bowler (who can control her bowling ball with her mind) to face off and stop Cassanova Frankenstein.
Let me say this now: Mystery Men is a dumb movie. But it’s a incredibly fun and enjoyable fun movie! The premise of having a league of loser superheroes becoming heroes is already a good idea and, if you look at the cast, you can see some heavy hitters playing them. Despite the more humorous concept, Mystery Men does have a lot of heart as well, making it more than just a parody of superhero movies of the time but also a decent superhero movie by itself.
We all know who Hugh Jackman is, right? He’s kind of a big star, especially since he played Wolverine all those years ago, right? So, you would think some of his movies that fall into the geek genre would be more popular today, right? Well, I’m asking all these questions because, whenever I mention Real Steel to some other geeks, they don’t seem to know what I’m talking about. And I think that’s a shame because it’s a good movie!
In the world of Real Steel, regular human boxing has been outlawed and replaced with robot fighters. A former (human) down-on-his-luck boxer scrapes by getting his junker robots into boxing matches or anything he can find. One day, the son he never knew he had drops by and the two find an old training robot in a junkyard. It turns out, even though it’s a tiny boxing robot that wasn’t designed to compete in an actual fight, it just may have what it takes to beat the current robot boxing champion.
Real Steel is kind of an enigma to me as it harkens back to old action movies like Over The Top and Last Action Hero. Somehow, the movie manages to capture the emotion and feels of cheesy ’80s and ’90s movies despite having been made in 2011! This movie definitely has a lot of heart and I do hope more people happen upon in while they’re searching for Hugh Jackman movies to watch.
Is it just me or are we kind of running short on fantasy movies? I don’t mean things the Harry Potter franchise or anything like that. And I’m not talking about the ones based on fantasy books like Conan the Barbarian either. No, I’m talking about movies that transport you to a whole other world where all the lore is fresh and unique but lived in. I’m talking about movies where the hero has to save the damsel in distress by storming a castle with a small ragtag group of heroes. I’m talking about movies like Krull.
The planet Krull in invaded by The Beast and his Slayers. Before Prince Colwyn and Princess Lyssa are married in order to join their two kingdoms, The Beast lays siege to the wedding ceremony and kidnaps Princess Lyssa. Now, Prince Colwyn must retrieve the Glaive, the only weapon that can hurt The Beast, and, along with a group of other rebels, finally end the invasion and save Princess Lyssa.
Now, I can’t say Krull is the best fantasy movie the ’80s has to offer. The makeup and sets do have a low-budget quality to them, especially by today’s standards. But it does have one thing: imagination! Krull just stood out because of how unique it was. Having it placed on an alien world gave it a lot of leeway to do whatever it wanted with the story and settings and the writers just went wild with that! Heck, the primary weapon, the Glaive, just looks so iconic as well! While every other fantasy movie were using swords and magic, Krull had a glorified ninja star! How different is that?
What other older movies do you wish got a little more love today? Let me know in the comments section below!
3rd World Geeks 
Pingback: Still Five More Movies That Deserve More Love Than They Get Right Now | 3rd World Geeks