Generational differences in the movies we grew up with

with the upcoming release of the original OT on DVD. Some have stated that its not that exciting and its the same as the SE. In fact they state except for the Han shot first part it doesn't make any difference. Some prefer the new ones with all the CGI and stuff. Calling the old movies dated and cheesy.


I grew up with SW on the big screen in its original form. Not to mention Indiana Jones, and all the great films of the early eighties. Before the CGI effects of new movies we were amazed at battle scenes on BattleStar Galatica. The Thing. And other more simple movies. The first real CGI movie I saw was The Abyss. And then Terminator two.


So why the fuss. Is the old stuff better. I think so. More attention on the story and less on the effects.

 

I'm not even getting into the whole SW debate here, but I will say that the new BSG does not, in any, way, shape, or form, rely on FX over story. I've been watching the first season on DVD over the last 3 weeks or so and am amazed at how bare bones the special effects are at times. They're not bad, just sparse with a few ship here, or some asteriods there. What is there, however, is top notch. Also, they always seem to give the impression of more ships being present on the screen at any given time than actually are - especially with the big battles.

I'm almost 30 years old, but I actually like that they have the ability to do anything with special effect. Yes, it gets in the way of the story with many big Hollywood blockbusters; however, when it doesn't (like PJ's Lord of the Rings and Star Wars) it really makes for the best entertainment a movie or TV show can provide.

 

Effects are only relevant if they sink a story, and most of the older films don't have that problem, or newer ones either.

It's all about the emotion; effects are secondary.

 

IMHO it all depends on how the story needs to be told - it's no secret I'm a VFX geek but if the effects ruin the story then maybe there's too many. But like jango said it's awesome what they can do now to help the story using things they couldn't before. I always like to see a balance...even though I'd probably love watching it anyway.

 

I think that the main problem with current generations is that older CGI looks like CGI and is pretty distracting at times, because of what we can do today. Some things use way too much CGI, much like the Prequel Trilogy or the Matrix, where the story depends heavily on computer effects.

Other things, like Firefly, Serenity and Battlestar Galactica really depend more heavily on the story than on the effects, which is nice.