The Gaming Den

What they wanted to do was "print money". In the short term, that goal was achieved. In the long term...?

I mean, I don't think the viability of the SW brand has been harmed in any real, long term way. Disney is still printing money with it, and probably some of that is that "fans" have specific people to blame (Kathleen Kennedy if you're alt right, Abrahms if you're not). The fact that the various small screen things are doing really well probably helps with that.

There was like, nothing I enjoyed about the 8th movie. I have to imagine the worse sales of the 9th movie were people who were done with the franchise after number 8.

I only went to see #9 because my son really wanted to see it. I didn't love it, and it didn't rekindle any love for the franchise, but it wasn't so aggravating and boring to watch as the other. If they make another trilogy then the only reason I'd watch it is if my kids insisted. Hopefully they will be old enough to watch it on their own by then tho.

I am pleased by the raving for Ghostbusters and am now more enthusiastic to watch it. I didn't really like reboot that much. The acting was fine but I didn't care for the villain, and I dunno, the visuals seemed more bright and shiny than I'm used to for Ghostbusters. I would have preferred for it to have existed in the same setting as the originals, which would have been a very different movie.

As someone who saw Answer the Call, and saw their current self in the new ghostbusters, and their past self in the villain... I might have a very specific enjoyment of that movie.


(stupid autocorrect)

Afterlife is to Ghostbusters as The Force Awakens is to A New Hope.

angelfromanotherpin wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 4:00 pm

Afterlife is to Ghostbusters as The Force Awakens is to A New Hope.

I don't know if you can make a comparison like that. Ghostbusters is a fine movie, and I quite enjoy it; it was a box-office success and it spawned successful merchandise. I remember seeing 'Ghostbusters' (not the real ones) in a local holiday parade. But Star Wars was a genuine phenomenon.

Even if you feel that both movies largely rehash the same ground, there's a big difference between a galaxy-spanning conflict and petty New York politics. Rehashing the same ground in a story that has the epic scope of Star Wars is a crime; since the Ghostbusters was much more limited it's actually FINE to visit the same people/relationships in a the way that it's not okay to make everything in the Star Wars universe revolve around a single family.

I feel like it's a crime that the first two movies laid a groundwork for a setting that indisputably has real ghosts, magic, portals to other realms, maleficent beings... and you can fight them with nuclear powered energy weapons or animated giant mecha statues... and the possible repercussions and altered society that would result from this wasn't really explored.

erik wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 08, 2021 3:41 am

I feel like it's a crime that the first two movies laid a groundwork for a setting that indisputably has real ghosts, magic, portals to other realms, maleficent beings... and you can fight them with nuclear powered energy weapons or animated giant mecha statues... and the possible repercussions and altered society that would result from this wasn't really explored.

Weren't the ramifications of the first movie ignored for the second original one anyway?

Thaluikhain wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:04 am

erik wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 08, 2021 3:41 am

I feel like it's a crime that the first two movies laid a groundwork for a setting that indisputably has real ghosts, magic, portals to other realms, maleficent beings... and you can fight them with nuclear powered energy weapons or animated giant mecha statues... and the possible repercussions and altered society that would result from this wasn't really explored.

Weren't the ramifications of the first movie ignored for the second original one anyway?

It's been awhile since I saw the 2nd movie, but I think I remember they tried to "fix it" by saying that after the 1st movie, people were gaslit into believing it was all fake, done with lights and special effects and hallucinogenic gas and all that. That's why the Ghostbusters are doing kids parties to get by when the 2nd movie starts. "Who you gonna call ?....HE-MAN!!!"

Thaluikhain wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 06, 2021 8:04 am

Watching the sequels again, I like TLJ more. Sure, it failed, but it tried (somewhat) and failed. ROS failed without any trying to do anything other than be a failure.

Red Letter Media said something similar. I guess a comparison could be made that TLJ is like DnD 4th and RoS is like 5th...

You are correct that by the start of the second movie people were convinced that it had been a 'mass hallucination'.

In the first movie, the Environmental Protection Agency guy was already accusing them of using hallucinogenic drugs to induce the effect in the population. The first movie also took other steps to logically explain why there wasn't a larger impact on society. The events took place entirely in New York, and while the larger world was aware of the events in the news, they didn't see it themselves. The Vatican had an official policy of 'we have no policy' because of the ramifications of contact with grandma's ghost meant for religion.

There's a lot of inertia toward 'keep things as they are', so Ghostbusters might be one of the most realistic films in that regard.

erik wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 08, 2021 3:41 am

I feel like it's a crime that the first two movies laid a groundwork for a setting that indisputably has real ghosts, magic, portals to other realms, maleficent beings... and you can fight them with nuclear powered energy weapons or animated giant mecha statues... and the possible repercussions and altered society that would result from this wasn't really explored.

there were entire series and nothing like that happened.
and comic books. the movies were the exception, but the
franchise itself was squarely aimed at kids to sell toys . . .
sadly.