I'd date the action movie back to the '30s (Errol Flynn) or even 1920 (Douglas Fairbanks plays Zorro). But I'll agree that the action movie has changed over the years.
Hermanos! The devil has built a robot!
Numero Cinco ,'The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Fred Pete - Jun 26, 2007 4:48:22 pm PDT #9699 of 10001
Ann, that's a ferret.
Nutty - Jun 26, 2007 5:00:22 pm PDT #9700 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Personally, I like to think I was the big summer blockbuster of 1976.
They had lots of fireworks! And released a special quarter! And built scaffolding around the Statue of Liberty!
This is the second time today somebody has brought up The Towering Inferno, although really, I tend to think that the weirder and more obscure the 70s disaster movie, the better. That one about how a psychopathic anti-Nazi agent might have downed the Hindenberg? Classic!!
Frankenbuddha - Jun 26, 2007 5:52:05 pm PDT #9701 of 10001
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
That one about how a psychopathic anti-Nazi agent might have downed the Hindenberg? Classic!!
I believe that's what they call a blimpbuster, not a blockbuster (plus, it was a famous dog at the box office).
Kathy A - Jun 26, 2007 5:54:28 pm PDT #9702 of 10001
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
Sad to say, I saw all of those disaster flicks in the theaters in their first release--Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno, Earthquake, Hindenberg, all of 'em. Very entertaining to the pre-adolescent me.
quester - Jun 26, 2007 6:11:34 pm PDT #9703 of 10001
Danger is my middle name, only I spell it R. u. t. h. - Tina Belcher.
Airport was the first of the all-star disaster movie. It also made the most sense.
Nutty - Jun 26, 2007 6:29:10 pm PDT #9704 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I'm sorry? Isn't The Poseidon Adventure first? If it isn't, it should be.
Polter-Cow - Jun 26, 2007 6:38:34 pm PDT #9705 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Airport was 1970. The Poseidon Adventure was 1972.
Nutty is wrong.
This is interesting.
Nutty - Jun 27, 2007 3:54:54 am PDT #9706 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Dude, have you not been paying attention? I'm wrong all the time! It is my duty in life to convince people of inaccurate information via my enthusiasm and eloquence.
That is called marketing.
Fred Pete - Jun 27, 2007 5:22:48 am PDT #9707 of 10001
Ann, that's a ferret.
Airport is half disaster movie, half all-star soap opera. (Kind of like the novel it's based on, but I digress.) As much as anything else, it's about the manager of a thinly-disguised O'Hare Airport trying to cope with a major snowstorm, neighbors who can't stand the noise of airplanes taking off, a crumbling marriage, and half a dozen other crises. The disaster part doesn't happen until 2/3 of the way through.
Glamcookie - Jun 27, 2007 5:35:15 am PDT #9708 of 10001
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister
Olyphant rocked the hell out of Deadwood, but that pretty much goes for everyone involved in the enterprise.
I am Corwood. Olyphant was also great in Go. I love Go even though it has Katie Holmes in it. It has Sarah Polley!