A lot of people in my age group or a few years older speak highly of the comedy classics of the early 80s. Im talking about movies like Caddyshack, Blues Brothers, Stripes, Policy Academy, Animal House (late 70s I think), etc. I like a good comedy as much as anyone but I dont see the appeal of these movies. I was just a baby when these came out so I didnt see them until years after they came out but these so called classics should stand the test of time. I appreciate plenty of movies that were before my time. These comedies just arent that funny to me. In fact they all seem like theyre pretty much the same movie. Slacker rebels sticking it to authority or uptight snobs. It seems like a decent formula but I feel if youve seen one of these movies youve seen them all. I know Im risking getting kicked out of Chicago for criticizing the Blues Brothers but I just dont see whats so special. What do you think? Is it just me or are these comedy classics just not that great?
The Comedy Classics Of The Early 80s
- Thread starter The Brain
- Start date
Lowdown
Ooh baby I like it roooaaaaw!
You're entitled to your opinion, Brain. I loved Caddyshack and Blues Brothers, though I never saw Stripes. Hell I'd throw in Revenge of the Nerds and Eddie Murphy flicks like Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, and 48 Hours, though the latter is more a cop/action movie. It depends on how you see them. Not everything that's a classic is something that I was crazy about. I feel this way about Blazing Saddles. It a good movies, but it never made me laugh out loud or roll on the floor, know what I mean? And I have it on DVD. I remember how everyone praised The Nutty Professor as Murphy's best comedy, but I say hands down it's Coming to America. And I like John Belushi in both Animal House and Blues Bros., but you should also peep him in 1941. He was better in that than Blues Bros, but it's close. Rodney Dangerfield wasn't bad in Easy Money either, yet his roles are mostly the same when it comes to comedy. Oh another good one is Bachelor Party with Tom Hanks. And Moving Violations.
Cena's Little Helper
Mid-Card Championship Winner
You'll have to post some of the comedies that you find funny for me to get an accurate idea of where your sense of humor lies, Brain. I can understand not liking Blues Brothers, Stripes, and Police Academy, but it's hard for me to fathom anyone not finding Animal House or Caddyshack funny. For instance, how could you not have been laughing yourself to tears during these scenes?
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I think part of the problem is I for years I heard so much talk about how great these movies were. Even though they’re all over 30 years old I only saw them all for the first time within the last five years or so. They were talked up so much that I almost couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Maybe if I just watched them like 20 years ago without the hype I would have enjoyed them more. I do enjoy plenty of stupid comedies. Tommy Boy, Dumb & Dumber, Naked Gun, Kingpin, Spaceballs, Ace Ventura, etc. The difference with those is I saw them all when they came out, or within a year or so. Maybe that does make a difference for some reason. It’s not like I hated these movies from the early 80s. They were ok. I just didn’t think they were nearly as great as they were made out to be.
Richard Blonoff
Make America Rassle Again
I think that is a very likely culprit. One of my least favorite things when it comes to forms of entertainment, particularly movies and video games, is when I'm one of the last people in my group of friends/in general to experience something that has been massively built up. I feel like they rarely meet my expectations, mostly due to only hearing great things. Cult films are typically the ones that fall under this category, but it can happen with newer movies as well. Inception, The Dark Knight, and Bridesmaids are three films that have come out in the past few years that everyone talked up and when I finally got around to watching them, I felt disappointed.
Animal House is probably my favorite of those listed, mostly for the secondary characters like Bluto and Flounder. The rest of the films I enjoy if I haven't seen them in a while, but none of them make a list of films I could watch constantly and still enjoy. I think the theme of that time, as mentioned, seemed to be the slacker underdogs sticking it to the man, and most of them cast the same actors, so I can see why someone wouldn't care for them.
Animal House is probably my favorite of those listed, mostly for the secondary characters like Bluto and Flounder. The rest of the films I enjoy if I haven't seen them in a while, but none of them make a list of films I could watch constantly and still enjoy. I think the theme of that time, as mentioned, seemed to be the slacker underdogs sticking it to the man, and most of them cast the same actors, so I can see why someone wouldn't care for them.
Lowdown
Ooh baby I like it roooaaaaw!
Time does play a factor like you said Brain. I seen some of these movies as a kid or in my teens, especially Caddyshack and Blues Bros, both which came out before I was born. But hype does take away interest. A lot of flicks (comedy or otherwise) I've been told were outstanding and I've watched ended up being underwhelming to say the least. One that comes to mind is Fletch. Now I liked the movie, but I was also told it was Chevy Chase's best work, which IMO was not true (see Caddyshack, NP's Vacation). To this day I still get a kick out of Smokey and the Bandit, which was pre-80's but still. Jackie Gleason made that hysterical.
I'm with you on Stripes and Police Academy.
I've never understood the appeal of the Police Academy films. To me, the Police Academy films are just ordinary and unfunny run of the mill sophomoric 80's comedies (the '94 Moscow film was shit also), featuring tired slapstick gags, and Michael Winslow just annoys me. And seven films? That's too much for any franchise.
Stripes is very overrated, and everything falls apart with the tiresome ridiculousness during basic training. Before buying it on DVD (it was only $5), I only watched Stripes once. People, who are into Bill Murray's shtick will surely love Stripes, but outside of Murray's performance, there's nothing to brag about. After watching it on DVD, I've never been able to sit through the whole thing once again, because Stripes is unbearably awful to me.
I've never understood the appeal of the Police Academy films. To me, the Police Academy films are just ordinary and unfunny run of the mill sophomoric 80's comedies (the '94 Moscow film was shit also), featuring tired slapstick gags, and Michael Winslow just annoys me. And seven films? That's too much for any franchise.
Stripes is very overrated, and everything falls apart with the tiresome ridiculousness during basic training. Before buying it on DVD (it was only $5), I only watched Stripes once. People, who are into Bill Murray's shtick will surely love Stripes, but outside of Murray's performance, there's nothing to brag about. After watching it on DVD, I've never been able to sit through the whole thing once again, because Stripes is unbearably awful to me.
