POLL: Hype... Movies, games, whatever.

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Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
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I've been thinking about this for a while now... And I just got done watching Star Wars (A New Hope) with my boys, and decided that I have hit the nail on the head with this topic.

Many (most?) of the public falls victim to the hype surrounding a new game, movie, or whatever. So much so, that it really doesn't matter how the movie/game really is, it can never live up to the expectations you have put upon it.

The latest Star Wars movies... Are examples of this.

People criticize Episode One and Two, many times saying that Lucas has ruined the story. If you were to take an objective look at Star Wars, you'd laugh at it by today's standards. (A quick refresher... Stormtroopers: What's the armor for? Their shooting skills are so bad that I got to wondering if they were actually A-Team rejects! Garbage Masher: Trying to stop the compactor with an obviously plastic pole? Sabre fight: That wasn't two Jedi's fighting, that was two old men looking for their walkers!)

I'm not going to go on, as bashing Star Wars wasn't my point. (To the contrary, it is one of my favorite movies of all time.) My point is that no movie is perfect. And the only reason the originals are remembered so fondly is because they came out of nowhere... There was no hype.


Although Episode One was the weakest of the bunch (ROTJ a close second), I have enjoyed all of the SW movies very much. I distance myself from the hype, never reading a thing about the movies until after I've seen it, and I don't get overwhelming expectations built up in my head.


I think some of you are missing out on great experiences because you build up overwhelming expectations that simply cannot be met.

Agree/disagree?



(NOTE: I have only used Star Wars as my example here. You can insert basically any hyped movie or game here (Matrix, LOTR, Brute Force, Halo, etc...)
 
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Angrymarshmello

Lifer
Apr 5, 2000
13,256
1
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The only reason it doesn't live up to it's hype because it's a sequel - the first one set certain standards to be lived up to, the following sequels (on in the SW case, prequels) have to meet or exceed the expectations and levels set by the first one. EP1 and 2 both were letdowns compared to the originals.
 
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RyanM

Platinum Member
Feb 12, 2001
2,387
0
76
I disagree about the sequel effect - I think the reason the sequels fail to live up to the original often is simply because of the hype.

If, out of nowhere, Episode 1 appeared, I think it would have done a lot better.

Similarly, no one even realized Half-Life 2 was in development, let alone that it was mere months away from a release. There isn't enough time to build the momentum necessary to ruin the game, providing it actually delivers as well as the first did.
 
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Angrymarshmello

Lifer
Apr 5, 2000
13,256
1
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Regarding originals - you mentioned Halo or Brute Force - they don't have an original per se, but there are other close competitors it has to at least meet or beat. Halo was a let down to those who either A) hate the XBox or B) played it for about 2 minutes. Brute Force was a letdown because the game is something that reminds me of a Dreamcast game. Wasn't impressed at all by it.
 
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Spooner

Lifer
Jan 16, 2000
12,025
1
76
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the best movie of all time
rolleye.gif
 
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Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
2
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But to clarify "great experiences"... You are right. I overexagerrated, as movies and games don't really apply.

Your wedding, children's births, your boys' first steps/words/affection... Those are all great experiences.

Changing your career, while still supporting a family, when you (or anyone else) didn't think it was possible. Losing weight, when you are surrounded by naysayers... Those are great experiences.

So, considering the above list... I think I "live" just fine. :)
 
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notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
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Originally posted by: Wingznut
This is coming from the guy who posts over 20 times a day (on average) in ATOT? Not to mention over 20,000 total.
rolleye.gif


;) :p
Click to expand...
I never said posting on ATOT was a great experience. It's something to do when I'm bored or waiting on something at work.

Edit: I shouldn't hit "quote" then go work on something for 15 minutes before writing a response...
 
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pulse8

Lifer
May 3, 2000
20,860
1
81
You kind of have a good point. This problem often comes from sequels to movies and it's very hard to make a movie just as good as the original.

But...

Star Wars is not important to cinema history because it's so wonderful of a movie, IMO. It is the Matrix of an older generation. The story was good, but it brought effects and action to a new level. People were seeing something that rocked their imaginations and created a whole new world of visual effects.

The last couple of Star Wars movies did none of that. They were not much better visually than anything the public has already seen and the storytelling and acting was not as good.
 
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hawkeye81x

Golden Member
Apr 24, 2001
1,742
1
0
Thank you,
Somebody who actually agrees with me on Ep1 and Ep2.
Of course Lucas did try to correct some of the lack of modern looks with his so-called updated versions to the first trilogy.

I'm hoping you agree with me on the Matrix Reloaded as well. As great as the visual eye candy was, the story was much stronger in the first simply
because it was something that the audience hadn't encountered before (assuming they aren't familiar with two thousand year old Chinese philosophy).

Though i believe X2 was superior to the first.
 
Vic

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,337
136
Originally posted by: Wingznut
I think some of you are missing out on great experiences because you build up overwhelming expectations that simply cannot be met.

Agree/disagree?
Click to expand...
This is actually one of the prime tenets of Buddhism. Supposedly, after a fast of some 40 days, the Buddha declared that desire, or (more properly) passionate expectation, was the cause of all human suffering. If one could simply live in peace with the world, with no expectations, then one could find happiness.

As for why this occurs with today's mass media, I believe that the media companies themselves do it on purpose as part of their marketing plan. I mean, does it really matter if the movie they made was any good or not if they can get a couple of million people to go to it on the first weekend?
Hype, it seems, has become their "ol' standby" marketing tool when all else fails. The worse the movie, the more the hype. All that matters is that the production be profitable regardless of its actual quality. Why else to do you think the recording companies don't want to let us listen to an album before we buy it?
After all, a truly good movie can make money at the box office for weeks and months on word-of-mouth advertising alone. The first Star Wars movie, which you noted, is the prime example of this. A sleeper hit, the movie was produced on a relatively low budget and got very little advertising before hitting the theaters. Word of mouth caused it popularity to grow, and the movie eventually became the longest "first-run" in movie history (IIRC, 16 months in first-run).
 
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Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
2
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Vic... I couldn't agree more with that Buddhist tenet. Can you imagine how happy you'd be if you were completely satisfied with what you have (both material and immaterial), and didn't crave or expect more???

And while I agree that media hype is huge, there's also hype that people create amongst themselves. People talk so much about the upcoming movie, that expectations get so high that I'm not sure they can ever be met.

hawkeye81x... Yes, I did like The Matrix: Reloaded... Quite a bit, actually. I don't think I can really say which one I liked better... They both had their strong and weak points.

A good case in point about Reloaded would be the rave scene. I saw the movie, and didn't even give a second thought to that scene. Then I start reading posts about it, and it just snowballed into such a huge issue.

pulse8... I think you need to watch Star Wars again... The acting is not very good at all. But it's still a great movie.
 
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