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Which modern sci-fi movies would you take back to 1958?

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 2:55 pm    Post subject: Which modern sci-fi movies would you take back to 1958? Reply with quote

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Suppose you had a time machine . . . you know, like this one. (But with a lot more storage space.)



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And you had a ton of money . . . you know, like this guy. (He owns 52% of Heineken Breweries — and he starred in The Space Children in 1958.)


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And suppose you wanted to travel back to 1958 and take several thousand prints of just ten science fiction movies that were released between 1977 (when Star Wars came out) and today, so you could have them premiere in theaters across the country between June 1st and September 10th, while the kids were out of school.

Each movie would play for one week at hundreds of theaters, after which they would play for a week at local drive-ins while the next movie on your scheduled premiered.

Summer vacation lasted a full three months in those days — proof positive that it was a saner world. Very Happy

So . . . which ten movies would you pick? Confused

Naturally we're not going to worry about copyright laws, censorship rules, "preserving the timeline", or any other practical concerns. This is like Fantasy Football; we're just going to do what's fun, and screw what's "possible".

But what you do need to consider is how audiences in 1958 will react to movies made several decades later. We're not trying to traumatize these poor folks, we're trying to dazzle them with wonders they never thought possible! Very Happy

Therefore, examples of movies we should NOT show back in 1958 would be Alien and Predator (too graphic), Signs and The Thing (too scary), or Tomorrowland and Dune (too confusing).

Examples of movies we CAN show, and which would blow the folks away in 1958, would include —


Back to the Future I, II, and III





The Last Starfighter





E.T. The Extraterrestria





Honey, I Shrunk the Kids





Godzilla (1998)





Evolution





Jurassic Park





Spider-Man I, II, and III





Independence Day





Avatar





Notice that I picked movies which could be considered souped-up versions of 1950s classics.

Back to the Future is the descendant of The Time Machine.

The Last Starfighter has elements in common with This Island Earth.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is a bit like The Day the Earth Stood Still — an alien who comes to Earth in peace, and who is hunted by the authorities. (And they both become friends with a young boy!) Very Happy

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is obviously similar to The Incredible Shrinking Man.

The 1998 version of Godzilla is a super-sized version of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

Evolution has elements in common with 20 Million Miles to Earth.

Jurassic Park is the offspring of The Lost World and King Kong.

Spider-Man follows the tradition of the Superman TV series.

Independence Day day is a juiced-up version of War of the Worlds and Earth vs the Flying Saucers.

Avatar is the movie that fills our eyes and our minds with visions of a remarkable future that stands should-to-shoulder with Forbidden Planet. . . after we waited 69 years for something as magnificent!

Each of the recent movies I listed above have a Classic ancestor from the 1950s that left audiences primed and ready for something bigger and better. But the movies you choose for your list don't have to have a fifties sci-fi connection.

I won't deny that some of the plot elements of these films might shock audiences in 1958, just because our culture has changed so much. The "salty" language alone in a few of these movies might be a real problem. Conversely, many modern terms in these movies would be plum confusing.

However, discussing these elements will make this thread enjoyable. Very Happy

So, folks, start pondering your own list, which might include a few of the movies listed above, but the choices are yours of course. Be sure to tell us your reasons for including the movies you choose. Remember, we’re trying to knock the socks off the kids back in 1958 with movies that will top anything they’ve seen before! Shocked

Imagine getting out of school at the end of May in 1958 and going to a Saturday matinee every weekend in June, July, and August to see movies like the ones above! Very Happy

In those days, movies played at the indoor theaters first, and then played at the drive-ins a few weeks later. So, the kids back in 1958 would undoubtedly beg their parents to take the family to weekend showings of the movies they’d already seen at Saturday matinees! Very Happy

If would be the most heavenly summer possible for sci-fi lovin’ kids in the 1950s!

As I've said, you guys get to pick the features for this momentous event! What movies will you chose? And what movies will you reluctantly omit? Most importantly of all . . . which movies would YOU have wanted to see if you were just ten years old in 1958? Cool

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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