Okay, let me explain the title.
I'm not saying these movies are bad movies; however, the movies on this list caused a certain degree of change (or damage) to the film industry. I'm taking Michael Bay off the table because that's too easy. If there was a franchise, I attached it when necessary. Also, there is one tie on the list.
I posted this question in the Silent Film Saturday and Blockbuster Beach Bum group and Movie Nights Facebook page, and got some great responses. Some of them even made it on the list.
7. The Jazz Singer
Credit goes to Michael for sharing this one.
This film really did change the industry. The Jazz Singer was not the first sound film ever released. Other filmmakers and producers experimented with sound many years before 1927, but did not have
quite the impact The Jazz Singer had.
In my opinion, the period between 1924 and 1929 featured some of the greatest silent films ever. Films like The General, The Last Laugh, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Gold Rush, and The Thief of Bagdad. After the arrival of sound, the visual look of movies suffered for a period of time. Sure there were some cool camera tricks and special effects here and there, but some of the early talkies are really slow and uninteresting to watch.
I put this film so low on the list because the arrival of sound was more of a temporary setback than an actual detriment to the overall movie experience. Still, this film really helped change things, and it set film back a bit, just when the silent film medium was at its peak artistically.
6. Avatar
If everyone hates modern 3D, why is it still around?
This movie, that's why.
The highest-grossing movie of all time, Avatar seems to be one of the few movies where people actually enjoyed the 3D component. Hell, I even liked the 3D in Avatar. Also, I said 3D component, not story.
Sadly, the average film does not know how to use 3D the way Cameron did with Avatar. Now, every animated movie or summer action blockbuster is screened in 2D and 3D, inflating the box office and aggravating moviegoers everywhere. Part of the blame also goes to the foreign marketplace, where countries like Russia crave 3D.
5. Batman Begins
Shout out to Mike for pointing this one out.
Christopher Nolan's first film in his Batman trilogy may not be the first "reboot," but it's certainly the most famous. What separates this from lesser reboots, is its ability to distance itself from the then recently dormant Burton and Schumacher Batman franchise. This is something that other reboots don't understand. Man of Steel and The Amazing Spider-Man are basically the same thing as their predecessors, but with less personality, and a darker feel.
It worked incredibly well with Batman, but the Nolan Batman formula just doesn't work for everyone. This doesn't stop studios from replicating the Batman Begins or Dark Knight formula, even when they don't understand it.
Some people suggested The Dark Knight for this list, but I honestly feel that it was Batman Begins plus the unprecedented success of its sequel that made mediocre superhero films look even worse by comparison.
4. The Harry Potter Franchise
Ironically, the tagline on this poster says "IT ALL ENDS," but 7/15/2011 certainly was not the end of young adult adaptations.
Can't say I ever really got into this one, but I'll give it a fair chance in the near future.
This and Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy are some of Warner Brother's highest-grossing movies, and this franchise surpassed James Bond as the highest-grossing movie franchise of all-time.
The series was based on J.K. Rowling's books, and each movie was based on a book in the series, with the final book "The Deathly Hallows" split into two movies for story integrity (arguably) and (most definitely) box office gold.
While this and The Hunger Games stand as respectable young adult movies with sci-fi or fantasy elements, other ripoffs and failed attempts have cluttered our cinemas almost as much as superhero films.
Examples include Twilight (a hit, but a much-hated one), The Host, Vampire Academy, Divergent, Percy Jackson, Ender's Game, Beautiful Creatures, and The Mortal Instruments.
Worse still, the ones that are successful have followed Harry Potter into the "we're gonna split the final book into two movies to reap the profits." This is happened to Twilight, and will happen to Divergent and The Hunger Games franchises. Well, we'll see how that goes.
3. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Have to give credit to Dan from the Hitless Wonder Movie Blog for this one.
At the time of its release, PG-13 did not exist. This seems pretty shocking today, since almost every major superhero or summer blockbuster is rated PG-13. This movie was given the PG rating, but parents complained about the gruesome nature of the second Indiana Jones film.
So what happened?
Steven Spielberg and others suggested a rating between PG and R. Thus, PG-13 was created in 1984.
Since then, PG-13 has been the bane of of many moviegoer's existence. PG-13 has to cater for the adults who want an intense experience, and the parents who want their kids to see an appropriate movie. The problem is a washy attempt to please everyone, while making everyone upset.
Filmmakers also have the pressure of putting out a marketable, safe product while trying to make a good movie. Some horror films have suffered from this.
Also, PG-13 movies are traditionally allowed one f-bomb. Since the X-Men movies are not run by Disney, the last three films have f-bombs in them. True, mostly adults watch the X-Men movies, but as soon as parents see "superhero" or Marvel on any trailer, and they'll take their kids to see it. Even Dawn of the Planet of the Apes had an f-bomb, and unlike X-Men: Days of Future Past, this movie has a toy line!
2. The Avengers/ Marvel Cinematic Universe
This movie has made me realize something: The Dark Knight literally did next to nothing for superhero movies, except exist and maybe be a template for future DC movies. Like I wrote earlier, I feel Begins is the more influential film when it comes to this genre.
I kid you not, this was the first movie I thought of when creating this list. The movie itself is fun, but not even close to Marvel's best. Sadly, because of this movie, we have every other studio with a superhero property trying to get to a multi-hero/villain movie. Some examples of this: X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Sinister Six, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
Some may argue the problem all started with Bryan Singer's X-Men, but it's not even close to the level of The Avengers. The fear that each movie is a commercial is exemplified in Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a movie with limited character development and story for the sake of setting up the Sinister Six movie set for 2016.
At least with The Avengers, the characters are set up in five solo Marvel movies, opposed to two mediocre movies with too many subplots (The Amazing Spider-Man series) or a solo movie and a team-up movie before the gigantic team-up movie (DC's Cinematic Universe).
I have a bad feeling that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will be similar to The Amazing Spider-Man, and become little more than a Justice League prequel. Hopefully, we'll get other solo films of characters that sorely deserve them, but only time will tell.
1. Jaws and Star Wars
These two had to take the top spot.
Both are great films with iconic moments and quotes, but they definitely changed things.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, a period in filmmaking called "New Hollywood" emerged, and some of the greatest movies of all time were released, particularly because the new filmmakers were among the first to attend film school.
Some of these titles: The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Exorcist, Nashville, and many others. Many of these classic films became part of mainstream cinema, because the studios were so desperate that they were willing to take big risks.
Then, the world changed forever.
Jaws became the first film to reach $100 million at the domestic box office in 1975. Star Wars earned $220 million in its initial run alone, and is one of the most beloved movies of all time.
The studio execs saw all those dollar signs, and since have decided to go for the brass ring, killing the New Hollywood era. Since these two films, the summer season has and always will be crammed with mega-films about doomsday, killing some monster, or saving the universe from evil.
You can blame all of that on a man-eating shark named Bruce and a English dude wearing samurai-esque space armor voiced by Mufasa with a red laser sword.
Some (Dis)honorable mentions:
Batman Tim Burton
Titanic James Cameron
Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson
X-Men Bryan Singer
Christopher Nolan in general
-Joey DeAngelis
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