VideoHelp Forum

Poll: Movies: Story vs Effects...

Be advised that this is a public poll: other users can see the choice(s) you selected.

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 29 of 29
Thread
  1. No Longer Mod tgpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    The South Side
    Search Comp PM
    Story is the most important! Without it there is no movie.
    Quote Quote  
  2. Member housepig's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    the Plains of Leng
    Search Comp PM
    story.... with one exception.

    a film like Baraka has a theme and a subtext, but no story per se, as it's a collection of film footage without narration or a plot.

    but the imagery is alternately stunning, uplifting and horrifying, and you can't help being affected by it.
    - housepig
    ----------------
    Housepig Records
    out now:
    Various Artists "Six Doors"
    Unicorn "Playing With Light"
    Quote Quote  
  3. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    The 7 Samurai is a great movie, and it's in black and white with no effects. Spiderman was all effects and it really sucked.

    The best are a good storyline and enough effects to 'wow' you but not detract from the plot (like say.....oh....Matrix Reloaded? The interstate scene was all effects and did nothing to move the plot forward).
    To Be, Or, Not To Be, That, Is The Gazorgan Plan
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    A Yellow Submarine
    Search Comp PM
    most people say story is the most important, but why do all the big blockbusters have a horrible story but "awsome" effects? There are a few exceptions but that isn't a normality.
    Quote Quote  
  5. I would say both the first 2 options are proberly true, all the really big money makers are special effects Extravaganzas. I voted for the 1st option.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member mats.hogberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Sweden (PAL)
    Search Comp PM
    Story of course. But really: if this isn't off topic, I don't know what would be... Maybe time for filing a report to the mods?

    /Mats
    Quote Quote  
  7. Story is the most important, then effects. Look at books, all story, no effects. Everyone will agree, the book version is ALWAYS better than the movie.

    But what about porn? No story, no effects, and yet it is a multi-billion $$$ industry worldwide...
    Just what is this reality thing anyway?
    Quote Quote  
  8. Member housepig's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    the Plains of Leng
    Search Comp PM
    most people say story is the most important, but why do all the big blockbusters have a horrible story but "awsome" effects?
    for the same reason that 11 million people paid good money for Vanilla Ice's "To The Extreme" cd... some people don't care about music, they just want to dance to whatever's hot at the moment.

    likewise, many people don't go to movies to think about a story, they just want to be "entertained" by a spectacle.

    the real question is, how many of the "blockbuster" movies will be remembered 20, 30 years from now?

    Story is timeless - blockbusters will come and go.


    But what about porn? No story, no effects, and yet it is a multi-billion $$$ industry worldwide...
    Dave Friedman (producer of "Blood Feast" & "2,000 Maniacs" among many others) tells in his autobiography about working in a carnival. On one date it was just a dead town - only one guy made money: he owned a food stand and he owned a hootchy-dance tent. As he explained to Friedman:

    "There's two things people will allways pay for, kid... they'll pay to eat, and they'll pay to look at that pussy."
    - housepig
    ----------------
    Housepig Records
    out now:
    Various Artists "Six Doors"
    Unicorn "Playing With Light"
    Quote Quote  
  9. No Longer Mod tgpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    The South Side
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by mats.hogberg
    Story of course. But really: if this isn't off topic, I don't know what would be... Maybe time for filing a report to the mods?

    /Mats

    ....huh?
    Quote Quote  
  10. i dont understand how jerry bruckheimer is still rich making tons of films for this guy
    The type that likes a movie where nobody really says anything (Dialog BAD!), there's no plot (no need), and lots and LOTS of explosions and gunfire and bazookas and helicopters and naked women and duh duh duh duhduh duh DUH!. Tossers, and the reason the industry pumps out total shit like Ballistic: Ecks vs sever and Collateral Damage.. There's more, tons more. But you do not have the bandwidth to download the full list, sorry.
    Quote Quote  
  11. The Story with some FX.
    Quote Quote  
  12. Member WishMaker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Florida, USA
    Search Comp PM
    I voted story, and clicked to see the results. Of course,
    I expected special effects to win.

    Well! I'm so pleased to find out this website is all I
    hoped it would be... filled with people with more than one brain cell
    left in their head.

    Of course, STORY! And a good story is one that has great
    character development. Without that, who cares is so and so
    gets killed, the girl, the guy, the shaft etc.

    Unfortunately, the studios are releasing theater ticket
    priced movies that aren't worth the gas to go see them.

    The studios are banking on two things:
    1. Killer theatrical trailers that have every piece of great stuff
    crammed into 15 seconds. (This is about how much of the film was
    worth seeing anyway.)

    2. If they don't pan out at the box office, they
    will when they get to the video stores. (Sadly, this is also true
    for non-special effects movies.)

    And yes, a good movie can have both a good story and special effects,
    but the poll was "story vs special effects".
    Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.

    Plato
    Quote Quote  
  13. Member Faustus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    Search Comp PM
    Ya know some movies are made by the story, and others the effects. Some others shouldn't have been made. lol

    anyway I've become a very jaded movie goer in the last few years, I find myself not enjoying some of the more uhm... simple movies I might have years back. Such as when me and my younger brother went to see borne identity, if not for him I would have left halfway thorough the film.. it was very unforfilling for my $8. On the other hand I think I'm one of the few people who loved what was done to Hulk, I actually really enjoyed the film. Which is odd cause I thought it was gonna be awful.
    Quote Quote  
  14. I just heard on the radio this morning that the new Harry Potter book has made more money than the Hulk in its opening weekend.

    Apparently this is the first time that a "blockbuster movie" has been outsold by a book. So I guess special effects are not everything.
    Quote Quote  
  15. Member rhegedus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    on the jazz
    Search Comp PM
    Story.

    There are some great films that have no special effects in them (some Westerns and War films, early Bond films and even newer films like Memento) but I can't think of a great film that doesn't have a story.

    Look at Matrix Reloaded: excellent special effects but a so-so story that left a lot of people disappointed.
    Regards,

    Rob
    Quote Quote  
  16. the thing with that harry potter book is, that its for kids. The Hulk is kind of scary for kids. If I was a movie director, I would make kids movies. all you have to do is make 1 kids movie and your set. Monsters inc, bugs life, toy story, finding nemo are all special effects + story. I think those movies are 50% FX and story. Its meant for kids even though there are some jokes that only adults would laugh at. I think spiderman did so good at the box office because SPIDERMAN has been around for along time. and is widely known superhero. The Hulk has been aroud too, but nobody really cares about the hulk. the Hulk gets his power out of rage and anger. I dont think hes a good role model for kids. anyway back to harry potter. I like the special effects in a movie. unless I am watching a movie for the story like the usual suspects.
    Quote Quote  
  17. No Longer Mod tgpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    The South Side
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by rhegedus
    I can't think of a great film that doesn't have a story.
    Kids, Clerks, Dazed and Confused, An Evening with Kevin Smith.

    They don't have stories per say. More of an idea.
    Quote Quote  
  18. you also forgot to mention anything written by David Lynch...

    TGPO:Nice avatar, your 3rd on this week isn't it?
    Just what is this reality thing anyway?
    Quote Quote  
  19. No Longer Mod tgpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    The South Side
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by i_am_dave
    you also forgot to mention anything written by David Lynch...

    TGPO:Nice avatar, your 3rd on this week isn't it?
    I'm not sure. Ace Ventura was only up for about a week before I got this one. It's a friend on mine's representation of what I look like.
    Quote Quote  
  20. Member rhegedus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    on the jazz
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by tgpo
    Originally Posted by rhegedus
    I can't think of a great film that doesn't have a story.
    Kids, Clerks, Dazed and Confused, An Evening with Kevin Smith.

    They don't have stories per say. More of an idea.
    Haven't seen them - shows my limited film knowledge. If they're at my local Blockbuster, I'll give them a spin this weekend.

    Is the avatar meant to be you - when did the chin fluff appear?
    Regards,

    Rob
    Quote Quote  
  21. Member housepig's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    the Plains of Leng
    Search Comp PM
    Kids, Clerks, Dazed and Confused, An Evening with Kevin Smith.

    They don't have stories per say. More of an idea.
    I can't speak to Kids or An Evening With Kevin Smith, as I haven't seen them, but I'd disagree with you on Clerks and Dazed and Confused.

    although this is probably more a semantic argument - as loose a collection of vignettes as those movies are, they are still connected by a solid story framework of location, character and situation.

    I think to have no story, you have to be more abstract and dispense with even those elements - like Baraka, or Koyannasqaatsi (sp?) - movies with an underlying theme and message, but no plot, characters or story.

    I mean, we could film you and I typing out this discussion, and it would be a supremely boring story (at least visually), but it would still be a story.
    - housepig
    ----------------
    Housepig Records
    out now:
    Various Artists "Six Doors"
    Unicorn "Playing With Light"
    Quote Quote  
  22. No Longer Mod tgpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    The South Side
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by rhegedus
    Is the avatar meant to be you - when did the chin fluff appear?
    I havn't shaved since Sunday. I grow facial hair pretty quickly.
    Quote Quote  
  23. Originally Posted by tgpo
    I havn't shaved since Sunday. I grow facial hair pretty quickly.
    Maybe it's time to reserect the 'what does everyone look like' thread and update your picture?
    Just what is this reality thing anyway?
    Quote Quote  
  24. Member flaninacupboard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Northants, England
    Search Comp PM
    Rhegdeus beat me to bringing up memento! watched it just the other day and was very impressed.
    The thing with a movie like Harry Potter or Monsters Inc is that although they are crammed with effects, obviosuly with Monsters Inc being one long effect, when you watch it, you don't view it as such. You don't go "it looked cool when the brooms were smacking into each other and all the pilots were falling off and stuf, there were so many charcaters on screen and all the textures look great!" you say "wow, that bit when harry nearly got knocked off, it was really tense!" unlike say, Phantom menace "that bit when the second pod exploded looked really cool."
    Special effects only make sense if the story justifies them. If you've seen the end of Leon, the explosion that kills stansfield is tame compared to matrix reloaded, or any kind of action movie, but the emotional involvement makes it feel powerful.
    As for clerks not having a story, you're right in a sense, it's played more like a documentary. still a fantastic movie. now, jay and silent bob strike back, that doesn't have a story!
    Quote Quote  
  25. wow wow wow this is a QI < 40 poll.
    Stupid answer by stupid question.
    Quote Quote  
  26. Did someone mention Matrix II? Read the script (edited slightly):

    http://ter.air0day.com/index.php?script=matrixreloaded
    As Churchill famously predicted when Chamberlain returned from Munich proclaiming peace in his time: "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war."
    Quote Quote  
  27. Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    australia
    Search Comp PM
    Story all the way!!!
    Quote Quote  
  28. Far too goddamn old now EddyH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Soul sucking suburbia! But a different part since I last logged on.
    Search Comp PM
    Story..

    The fortunately-recorded live TV movie version of Nineteen Eighty-Four from about 1955 is close to unwatchable in some places, and has almost nothing in the way of effects (it's more of a play), but the narritive keeps you there.
    Whereas Behind Enemy Lines looks fantastic, but even as a fan of war movies and explosions, it both irritated and bored me to tears, because the story and screenplay is so blah and I was not nearly drunk enough to be in "let's watch some mindless explosions" mood.

    Pity the films that have neither!
    -= She sez there's ants in the carpet, dirty little monsters! =-
    Back after a long time away, mainly because I now need to start making up vidcapped DVDRs for work and I haven't a clue where to start any more!
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!