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  • Film & TV Moderators: ghostfreak

What makes a movie a "classic"?

E

enigmaticfreak

Ex-Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Messages
176
I think for a movie to be a classic it has to stand the test of time, Hitchcock comes to mind. But will things like Pulp Fiction which is still a classic to me stand the test of time? Is it because foul language and lingo changes as to Hitchcock just stays where everyone can understand? Will Pulp be a classic in 100 years? Hmm...Hitchcock will be, but in 100 years we may not be cussing, and we may be, but will it stand the test of time? afterall some cuss words weren't cuss words in the past, do you see what I'm saying?
 
Pulp Fiction will get to keep its place in textbooks a while yet for making things like extended scenes of dialogue and chop-up narrative popular with several generations. people will say the violence and foul language was representative of a vein in the industry's values and society's preferences. but a hundred years is a long time in film. like as long as the history of feature film to this day.
 
^I agree. It's soundtrack is timeless as well. The cuss words and pop-culture elements in Pulp Fiction are not what make it a good movie, they simply add to it's merit.

To me, a classic is something I would instantly purchase to keep, without it being on the wimb of a trend or in the moment. That whole, "I must own this movie, and I will be watching it when in 64" element.
 
The greatest films are beyond trivial things like time and space but they always define their genre,era and place.
 
My test goes like this, and this is only for real film fanatics: watch a movie with the sound off, and see if the rhythm and story still loosely translate. Any major breaks from rhythm that seem to screw up the song denotes a regular movie, and any movie that can't seem to break out of a generic rhythm structure is also regular (or bad). Any movie that crescendos and accentuates like a song, without the sound on, might be in the running for classic status. Anyone else ever do this? Check it out with Goodfellas for a good example. The relationships, chemistry, etc, all shine through with no sound.
 
Will we not be cussing in 100 years? I highly doubt it. Most of our cuss words have been used for the last 100 years. Regardless, I'm thinking of cuss words used popular in older films and though we don't use them as much any more the effect is not lost on me nor any reasonable film viewer. This is irrelevant anyway IMO. The film isn't based on cuss words or specific drugs used. It's bigger than that. I think Pulp Fiction will stand out as a classic but I don't know and I think even if it doesn't to newer generations, I know what they'll be missing. ;)
 
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for a film to be a classic, it has to have that certain intangible something

timelessness is another word that I expect to see a lot here. from the movie's soundtrack to its visual style, it helps as if the film could realistically occur in ANY era. most are dropping Pulp Fiction as an example of this, but I feel like an even better use of soundtrack + visual style from Tarantino is my personal fave film of his, Jackie Brown

Pam Grier is a classic actress in and of herself. I suppose it most certainly does help if the film has actors that have transcended through decades of acting, and are known by all - such as Jeff Bridges, and his supporting cast in the Big Lebowski
 
We're not really 'dropping' it, just discussing the first mention of it. ;)
 
Do you feel that new movies capture the times the way Hitchcock did? He always used cars of the times, not cars from the 80s in the a 90s movie, catch my drift? He involved u in the time of the movie.
 
^ if a movie was shot in the 90s but set in the 80s, of course you'd use cars from the 80s.

alasdair
 
Not in my movie; I'd just re-write the story to include an army of regular citizens from the future, benevolently taking over everyday life.
 
I think most classics have the following characteristics; they tend to be:

*Innovative.
*Well-acted.
*Have broad appeal.
*Unique.

I think another characteristic of many classics is an enduring influence on later cinema; Hitchcock's films were hugely influential, as were Metropolis, Citizen Kane, Jaws, 2001, and yes, Pulp Fiction.
 
When you forget you're in fact watching a film -you know your high as a kite lol but srsly the classics always suck you in to the point where you're participating in the lives of the characters
 
It's hard I think to determine what movies will remain "classics" a hundred years from now. Being that the medium itself is barely over a hundred years old right now.

Although 100 years from now I'm sure a lot of movies we see as "classics" today will still be seen as classics then. I don't think Pulp Fiction will be viewed as a "classic" although I love the movie personally.

Movies like Casablanca and Chinatown though IMO will definitely stand the test of time. More modern examples I think would be Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgement Day which both redefined action movies. Also films like Back to the Future that will always have universal appeal.
 
Everyone so far has made great posts and I'd like to add one more thought. For me, if a movie stirs me on a visceral level, I cannot forget it. That doesn't necessarily make it a classic but it is a movie I will never forget. One example for me is Halloween because the first time I saw it I was very young and the boogie man was still very much in play in my imagination. I still recall how helpless and scared I felt watching Michael Myers tear people up on the screen. And the soundtrack is/was ridiculous. Who else gets chills when they hear it even today? It remains the only movie that I have ever watched that kept me awake for several nights afterwards.
 
^ Yeah, John Carpenter really outdid himself with his Halloween. And the music (which is from Carpenter too) is timeless.
 
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