Some Of The Most Influential Films Of The Last 50 Years

[Sandor 796]

Like the concept of "underrated scores", the label "influential" is also, although to a lesser degree, subjected to personal interpretation.

I've made a list of 10 films that I consider to be "Some of most influential films of the last 50 years" (yes, I like making lists...). It may not include the most obvious or most often mentioned films in this regard. Here's # 10 and # 9:

# 10 - NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1969)

Why influential? Because Romero created a set of "rules" concerning zombies that have become custom in countless films afterwards. Recent films like Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, etc. all owe a debt to Romero.

Besides that, this was the first film that added a new layer to the horror genre: gore. Since Night, gore has become a standard in practically all horror films.

# 9 - ALADDIN (1992)

Why influential? Because Robin Williams' impersonation of "The Genie" changed the animated film forever. Since Aladdin, most animated films are drenched with fast paced jokes (sometimes more funny to grown-ups than to children).

Aladdin was for me the start of this trend, which has become standard fare in animated films.

[Hitch 57]

ALADDIN??? I need to sit down.

[fommes 153]

subjected to personal interpretation

You don't say!

[Sandor 796]

I was watching Charlotte's Web, and although not an animated film, the humor was very similar to the humor that is present in virtually ALL animated films nowadays.

Then I was thinking: which was the first film to do it in that way (as opposed to the more children orientated humor of past "G-rated films")?

I came up with... Aladdin. It was the first film that presented humor in a totally different way (The Genie). It influenced the ENITRE genre, and therefore I consider it highly influential.

Oh, and influential is NOT THE SAME as great, unforgettable, a masterpiece, etc.

I don't really like Aladdin as a film, but I do recognize the influence it had.

[Sandor 796]

# 8 - 48 HRS. (1982)

Why influential? The concept of putting two different personalities together to achieve a common goal may have preceded 48 Hrs. ("buddy movies" like Busting or Super Cops already existed), but the way Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy played their roles has forever changed cinema-history. Need proof? Well, there are countless films that used the template of 48 Hrs. I don't even want to begin listing them...

# 7 - ALIEN (1979)

Why influential? Do I really need to answer that..?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I cannot judge # 10 and 9, since neither film is known to me. (I would have submitted Halloween instead).

But both # 8 and 7 are spot on.

Of course # 1 will be Jaws, which changed movie making forever.

[Ollie 1,059]

I can think of 10 in no order:

Die Hard

Star Wars

Jaws

2001

Halloween

Toy Story

Dr. No

Beast From 20,000 Fathoms - a tad over 50 years

The Poseiden Adventure

The Seven Samurai

[Hitch 57]

Hitch and Alma's Top 10 (in no particular order)

Behind The Green Door (1972)

House of Dreams (1990)

Insatiable (1980)

Marriage and Other 4 Letter Words (1974)

The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976)

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (1974)

Shock (1996)

Taboo (1980)

Talk Dirty To Me (1980)

Three Daughters (1986)

[Sandor 796]

I would have submitted Halloween instead

All good things to those who wait...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I never wait!

[Red 75]

As far as animated films go, I'd rank Toy Story much higher than Aladdin because it started the trend of CG cartoons, which has completely dominated the animated and kids' film market of today.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Good point.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

As far as animated films go, I'd rank Toy Story much higher than Aladdin because it started the trend of CG cartoons, which has completely dominated the animated and kids' film market of today.

Hmm, in which case I would argue that the animated-feature revival and subsequent shift to CG animation couldn't have happened without Beauty and the Beast, which I consider the most influencial animated movie in the last three decades.

In short, if there was no Beauty and the Beast there'd be no Toy Story. I think so, anyways.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

If we're doing that, then if there was no The Little Mermaid, there'd be no Beauty and the Beast.

[Hitch 57]

If we're doing that, then we've only the frozen mind and limbs of Walt Disney to thank for that. When they put me out to pasture, I hoped I'd fare better than Walt.

[indy4 155]

If we're doing that, then if there was no The Little Mermaid, there'd be no Beauty and the Beast.

If it weren't for Steamboat Willie, there would be no Little Mermaid.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

There's no end to this, is there?

[indy4 155]

Nope.

[Hitch 57]

It would seem so.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

If we're doing that, then if there was no The Little Mermaid, there'd be no Beauty and the Beast.

True, but the confirmation of the popularity of animated movies was not concrete until Beauty. Still, going back even further is possible, so perhaps I should just leave it there!

[Henry B 50]

All three of the Menken/Ashman animated features were greatly important. Aladdin was the weakest of the three because of its stale, romantic theme. The original story and soundtrack (most of the stuff conceived before Ashman's death) would have been more interesting.

[Sandor 796]

I'd rank Toy Story much higher than Aladdin because it started the trend of CG cartoons.

Toy Story was bound to happen. If Pixar wasn't the first studio to produce it, someone elso would have made "the first feature length completely CG film". It was like the 'landing on the moon': everyone knew it was going to happen. It was just a question of who would get there/dare it first.

In that sense Toy Story cannot possible be rated higher. It was somewhat influential from a technical point of view, but CGI existed long before Toy Story. The effects were not "a new, never before seen" thing. Just a lot longer. The greatest influence it had was on the market: it showed that a feature length CG film could be a hit. But I'm more interested in the influence a film can have on story telling techniques and the way characters are put on the screen. In that sense, Aladdin did more than Toy Story. It influenced the tone of animated films until this day.

True, but the confirmation of the popularity of animated movies was not concrete until Beauty.

Rubbish. Yes, it made more money than any animated film in the preceding 10 years, but The Little Mermaid was also succesful. I really don't agree with the notion the a "succesful film" is the same as an "influential film".

Jumanji was a lot more succesful than Reservoir Dogs, but the latter had way more influence on cinema.

There have been animated films for decades, and they have always been succesful. Long before Beauty And The Beast. Want to look at a list of unadjusted box-office figures and see how Snow White or Bambi did in their days?

[Melvin Frohike 12]

I'll throw in Scream and Saw as movies that influenced their genre for years to come.

[Sandor 796]

Scream and Saw were both influenced by Se7en, although from different perspectives.

After Se7en a lot of movies wanted to incorporate numerous "plot twists", including Scream. Kiss The Girls, The Bone Collector, even Saw were all moulded from "the Se7en-blueprint".

Se7en is a true influential film. Until this day. Not that it invented "a plot twist", or "an unexpected turn of events". But the made the "I didn't see THAT coming!" element extremely popular and gave it a new life.

[A24 4,323]

I disagree with you Roald. Seven did not injected the plot twist film with new life. Those were The Crying Game and The Usual Suspects.

[Morlock 11]

I concur with Mr. Cremers. The Crying Game was the first movie to really capitalize on 'The twist', with Miramax imploring the press to vocally be quiet about the twist, and the press largely complying. And The Usual Suspect is just massivly popular amongst younger people, film enthusiasts or not.

IMO, Star Wars is without a doubt the most influential film of the last 50 years. It changed the entire industry. And certainly a combination of Easy Rider, Bonnie & Clyde and The Graduate deserve a spot. They created the 70's, IMO the greatest decade for American films.

I guess Toy Story was influential, but in hindsight, it looks more like a natural progression of the popularity of the Disney animated films and the CGI of Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park.

Saturday Night Fever was hugely influential is a way. It showed how viable a motion picture soundtrack is, where the soundtrack brought in more money than the film. I don't know how directly responsible it is for soundtracks geared for bucks, but it did offer an idea, like Star Wars did with the merchandising, that there are several ways to milk a movie for dough.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

As the first summer blockbuster, I'd say that Jaws was quite influential as well.

[Edit: I see Steef already mentioned this]

There have been animated films for decades, and they have always been succesful. Long before Beauty And The Beast. Want to look at a list of unadjusted box-office figures and see how Snow White or Bambi did in their days?

True. However, as far as current/modern film is concerned, The Little Mermaid brought animation back to popularity in a big way (at least, the kind of musical animation Disney is known for). It signaled a new era.

[Sandor 796]

Se7en has had more of its elements copied than The Crying Game and The Usual Suspects together. I love both films (don't get me wrong! - especially The Crying Game), but the influence of Se7en is more prominent.

And like I said many times before: an influential film is usually NOT the first film to present a certain concept. Like 48 Hrs. didn't invent the "buddy movie". It did influence film makers to do "something like that".

Se7en did just that too.

[Morlock 11]

As the first summer blockbuster, I'd say that Jaws was quite influential as well.

[Edit: I see Steef already mentioned this]

I think that while Jaws was certainly the first blockbuster, the industry didn't know how to cash in on it immidiately, aside from sequels and cheap knock-off. And, although it is pure adventure adn story-telling, Jaws is still a 70's movie. Star Wars first of all created immidiate interest in Fantasy and sci-fi as a genre one could make money on. But it showed all kinds of ways one could make money off a film, as well as quite definitively being an 80's movie. Gone was any resemblance to anything else made at the time.

[A24 4,323]

The success of Seven led too many serial killer movies. It's famous for its grim atmosphere, not its "plot twist".

[Morlock 11]

Se7en has had more of its elements copied than The Crying Game and The Usual Suspects together. I love both films (don't get me wrong! - especially The Crying Game), but the influence of Se7en is more prominent.

And like I said many times before: an influential film is usually NOT the first film to present a certain concept. Like 48 Hrs. didn't invent the "buddy movie". It did influence film makers to do "something like that".

Se7en did just that too.

Well, I don't get the sense that Se7en entered the public conciousness nearly as much as those two films. The Crying Game was written about everywhere. Besides, Se7en doesn't really have a twist ending....I don't know, I just don't see Se7en's influence. If anything, Fight Club had a bigger influence.

[MSM 126]

Jurassic Park has marked the turning point in high quality special effects (go-motion).

[Sandor 796]

Alex, the atmosphere in Se7en is definately one of the elements that made Se7en influential.

Morlock, you have probably seen at least a dozen films since 1995 that were influenced by "the Se7en feeling".

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Jurassic Park has marked the turning point in high quality special effects (go-motion).

There is no go-motion in Jurassic Park.

[Morlock 11]

Yeah, crappy police procedurals. I don't concider that such a big influence, and either way, it did not influence the 'twist ending' phenominon.

[Melange 446]

Most influencial film

Influencing who? I guess that is the question. I can speak for myself about a movie which deeply influenced 'me', and a lot of British children who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s. Infact, most children who see this film end up psychologically and emotionally traumatised by it to some degree LOL.

The movie is '

' (1978) based on the novel by Richard Adams. An animated movie which appears to be a child's animated movie but is far from it on many levels. Fear, brutality, hope, politics, environmentalism, metaphysics, social behaviour analysis, intertwined in what is 'seemingly' a cute story about animals.

Of course, the score is fabulous. Composed by Angela Morley (with some written by Malcolm Williamson) and in one particular sequence you can see on YouTube she wove her score magically around the famous Bright Eyes song by Art Garfunkel. For me, the music she wrote in this scene in particular is way up there with the kind of emotional rollercoaster that can be found in Johnny's E.T score (so it isn't surrprising that she had worked with John considerably and worked with him on E.T a few years later). It is emotional and mystical magic in music.

[Sandor 796]

it did not influence the 'twist ending' phenominon

It did more than you think...

Melange, Mike Batt's score for the TV series is also very good.

[Josh500 1,615]

Jurassic Park has marked the turning point in high quality special effects.

Agreed! But before JP, there was T2!

[Sandor 796]

Agreed! But before JP, there was T2!

And before that The Abyss...

Again; I'm looking for influential aspects like character portayal, storytelling, overal visual style, etc.

CGI effects in films was bound to happen.

[Morlock 11]

it did not influence the 'twist ending' phenominon

It did more than you think...

Either that, or you're just plain wrong about this. I guess we'll never know.

[MSM 126]

Still I regard T2 and JP a different story.

[A24 4,323]

The Star Warses (all of them) are the most influential movies ever according to a poll held with 18.000 people.

[MSM 126]

The Star Warses (all of them) are the most influential movies ever according to a poll held with 18.000 people.

And they arguably have been (using a lot of new techniques developed by Skywalker Ranch). As to symphonical film music, they have been for sure.

[Sandor 796]

Just wait to see what's my # 1...

[MSM 126]

Just wait to see what's my # 1...

Oh ok...big surprise...!

[Marian Schedenig 8,153]

What about King Kong, both for its effects-heavy plot and its general status as the first film with a real film score? Or Captain Blood, the first film with the "Hollywood Sound"?

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Those weren't made in the last 50 years.

[robthehand 3]

Details....

[MrScratch 294]

The Crying Game was the first movie to really capitalize on 'The twist', with Miramax imploring the press to vocally be quiet about the twist, and the press largely complying. And The Usual Suspect is just massivly popular amongst younger people, film enthusiasts or not.

The Sixth Sense needs to be mentioned also. It came out after all these twist-ending movies, but it made the most money and that means it caught Hollywoods attention. It was big box office and it was all because of the twist. Shyamalan practically trademarked the twist ending (and ran it into the ground). Since Sixth Sense there have been countless imitators, movies with a (1) creepy kid (2) supernatural plot and (3) twist ending.

[Sandor 796]

Mr. Scratch: absolutely. The Sixth Sense was influential, although to a lesser degree.