62 replies to this topic

[Pasidon]

More and more has the media industries around the globe been drawn into these repetitive movie themes, and have had enough of it. Due to the massive load of spoiled and overdone supernatural monsters and themes, I declare this generation...

The Repetitive Generation

I can't be the only one in the world to notice the load of reused themes in our modern world. Like that "17 Again" movie... an adult is turned young again. How many times has an adult been turned into a kid, and vise-versa ("Big" for example)? And I also noticed immortality movies taking a strive in the movie world, most of them staring Hue Jackman (The Fountain and all the X-Men movies). These are ruining the world of multi-media, but most especially monster based media; For example...

Vampires:
-Twilight
-That New Amsterdam show that got canceled (Thank the lord...)
-Dracula (It's a play, a musical, and a movie!)
-VanHelsing
-Interview with a Vampire
-Vampire 3000 (Or was it called 2000?)
-All of the Soul Caliber games
-Fallout 3 (Does have vampires, yes)
-Morrowind (Also has vampires, yes)
-Oblivion (Vampires as well, yes)
-Metal Gear Solid 3&4 (Vamp, who technically was rejuvenated by nano-machines and just played a vampire for fun, but still claimed to be a Vampire)
-Dracula 3000
-Sesame Street
-And a list that I could type forever...

Undead (Zombies more specifically):
-Dawn of the dead
-Dawn of the Dead 2
-Shawn of the dead
-Dead Rising
-Rob Zombie
-I Am Legend
-Call of Duty: World at war (Are you kidding me? Nazi Zombies!?)
-Resident evil 0,1,2,3,4,5 and the spin offs and the movies (They have like 4 movies and a CGI game spin off!)
-Fallout 3 (Ghouls are pretty much zombies, especially the crazed ones that eat people)
-Morrowind
-Oblivion (Bethesda = Super repetitive)


And these are just the 2 examples!


But this isn't just to see how many repetitive media items I can name. Tell your Repetitive Generation observations, because I need more evidence to convince people to stop repeating these stupid things. And if you feel obligated to, give a good idea games and movies can start using to eventually make repetitive (If it turns out to be a good idea, you know it'll be used over-and-over again until I start complaining about it too). The more Repetitive Generation awareness we have, the sooner we can put these over-used ideas into the past.

[segwayrulz]

well at least they are tried and true. seriously how can you get bored of zombies

[Vortigern]

Firstly, Shawn of the Dead is a spoof, you can't count that as a part of this rant. Secondly, you forgot Left 4 Dead.

[Allathar]

And thirdly, who cares. Noone is forcing you to watch it... Though I admit you have a point, but remember, this is something of all times, not just today. It's just Hollywood re-using concepts that have proved to be succesfull in the past, no big deal. If there's a new innovation that is succesfull, others will copy it.

[Vortigern]

You know, technically you can break all stories down into their basic components and, when you've done that, every single story ever written will come into one of seven categories. I can't remember what they are, but they really do cover everything. So that would suggest that everything since the first seven stories ever told has been a copy.

[Pasidon]

I'm talking degrees. Cloverfeild is a monster movie just like Godzilla or Gamara, but it's something new. Not just a new monster, but a new style. So I have reason to call it original. And yea, Shawn of the Dead I do respect. They make fun of the overused zombie theme, and I can call it original, but it's under a zombie genre unavoidably. Zombies are fun though... but shooting undead crickets can get old after the 22nd movie I see with a zombie getting its head shot off. Also true that I don't have to see them; no one does. But people will pay and the process repeats itself with a squeal or worse. Directors occupy themselves too much with an idea that they never came up with. Besides making a vampire movie, they could make a masterpiece that never happened. Only thing a masterpiece this day in age needs is an idea never done before. Reason why Start Trek got so popular from the poorly made TV show is that nothing like the TV show had ever been done, causing viewers to look past the bad acting and corny props.

[some_weirdGuy]

There is nothing wrong with reusing themes or concepts.
There’s nothing new under the sun. Seriously, it is extremely hard, even impossible, to come up with an idea that is completely original and not similar to anything else ever thought up.
Besides, if people like something, then they want to see more! Denying them this is very dumb, as a lot of people would lose out on a lot of money. Movies are made to make money. Why even bother coming up with a new idea when people are wanting more of the same anyway, and you can make lots of money from it with less thinking needed.

Star Trek is a pretty bad example to support your opinion that repetition is bad, as there were many many sci fi’s around before it, even ones with quite similar concepts. Originality is all well and good, but when you think about it, nothing is original, everything has always had something before it that is either the same or very similar.

((Edit: made a better post))

Edited by some_weirdGuy, 30 April 2009 - 05:17 AM.

[Allathar]

Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it!

[Pasidon]

Yea man... Southpark is the true enemy of repetition. But maybe they're right... we should blame the Simpsons for stealing every good idea.

Maybe someone should make a movie where a dunk becomes a successful movie produ... oh darn! They did that too.

But there is a lot of things wrong with repetition WG. A college theme movie where kids just get into trouble and eventually solve their problem has been done a thousand and two times, but it can still be a good movie I might spend money on. When I see a movie I like that's repetitive, chances are I won't be looking back on it and remembering how it was such a movie unlike every other movie ever created.When I go and see the Soloist, I do compare it to other movies where a troubled person has a mental disability, but the Soloist will stick out to me because of the unique tones and ideas used to portray the characters in unique ways.

What's good with a movie that sticks out?

It shapes a mind's scope of perception. A new idea shown in a movie is like a new revelation to me. It adds to already known ideas and makes them better. Its it sort of like seeing a new color... you couldn't imagine it before because you couldn't comprehend the thought because you had no way to know what a new color would look like. Am I actually saying a unique media production can make you more enlightened and smarter? I am, and it does whether you realized it or not. And I want to be enlightened even further, but producers and game designers insist that they repeat an idea people want to see more of, but it comes to a point where the subject is being mooched off of just so they can make a few extra bucks, without enlightening people at all. People will like a repetitive movie, but get nothing from it but a few hours of entertainment, but movies and games should be so much more than about entrainment these days. I guess games don't have to be enlightening, but a lot of games that win in E3 usually have a compelling story line, like Metal Gear Solid 4, last years game of the year. Qawinkidink? It was a great game, but the story is why I will never forget it. Well that's my psychological view of why repetition is bad, whether or not that help you see my point.

Edited by {IP}Pasidon, 01 May 2009 - 04:54 AM.

[Beowulf]

There's only one question you need to answer in terms of movies: were you entertained?
If the answer is yes, it doesn't matter what it was about. If you enjoyed it and had a good time watching, it was enough.

If you need more than that, you should probably be out more.

[Pasidon]

But movies can be so much more than entertaining these days. But we're getting deep into this now, so deep people can take two sides to it. Like you Wulf, people don't care how much a movie is reflected onto them as long as they got some sort of entertainment from it. Nothing wrong with that. But people like me have gotten board of the same old movies. We like a good movie perfectly fine, but what's the point in the end if you can't take anything from it? But I'm not talking like spiritual enlightenment here. Like Happy Gilmore... just a pointless story in general, but I was enlightened in the category of comedy on the end. Something about punching Bob Barker sticks out to me... it might even be the reason I enjoy using violent comedy.

[Rattuskid]

The fact you classify Rob Zombie, a musician, as reusing a plot... hurts my brain.

[Beowulf]

But movies can be so much more than entertaining these days. But we're getting deep into this now, so deep people can take two sides to it. Like you Wulf, people don't care how much a movie is reflected onto them as long as they got some sort of entertainment from it. Nothing wrong with that. But people like me have gotten board of the same old movies. We like a good movie perfectly fine, but what's the point in the end if you can't take anything from it? But I'm not talking like spiritual enlightenment here. Like Happy Gilmore... just a pointless story in general, but I was enlightened in the category of comedy on the end. Something about punching Bob Barker sticks out to me... it might even be the reason I enjoy using violent comedy.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I prefer a good experience. I do enjoy the thought provoking movies of course and I really enjoy movies with deep plot lines and such but I still enjoy movies with no real plot and nothing but action. Dammit, who doesn't a lot of death and destruction for 90 minutes?

Also. Black comedies are the best.

[segwayrulz]

Okay well movies dont need to make sense or especially have a story etc.
once me and SWG watched Kung Pow three times in a row. It still wasnt a bad movie after the 3rd time.
But seriously who needs a story in a movie, television is made for stories. see transformers smashed the Box office, and it was about 2 hours of Robots fighting each other. people are stupid, we don't need stories or complex characters, or even a moral dillema, we just something to entertain ourselves.

[Vortigern]

Yeah, and the new X-Men film has a very recognisable storyline. Brothers fighting, go their separate ways, woman killed, revenge, search for truth, free the captives of the bad guys, lots of things to show you just how bad the bad guys really are, and not nearly enough of Gambit! Also, they made Gambit American, not French. I was severely disappointed by that. Overall, not a bad film, but should have been significantly better.

Kung Pow is hilarious. "That's a lot of nuts!" Whereas Transformers was merely decent. I admit, it may not have helped that I watched it on a plane first (and only) time, so I may not have got the full experience.

[Spectre]

The fact you classify Rob Zombie, a musician, as reusing a plot... hurts my brain.

That and Sesame Street. I mean come on, Sesame Street! you can't mess with Sesame Street!

[Vortigern]

Hang on, I just noticed that. Are you seriously putting The Count in as a vampire? He's a puppet who lives to teach small children how to count! He doesn't even bite people. He's also the second-best puppet ever. (The best was Angel in an episode of his self-titled Buffy spinoff wherein he gets turned into a puppet and mauled by a werewolf. Absolutely hilarious.)

[Ash]

I don't know how Twilight got classified as a film. I got coerced into watching it with a group of friends (fortunately watched the DvDRiP not at cinema...). Got 10 minutes in and I decided "that's it, I'm done." So I went and got my DS and started playing that, paying no attention. It's a fucking teen movie that says vampire occasionally. MONA the vampire was more vampire than that!

And Vort is correct - if you boil every plot down it fits to one of seven. Every story is made up of various elements which we can recognise. The only difference is the flesh (possibly rotting?) which we deign to cover the skeletal story structure with. No big deal. Just a shame most movies of vampires and zombies are so utterly, utterly shit.

[segwayrulz]

lol twilight is the pinnacle of epic fails in movie, acting, storyline, and overall plot sense.
Im not sure why but I sort of enjoyed snakes on a plane.
"im tired of these motherfucking snakes, on this motherfucking plane"