MovieChat Forums > From Here to Eternity (1953) Discussion > test of time

test of time

posted 13 years ago by rpartrid-2
14 replies | jump to latest

I want to use this movie as a chance to get opinions on why some movies do not stand the test of time. When I first saw this movie in the fifties I thought it was a masterpiece (so did the academy awards. Now when I watch it it simply doesn't measure up as a very good picture (I know I know - this is subjective) and I'm trying to figure out why some pictures (another would be High Noon) simply don't age well. I don't think it has anything to do with the fact they are in black and white - I think it has to do with the pacing (movies were comparatively very slow ) and something about the acting (which I can't identify). Any thoughts???

[–] morningsidemary 13 years ago

Acting superb (5 Academy Award nominees, 2 wins); pacing perfect. One of the absolute great movies of all time. And my favorite.

[–] rpartrid-2 13 years ago

do you have a movie that you don't think has stood the test of time - and do you understand why?

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] rpartrid-2 13 years ago

again in MY OPINION High Noon (which I thought when I first saw it was truly a great motion picture) has not stood the test of time - it is agonizingly slow; predictable and flat (even the shootout by today's standards isn't particularly riveting)

[–] shred-com 12 years ago

Everything's perfect about this one.
And to the OP
Did you ever think you've changed? Maybe you just have different taste in films then you did when you were younger. :)

[–] charlesgirl 12 years ago

That's an excellent point that maybe the OP's taste in movies have changed. Some of the movies that I enjoyed when I was younger, I watch now and say "what was I thinking". I feel that way about Big Trouble in Little China. When I watched it I thought it was really good. Then I saw it a few years later and was completely disappointed. lol

[–] chuko3 8 years ago

I completely agree with the sentiments stated above. Absolutely one of the great American movies of all time. One of my five best, ever...

[–] orhugs 12 years ago

I say movies don't stand up because of the society. Like nowadays a movie focusing on the confusion of how one can love the army an war and hate it at the same time when we're not in the middle f war. And not just a one sided war but one where your life is actually in danger. Without that concept and understanding this movie dosnt have the same impact that it would have had back then.

Also with the censorship now days nothing shocks us anymore. Seeing people kissing on a beach is "meh" but then that scene alone was so epic... We cannot understand totally.

Movies which play soley upon emotion and love and so forth are the timeless ones. Or even ones set in places foriegn where we still (in North America) don't undertand very well. But Hawaii... During Pearl Harbour... In the 50's is a hard thing to be affected by in the 2000's

"My feet are made of clay, made of clay don't you know. Goodnight little man."

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] kolnoaMograbi 9 years ago

rPar, I just now opened a new thread on the stilted dialog. I know exactly what you mean.

"When you think of garbage, think of Akeem!"

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 4 years ago

This film has promise early on but the relationships that developed didn't ring true and the weird ending for Prewitt made no sense at all. The acting wasn't bad but Clift as Prewitt often times seemed wrong in the role. Lancaster was very good and I liked several supporting characters. A good movie, around 6/10.

[–] Otter (24464) 4 years ago

The movie as a whole isn't that great, the characters are really just a bunch of low-rent assholes... but Clift's performance is so amazing that he makes the movie as a whole movie seem much better than it is. He's extraordinary, compelling, so completely alive and open that the viewer can read his every thought even has he tries to hide his feelings from the other characters, he's astonishing and this is his best screen work. He was totally robbed at Oscar time! It's such a shame that he drank away his brain cells, because at his best he was one of the greats!

But other than Clift, really, it's basically just another kitchen-sink drama in an army setting. The other actors do good solid work and were duly rewarded by the Hollywood establishment, but the story just ain't all that... it's mostly about a bunch of messy people being messy, and a hero who never clues in that the army objects to his philosophy of "If a man don't go his own way he's nothing". The army is designed to keep enlisted men from going their own way and make them into nothing, a.k.a. cannon fodder.

[–] TheArgentinian (7251) 3 years ago

Saw it last night for the first time. I don't think it aged well. And I don't mind melodrama, I'm a fan of Douglas Sirk.

[–] liscarkat (19418) 3 years ago

"From Here to Eternity" has stood the test of time very well. "High Noon" was already preposterous the day it was released. The idea that not one person in an entire town would help the sheriff is simply not believable.