MovieChat Forums > It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) Discussion > Now & Then

Now & Then

posted 10 years ago by rndhyd
5 replies | jump to latest

Who saw this in theatres? I'm too young for that, seeing a rerun in the 70s.

I watched it several more times [recorded on Beta]; once more than necessary. I have no desire to watch again, although enjoyed the film.

Similarly, "Rat Race," how do'ya like that? I never watched a complete 2nd time, but partial parts, multiple times.

Secondary point is about why a person would watch a movie again? Those with intricate plots & similar would seem to be precluded. Some comedies & even fewer actions could be watched again -- not necessarily as new.

Doesn't matter to me -- watch a movie multiple times -- often seems strange as to why. Memory problems? Not knowing the plot is much allure to a movie.

 

[–] kcornelg 10 years ago

I saw this film during its original theatrical release. I laughed so hard, I was in tears. I've watched it several times when it has been on TV, and I have a DVD of it.

I can't say that it makes me laugh as hard as I did when I first saw it, and my children didn't get as many laughs from it as I did when I was their age and first saw it. On those rare occasions when I'm channel surfing and I land on It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, I'll often stick with it 'til the end -- not because I have no memories of what happens; just because it makes me nostalgic for that first time I saw it.

I never got many laughs from Rat Race.

If it is what it is, what is it?

[–] holbrookp 10 years ago

I too saw it in its original run. I was 13. It was a big hit in the crowded theater I was in. I have it on DVD and now blu-ray. I watch it about once a year, which is my scheduling fault, not a reflection on the film's quality.

The film could have been much better. I see it's faults after so many screening. The special effects are terrible. But that's for another day....

"All necessary truth is its own evidence." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

[–] Doghouse-6 9 years ago

The special effects are terrible.

On the whole, they're really not.

There are relatively few optical effects in the film; most are physical, or "mechanical," effects (often involving stunts), which are accomplished on-set without any photographic trickery: the breakaway gas station; the pyrotechnics in the hardware store; the collapsing fire escape; the billboard through which the Beech flies and the cafeteria into which it crashes, for instance.

The most questionable sequences involve the soundstage rear-projection shots - alternating with those done on location with stunt drivers - when Sylvester tries to run Hawthorne and Crump off the road, and that involving the hook and ladder (combining optical printing of matte painting and miniatures). And there's one really terrible rear-projection shot that's all wrong, just before the migrants run off the road near the beginning of the film. But these comprise a total of only a few minutes out of nearly three hours.

Nowadays, most of the effects would be accomplished with CGI and greenscreen, and today's audiences would probably find them superior. Photographically, they're smoother than rear-projection or lab-produced opticals, but I generally find them unsatisfying and unconvincing, for a cartoonish, "weightless" quality they tend to impart.

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] ralph_2ndedition 9 years ago

Never saw this in the theatre, but have seen it on tv once, and subsequently on dvd a couple of times.
It's a fun film, but I think I hang on to the dvd more because the film is a classic, than because it is good.

Rat Race I have seen twice. The first time was ok, I found myself making countless comparisons to this film - and almost never to Rat Race's benefit.
The second time I saw it I spaced out and started fiddeling with my phone. Sat there til it ended though, not sure if that counts.

Now, about your second point. Why DOES one watch a movie several times?
For me, it is purely for entertainment. Nostalgia could have part of the credit, but that alone will not cut it.
I can think of at least ten movies I have seen more than ten times* (a few of them WAY more than that) and I just don't get tired of them.
In a small way that probably means I am clinically insane. :-)

* - off the top of my head:
House (1985)
Duel (1971)
What's Up, Doc? (1972)
Capricorn One (1978)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Jaws (1975)
Gremlins (1984)
Raiders of the lost arc (1983)
Se7en (1995)
Aliens (1986)
Die Hard (1988)

[–] ebida3 9 years ago

Which so much going on you can't possibly absorb all the information. While your thinking about what you just saw another gag starts.
Therefore you see new things. Also if you are looking at a center framed character you miss the action going on in ther periphery. Therefore, once again you see something new.

Depending on the movie reviewing can take multiple times. As an example a film such as a melodrama may not need additional reviewing but as film such as this can take a lifetime.