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Post by James on Mar 3, 2018 0:17:48 GMT
Recently, I've noticed how a certain amount of people say that they prefer Gremlins 2: The New Batch over the first Gremlins. Now don't get me wrong, The New Batch is not a bad sequel at all, in fact it's quite good, but I just feel like it's a lesser version of the original. The original just had that charm and heart to it that plenty of 80s movies had, and it knew how to balance out the horror and comedy elements very well. G2 on the other hand, tries to not only be a straight-up comedy, but almost goes for a cartoon route. I get what they were going for but it just didn't sit as well for me. Another thing is that it tries a little too hard with the specific amount of Gremlins it had by giving them different characteristics. You got the Brian, the Female, the Phantom of the Opera, the electric one, the bat one, and countless more. Like, these all could have been introduced in the span of at least 2 or 3 movies but they try so hard to cram many in it's hard to remember them all. But like I said, it is not bad. The good things about it are the return of both Zack Galligan and Phoebe Cates as Billy and Kate, Christopher Lee's performance, the Looney Tunes segments, the homages to both Rocky and Rambo, Gizmo (duh), and I'll admit when we are given the different kinds of Gremlins, it can be both funny and creative. So I don't hate 2, and I can still watch it for fun, as it still respects the original film very much by attempting to expand on the lore, but at the same time it parodies the original, which doesn't quite work since it's a straight sequel. If I want a horror sequel that is a comedy but doesn't try to be a parody of the first one, I'll go and watch Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness. I'm probably gonna get some TL;DR for this. |
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Post by Marv on Mar 3, 2018 0:23:05 GMT
Love both...but 1 is a tad better
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Post by James on Mar 3, 2018 0:27:18 GMT
Also, if anyone's wondering what I rate these movies, the first is a solid 8/10, while the second gets a high 6.5/10.
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Post by James on Mar 3, 2018 0:28:46 GMT
Okay, who voted for "Both Suck"?
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Mar 3, 2018 0:41:17 GMT
I prefer Gremlins 2.
I think it lives up to the premise better--the idea of these creatures messing with everything.
The first is more of a straight monsters on the loose story but I think the human characters are pretty generic.
Gremlins 2 makes it more about the Gremlins.
"Now, bear in mind, none of us has been in New York before. There are the Broadway shows - we'll have to find out how to get tickets. There's also a lot of street crime, but I believe we can watch that for free."
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 3, 2018 0:48:17 GMT
Gremlins (1984)
Gremlins 2 is crap imo.
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Post by James on Mar 3, 2018 0:50:19 GMT
Gremlins (1984) Gremlins 2 is crap imo. Wouldn't say that but yeah, it's a very different movie from the first it all comes down to perspective and taste. |
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Post by vegalyra on Mar 3, 2018 0:51:05 GMT
I enjoy both equally. Great films! I do like the sequence inside of the Montgomery Wards' in part one. That brings back some great memories of that store!
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Post by James on Mar 3, 2018 0:54:35 GMT
I prefer Gremlins 2. I think it lives up to the premise better--the idea of these creatures messing with everything. The first is more of a straight monsters on the loose story but I think the human characters are pretty generic. Gremlins 2 makes it more about the Gremlins. "Now, bear in mind, none of us has been in New York before. There are the Broadway shows - we'll have to find out how to get tickets. There's also a lot of street crime, but I believe we can watch that for free." True that, it definitely features more Gremlin action. I think though in the original, less was more and the story really paid off once the plot sets in motion when the Gremlins come into play. |
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 3, 2018 0:58:21 GMT
Gremlins (1984) Gremlins 2 is crap imo. Wouldn't say that but yeah, it's a very different movie from the first it all comes down to perspective and taste. I re-watched Gremlins 2 about 6 months ago and I was very bored during the second half. The self-parody stuff just falls completely flat for me. At first it's kind of fun but the more it goes on and the more extreme the humor gets the less entertaining it is. |
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dodge4life
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Post by dodge4life on Mar 3, 2018 1:03:23 GMT
They are both good, it's hard to compare them though.
Gremlins 2 is a Naked Gun-style comedy. It's a parody of the first movie, basically. You have to take it as such. The Hulk Hogan cameo, The gremlin on the cooking show, the electric and brain gremlin - things you wouldn't see in the first movie.
Gremlins took itself more seriously but not TOO serious. It still had the lightheartedness and charm of a family movie. But it was darker than the 2nd, such as the scene when Billy's mom killed the Gremlin in the microwave.
Both are good. Even visually, 2 different styles. Both were made well visually. Like I said, it's hard to compare them - they are almost 2 different genres.
What gets me is, the Gremlins were never really portrayed as THAT evil, especially in part 2. They barely, if at all, killed anyone. If I recall, they didn't kill anyone in the 2nd movie. In the first movie, during the pool scene, Stripe simply scratches Billy and then takes off running when he had the perfect opportunity to kill him. It didn't seem that the Gremlins really wanted to kill people. They were basically rambunctious pests who made a lot of noise and wined for something to eat, but they weren't murders or rapists. We'd have a much different film at that point. So when the Gremlins were killed at the end of the movies, especially part 2, in which they were even "nicer," participating in convos with humans and such, I felt that their death wasn't warranted.
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 3, 2018 1:04:20 GMT
I prefer Gremlins 2. I think it lives up to the premise better--the idea of these creatures messing with everything. The first is more of a straight monsters on the loose story but I think the human characters are pretty generic. Gremlins 2 makes it more about the Gremlins. "Now, bear in mind, none of us has been in New York before. There are the Broadway shows - we'll have to find out how to get tickets. There's also a lot of street crime, but I believe we can watch that for free." True that, it definitely features more Gremlin action. I think though in the original, less was more and the story really paid off once the plot sets in motion when the Gremlins come into play. Exactly. The fact that the gremlins are kept on the sideline more makes it more fun and memorable when they show up. The first film also has the added benefit of mystery. We already know what the gremlins are in the sequel, so that mystery is no longer there. |
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Mar 3, 2018 1:11:33 GMT
It shows the oddity of Joe Dante as a director. He prefers not to take a film seriously.
I think he was forced to with Gremlins and his disdain came through in Gremlins 2.
Strange from someone who used to do movie reviews for monster magazines. Yet his films are so un-serious.
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Post by moviemouth on Mar 3, 2018 1:16:10 GMT
It shows the oddity of Joe Dante as a director. He prefers not to take a film seriously. I think he was forced to with Gremlins and his disdain came through in Gremlins 2. Strange from someone who used to do movie reviews for monster magazines. Yet his films are so un-serious. But the first movie doesn't take itself seriously either. It does to an extent but so do all of Joe Dante's other movies besides Gremlins 2 and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Even Small Soldiers and Innerspace are restrained by comparison. |
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Post by Vegas on Mar 3, 2018 1:25:04 GMT
Both are great... The only real difference is that Gremlins 2 is more of a comedy/satire than a "kid horror" film.  |
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Post by James on Mar 3, 2018 1:30:58 GMT
They are both good, it's hard to compare them though. Gremlins 2 is a Naked Gun-style comedy. It's a parody of the first movie, basically. You have to take it as such. The Hulk Hogan cameo, The gremlin on the cooking show, the electric and brain gremlin - things you wouldn't see in the first movie. Gremlins took itself more seriously but not TOO serious. It still had the lightheartedness and charm of a family movie. But it was darker than the 2nd, such as the scene when Billy's mom killed the Gremlin in the microwave. Both are good. Even visually, 2 different styles. Both were made well visually. Like I said, it's hard to compare them - they are almost 2 different genres. What gets me is, the Gremlins were never really portrayed as THAT evil, especially in part 2. They barely, if at all, killed anyone. If I recall, they didn't kill anyone in the 2nd movie. In the first movie, during the pool scene, Stripe simply scratches Billy and then takes off running when he had the perfect opportunity to kill him. It didn't seem that the Gremlins really wanted to kill people. They were basically rambunctious pests who made a lot of noise and wined for something to eat, but they weren't murders or rapists. We'd have a much different film at that point. So when the Gremlins were killed at the end of the movies, especially part 2, in which they were even "nicer," participating in convos with humans and such, I felt that their death wasn't warranted. Precisely. And yeah I suppose they're not meant to be evil but why would they go that far to try to kill people? |
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Post by James on Mar 3, 2018 1:32:37 GMT
Wouldn't say that but yeah, it's a very different movie from the first it all comes down to perspective and taste. I re-watched Gremlins 2 about 6 months ago and I was very bored during the second half. The self-parody stuff just falls completely flat for me. At first it's kind of fun but the more it goes on and the more extreme the humor gets the less entertaining it is. Actually, I don't think it's really boring at all. It's a very fun sequel no doubt, almost as fun as the original. Just not as good in quality. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2018 1:39:05 GMT
Gremlins (1984)
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Mar 3, 2018 1:45:20 GMT
But the first movie doesn't take itself seriously either. It does to an extent but so do all of Joe Dante's other movies besides Gremlins 2 and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Even Small Soldiers and Innerspace are restrained by comparison. The Santa Claus story is very serious. And there are a couple of murders. The film was heavily criticized at the time along with Temple of Doom for its violence. Dante appears to have a thing about childhood nostalgia not unlike Spielberg but Dante is more obsessed by it. I find that his efforts to inject a melodrama are generally failures. The new kid reject stuff in Small Soldiers feels really forced as does the romance. The teen acting in Matinee is really good but the missile crisis story is pedestrian compared to the Woolsey stuff. Dante should have focused on that element much more. Funny thing is, he obviously knows the old movie genre style very well because the Mant and Shook-Up Shopping Cart movie scenes are expertly crafted pastiches. |
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Post by politicidal on Mar 3, 2018 1:56:20 GMT
Never saw New Batch.
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