Classics that aren't.

[R-9]

Now, this topic has had some success on other forums I've been to, so I thought I'd throw it out here.

What Classic _______(movie/TV show/book) have you experienced that hasn't lived up nearly to the hype and acclaim surrounding it? I'm discounting video games because I want this to stay in the lurker's section, plus I'm thinking about things that are the subjects of scholarly work, or courses, or simply constant acclaim thoughout most of their existance.

Some thoughts:

While Tolkien was a superb linguist and a decent wirter in some respects, his Magnum Opus, Lord of the Rings, didn't really do much for me. The writing is very dense, the characters are mostly flat, and he often shoehorns in history and song at times that break up the flow of the story in awkward places, and the plot pacing can be described, at best, as manic-depressive. It's a good story that deserves better writing in places, but it's not the be-all end-all of the heroic fantasy genre.

[bfg00]

Hmmm, I will have to think about this one.

On the topic of Tolkien.  I do like Lord of the Rings but mainly because it reads like most mythology and I'm a big mythology buff.  I will agree with what you said about it, but if you get used to the style then it gets alot better.

[tetsaru arigashi]

i've seen the LOTR movies, and i've read The Hobbit, and liked all of it.  but i've also read Tolkien's The Silmarillion, which is supposed to be related to those, but was extremely boring to me.  there was way too much narration, and it seemed like i was reading a history textbook instead of a fiction book ABOUT the history of Middle Earth.  =/

also, do keep in mind that i hardly ever read books - i just so happened to read those two because my high school required that we read so many books per month...  man, i hated my high school...  >_<;

[King Zarkon]

i personally think tolkien wrote trype. none of his works are worth the time i lost to read them. another book i think was  a waste of time was "pride and predjucice".

[Spaceworlder]

Pride and Prejudice is awesome.

Most overhyped so-called 'classic' of all time: Evangelion. It's a terrible Japanese cartoon that is a blatant ripoff of another terrible Japanese cartoon: Ideon.

[Hyperguy]

Akira.

I enjoyed watching Akira the first 20 times, but the last 30 weren't so great.  I'm almost convinced that the majority of its popularity comes from it not being a groundbreaking(for its time) or excellent anime, but moreso because at one point it was the only anime you could rent at Blockbuster Video.  It seemed like every video store I went to had a copy of Akira.

The cinematic quality of Akira is stunning.  The quality of the visuals were clearly far ahead of its time.  The characters themselves were over the top and cool.  The story? Well thought out, if not convoluted with high concepts.

Despite all that, I'm not a big fan of Akira.  It really hasn't aged very well.

[Spaceworlder]

I thought people only liked Akira because of the animated gore.

[R-9]

I've heard that the manga for Akira was better, but I haven't seen it myself.

Eva, however, was a combination of the worst of Tomino mysticism and the proliferation of angst introduced by the OVA flood of the '80s. The show simultaneously relied on the worst aspects of not only Ideon, but also Zeorymer for its major plot points. Hideki Anno's lack of restraint also cost the show most of its budget, leadting to notorious scenes where the characters would be standing in an elevator for two minutes with nothing happening, or scenes where all of the characters have their mouths  hidden. Of course, some of this can be (and is!) attributed to the fact that Anno was going through a phase of suicidal depression. Shinji is supposedly a self-insertion of Anno himself at the time he was creating the series. However, this doesn't excuse the fact that the show attempted numerous times to equate "art" with "confusion", had remarkably 1.5-dimensional secondary characters, (Rei especially springs to mind), and closed with what has been regarded as one of the most notorioulsy bad endings in all of anime.

If Anno was incapable of doing his job, he should've handed it over to someone who was. If you must have Eva, get the manga, not the series. Tomino was right to bitchslap Anno when and how he did.

And that's how you post an opinion.

[Spaceworlder]

Tomino bitch-slapped Anno?!

Now I have another reason to worship that guy..

[R-9]

Tomino bitch-slapped Anno?!

Now I have another reason to worship that guy..

Tomino did it by making Brain Powered, which, as far as I have read, is the anti-Eva. He even stated as such that it was intended as a rebuke to Anno being a Emo whiner (Not exact words, of course).

[R-9]

As a side note, by the way, anime space combat has been starting to wear on me a bit. While I like huge fleets of warships, I tend to frown on the appearance that most anime ships seem to be designed like the Maine, with their fuel stores and ammunition magazines surrounding their internals. A stray hit should not blow up a whole gigantic warship.

[Spaceworlder]

Tomino did it by making Brain Powered, which, as far as I have read, is the anti-Eva. He even stated as such that it was intended as a rebuke to Anno being a Emo whiner (Not exact words, of course).

Oh, I thought he literally slapped him. That would've been Bright-Noah-awesome.

I now have an interest in seeing Brain Powered.

[R-9]

Oh, I thought he literally slapped him. That would've been Bright-Noah-awesome.

I now have an interest in seeing Brain Powered.

Tomino ain't as young as he used to be, sorry. If you're interested in that series, however, I'd recommend reading up on it first, or gouging Netflix or something.

Of course, Tomino remains awesome for managing to lie his way into getting First Gundam made.

[Spaceworlder]

One thing I'm sick of in animes is the mecha designs. They're either too gaudy or too 'Gundam'-ish. I think more studios should take a page out of Turn A's book and do something bold, like consulting Western designers. Syd Mead's stuff in the aforementioned series was fresh, and it's sad to see Gundam reverting to Okawara's boring retreads with SEED.

In conclusion, Sunrise should hire Mead to do all their mechanical designs.

Tomino ain't as young as he used to be, sorry. If you're interested in that series, however, I'd recommend reading up on it first, or gouging Netflix or something.

Of course, Tomino remains awesome for managing to lie his way into getting First Gundam made.

I think his greatest contribution to humanity is the opening to King Gainer.

[bfg00]

As a side note, by the way, anime space combat has been starting to wear on me a bit. While I like huge fleets of warships, I tend to frown on the appearance that most anime ships seem to be designed like the Maine, with their fuel stores and ammunition magazines surrounding their internals. A stray hit should not blow up a whole gigantic warship.

I will agree with you on the ship design, however not many other televised shows do mass space combat.

Oh, I thought he literally slapped him. That would've been Bright-Noah-awesome.

Bright is awesome and so is Tomino.

[YeldellGW]

The Night Court sitcom comes to mind.  I finally tracked down volume one and remember reading that volume one hadn't sold so well so the chances of future volume releases are looking grim.

I use to watch the hell out of the show when it was on the air and that pisses me off to no end considering how I came find multiple volumes for shows I never watched or stopped watching.

[tetsaru arigashi]

Akira.

I enjoyed watching Akira the first 20 times, but the last 30 weren't so great.  I'm almost convinced that the majority of its popularity comes from it not being a groundbreaking(for its time) or excellent anime, but moreso because at one point it was the only anime you could rent at Blockbuster Video.  It seemed like every video store I went to had a copy of Akira.

The cinematic quality of Akira is stunning.  The quality of the visuals were clearly far ahead of its time.  The characters themselves were over the top and cool.  The story? Well thought out, if not convoluted with high concepts.

Despite all that, I'm not a big fan of Akira.  It really hasn't aged very well.

Akira was quite disappointing for me after I saw it.  the point where that one psychic guy started mutating into that huge....BLOB near the end really freaked me out...  I think it also has my vote for showing the smallest, loli-est, most pathetic-looking breasts in an anime, at least of what I've seen so far.  That poor little chick in that one scene (where those thugs tear off her shirt) must've had sore calluses for nipples.  They should've just left that whole scene out instead of offending us bakunyuu-lovers like that...  >_>

[Ellendesu]

Akira was quite disappointing for me after I saw it.  the point where that one psychic guy started mutating into that huge....BLOB near the end really freaked me out...  I think it also has my vote for showing the smallest, loli-est, most pathetic-looking breasts in an anime, at least of what I've seen so far.  That poor little chick in that one scene (where those thugs tear off her shirt) must've had sore calluses for nipples.  They should've just left that whole scene out instead of offending us bakunyuu-lovers like that...  >_>

Basing your opinion of a movie on breast size is fairly pathetic. That's all I'm sayin'.

If you're gonna hate Akira, you should hate it for a good reason, like it's hard to follow storyline.

And don't turn this into a "you just said that because you hate us bakunyuus!", I just think it's a pathetic reason to base a review on.

That is all.

[HMD]

And don't turn this into a "you just said that because you hate us bakunyuus!", I just think it's a pathetic reason to base a review on.

[tetsaru arigashi]

Basing your opinion of a movie on breast size is fairly pathetic. That's all I'm sayin'.

If you're gonna hate Akira, you should hate it for a good reason, like it's hard to follow storyline.

And don't turn this into a "you just said that because you hate us bakunyuus!", I just think it's a pathetic reason to base a review on.

That is all.

Don't worry dude, I don't take offense to a simple comment like that...  unlike some other people...

I'm just saying that it weirded me out.  I'm sorry if my bakunyuu standards keep me from liking microscopic loli-breasts.  >_<;

That, and I agree that the storyline was kinda difficult to follow at times.