Frequently when i am talking to people we will talk about favorite films from our childhoods and will recant one another with how amazing these movies were because of the time we saw them when we were say, 8 years old. A lot of fond memories come back to our minds about how great they were and how we can't wait to see them again.
Today being the way that it is we are just a few clicks away from being able to do precisely that and I have fallen victim to his on a number of occasions. Some things are just better left in your childhood memories I'm afraid and going back to see them will probably fill you with a feeling of "why TF did I ever like that?" and let me go ahead and tell you that you should just leave them in your minds. Going back and trying to relive your childhood enthusiasm can actually ruin the entire experience.
Here are a few of mine that I went back and watched and it really kind of ruined my memories of it all
E.T.
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E.T. was everything back in the early 80's and all of us that were alive when Spielberg became a household name were just astonished by how amazing this movie was. However, it was a sci-fi movie and we are talking about a time period when special effects were not something we had a lot of back then. If you watch this movie today with eyes knowing what we have as possibilities as far as CGI is concerned will ruin a lot of this movie for you, especially the part where the kids fly their bicycles over the town. The effects simply didn't exist at the time although I am sure the did the best they could. It just looks really bad
Clash of the Titans
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This film was basically all claymation because we didn't have computer back then. I can appreciate it for what it was in 1981 but honestly, it just look terrible by today's standards and because of this a lot of the allure is removed. I still think it is a lot better than the remake especially the famous Medusa scenes, but knowing what we know now this movie is just painful to watch these days... although I still appreciate this guy
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The Last Starfighter
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You live in a downtrodden trailer park and you get recruited to go to fight in an elite force to save the galaxy because you did well in a video game? well, this certainly seems like a movie that could definitely be remade for today but unfortunately it wouldn't have the same appeal since most videogames have better graphics than films these days and take years longer to develop. It was a great concept at the time but going back will almost certainly leave you wondering why you ever enjoyed it in the first place.
Conan the Barbarian
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This last one I am loading into here just to see if anyone reads it. Unlike everything else on this list this 1982 gem still holds up today except for a few scenes where they painstakingly drew animations on each individual frame of the film. Conan The Barbarian is one of the greatest films ever made in my opinion and even now watching it nearly 40 years later it still stands up. This is an exception to the rule that i defined at the start.
Simply everything about this film is top drawer and almost none of it has diminished with time. Seriously, if for some reason you have not seen this movie you need to do so right now. It is just one of the most epic films ever made and I think it will remain that way forever. This was before Arnold was a household name and 30 years before he had political aspirations. His English sucked when they were filming it and he was nearly not included in the movie because he simply couldn't speak English.
Looking back it is difficult to imagine anyone else playing that role and just everything about it is amazing.
So if you want to relive your childhood, watch the last one but skip the others and just leave them in your memories
Do you have any childhood favorites that you think are better left in the past? Here are a few others that I think should remain there
- The Dark Crystal
- The Neverending Story
- Krull
- Tron
Go ahead and hate on me,.... but please, before you do so, at least go back and watch it from start to finish before voicing your opinion. In the 80's we were at the beginning stages of CGI and it is very evident in basically all of these films.
Most of these films are not actually available on Netflix right now... but i am sure that you are capable of finding them on something like 1337x.to