AVATAR

Jaws did start the summer blockbuster movement, but the very first blockbuster was Tom Laughlin's Billy Jack. Although the term "blockbuster" has come to mean a film with high revenue during inital opening, it's original definition is a movie with same-day release in different markets. It was a bold move especially for an independent film-maker.

(This is more of a change in the way movies are marketed vs. how they are made, but related.)

The Blair Witch Project ignited the whole "found footage" sub-genre.

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Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Some may disagree, but I think Saving Private Ryan introduced a gritty combat realism, especially with the D-Day landing scenes, that nobody had ever seen before.

I don't think anyone would disagree. The influence of SPR with subjective camera, washed-out colors, focused flying dirt and realistic bullet effects has been clear in subsequent combat movies like "Black Hawk Down" etc., and even movies of pre-modern war like "Gladiator" (minus the bullet effects, obviously).

Here's another early one: "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) by Georges Méliès, pioneer of many narrative and technical developments in cinema. He made over 500 movies (mostly in a period where they were typically just a few minutes long), and the ones losely based upon Jules Vernes stories like this one can be said to have established the science fiction genre, with the first special effects. Even if you have never seen any of them, you probably have seen them referenced in later works as different as music videos by the Smashing Pumpkins and Scorsese's 2011 "Hugo".

Well George Lucas changed movie history by running the credits at the end rather than the beginning. Star Wars was the first and he was fined $100k for that move.

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Originally posted by mkueffer:
Well George Lucas changed movie history by running the credits at the end rather than the beginning. Star Wars was the first and he was fined $100k for that move.

Movies with strictly closing credits predate Star Wars by several decades, with the first major example being 1956's Around the World in 80 Days. Star Wars was not the first by any means. And I cannot find any evidence of Lucas being fined $100k for following that already established practice with Star Wars.

However, there was an issue with the Directors Guild over directorial credits on the 2nd film, for which Lucas paid a $25k fine (and then quit the guild):

https://www.cbr.com/empire-str...cas-opening-credits/

What about "The Wild Bunch" (1969) and "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967)? Both had higher than ever levels of bloody gunfights.

I don't know that there were any particular innovations, but it seems to me King Kong (1933) was the impetus for movies featuring giant "monsters." I would guess it also was a driver for the use of stop motion.

The Matrix redefined action movies, then John Wick redefined them again.

No mention of Die Hard? It started the whole 80s lone hero against insurmountable odds action genre that continues today.

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Originally posted by kkina:
No mention of Die Hard? It started the whole 80s lone hero against insurmountable odds action genre that continues today.

First Blood ?? (1982) sorta a hero...

Nothing is over ! You just don't turn it off !

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quote:

Originally posted by Sig209:

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
No mention of Die Hard? It started the whole 80s lone hero against insurmountable odds action genre that continues today.

First Blood ?? (1982) sorta a hero...

Nothing is over ! You just don't turn it off !

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Well, yes, same basic theme, but FB was a different style, much darker. Great movie, and again different from even its own sequels.

How the heck did Avatar change jack? It was the same overdone storyline in multiple other movies, but with more colorful, higher def CGI.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World started the outrageous, over the top, comedy extravaganza.

How about Marlon Brando's emotive performance in A Streetcar Named Desire heralding in method acting? Stiff, stagey line deliveries weren't going to cut it any more.

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Originally posted by parabellum:

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Originally posted by patw:
One I can think of off the top of my head, and there may be others like it made prior, but I see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as a guy/buddy movie that set a tone for future buddy movies.

Yes, it's easy to forget this after 50 years, but you are correct.

Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's Road to series of movies would be early buddy movies, although those could be construed as motion picture stage acts. Popular though...

I noticed that Aliens (already mentioned) changed the way small combat units were portrayed. Lots of personality, but still a cohesive fighting unit. Every one since seemed a carbon copy.

I believe Freebie and the Bean is considered they first "cop buddy" movie that started the genre, but I don't know that it changed the way movies were made. Unless you're talking about cop movies.

I dunno but what was the beginning of CGI being shoved up our ass ~ Avatar?

Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind need to be on this list. I know there were other movies produced in color before them, and the Technicolor process had been around for a while before then, and obviously black and white films persisted for quite some time afterwards, but it seems to me like that was a big turning point for many films being produced in full color.

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Originally posted by smschulz:
I dunno but what was the beginning of CGI being shoved up our ass ~ Avatar?

Free Willy!

Actually, it was probably Jurassic Park. It had just never been done to that degree before, or that well.