# Finally watched Empire Records. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503 "2019-05-25T15:03:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/1 "2019-05-25T15:03:04Z")
WOW…that…was…not good. It was entertaining for sure. But it was like if Reality Bites and Can’t Hardly Wait had a mentally deficient baby. It makes Reality Bites look like Shakespeare. BUT again, definitely entertaining for the cast and the sheer 90’s of it. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/2 "2019-05-25T16:45:23Z")
It was corny as hell, yet absurdly enjoyable. It’s one of those movies I can’t turn off. Weird trivia: Coyote Shivers, the guy who played Berko, the singer for the band on the rooftop concert, was at the time Liv Tyler’s stepfather. That must have been super awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/3 "2019-05-25T17:38:28Z")
I remember when the movie came out in theaters and dropped like a rock, while at the same time the radio station were _constantly_ playing songs from “The Empire Records Soundtrack album”. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/4 "2019-05-25T18:06:23Z")
Hey, Mark, you like GWAR, why don’t you join the band? Its a stupid and entertaining movie, its not supposed to have some deep meaning and I think it does a good job. I made my wife watch it for the first time this fall and she found it so totally forgettable that 8 months later she doesn’t even remember watching it. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/5 "2019-05-25T20:31:42Z")
There’s a ton of silliness in it. Holding a mock funeral for a suicidal woman? Sure, why not. Let’s play it for laughs. If you get the silliness, then you get the film. If you try to take it seriously you’re banned to the couch. Plus it’s fun looking for Tobey Maquire. There’s one big negative: They used a watered down version of _Sugar High_. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/6 "2019-05-25T21:23:37Z")
yeah i think its more remembered for the music than the movie its self…it was considered a very dumb rip off of the John Cusack movie high fidelity ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/7 "2019-05-25T23:18:34Z")
IMDB says that the film was heavily edited before release, removing 40 minutes, three characters, and condensing the plot from two days to one. No clue as to whether this was an improvement, but the original cut would be interesting to see. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/8 "2019-05-25T23:32:06Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > it was considered a very dumb rip off of the John Cusack movie high fidelity No it wasn’t. It came out five years before the Cusack movie, in the same year Nick Hornby’s original novel High Fidelity did. The only thing they have in common is the record store location. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/9 "2019-05-28T14:47:46Z")
> [@SuperNelson](#): > > IMDB says that the film was heavily edited before release, removing 40 minutes, three characters, and condensing the plot from two days to one. No clue as to whether this was an improvement, but the original cut would be interesting to see. The original cut is on DVD. It’s worse in some ways, better in others. The worse is that they flesh out Lucas more in the beginning, which I think weakens his character as he’s better as just a catalyst for the movie. The better is they try to redeem Rex and have a good scene with him and Berko. He ends up going to the roof to play with the band in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/10 "2019-05-28T16:34:47Z")
See, and I loved it. I am directly in the target market for it, dressed like that, listened to that music and yeah, probably was at least as stupid as that once upon a time. My teen daughter loves it now too - maybe it’s one of those movies better appreciated when you are a teen? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/11 "2019-05-28T20:13:24Z")
Heh, I had to look it up on imdb. I HAD seen it, but I can’t remember if I even watched the whole thing. It was booooooring. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/12 "2019-05-28T21:31:19Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Heh, I had to look it up on imdb. I HAD seen it, but I can’t remember if I even watched the whole thing. It was booooooring. But it had Warren Beatty in it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/13 "2019-05-28T22:20:37Z")
I saw it and thought that movie was garbage. A guy I worked with was loved it and was offended that I didn’t like it and ragged on me for MONTHS about it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/14 "2019-05-28T23:06:56Z")
By the way, someone is working on a [stage version](http://www.playbill.com/article/empire-records-musical-in-development) of the movie and expect to bring it to Broadway next year. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/15 "2019-05-29T15:42:06Z")
At the time of its release, it was considered about the worst movie ever made. Although there have been a lot of contenders since then, I still see no reason to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/16 "2019-05-29T15:50:16Z")
Never saw it, and have no plans to see it either. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/17 "2019-05-29T16:35:18Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > At the time of its release, it was considered about the worst movie ever made. Although there have been a lot of contenders since then, I still see no reason to watch it. It didn’t get great reviews, but I don’t think anyone was calling it the worst movie ever. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/18 "2019-05-29T16:41:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I remember when the movie came out in theaters and dropped like a rock, while at the same time the radio station were _constantly_ playing songs from “The Empire Records Soundtrack album”. Music history didn’t look fondly on the likes of Gin Blossoms, Better Than Ezra and Toad the Wet Sprocket. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-watched-empire-records/834503/19 "2019-05-29T17:13:09Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It didn’t get great reviews, but I don’t think anyone was calling it the worst movie ever. I admit, I only have my memories. But I remember some did, even if they were just being hyperbolic. I mean, _Plan 9_ had been out for some time before ER, so it couldn’t have been THE worst movie.🙂