Me, too, and mostly for the good-natured mockery of each other that Cage and Travolta pull off. Travolta nailed Cage!
I also appreciated Valley Girl and Raising Arizona.
I have to admit I’d never heard of Wicker Man before this post. Was it very popular? (My first thought- “was that the Scarecrow from Oz’s gay cousin?”)
In a cult movie sort of way. It’s not going to be found in the Top 10 Greatest Movies list or the Top 10 Highest-Grossing Movies list, but there’s a large handful of absolutely fanatical adherents to it and a much larger group of people who do enjoy the film.
It’s not Casablanca or anything…it’s one of those relatively small films that attract a moderate amount of attention forever. Not a classic, but not a hack job, either.
It should be noted, as per the theme of the thread, that the above refers ONLY to the original with Edward Woodward. Avoid the remake unless you enjoy running your own Mystery Science Theater nights at home.
I was warned away from this farce (if only it was intended as a farce) in time to avoid spoiling my memories of the original.
And yeah, Valley Girl and Raising Arizona were OK.
You are right, that was a very fine movie. I forgot all about it. Cage didn’t exactly shine in it, but he didn’t ruin it either.
I thought Face Off was idiotic, but Travolta saved it from awful. Travolta, IMO, is a great onscreen personality, if not so great at acting as a craft. He is the kind of guy who can make an awful movie into something watchable.
I did spend some time thinking about whether it was some kind of farce or black comedy, just because it was so unbelieveably bad as drama or horror. I decided it wasn’t.
But I do think it is in same league as Ed Wood films, serious in intent yet so atrocious in exection that it has actual entertainment value. As I said earlier, there were times when I actually burst out laughing.
I really wonder what the experience would have been like if seeing it in a theater with a live audience. Would everyone be staring daggers at me for my non-serious response, or would I have been part of a large jeering party?
Matchstick Men was great, but that was more for the girl who played his daughter than Cage.
I thought it was brilliantly funny.
No, wait, that was the Rifftrax for Cage’s Wicker Man. Never mind then. It sucked so hard it did structural damage to the theaters it played in.
Yeah but they know the twist that made the original such a gut punch (even if it was done roughly a million times better in the original).
Sad to say, that was a body double. Ms. Ekland was visibly pregnant at the time.
It also spawned the fantastic Hot Fuzz.