# Movies that made a big pop culture splash but are now disporportionately forgotten **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2014, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755 "2014-11-16T08:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/161 "2014-11-17T20:12:51Z")
I’m really the first to mention _2001_? Hardly gets a mention anymore and when viewed by some critics they’ll say it’s too long & too slow. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/162 "2014-11-17T20:27:59Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I kind of jumped to an assumption there. I found it odd someone felt the need to jump to the defense of that movie despite the fact that I hadn’t put it down. So what was the point of accusing him of being “a reactionary member of the ADL”? I honestly don’t even know what you were trying to imply. That his opinion was worthless because he’s Jewish? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/163 "2014-11-17T20:38:56Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Jaws was hugely phenomenal and the main attraction at the Hollywood studios, and I’m sure people still watch it once every five years, but I’m seeing much less of the duh duh duh duh, duh duh duh duh (such as the Caddyshack candy bar) these days. This one is debatable, but no reason to dismiss my list out of hand. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat…” ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/164 "2014-11-17T21:00:30Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Good example. I think like _The Big Chill_ mentioned above, there is a species of series and very boring movies that manage to get some attention but quickly fade. Crap like _On Golden Pond_, _The English Patient_, etc. I think it was Roger Ebert who classified movies like _The English Patient_, _Out of Africa,_ and _The Last Emperor of China_ as movies that you want to see once, but have no reason to see twice. I would put three of the five 1981 Best Picture nominees on this list - _Chariots of Fire_, _Reds_, and _On Golden Pond_. One of the other two, _Atlantic City_, wasn’t really a “cultural splash” to begin with. The “survivor”? _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. Most of the “disaster” movies of the 1970s probably make the list as well; certainly _The Poseidon Adventure_ and _The Towering Inferno_ do. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/165 "2014-11-17T21:09:51Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery was huge. Expanding on this… The first movie came out and was not particularly successful in theaters, but developed a bit of a cult following. So they made the sequel (the spy who shagged me), and suddenly it was just HUGE. (Whatever happened to that woman who played his love interest… Briana Knowles or something? It’s a shame she has faded into oblivion.) So many references and catchphrases, so many super-familiar characters. Then the third one (goldmember) came out, and it just kind of all fizzled away. I think a good yardstick for what the OP is getting at is whether references to the movie seem dated or not. If I dress up as Darth Vader for Halloween, well, I’m Darth Vader. People dress as Darth Vader. Feels about the same now as it did 10 or 20 years ago, and the same goes for characters from the Wizard of Oz. Dressing up as Dr. Evil now would feel weirdly retro in a way that it would not have felt at the height of that franchise’s popularity. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/166 "2014-11-17T21:17:38Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > “You’re gonna need a bigger boat…” That’s a fairly memorable Jaws quote, but whether Jaws belongs on this list depends on how we define the criterion for this thread. Since the OP has weighed in against it, I’m willing to remove it from consideration and have already said it’s debatable. Many a typical WalMart shopper will still throw Jaws in the cart if they find it in the discount rack and maybe get around to watching it, but it’s not an essential like Star Wars, LOTR, Godfather, Dumb & Dumber, Nightmare Before Christmas, The Grinch, Shrek, 2001 Space Odyssey, etc. And I suspect that many youngsters will find humor in the Caddyshack candy bar scene based on the absurdity of clearing a pool for a candy bar itself rather than an appreciation of the Jaws reference. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/167 "2014-11-17T21:32:09Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I think a good yardstick for what the OP is getting at is whether references to the movie seem dated or not. If I dress up as Darth Vader for Halloween, well, I’m Darth Vader. People dress as Darth Vader. Feels about the same now as it did 10 or 20 years ago, and the same goes for characters from the Wizard of Oz. Dressing up as Dr. Evil now would feel weirdly retro in a way that it would not have felt at the height of that franchise’s popularity. Nice point! And you could dress as Indiana Jones, too… Interestingly, if you tried to dress up as a _Guardians of the Galaxy_ character, would it seem current? It already feels a bit faded, doesn’t it? I call those “empty calories” movies. Yet dressing up as Katniss Everdeen would _not_ feel faded at all, even though the latest Hunger Games movie came out before GotG… ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/168 "2014-11-17T21:35:35Z")
Probably “A Star Is Born” would belong on this list. Neither leads have retained that level of star presence. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/169 "2014-11-17T22:03:42Z")
I think “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” fits this category quite well. Though live action and animation were tried as far back as the 20’s with Disney’s Alice films, it had never been done this well. Dick Van Dyke danced with penguins in Mary Poppins for about 3 minutes. This was a whole movie. I can’t think of an animated film with strong adult appeal and semi-adult story line (outside of Fritz the Cat) before that. It was the first time that Warner Brothers and Disney characters were together on screen. It was critically acclaimed and popular. It won four academy awards. Technology left it in the dust pretty soon after. Watching it now, you see the puppet strings as it were. The scene where Bob Hoskins is holding Roger in the dishwater while the weasels search the place, what is being operated robotically (the splash of water, the gun the weasel is carrying) is pretty obvious and unconvincing by today’s standards. I think it’s still a good movie and fun to watch, but when I came across it in Netflix the other day, I was surprised to remember what a landmark movie it was in 1988 and how I’d really forgotten all about it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/170 "2014-11-17T23:56:58Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Probably “A Star Is Born” would belong on this list. Neither leads have retained that level of star presence. ?? Which version? 1937 Janet Gaynor, I could see being forgotten. But Fredric March’s place in the Hollywood pantheon is assured. 1954 James Mason? Judy Garland? You gotta be kidding 1976 Barbara Streisand? Not Star power? You might say Kris Kristofferson, but I’d disagree. And people still know who Gary Busey is. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/171 "2014-11-17T23:59:15Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > If you weren’t such a reactionary member of the ADL you might have got the joke. So yes, you were “wooshed”, except for the fact that the common man does not know jack shit about The Great Dictator. That’s staight up reality. Knock off the personal insults. **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/172 "2014-11-18T00:31:30Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > _Crocodile Dundee_. Despite being the second-biggest hit of 1986, other than a few “That’s not a knife” jokes, it’s been largely forgotten. Not only that, but to add insult to injury I’ll bet you that most people today who make “That’s not a knife” jokes are actually referencing the Simpsons’ parody of the scene rather than the original. (“I see you’ve played Knifey-Spooney before!”) > [@kellner](#): > > _Avatar_ was the biggest thing ever for a while, but for a movie with that kind of box office it seems to have gone downhill really fast. Agreed. I still hear far more Star Wars references than Avatar ones. Maybe the sequels will change that. > [@Kropotkin](#): > > Five Easy Pieces, 1970, Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, was popular and angsty, now remembered for the chicken salad andwich scene if remembered at all. FWIW I saw the movie again in the past year or two, and if it’s forgotten it shouldn’t be, because it holds up very nicely. I’m not sure it’s “relevant,” but it’s still a good, interesting little film. > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > My nomination is **Gladiator**. The movie was HUGE in 2000. It’s barely remembered today (partially because I think people went back and watched it and realized it was pretty crappy). Good call. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/173 "2014-11-18T01:08:07Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Agreed. I still hear far more Star Wars references than Avatar ones. Maybe the sequels will change that. The difference, to me, is that while Avatar made a ton of money and a lot of people saw it, it never particularly entered the pop culture in a “lots of people quote this movie and reference it and dress up as its characters sense”. So it’s not like it had that status for a while and then lost it, it just never really had it, imho at least. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/174 "2014-11-18T01:16:46Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > My nomination is **Gladiator**. The movie was HUGE in 2000. It’s barely remembered today (partially because I think people went back and watched it and realized it was pretty crappy). At the very least, I see it being played on TV a least once a week these days. And I throw it on from time to time because I still like 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:** [November 18, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/175 "2014-11-18T01:28:36Z")
Didn’t Gladiator effectively revive the sword-and-sandals genre? Troy, 300, The Eagle, etc. all came after it. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/176 "2014-11-18T02:14:55Z")
Someone mentioned “Patton”. I can understand the idea that because of the tv series, “MASH” is remembered more. But I think it keeps the real Patton’s memory alive in public conscious and military personnel. ``` Seems to me the other day, the History channel was showing a bunch of documentaries on the real ship. Nobody makes documentaries on the Andrea Doria. In the early 1970s films like "I am Curious (Yellow)" and "Last Tango in Paris" got lots of publicity because of their sex scenes. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/177 "2014-11-18T02:15:29Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Give me an example of their huge popularity. I’m aware the Wizard of Oz is still culturally relevant, but it’s not the ubiquitous presence it was during the TV age. I bought two WOZ ornaments today for Christmas presents. Didn’t have to special order them online or anything. Maybe my perspective is skewed being around little kids a lot, but I find Oz stuff everywhere all the time. It was even a McDonald’s Happy Meal theme last year or the year before. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/178 "2014-11-18T02:23:19Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I bought two WOZ ornaments today for Christmas presents. Didn’t have to special order them online or anything. Maybe my perspective is skewed being around little kids a lot, but I find Oz stuff everywhere all the time. It was even a McDonald’s Happy Meal theme last year or the year before. Here we go again. You’re quoting me out of context. I haven’t denied that Oz will always be remembered, but Oz isn’t the towering TV tradition it once was, everyone watching it the same bat channel same bat time and discussing it the next day. It gained its power in TV syndication. Now it’s another DVD option. Now stop with the Oz debate, peeps. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/179 "2014-11-18T02:50:09Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > ?? > > Which version? > > 1937 > Janet Gaynor, I could see being forgotten. But Fredric March’s place in the Hollywood pantheon is assured. > > 1954 > James Mason? Judy Garland? You gotta be kidding > > 1976 > Barbara Streisand? Not Star power? > You might say Kris Kristofferson, but I’d disagree. And people still know who Gary Busey is. First, we need to lay out what OP’s target is for “forgotten”, the film cognoscenti or average WalMart shopper? I didn’t know this thread was addressing high brow tastes rather than mass appeal. I was referring to the 1976 film. You set up a straw man for your “You gotta be kidding”. You’ll admit that the average peep isn’t going to toss Star is Born in their shopping cart although they would have bought the VHS tape circa 1980 and the 45’, 8-track or cassette tape for Evergreen. Of course, most people still recognize Streisand, for Yentl if nothing else, though she doesn’t have nearly the star power of that time, but still the 1976 movie is relatively ignored nowadays compared to other movies of the time such as Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars, and Grease. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755/180 "2014-11-18T03:10:13Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > At the very least, I see it being played on TV a least once a week these days. And I throw it on from time to time because I still like it. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Didn’t Gladiator effectively revive the sword-and-sandals genre? Troy, 300, The Eagle, etc. all came after it. Correct on both counts. Gladiator spawned a revival of an effectively dead genre and it’s on TV all the time… today… in 2014. It may not be as well-loved as it was in 2000, but it’s hardly forgotten. > [@GreenElf](#): > > Here we go again. You’re quoting me out of context. I haven’t denied that Oz will always be remembered, but Oz isn’t the towering TV tradition it once was, everyone watching it the same bat channel same bat time and discussing it the next day. It gained its power in TV syndication. Now it’s another DVD option. Now stop with the Oz debate, peeps. But nothing has that kind of TV penetration anymore. You may as well be complaining about that Mickey Mantle isn’t the baseball player he was anymore too. People age and things change. Mickey Mantle retired and the television dial expanded beyond three channels. But Mantle is still remembered and The Wizard of Oz still has a massive effect on the movie industry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-made-a-big-pop-culture-splash-but-are-now-disporportionately-forgotten/704755.md?page=10)