# Why isn't Sin City treated like more of a classic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034 "2014-07-25T16:55:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/1 "2014-07-25T16:55:25Z")
Is it just me, or is **Sin City** not a fantastic movie? It feels like nobody remembers this movie. I watched it again last night, and I was astonished by how great it was. Yet there’s almost no love for it. I jumped on line to read stuff after it was over, and was shocked to discover that it didn’t get much attention. Great cast, total commitment to the style, and yet…no devotion. What did you guys think? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/2 "2014-07-25T17:03:05Z")
It just had the rotten luck of being filmed in the wrong century. It’d be right at home on some ancient drive-in. They woulda _tossed_ it fans like Nancy back then. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/3 "2014-07-25T17:09:50Z")
I found it almost unwatchable. Tastes vary I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/4 "2014-07-25T17:26:18Z")
I was surprised at how much I liked it, if not for anything, the use of colors was cool. Marv going on about taking his medicine was enough for me to give it a thumbs up. BE’s comment about drive-in theaters was not hilarious, but spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/5 "2014-07-25T17:33:45Z")
Nobody who says _Sin CIty_ is a fantastic movie will get any argument from me. > [@](#): > > An old man dies. A young woman lives. > > Fair trade. Still gives me a chill. _Sin City: A Dame to Kill For_ comes out next month. I am _so_ there. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/6 "2014-07-25T17:36:57Z")
Carla Gugino was naked in it and Jessica Alba was not, right? That’s about all I remember. Maybe I need to watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/7 "2014-07-25T17:45:12Z")
And if you happen to have an amputee fetish… ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/8 "2014-07-25T18:06:37Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Carla Gugino was naked in it and Jessica Alba was not, right? That would be my choice. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/9 "2014-07-25T18:12:41Z")
Probably because the movie itself was sort of just a pastiche or homage to a style. It wasn’t “original” enough, I suppose, to be considered a true classic. It was fairly derivative. However, it was masterfully executed and I absolutely loved it. I own it on DVD and it’s among my favorite recent movies. Isn’t there a sequel coming out soon? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/10 "2014-07-25T18:50:16Z")
It was pretty, but the story wasn’t great, it was hard to tell what anyone was saying (as I recall it), and the violent bits lacked any sort of entertainment color (horror/action/exploitation/etc.). It was like watching a documentary without a moral. Outside of the visuals, there just wasn’t anything “classic” about it. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/11 "2014-07-25T19:10:59Z")
I didn’t like it. All style, no substance. Very cool-looking but in service of a garbage plot and boring characters. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/12 "2014-07-25T19:12:52Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > It was pretty, but the story wasn’t great, it was hard to tell what anyone was saying (as I recall it), and the violent bits lacked any sort of entertainment color (horror/action/exploitation/etc.). I thought Elijah Wood’s Kevin was one of the more memorable movie villains in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/13 "2014-07-25T20:18:48Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Nobody who says _Sin CIty_ is a fantastic movie will get any argument from me. Still gives me a chill. > > _Sin City: A Dame to Kill For_ comes out next month. I am _so_ there. > > Regards, > Shodan I’m looking forward to it, too. But a release date in late August is a bad sign – a very bad sign. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/14 "2014-07-25T20:21:00Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Carla Gugino was naked in it … [Quote snipped by me] That right there makes it a classic. Unfortunately, the super heavy noir style wears on me after a while and I can’t make it through the whole thing in one sitting. Great in small doses though. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/15 "2014-07-25T20:45:09Z")
I never read any of the comic books… er, graphic novels. I did see the movie, and I mostly enjoyed it. But a “classic”? Nah. Visually stunning, well acted, but… just not a plausible world. Are we supposed to just acccept that the entire world is a corrupt, dirty, crime-ridden city ruled by one rich family? I can appreciate the noir approach up to a point, but the movie can never figure out whether it’s supposed to be a gritty, realistic portrayal of a city or a pure fantasy. It doesn’t quite work as either. Are we supposed to accept that Basin City is a pure Hell? There are no clean, safe neighborhoods anywhere? No nice families? No pleasant suburbs? EVERY woman is a hooker or a stripper? It gets old. The weakest link in the whole movie was _ **The Big Fat Kill.** _. Prostitutes go to war? Really? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/16 "2014-07-25T20:59:52Z")
Visually it was pretty impressive, but the slavish devotion to the comic’s dialogue did not translate to spoken word well at all for me, and made it a slog to sit through. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/17 "2014-07-25T21:11:42Z")
It’s pretty, violent and shallow. Not a classic. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/18 "2014-07-25T22:02:19Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > That would be my choice. Well yeah, if you can’t have both. But Jessica Alba not being naked when she plays a stripper in a movie where even the psychiatrist got naked is the biggest offender of gratuitous non nudity i can think off. Movie was good, not sure about “classic” though. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/19 "2014-07-25T22:08:45Z")
The OP confused me because everyone I know was creaming over Sin City when it came out. Personally, I liked it, but I feel like the more you exaggerate and use “homages”, the easier it becomes to make a film you can persuade people to rave about. So, to some extent, I reflexively pushed back against it a little. I didn’t think it was as great as it thought it was. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034/20 "2014-07-25T22:23:10Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I didn’t like it. All style, no substance. Very cool-looking but in service of a garbage plot and boring characters. This pretty much matches my opinion. It’s not a bad movie - style counts for something - but it’s certainly not a great movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-sin-city-treated-like-more-of-a-classic/694034.md?page=2)