My little test has always been “could your favorite movie still hang together, just from a storytelling angle, without all the effects, stunts and trim?” In the case of
Jaws,
Close Encounters of the Third Kind and
Raiders of the Lost Ark (three of my all-time favorites and damn-near perfect in their lack of wasted frames or dialogue; if those were the only three movies Mr. Spielberg had ever made, it would've been enough for me) the answer is “yes”.
All the effects/stunts in those movies serve as icing on an already satisfying, delicious cake of three enjoyable stories that, IMO, would still thrill me if even if performed as a radio play and no visuals to speak of...the story of each was strong, engaging enough to pull me in (one of my favorite movie scenes of all time is the exposition scene in
Raiders... where the two government officials show up to tell Indy and Brody what's going on, offer Indy the gig, etc. That is such a perfect 4-5 minutes of "laying it all out in a way that you know everything you need, for the remainder of the movie...the stakes, the power involved, why someone would want that artifact, the trouble/work to acquire it, the risks involved, the history behind it, the little moments of humor, Indy/Brody both realizing what's being talked about, etc.). I can sit and watch that scene, all on its own, anytime; it's just perfectly written/filmed, not a special effect to be found and has been a favorite of mine for decades). Without this simple scene, all that followed would be a confusing jumble of chases, fistfights and snakes.
For those who've never seen/don't remember: scrub up to the 2:30 mark for the start of that sequence; it's not even five minutes long, and there isn't a wasted moment/line in the mix! For those who didn't know, the government agent on the left is Porkins from
Star Wars (and Lt. Eckhardt from 1989's
Batman). William Hootkins is the actor. The guy got to work for Lucas, Spielberg and Burton. Not bad!
Anyway, a whole bunch of other movies can’t claim that. They’ve been flip-flopped, to where the effects/visuals seem to have come first and then a story perched on top.
That’s tough to pull off.
It always has to be about the story/writing. And we’re just in an era where those things don’t always take the front seat.
Audiences have changed, our attention spans are much shorter, we have so many other ways to entertain/amuse ourselves than just 15-20 years ago, let alone 40, 60, etc.
It’s a tough thing. It’s show “business”, I get that. But there are a lot of lazy, middling and expensive movies out there, stinking up the joint and only serving as some effects house’s demo reel. I often wonder how some of them ever get greenlit, financed, etc. $200M is almost real money!
