These two guys have been either turning out peerless entertainment or assaulting the eyes and ears of the moviegoing public (depending on your point of view) for a few decades now. We see these logos and these names all the time, and, without getting into the specifics of their personalities or their histories or whatever, I decided to compare their "blockbuster" track records and see who's done better in the long run. Here are (selective) filmographies:
Bruckheimer
American Gigolo
Flashdance
Beverly Hills Cop (x3)
Top Gun
Days of Thunder
Bad Boys (x2)
The Rock
Con Air
Enemy of the State
Armageddon
Black Hawk Down
Pearl Harbor
Pirates of the Caribbean (x3)
National Treasure (x2)
Prince of Persia
Silver
The Warriors
Xanadu
48 Hrs. (x2)
Streets of Fire
Weird Science
Commando
Lethal Weapon (x4)
Predator (x2)
Die Hard (x4)
The Last Boy Scout
Executive Decision
The Matrix (x3)
V for Vendetta
Speed Racer
Shierlock Holmes
So what's the verdict?
6 comments:
Clearly it's Silver by a landslide. He's got every (important) category covered:
Awesome Cult Classic - The Warriors
So Bad it's Good - Xanadu
Funny 80's Romp - 48 Hrs., Weird Science
My Favorite Movie Ever - Commando
Underappreciated Award - The Last Boy Scout
Masterpiece - The Matrix
I enjoyed V for Vendetta as well.
I'll never forgive Bruckheimer for Pearl Harbor. On the other hand I have a soft spot for Con Air and Beverly Hills Cop.
"Yanaganna fall for the bananna in the tailpipe?"
I LOVE The Last Boy Scout!
Just like True Romance: combine Tony Scott with a great screenwriter (Tarantino, Shane Black) and the results are always outstanding.
I agree about Silver, too. I think the best thing Bruckheimer did was the Pirates trilogy (aside from the first Beverly Hills Cop, which was pretty brilliant but kind of happened by accident, since it was supposed to be a Stallone film up until the very last minute).
Oh yeah it's Silver all the way. Are the two of them equal(ish) in terms of success? An interesting question that I'm too lazy to look up.
First off, I always associate Bruckheimer with Michael Bay, and that's a problem. The Rock is really the only Bay movie I can say I enjoyed through and through (Armageddon has some good moments, but also enough bad moments to cancel them out).
Looking at the lists it's funny how the first 3 on both are similar.
70's movie about life on the fringe: I have to go with The Warriors because I've never seen Gigolo all the way through. Plus, it's The Warriors.
Movie with chicks and dancing and stuff: Bruckheimer wins with Flashdance because it has more watchability than Xanadu.
I think the two Eddie Murphy vehicles are kind of tied. No, 48 Hours is probably better. It's been a while.
The rest of the lists just piles on more and more good for Silver. Besides the ones I've mentioned, only Top Gun, Enemy of the State and the Pirates movies are ones I'd give any merit badges to (granted I haven't seen them all). And Top Gun is pretty damn cheesy.
I really like Enemy of the State, though. I should see that again (kind of free-associating here, too much free time at work today).
But whatever. The only thing on Silver's list that I don't like is the Predator series.
I also love The Last Boy Scout. I remember seeing the trailer and hoping that what I was seeing was Damon Wayans throwing a football really far and really well in order to stop a bullet, and damn if I wasn't right. Also the wonderful "do that again and I'll kill ya" bit. And it's got Danielle Harris! I think of her as a bit of an underdog because she spans the Halloween series from originals to remakes.
I've always thought Executive Decision was underrated, too. It should've made John Leguizamo into an action star and it didn't.
Yep. Silver it is. Bruckheimer can kiss my big black ass.
I agree with all of the above.
Bear in mind, Octo, that these are SELECTIVE lists. So the juxtapositions of the first three movies on each list is partially due to my cherry-picking.
That's what made it funny!
I'm also one of the small handful of people on the planet who liked Speed Racer. The upside of its failure is that I bought the dvd for five bucks.
Post a Comment