Gremlins

[Deleted]

I was watching the film Gremlins last night for the first time in about three or four years and I still found it one of the most enjoyable films I have ever seen. So I was wondering what people here thought about the Gremlins films? Were they strokes of genius in movie making or the kind of films that you'd prefer to steer well clear of?

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Feb 20, 2010 11:23:17 GMT @zudobug said:

I was watching the film Gremlins last night for the first time in about three or four years and I still found it one of the most enjoyable films I have ever seen. So I was wondering what people here thought about the Gremlins films? Were they strokes of genius in movie making or the kind of films that you'd prefer to steer well clear of?

Not sure I've ever properly watched the first film, but I found the sequel inventive and very funny.

Martin

[Deleted]

Both films are two completely different kettles of fish. The first one was a horror/comedy in that it was a horror film with a number of gags thrown in while the second one was a comedy/horror in that it was a comedy film with a bit of mild horror in it.

While the first film broke new ground and was subsequently copied by the people who made the awful Critters films the second one never took itself seriously. Half way through the film we get a film critic reviewing the video release of the first Gremlins film thereby hinting that the original was just a film in the continuity of the second film and then we get Gremlins highjacking the cinema that is playing the movie we are currently watching. Both were still great films though.

[Stomski]

Gremlins 2 even goes as far as to mock the first film in places... When Kate starts reflecting on another tragic event, paralleling how she recounts how her father died in the first film, the account quickly gets dismissed by Billy because there are more important things.

[Nigel]

They're both great films! It's surprising how different they are, though. It's also surprising that the first had an 18 certificate.

The cinema and home video versions of The New Batch are different. There's a fourth-wall-breaking sequence where the Gremlins have supposedly taken control of more than just the Clamp Building. In the cinema version, they've taken control of the cinema screen and there's a scene with Hulk Hogan; in the home version, they've taken control of the video/TV and there are scenes from other films cut in, including a Bugs Bunny cartoon ("was that a gremlin?") and a western, edited so that John Wayne has a shootout with some Gremlins, which he wins, allowing the good folks at home to return to their film. Hulk Hogan remains in the video's end credits. It's the cinema version that gets shown on telly, which is a bit odd when the edited version is designed for the home screen. I wonder what's on the DVD.

[Deleted]

I've got the DVD and I think its the cinema version that is on there but the cinema scene from the home version is also on the DVD as a special feature.

[Shockprowl]

Don't realy remember the second one, but the first is pure Movie Gold! One of the greats IMO. I'll always remember the first time we, as a family, watched it, my Dad roaring with laughter when Kate tells the story of her fathers death. It's just a classic, so many great lines.

[Stomski]

Someone mentioned the word gremlin today and I started thinking about how surprising it was that this was a property Hollywood hasn't been exploiting for nostalgia bucks...

A small amount of research later and it seems I was wrong. A prequel animated series is in the works and a sequel movie.

But the highlight of my findings was definitely the fan trailer for Gremlins 3: The Rise of Desmond. Desmond being the son of Gizmo and Jennifer Aniston obviously.

Gremlins Recall is a slightly more professional 10minute short film, which whilst misses the point entirely, is still worth a watch.