Warner Bros selected WHAT in their ‘New Hollywood’ collection?
Wikipedia defines the ‘New Hollywood era’ as:
“…a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of filmmakers came to prominence. They influenced the types of film produced, their production and marketing, and the way major studios approached filmmaking. In New Hollywood films, the film director, rather than the studio, took on a key authorial role.”
Key films, for example, include Easy Rider, The Godfather, Rosemary’s Baby, The Last Picture Show and The Exorcist.
It was a time when studios gave away their power and control over to some rogue and experimental producers and directors - and from it birthed a decade of cinema perhaps unsurpassed in history.
In the 80s, after smash-hits Jaws and Star Wars showed how much money movies could actually make — and how risky/expensive some directors were becoming — the studios wrested back control.
But the 70s was an era defined by maverick directors and challenging films. Real cinema by auteur directors who were given the keys to the kingdom for the first time.
(The era is well chronicled in Peter Biskind’s seminal Easy Riders and Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll Generation Saved Hollywood).
Well, Warner Bros have helpfully packaged up a New Hollywood collection of five films in 4K as part of their 100th year celebrations.
They introduce it as:
“(an) essential 5-film collection, bringing together some of the greatest films from the New Hollywood era (1970s to 1980s). The collection includes films that redefined cinema, with new ways of storytelling, international influences and iconic directors.”
Those five films are:
- Enter the Dragon
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
- The Lost Boys
- Gremlins
- The Goonies
Funnily enough, none of these films are cited as ‘New Hollywood’ examples in the aforementioned Wikipedia article.
Enter The Dragon is an important film for Hollywood, it’s one of the greatest martial arts films of all time, it’s incredibly influential and it grossed roughly $400m worldwide. It is not a ‘New Hollywood’ movie.
Neither is Willy Wonka, or The Lost Boys, Gremlins or The Goonies.
Seriously, the fucking Goonies.
If you want the collection, it’ll set you back £49.99. For sale here.
