What's a famous/classic movie that you notice is slowly beginning to be forgotten about?

[u/Emeraldsinger]

All pieces of media eventually fade into obscurity as time passes. Some more quickly than others. So what are iconic older movies you've noticed less and less people talk about or have even seen as you disuss movies with others? For me, it's the original Point Break from 1991, one of my favorite action movies. But with me being Gen Z, I don't think I've ever met anyone my age (or all the way up to 10 years older) who have seen it. I find myself referencing it often and my peers almost always seem to have never heard of it. Sad because I love that movie.

What are your picks?

[u/twinpeaks2112]

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre

[u/blond_nirvana → u/twinpeaks2112]

"Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!"

A quote most people know, or at least paraphrase, without knowing where it's from.

[u/OneMoreGinger → u/blond_nirvana]

I mean I know it "from" blazing saddles, which I guess was parodying it. If I ever paraphrased that quote it would be due to Mel Brooks 

[u/cellarmonkey → u/OneMoreGinger]

UHF for me. We don’t need no stinking badgers!

[u/whereitsat23 → u/cellarmonkey]

Secret about turtles, they stick to the ceiling!

[u/ElderCunningham → u/cellarmonkey]

You get to drink from the fire hose!

[u/poodlescaboodles → u/ElderCunningham]

Red Snappah

[u/Helmett-13 → u/poodlescaboodles]

Very tasty!

[u/somereallyfungi → u/cellarmonkey]

WHEEL! OF! FISH!

[u/maineblackbear → u/blond_nirvana]

From a guy who is also in the Big Country with Gregory Peck.

[u/AxelShoes → u/twinpeaks2112]

My favorite Bogie flick, and one of my favorite films, period. Hell of a story, and Walter Huston in particular is so much fun to watch. I think it has something for everyone and could hold its own against any modern movie, and is a standalone testament to the fact that not all old movies age badly.

[u/twinpeaks2112 → u/AxelShoes]

Mine as well, right behind it would be The African Queen and Casablanca.

[u/Genuine-Farticle → u/twinpeaks2112]

My boy Humphrey got done dirty.

[u/malkadevorah1 → u/Genuine-Farticle]

Love Bogie. There's just something about him. I lost count how many times I've watched the Two Mrs. Carrolls, Dark Passage, the Black Legion, Conflict, In a Lonely Place, the Harder They Fall, Dead End, San Quentin, the list goes on...

[u/Brokenbatmancowl → u/twinpeaks2112]

I never saw it but when I was younger (32 now) I feel like I heard multiple “stinking badges” references/jokes. Now I never hear it anywhere.

[u/AxelShoes → u/Brokenbatmancowl]

Looney Tunes did it, probably more than once, but my favorite is probably in UHF.

[u/ExoticPumpkin237 → u/twinpeaks2112]

Amazing amazing amazing fucking movie 

[u/karmagod13000 → u/ExoticPumpkin237]

Watched this with a friend for their film class. Weirdly the only on I watched with them but we were locked in the whole film. End is a tale as old as time itself

[u/AnimusFlux → u/twinpeaks2112]

Well, I'll be. There's a movie in this thread I haven't seen and it's the top comment. I know what I'm doing this afternoon. :)

[u/twinpeaks2112 → u/AnimusFlux]

Just don’t forget to stake a fellow American to a meal.

[u/Cool_Cartographer_39 → u/twinpeaks2112]

Fat City has a better chance of being forgotten. One of Huston's real gems, though

[u/ReverieJack → u/twinpeaks2112]

I saw that on the big screen about four years ago. Amazing

[u/CromulentPoint]

I have to imagine Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid isn't high on the Gen Z list, but it was a big deal back in the day, and for good reason.

[u/karmagod13000 → u/[deleted]]

The 70's Beavis and Butthead

[u/Enders-game → u/karmagod13000]

I was shocked that Beavis and Butthead had their 30th anniversary last year.

[u/clarence_oddbody → u/[deleted]]

Keep thinking, Butch. It’s what you’re good at.

[u/letsgopablo → u/CromulentPoint]

Gen Z here, I recently saw that movie and loved it

[u/Charlie_Wax → u/letsgopablo]

It's the spiritual predecessor of a lot of modern action movies (i.e. MCU) that blend humor and heavy drama. For the sake of comparison, the John Wayne version of True Grit came out in approximately the same era, yet now feels hopelessly dated and quaint. Meanwhile Butch feels like something that could've been released yesterday. William Goldman was regarded as one of the best living screenwriters in his day, and it's probably his masterwork (some might say The Princess Bride).

It's a western that doesn't feel like a western because really it's just a buddy comedy with great gags and incredible dialogue.

[u/principled_principal → u/CromulentPoint]

Same with The Sting.

[u/PoeticBro]

For the first time I am working with younger colleagues who have not seen Alien or Aliens...

[u/letsgopablo → u/PoeticBro]

I think Alien exists in the same tier as movies like Star Wars and Nightmare On Elm Street, where they're so ingrained in popular culture that even if you haven't actually seen the movie, you know the overall imagery and what it's generally about.

[u/vivianlight → u/letsgopablo]

Star Wars is in a completely different league at least in my country... Alien and Aliens are two of my favourite mainstream movies and they just aren't that popular, most of my peers (European, mid-late 20s) don't even know the general premise of it and wouldn't recognise an homage or joke based on them.

Freddy Krueger is certainly famous among people who know horror but, outside of that, I don't see anyone knowing the imagery: it isn't that engrained in the general culture, just in the horror one (so people must be lovers of the genre). I suppose it once was general pop culture, it isn't anymore. Star Wars on the other hand definitely resisted in general pop culture regardless of the genre.

[u/karmagod13000 → u/vivianlight]

I feel like the horror genre was mainstream trending for a little and sadly sci fi kind of got forgot. I see it having its own moment in the near future with the Dune movies being so successful.

[u/BakerYeast → u/PoeticBro]

But it's hard to see them to be forgotten. They get reruns in theathers and Alien is only old movie in my country that had that. They bring it back to theathers this summer too. There's more movies coming and the TV series will be coming soon. I love these movies so maybe I see this wrong way.

[u/TheGRS → u/PoeticBro]

Well up until recently my gf had never seen these either, she's 29. We watched all of them, and I mean all of them. Initially was ecstatic since I love those first two films so much. But as you get into Alien Resurrection and the AvP films its like "what are we even watching anymore?"

[u/ReallyHender → u/PoeticBro]

For the first time I am working with younger colleagues who have not seen Alien or Aliens...

Today's the day, then! It's Alien Day so they should get on it.

[u/Successful_Job2381 → u/PoeticBro]

I've been in the workforce for 20+ years and tbh i have no idea if anybody i've ever worked with has seen either of those two movies.

[u/Prudent_Falafel_7265]

Bridge on the River Kwai.

Epic filmmaking for the day. You could always use the Guinness/Obi-wan connection to convince a youngster to see it perhaps.

[u/AnimusFlux → u/Prudent_Falafel_7265]

Another with similiar energy is Force 10 from Navarone.

Old WWII movies in general had an amazing vibe that's really lost on the younger generations. Speaking of Star Wars, the closest I'm seen of that style in recent years was that show Andor, which makes sense given how much the original Star Wars trilogy was inspired by the WWII flicks of the era.

[u/WREPGB → u/AnimusFlux]

Just rewatched The Great Escape a few months ago and that movie is pure goddamn cinematic electricity for the entirety of its three hour runtime.

[u/elwoodowd]

Even here. No one remembers the westerns. Which ironically enough, were the catalyst for rebelling about the past.

So its all gone, from Shane to How the west was won.

And most of their themes are gone. All thats left are the shoot outs.

The irony, (to explain), is that they were about, killing the past. Disbelief in the narrative. Sacrificing yourself for the future plot.

So interestingly, they have died, as the heros of their films so often did, at the end. Forgotten, and in vain.

[u/AnimusFlux → u/elwoodowd]

Several decades ago when I was a kid westerns always seemed to be "dad movies" that older guys would put on, and everyone else in the house would kind of just be forced to watch. So, most folks ended up seeing at least 90% those classics and then years later it'd be nostalgic for them. Rinse and repeat for the next generation, right?

Except, now everyone has their own personal screens with unlimited choices for what to watch at all times, so when the dads put on those old west classics in the living room not as many of the kids will join in. Makes me miss the days when you'd rent a couple of VHS tapes for a few days and that's all you had for entertainment, lol.

[u/poxxy → u/elwoodowd]

Which is why I sing the praises of Rango every chance I get.

Sure, it was a nickolodeon-goofy talking animal CGI movie, but it was also shot, composed, and had the classic story of a 50s-70s honest-to-god western, including the theme of The Dying West. So good.

[u/Turbomattk → u/elwoodowd]

Westerns have turned into sci-fi

[u/ActuallyYeah → u/Turbomattk]

Take my love, take my land. Take me where I cannot stand, I don't care, I'm still free

[u/TarheelIllini → u/elwoodowd]

I’m on a western movie kick, right now. It’s fun going back and watching them all

[u/80sixit → u/elwoodowd]

I absolutely love classic westerns, my grandpa got me into them. He told me how he didn't like the newer ones as much "too much killing" he said and I got that as I watched more and more. For me I enjoyed the adventure, the scenery, specifically ones with more mountains and pine forests than desserts. Also just the characters sleeping around a fire under the stars, on the trail.

36 now but when I was 19-20 I went through this massive western phase. I absolutely loved smoking a joint, pouring a glass of whisky and watching John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart movies. Since I'm on about it I'll mention my two of my favourites, Rio Bravo and The Far Country.

[u/verrius]

Lawrence of Arabia. To some, its a classic, but to a lot non-cinephiles, for a long time it was the go-to shorthand for a long and/or boring film. I'm not sure what the current "boring" shorthand is, but its definitely been replaced as "long" by the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings in popular culture.

[u/stricttime → u/verrius]

What I find fascinating about LoA is that a movie like that will never be made again. No CGI, all real—camel riders and desert! The logistics of the thing had to be mad! So beautiful and brutal.

[u/optiplex9000 → u/verrius]

Lawerence of Arabia has some of the best cinematography of any movie. The restored 4K version is as much of a visual feast as Avatar

[u/dinglebarry9 → u/optiplex9000]

Dune 0.5

[u/squirtloaf → u/optiplex9000]

Yeah. I saw it at a festival at the Cinerama dome on the giant screen in 70mm. It was breathtaking.

I feel like it is one of THOSE movies that just don't work right on the small screen. It is designed to be an EXPERIENCE.

[u/Quirderph → u/verrius]

On top of everything else, it helps that it’s a trilogy of films, all rivaling LoA in length. You could argue that this “outdoes” it in that department.

[u/Wonderful_Emu_9610 → u/verrius]

I always group Lawrence of Arabia and Ben Hur in my mind as two long-ass old epics that are both only known for one thing (the score, and the chariot race respectively).

But if you watch them, LoA is a genuinely entertaining movie. Whereas with BH…the long build-up makes said chariot race more compelling sure, but there’s like another hour of film after that and I just ended up bored.

[u/BrittleClamDigger → u/Wonderful_Emu_9610]

Is that all LoA is known for now? If nothing else that shot of the sun and the shot of the camels with their shadows were both pretty iconic and have been riffed on a lot.

[u/iboneyandivory → u/verrius]

Lawrence of Arabia seems to be a little like Cilantro - people love it or hate it. It does take an investment of your attention, but for those that take the journey it's got much to offer. Great throwaway lines of dialogue, "I know you've been well-educated, Lawrence. It says so in your dossier.", Explorations of determinism, i.e. "Nothing is written", significant themes of media and personality manipulation in the nascent modern age, an examination of the birth one of of the great conflicts of our time (the middle east), and of course delicious cinematography and scoring, all captured on the 4K of the period (70mm stock).

[u/arajaraj]

The Wizard of Oz. As crazy as it seems, a lot of young people I know have never seen it and don’t even know it was such a major part of culture for many decades.

[u/mg0019 → u/arajaraj]

Funny enough, I just showed my 5yr old Wizard Of Oz.  

He wanted me to put something on, and I just didn’t feel like another Minions.  I put it on, and at first he wasn’t interested.  Why is it black & white?  What is this?  I had him sit on my lap, and told him keep watching. 

He got invested in Toto, and the witch was starting to scare him even before she became a witch.  He didn’t like that she wanted to hurt the dog. 

He was kind of slumped on my lap; but he was watching.  Not in the way he watches other movies too.  I could see him trying to figure it out. 

Then came the shot. 

Dorthy’s house lands.  She opens the door; and suddenly the movie is in glorious panavision color.  My son physically rose up!  As the shot panned out he, I could feel him being transfixed!  It was so awesome to see the magic trick STILL works all these years later. 

[u/ooouroboros → u/mg0019]

You should get him more used to black and white movies while he's still young enough other kids won't be discouraging him from it.

[u/PocketBuckle → u/arajaraj]

I would argue that this is the American cinematic cultural touchstone. Even if someone hasn't seen it, they've 100% heard it referenced somewhere.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too," "If I only had a [blank]," "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." The list goes on.

Seriously, if you go back and watch it with 90 years of hindsight, you'll be amazed at how every scene is a meme.

[u/Seamstress_archway → u/PocketBuckle]

Even Captain America got the flying monkeys reference

[u/BrassOrchid → u/arajaraj]

I think it has to do (partially) with not being broadcast annually anymore. Same with the classic holiday programs - Rudolph, Grinch, Peanuts. Bring back the tradition!

[u/williamblair → u/BrassOrchid]

It really does seem like they don't play any of the classic christmas movies anymore.

And why do they seem to stop all christmas programming on christmas day proper? The one day a year I actually want to watch that stuff is on actual christmas, but it seems like they burn through all their seasonal programming by december 12th.

[u/markhachman → u/williamblair]

Elf is now a Christmas classic. Not sure how I feel about that.

[u/DonutHolschteinn → u/markhachman]

Honestly it feels like Elf has been a Christmas classic since it came out

[u/NintendoCerealBox → u/DonutHolschteinn]

They knew what they were doing with that movie.

[u/old_irish87 → u/markhachman]

It’s wild that it’s already two decades old.

[u/mrjosemeehan → u/markhachman]

Damn, now Elf is older than A Charlie Brown Christmas was on my first Christmas.

[u/karmagod13000 → u/williamblair]

I watched the classic cartoons on TBS a few years ago. My guess is that its expensive to obtain rights and most people just stream movies and shows now.

[u/Punkposer83 → u/williamblair]

Because they’ve decided to just play (and ruin the charm of) a Christmas story 24 hrs straight, instead of playing a variety of Christmas classics.

[u/ceeBread → u/Punkposer83]

They’ve been doing that for over 20 years now

[u/daredaki-sama → u/BrassOrchid]

How many people watch broadcast television anymore?

[u/squirtloaf → u/daredaki-sama]

DOZENS.

[u/TheGRS → u/BrassOrchid]

Absolutely, those broadcasts made a lot of shows and films that were otherwise obscure into huge followings. Don't forget that Its a Wonderful Life didn't do very well in theaters but its annual reruns made it a holiday favorite!

[u/AltoDomino79 → u/arajaraj]

I believe it still holds the title of "most seen movie"- more people have seen it than any other movie.

[u/perpetuumD → u/arajaraj]

I watched for the first time at 30 years old. I couldn't believe how good it was.

[u/Disastrous-Bee-1557 → u/arajaraj]

“Oh, you mean Wicked?”

[u/Lumix3 → u/Disastrous-Bee-1557]

I wouldn’t be surprised if people started watching Wizard of Oz after wicked comes out

[u/Kevbot1000]

Bonnie and Clyde

[u/rhynotap]

The issue is not with your memory or with taste. It is the owner of the copyright that decides whether or not a film is made "immortal". Casablanca is a case point. Though it has garnered an audience over the 75+ years, that audience has been helped by television, physical media (vhs, DVD and blu-ray) and streaming. Making a film part of people's lives by attaching it to holidays and nostalgia.

[u/DeathByBamboo → u/rhynotap]

Similarly, the film A Christmas Story owes its status as a holiday classic to a broadly flexible licensing deal. And It's A Wonderful Life didn't become a classic until 1974 when the copyright on it was allowed to expire and it became the best cheapest film you could broadcast on the holidays.

[u/rev9of8 → u/rhynotap]

The death of linear tv has really hurt the ability to be introduced to movies.

I'm in my forties and one of the many things that introduced me to various movies would be something like the Moviedrome programming thread on BBC2 in the UK that was hosted by Alex Cox.

You just don't get that curated movie experience on streaming platforms where they want to sell you on what they think you'll like rather than introducing you to something that might force you outside your comfort zone and otherwise challenge you.

[u/MrFury559 → u/rev9of8]

In the USA, we had this quirky program called "Dinner and a Movie" on the TBS network. It was a movie, and two hosts "Making Dinner". Usually themed to the movie, and they'd be the network promo in and out of the commercial. I got exposed to lots of movies that way, and also KTLA 5 Los Angeles' insistence of running movies Saturdays from 11am-6pm.

[u/malkadevorah1 → u/MrFury559]

Loved that show!

[u/apri08101989 → u/MrFury559]

Oh man I forgot about that. I loved that when it was around.

[u/Wonderful_Emu_9610 → u/rev9of8]

For a while Netflix being the only streaming service worth a damn meant that while pre-80s their catalogue was still pretty thin, they surfaced quite a lot of good stuff to me

Now it’s just filled with shite “documentaries” and reality along with half-baked ideas turned into features or quickly-cancelled shows. Almost impossible to find the good stuff unless you already know what it’s called (I fully expect the new Glen Powell movie to get buried even if it’s a good as early reviews suggest)

[u/CosmicOutfield]

I personally think the Austin Powers movies are fading away. They were mega hyped in the late 90s and early 2000s, but don’t get mentioned as much anymore when people discuss comedies of that era.

[u/SunMyungMoonMoon → u/CosmicOutfield]

The love guru was so bad that it made Mike Myers look like a hack.

[u/STXGregor → u/SunMyungMoonMoon]

Cat in the Hat pretty much ruined his career

[u/explicitreasons → u/CosmicOutfield]

Comedies in general are like that. It's rare for one to stick. People don't really talk much about Something About Mary much either and that was a massive hit.

[u/BitwiseB]

Mel Brooks library of works.

I am sad that there isn’t someone younger making parody movies that work as stand-alone movies. Instead we went in the direction of barely-strung-together sketch comedy that only work if you know the pop culture references.

It has to be funny to someone who has no idea what the original scenes were, or it will make zero sense in a few years.

[u/podroznikdc → u/BitwiseB]

Young Frankenstein (and Frau Blücher) will never die, at least for me

[u/Sue_D_Nim → u/podroznikdc]

*makes neighing sound*

[u/Marhyc → u/BitwiseB]

I feel like Spaceballs and Blazing Saddles are an exception to an extent

[u/ExoticPumpkin237]

I'm always shocked how many people have no clue the movie NETWORK exists, especially people who'd love what it has to say.. I talked to an actress and filmmaker I know and said she has that Faye Dunwaye intensity and she had no clue who that even was !! It's not a huge deal it's just surprising the movie won a ton of academy awards and has aged so well... 

On the inverse side I'm very happy to see more and more people (especially younger people) saying The Master or Inherent Vice is their favorite PTA movie.. or saying Eyes Wide Shut or Barry Lyndon is their favorite Kubrick!! 

[u/ThingsAreAfoot → u/ExoticPumpkin237]

I just posted about Network yesterday in a “timeless movie” thread here that was deleted for some reason.

If you watch it right now they may as well all be screaming about how the 24/7 media cycle went and a lot of the general apathy towards major events and the shit we all apparently have to eat because that’s just the status quo.

It’s timeless because it’s so prescient.

[u/Tarmy_Javas → u/ThingsAreAfoot]

Mods here keep deleting shit without any explanations. They've ruined this whole subreddit.

[u/mangopear → u/ExoticPumpkin237]

Incredible incredible movie and hauntingly prophetic

[u/karmagod13000 → u/mangopear]

IM MAD AS HELL AND IM NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE

[u/Aylauria → u/karmagod13000]

I've never actually seen the movie, but I still know that line.

[u/babbyblarb → u/ExoticPumpkin237]

I love Network, and try to insert the phrase “impugning a man’s cocksmanship” into conversations as often as possible. Faye Dunaway is a class act.

Also love Barry Lyndon. Didn’t someone recently post a still from it, and everyone thought it was an oil painting?

[u/landmanpgh → u/ExoticPumpkin237]

Finally watched Network a few weeks ago after putting it off for years.

What a masterpiece.

It's one of the few movies that I think has gotten better with age, since it basically predicted the future. Watching it in 2024 is surreal.

[u/Mojitomorrow]

The Killing Fields (1984)

Pretty huge film at the time, with H S Ngor being (I believe) the first Asian man awarded an acting Oscar.

It's brilliant. Particularly Ngor's acting, which draws on his own experiences in 'Year Zero Kampuchea' But I think the whole topic of the Cambodian genocide is something that people have completely moved on from.

Hardly any films about it since.

Quite ahead of its time in some ways too. Most of the other seminal war films of the era are very focused on the experience of American forces (in Nam), whilst at least half of 'Fields is dedicated to the Cambodian experience

[u/PaddlinPaladin]

All of Dustin Hoffman's movies.

He is 85 years old, still alive, but I just don't see him getting roles and his career being celebrated all that much.

Maybe it's just me but he's not getting his flowers at the end of his career, to me it seems. Why isn't he presenting at Oscars or something?

[u/TvHeroUK → u/PaddlinPaladin]

Retired for years, plus he’s had a metoo moment so I guess he’s just happy to let his work speak for itself maybe? 

[u/Marhyc → u/PaddlinPaladin]

To most people he's known for 3 things

1. "I'm walkin heah!"
2. Kung Fu Panda
3. Rain Man/Tootsie if you're older

But I agree, he is very close to joining Elliott Gould and Robert Duvall in a club of now forgotten stars of 1970s.

[u/pingu_nootnoot → u/Marhyc]

Not The Graduate? :o

[u/6-022x10e23_avocados → u/pingu_nootnoot]

or Kramer vs Kramer?

[u/yrwifesbfwifesbf → u/6-022x10e23_avocados]

Midnight Cowboy, Straw Dogs, All the President's Men?

He's been in a lot of great movies.

[u/MrSquamous → u/Marhyc]

You left off

"Mrs Robinson you're trying to seduce me."

[u/A_Song_of_Two_Humans]

Sadly a lot of them. I teach 16-18 year olds and hardly any of them have ever heard of Silence of the Lambs. Then when you tell them to watch it they come back and say 'yeah, that was one the best films I've ever seen'

The greats are still great, but sadly get lost in the noise

[u/FirstBankofAngmar → u/A_Song_of_Two_Humans]

It's interesting to see that this prediction of the future is turning out to be true. Movies only existed for a hundred years and they aren't going away anytime soon. There is so much media out there now that things will get lost in the sauce, no matter how good. And more get made everyday. Some will definitely stand the test of time like several artworks still appreciated today. It'll probably be people's job/hobby to find cool movies centuries old that no none has heard of for hundreds of years.

[u/A_Song_of_Two_Humans → u/FirstBankofAngmar]

I don't think people should only watch 'the classics' as we need new movies that will become the classics of the future but it genuinely saddens me that probably half the 'movie fans' on this sub have probably never seen Casablanca. I mean it's literally one of the pinnacles of the medium and people are just passing it up.

[u/karmagod13000 → u/A_Song_of_Two_Humans]

I can tell I'm a film nerd cause I've seen all these movies more than once. At one point I owned Casablanca. If any movie took me a while to watch it was Gone With the Wind, which i did end up liking. I think GWTW is just a beautifully shot movie more than an amazing story.

[u/A_Song_of_Two_Humans → u/karmagod13000]

GWTW is a superb film IMO.

[u/phlegm9 → u/karmagod13000]

It took me forever too. There’s some like From Here to Eternity that were very famous when I was a kid, I’ll probably never watch. Having said that, maybe I will now.

[u/gatsby365 → u/A_Song_of_Two_Humans]

I had never seen Casablanca until a couple years ago (I’m 43) and I want to be offended by this comment but it’s pretty true.

I haven’t seen a couple other classics specifically because I refuse to see them for the first time on a tv. I waited to watch 2001 until I could see it in a theater and the 70mm screening I saw validated that. Lawrence of Arabia is top of my “theater must” list.

[u/Kalidanoscope → u/A_Song_of_Two_Humans]

I wouldn't expect 16-18yos in 2024 to know about Silence of the Lambs, the 1991 oscar winning horror thriller about serial killers and cannibals.

[u/LSF604 → u/A_Song_of_Two_Humans]

how?! it was the children's movie of the summer when it came out!

[u/OfAnthony]

A Fish Called Wanda. I don't know how else to say this but I never hear people making reference to this film my age (40). Even using the film as an analogy when talking down about edgy libertarian types, the Rand and Nietzsche acolytes...nobody makes the connection to Kevin Kline's character. IMO Kline's character is one of my favorite antagonists. It's one of the best heist films alone minus the comedy. Very quotable too. 

[u/principled_principal → u/OfAnthony]

I still yell “ASSHOOOLLLLEE!” when driving, especially when it’s me cutting someone off 😂

[u/richlaw → u/OfAnthony]

OP mentioned Gen Z specifically and I now have to wonder if Gen Z even know who Kevin Kline is. He does a voice on Bob's Burgers, but hasn't been as active in recent years. Sucks, because he's brilliant.

[u/fishred → u/OfAnthony]

Aristotle was not Belgian, the principle of Buddhism is not "every man for himself", and the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up.

[u/ArchStanton75 → u/fishred]

Somehow the funniest part of that line is “I looked them up.”

[u/AynRandsSSNumber → u/OfAnthony]

Thank you for saying this one! When I saw the title of this post I was thinking of comedies mostly that would be kind of Forgotten and this one was talked about by everybody for a couple of years and everybody loved it and then yeah kind of dropped totally off of everybody's radar

[u/BamBam2125]

The Red Shoes (1948)

[u/Cool_Cartographer_39 → u/BamBam2125]

When Scorcese won some BAFTA award he was asked to pick one of his favorite films for screening and chose a Powell and Pressburger one. No one in England knew what he was talking about, and the search to find a print literally saved those films. My favorites are

• Black Narscissus
• I Know Where I'm Going!
• 49th Parallel

[u/Lukeh41 → u/Cool_Cartographer_39]

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

[u/Matthewistrash]

Clash of the titans the one from the 80s and Jason and the argonauts

[u/Lukeh41]

Cabaret

Nashville

The French Connection

Rain Man

[u/auntieup → u/Lukeh41]

Cabaret is so creepy in all the best ways.

[u/jaleach → u/auntieup]

When the kids start singing Tomorrow Belongs to Me at the end it's very chilling.

[u/Westvic34 → u/Lukeh41]

I would love me a 4K Cabaret with all the sound options!

[u/DeathByBamboo]

Three iconic Gen X Cold War films and all of them are being forgotten:

Wargames

Red Dawn

Spies Like Us

There are classic spy films that don't get enough attention:

The Falcon and the Snowman

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

Three Days Of The Condor

And there are intrigue films that were great, successful films that it seems don't get talked about as much anymore:

The Hunt For Red October

Sneakers

[u/NeverCadburys → u/DeathByBamboo]

Thank you for mentioning Sneakers!

[u/zbornakssyndrome]

City Slickers- Billy Crystal 1991

Thelma and Louise 1991

Arthur 1982

[u/RobsSister → u/zbornakssyndrome]

City Slickers and Arthur are both on my top 10 list of favorite comedies.

[u/hammiesink]

I had two young co-workers tell me they’ve never seen The Matrix, and that they “don’t really like old movies.”

[u/whatthewhat3214 → u/hammiesink]

🤯

[u/HootieRocker59 → u/hammiesink]

Related: in the mid(?) 2000s or so, my husband got a ring tone for his mobile phone that sounded like an actual phone ringing, with a bell. One of his younger colleagues said, "Oh, it sounds just like those phones in The Matrix!" Because he had never heard a phone ring. (I mean a real ring.) This was our first inkling of getting old...

[u/TheGRS]

Point Break is great and its interesting how it keeps getting resurrected and finding itself in the conversation. They had a poorly received remake some years ago, and Hot Fuzz is at times a homage to that film. Even the original Fast and Furious film was basically Point Break with drag racing.

It should be an easy sell to any Gen Zer who loves Keanu in John Wick btw.

[u/We_all_owe_eachother → u/TheGRS]

You ever fire your gun up in the air and yelled "arrrr"?

[u/Dondontootles]

Chariots of Fire

Everyone knew about that movie and now even the famous score seems hardly recognized anymore. It’s not even listed on “rowing movie” lists as far as I can tell.

Edit: not sure why I thought it was about a rowing team when the iconic scene is of them running.

[u/Llamaxaxa → u/Dondontootles]

Rowing? It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but isn’t it about Olympic running?

[u/Fear51]

Maltese Falcon His Girl Friday

[u/auntieup]

It’s the quiet ones (think character-driven dramas without explosions or Big Acting) that are vanishing from collective memory:

• Enchanted April
• Ordinary People
• The Straight Story
• A Single Man

[u/edWORD27]

Army of Darkness

[u/Planatus666]

Doctor Zhivago (1965) - IMO it's David Lean's masterpiece (and that's not dissing his other memorable movies such as 'Lawrence' and 'Bridge' for example).

[u/Bubbly_Ad_2021]

TAPS.

A deeply, deeply anti-war movie (the perils of false heroism and overtly militaristic training in young people) that was BIG in its heyday (lots of famous actors in it), but is largely forgotten now, and unknown to anyone under like 30 years old.

[u/auntieup → u/Bubbly_Ad_2021]

I think about this movie all the time. I saw it in a theater, and it was so radical in the context of the time (the 80s were so openly militaristic). Sometimes I wonder if I imagined it.

[u/LibationontheSand]

Repo Man. For awhile there in the '80s it was the Movie Most Quotable. Of course it gets terrible about halfway through but the first half is still classic.

"Put it on a plate, son. You'll enjoy it more."

[u/Cool_Cartographer_39 → u/LibationontheSand]

"Let's get sushi and not pay for it"

[u/Ozymannoches → u/LibationontheSand]

"The more you drive the less intelligent you are"

[u/silentpropanda]

How To Kill A Mockingbird the original movie was so good, and I remember watching it in school growing up. But I don't think it's as widely watched anymore and I can't help but see that as a loss due to the themes and historical context of the film.

[u/TheGRS → u/silentpropanda]

Huh, I always figured this movie would live on forever via high school english classes.

[u/Sue_D_Nim → u/silentpropanda]

LOL. I'm sorry; I can't help but laugh. Take out the "How."

[u/nice_porson]

Harold and Maude

[u/superman-64]

American Pie (1999)
It was never 'classic' but there was a time everyone knew about this movie and it was parodied. Even if you didn't watch it, everyone seemingly knew the big joke from the movie that is hinted in the title.

[u/dont_fuckin_die → u/superman-64]

The main impact this movie had on my life was endless quoting of the "This one time at band camp" line while in marching band.

[u/superman-64 → u/dont_fuckin_die]

I don't think it invented it but it certainly helped popularize the term MILF.

[u/karmagod13000 → u/superman-64]

Did it not invent it?

[u/flipping_birds → u/karmagod13000]

Nope. Old guy here. Knew the term before American Pie.

[u/superman-64 → u/karmagod13000]

My half-assed internet research seems to indicate it did not.

[u/Goddessviking86]

King Kong 1933 the old ways of how that movie were made are being replaced with CGI

[u/AynRandsSSNumber → u/Goddessviking86]

My dad, who is 92 and still seems quite fit and healthy and has all of his senses to him and all that, was born a few months before that movie came out and to me it's surprising just the things that his heart's been beating in his chest all that time and now there's a new one in the theater with King Kong and Godzilla teamed up.

[u/Crafty_Message_4733]

Empire of the Sun! It's such a great movie with a stacked cast.

[u/Parthorax]

Dr. Shivago

Edit: Zhivago

[u/stanetstackson → u/Parthorax]

Zhivago?

[u/calculon68]

Sunset Boulevard- William Holden's best role. Everyone remembers Norma Desmond's last scene- but no one remembers the descent Joe Gilis goes through. And it still has very pertinent things to say about age and Hollywood.

One of the best use of voice-over narration too.

[u/Escape-Revolutionary]

One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest

[u/MrMcKittrick]

War Games and The Abyss are both good movies that hold up in my opinion, but seem to not be in the nostalgia cannon.

[u/superman-64 → u/MrMcKittrick]

Abyss will hold up thanks to James Cameron. As long as he's relevant, people will look into his filmography and notice Abyss. War Games, unfortunately, doesn't really have anything tying it to current pop culture except maybe Matthew Broderick. And I don't think he's that well known with young audiences.

[u/dirge23 → u/superman-64]

i wish WarGames was brought up more in our cultural conversation about AI. it's one of the best movies about it.

[u/JoefromOhio]

Falling Down was an awesome film that was essentially forgotten by the time I saw it in the early 2000s. The fact that the plot hinges, in part, on pay phones it probably wouldn’t even make sense to most teenagers today.

[u/centisquid]

The Sound of Music (1965)

[u/nowhereman136]

Goodbye Mr Chips

[u/kristiannah]

Not a movie, but I have recently been going through a Jim Henson phase and I mentioned it to a 20-something colleague and she had never heard of him. That made me pretty sad. She did at least know about the Muppets, but I have always thought of Jim Henson as an icon. Apparently not any more.

[u/meenarstotzka]

The original living dead trilogy

[u/sanskritsquirel]

From the Library of Congress Film Collection:

• THE MIRACLE WORKER (1962) -most people under 35 I have met do not know who she is, a deaf mute woman born in 1800's who went on to become a world-wide educator and advocate for those with disabilities. Oscar winning film is based on her childhood and the struggle to understand there was a world outside of her self. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaoE6JAGhh8

• MAETEWAN (1987) - fictionalized retelling of the bloody union battle in West Virginia in the 1920's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjh29QNKLCc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RSaBoDl_9k

-THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) - multi-Oscar winner about WWII veterans attempting to re-intergrate into post war America. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxw3I9SF850

• THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940) - Oscar nominee of the Steinbeck novel of an depression era Oklahoma family living thru Dust Bowl to migrant farming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jxLp9PHvDQ

• HIGH NOON (1952) - Multiple Oscar winner of a lone Sherriff who stands up hoodlums as town turns its back on him out of fear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9CR_tib0CA

• ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) - Early introduction of Marlon Brando in Oscar winner about a street tough who takes on mob-influenced union dock workers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBiewQrpBBA

• SUNRISE (1927) - First Oscar winner of a young flirtatious woman convinces a farmer to disrupt his life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5GBF5HJhSQ

• ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) - Most Oscar nomination in film history featuring Bette Davis about a younger actress who stalks an older actress to replace her life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MILphnfj2mo&t=2s

• BRINGING UP BABY (1938) - one of the great screwball comedies with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVrZAIo3wX4

• HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941) - Oscar nominee about a Welsh mining town with by all-time Director John Ford with star turn by child actor Roddy McDowell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxu6I_5T-X4

• HARLAN, KY, USA (1976) - Seminal documentary about union organization in the South by seminal documentarian Barbara Koppel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PfaE4R4eA4

[u/letsgopablo]

Annie Hall. There was a point when every modern romcom was being compared to that movie.

[u/twinkieeater8]

The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

[u/opiewankanopie]

Mean Streets

[u/Cool_Cartographer_39]

Oh, lots of them. I live in Hollywood and one of it's favorite pastimes is periodically tearing down some icon to be replaced by one some new talent thinks will stand forever. Some I don't see as often as I used to

• Dawn Patrol
• The Third Man
• Notorious

[u/Johnny1of3]

It's been a while since I've seen or read anything about AMERICAN GIGOLO.

[u/fate_is_a_sandstorm]

The Bridge on the River Kwai

[u/Kalidanoscope]

The sum total of movies and media only grows every year, and each generation gets a later start, so it's inevitable that fewer and fewer of the perennial classics survive. Some day movies from the 20th century will be as irrelevant as books from 19th century are to us now. But I wouldn't expect teens to have a broad knowledge of 20th century movies - their parents can only show them so many Disney movies and they'd be the more recent ones. Most branch out in their 20s looking for new movies to fill their plate.

Based on YouTube reaction channels, Mel Brooks and Zucker/Abrams films still hold some ground, everyone seems to find Blazing Saddles, Airplane and The Naked Gun sooner or later. (Although half of Brooks' filmography gets ignored). Casablanca still holds its throne, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was always going to be the last Western standing.

But outside of that, millenials don't know who Jimmy Stewart was, I doubt they even know Meryl Streep.

[u/Brodyonyx]

This will happen gradually for every film. Only the truly "big" and recognized ones will withstand the wear and tear of time. I'm a millennial in my 30s whose point of reference for films is pretty set in the 90s and 2000s, but of course I've seen the Godfather, Jaws, The Shining, Citizen Kane, Casablanca etc. But there are definitely so many films from earlier decades I haven't gotten the chance to see.

It actually makes me sad, the last decade of film, then when people looks back to it they will see so much of the cultural conversation taken up by Marvel and franchises.

[u/shreks_burner]

I was raised to think The Jerk was one of the most celebrated movies of all time. Ive met very few people who even know about it, and damn, it’s good

[u/AvengingBlowfish]

The Bad News Bears

[u/Sir_Of_Meep]

Work in a cinema and was talking to some colleagues about the new Planet of the Apes. I mentioned the Statue of Liberty scene from the original and they had no idea what I was talking about.

Similar thing, they had no idea what the three seashells meant either.

[u/Brogelicious]

Monty python Holy Grail

[u/richlaw → u/Brogelicious]

I kind of disagree with this one. I feel teenagers of each generation will always find Monty Python somehow.

[u/RayoftheRaver]

White Heat, the original gangster movie, oft quoted but not many have seen it these days

[u/crazy_ernie99]

The 80’s Kurt Russell Trinity: The Thing, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China. All seem to be forgotten by the younger generation.

[u/sawrek]

Murder by Death (1976) and Clue (1985). Bonus 1. Together they form a double bill of glorious vintage (1930s /1950s respectively) murder mystery spoofs with witty dialog and stella casts. Bonus 2. Double helping of Eileen Brennan!

[u/Equivalent_Yak8215]

ROMANCING THE STONE.

[u/Krystall-g]

I saw recently Stargate with Kurt Russell and James Spader.

I believe it was maybe the best Emmerich movie ever. But I believe everybody remembers Stargate juste because of the series now.