The Movie Blockbuster is the Best or Worst Thing Ever To Happen To Movies ?

[BAYLOR]

What do you think and why?

 

[Dave]

blockbuster
/ˈblɒkˌbʌstə/
nouninformal
noun: blockbuster; plural noun: blockbusters
a thing of great power or size, in particular a film, book, or other product that is a great commercial success.
i.e. "the latest Hollywood blockbuster"
Origin: 1940s (denoting a huge aerial bomb capable of destroying a whole block of streets): from block + buster.

I don't understand the question. Are you saying that writing, producing and directing films that are a "great commercial success" might be a bad thing? Do you wish films were made that only a few people like and that were not a "great commercial success"? Do you believe that some period existed in the past where this was ever so? Or have I misunderstood something?

 

[Harpo]

There are plenty of non-Hollywood blockbusters out there.

Examples from the last four years:
2021: The Battle At Lake Changjin, Detective Chinatown 3.
2022: Water Gate Bridge
2023: Full River Red

All those were in the top ten films of the year, globally.

 

[KGeo777]

Probably a bad thing in terms of creative variety in Western film because the gist of a "blockbuster" is a film where everyone sees it--so it is a smothering oppressive cultural phenomenon. Long term, taking the mentality as the norm means that a film doesn't count unless it draws in big audiences--which was never a prerequisite with an artistic work. A cult film by design is the opposite of a blockbuster and yet everyone is fine with them.
You cannot please everyone everywhere at once. Such is the nature of cultural taste. The Hollywood blockbuster depended on the novelty of showing things that audiences had never seen before--and eventually you do run out of novelties to use in order to draw in a crowd.

 

[BAYLOR]

Probably a bad thing in terms of creative variety in Western film because the gist of a "blockbuster" is a film where everyone sees it--so it is a smothering oppressive cultural phenomenon. Long term, taking the mentality as the norm means that a film doesn't count unless it draws in big audiences--which was never a prerequisite with an artistic work. A cult film by design is the opposite of a blockbuster and yet everyone is fine with them.
You cannot please everyone everywhere at once. Such is the nature of cultural taste. The Hollywood blockbuster depended on the novelty of showing things that audiences had never seen before--and eventually you do run out of novelties to use in order to draw in a crowd.

And the Blockbusters themselves become cliches.