Great Movie Ride and the apparent lack of Kubrick

[thomas998]

The "why isn't this movie on the great movie ride" thread is all too common, but unfortunately I'm about to add one more to the list (but with what I believe is good reason).

Stanley Kubrick is arguably the greatest filmmaker of all time, which is why I find it so startling that not one of his films has a dedicated scene on The Great Movie ride. The main reason for this I assume is controversy. I don't think Ultra Violence belongs in Disney World (for now ), and the darkest of all the dark comedies might just be a little too dark for the Magic Kingdom, and as much as I'd love to watch a Drill Sergeant scream at guests as they ride past I don't think it'll happen anytime soon. Still, that leaves in my mind 2 movies that would be right at home on The Great Movie Ride...


The Shining
King of the psychological thrillers, just the thought of travelling slowly through the Overlook Hotel gives me goosebumps. I recall reading/watching an imagineer talk about how they could incorporate horror into the ride. Alien works great, but horror has become such a huge part of cinema that surely it deserves some more recognition. Then again, the film is about as equally hated as it is loved due to it's ambiguous plot so I can see the guys at WDI wanting to steer away from this one.


2001: A Space Odyssey
Quite possibly the biggest and most important film in cinema history, the greatest of all great films, yet for some unknown reason this isn't on The Great Movie Ride! I cannot think of one reason why this doesn't deserve it's own scene. The beloved king of Sci-Fi (sorry Star Wars fans, but even George Lucas admitted there'd be no Star Wars if there wasn't a 2001). Surely this film would have been thrown around during the blue sky brainstorming, why wasn't it used? The only explanation I can come up with is licensing issues.

Well that's my rant. It just kind of frustrates me that Tarzan has it's own scene but 2001 does not.

What about you guys. Do you think Kubrick needs more recognition on the ride? How do you think he could be implemented?​

To be honest most of Kubrick's film are boring and if released today wouldn't get much of a draw at all on their own merit as films.

Shining was probably his worst movie so frankly it wouldn't be silly to put it on the list.. and space Odyssey might have been ground breaking at its time but aside from the special effects it wasn't that good of a movie. To me Kubrick is not so much a movie maker as someone that simply pushed the envelope of technology at various times... For me I loved the look he got in Barry Lyndon, but the movie's pacing was very slow at the time it was released and based on current tastes in movies would be like watching paint dry. So honestly as much as he might be revered by film buffs his stuff isn't what the mainstream would call great.

 

[FettFan]

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I realize that any theme park would need to be completely insane to build or promote anything remotely associated with Mel Gibson.

That being said....if they put Mel in the Great Movie Ride....


God I hope they choose The Beaver.

It would be an animatronic with an animatronic built onto its hand.


Animatroniception. *BAWM*

 

[lebeau]

Not you. Did I quote you accidentally? If so, sorry. Was referring to the Panther.

I figured.

 

[216bruce]

Kubrick is a lot like Wes Anderson. You either like and get him or you don't. Both can leave you scratching your head or thinking "god, let this movie end" or thinking they are a genius. I think GMR is a salute to mainstream, popular Hollywood fare of the classic era. It represented that pretty well when it opened, but could sure use an AA and movie scenes update.
Lose "Alien", "Tarzan" and fix "Fantasia". Replace "Alien" with anything from "Star Wars", "Tarzan" could get swapped with "Avatar" and put something/anything in Fantasia other than a screen and a fan. Chernabog AA? That'd be a start

 

[216bruce]

The Alien scene is really lame. I don't find it the least bit creepy or scary.

The set is great, the Alien so-so, but the AA of Sigourney Weaver is horrible and blows the whole illusion.

 

[Matt_Black]

Keep Tarzan, and here's why- he is very much the superheroic archetype that every character since has followed. For decades, comic creators have liberally cribbed from Edgar Rice Burroughs, and for good reason. What you see now with superhero movies might not have been possible without Tarzan.

Secondly, and even more importantly, he might be one of the most classic and recognizable fictional characters of all time. It's been reported that only Dracula exceeds him as far as the number of movie and television adaptations go. The character of Tarzan is incredibly important to the history of movies and pop culture in general, and thus deserves a spot in the Great Movie Ride. Not to say that the scene itself couldn't use a little sprucing up, but to be fair, that can be said of most of the scenes in the ride.

 

[Magenta Panther]

The film was not a "massive failure". Repeating misinformation does not make it so. It just costs you credibilty.

https://movies.yahoo.com/news/box-office-divergent-tops-while-muppets-flop-215516938.html

Yep, can't post that enough.

 

[thomas998]

Kubrick is a lot like Wes Anderson. You either like and get him or you don't. Both can leave you scratching your head or thinking "god, let this movie end" or thinking they are a genius. I think GMR is a salute to mainstream, popular Hollywood fare of the classic era. It represented that pretty well when it opened, but could sure use an AA and movie scenes update.
Lose "Alien", "Tarzan" and fix "Fantasia". Replace "Alien" with anything from "Star Wars", "Tarzan" could get swapped with "Avatar" and put something/anything in Fantasia other than a screen and a fan. Chernabog AA? That'd be a start

I could agree with putting Star Wars in there... but Avatar hasn't proven to be a true classic. It made lots of money do to the novelty and the IMAX sales, but it isn't a movie that most people will watch over and over.

 

[Magenta Panther]

And how far does his hate go? Does he just hate the main Muppets franchise, or does he hate things like Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock and (*gasp*) Labyrinth?

Somebody likes Labyrinth? Must be all those crotch shots.

Keep it up, Muppet apologists. I'm getting a kick out of this.

 

[lebeau]

https://movies.yahoo.com/news/box-office-divergent-tops-while-muppets-flop-215516938.html

Yep, can't post that enough.

It's an inaccurate headline based on the opening weekend box office. It's hyperbole, not reality. We now have more of the whole picture and it is objectively a box office disappointment. Not a flop.

Heck, the article even contradicts the headline. The movie opened at number 2 with a tepid $17 million. This was disappointing in that it failed to live up to the opening of the first film. But it is far from a disaster.

 

[flynnibus]

To be honest most of Kubrick's film are boring and if released today wouldn't get much of a draw at all on their own merit as films.

You'd probably say the same thing about most of the films from the 40s too... doesn't make them any less significant or good. Your tastes and expectations today are vastly different.

Even for 'modern' fans.. If you can't watch Full Metal Jacket and be soaked in and moved.. check your pulse or your ADD meds.

and space Odyssey might have been ground breaking at its time but aside from the special effects it wasn't that good of a movie

Yet it's a film put on a pedestal by other greats in the industry.. like speilberg. The film is good, and given it's time, absolutely mindblowing in so many aspects. It's an incredibly bold film. Is it Terminator 2 paced? Hell no, but the presentation, choices, and concepts are all shockingly bold for the time and have stood the test of time as well.

 

[Magenta Panther]

It's an inaccurate headline based on the opening weekend box office. It's hyperbole, not reality. We now have more of the whole picture and it is objectively a box office disappointment. Not a flop.

Heck, the article even contradicts the headline. The movie opened at number 2 with a tepid $17 million. This was disappointing in that it failed to live up to the opening of the first film. But it is far from a disaster.

Stoller directed that one, but he's also been the man who's co-written the last two Muppets films, including the recent Muppets Most Wanted. The latter hasn't enjoyed such box office success sadly, with the film taking a disappointing $70m worldwide. Hurt by competition from the likes of Rio 2 and Mr Peabody And Sherman, the film's take is a long way shy of the $165m grossed by The Muppets two years earlier.


http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the...er-on-the-possibility-of-another-muppets-film

Facts are a female dog, ain't they?

 

[flynnibus]

Heck, the article even contradicts the headline. The movie opened at number 2 with a tepid $17 million. This was disappointing in that it failed to live up to the opening of the first film. But it is far from a disaster.

Are studios in the business to break even??

 

[Matt_Black]

Stoller directed that one, but he's also been the man who's co-written the last two Muppets films, including the recent Muppets Most Wanted. The latter hasn't enjoyed such box office success sadly, with the film taking a disappointing $70m worldwide. Hurt by competition from the likes of Rio 2 and Mr Peabody And Sherman, the film's take is a long way shy of the $165m grossed by The Muppets two years earlier.

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the...er-on-the-possibility-of-another-muppets-film

Facts are a female dog, ain't they?

2011's Winnie the Pooh didn't do well in the box office. Should he be taken out of the parks and nothing else down with the franchise? That must be the only logical course! He's dated and irrelevant! Get rid of him and Tigger! BOO!

 

[Magenta Panther]

2011's Winnie the Pooh didn't do well in the box office. Should he be taken out of the parks and nothing else down with the franchise? That must be the only logical course! He's dated and irrelevant! Get rid of him and Tigger! BOO!

Pooh sells merchandise like mad. The Muppets don't. Even the gift shop dedicated to them at WDW is mostly full of Mouse stuff. Why? Because that stuff sells.

And thus collapses your latest futile argument...

 

[thomas998]

You'd probably say the same thing about most of the films from the 40s too... doesn't make them any less significant or good. Your tastes and expectations today are vastly different.

Even for 'modern' fans.. If you can't watch Full Metal Jacket and be soaked in and moved.. check your pulse or your ADD meds.



Yet it's a film put on a pedestal by other greats in the industry.. like speilberg. The film is good, and given it's time, absolutely mindblowing in so many aspects. It's an incredibly bold film. Is it Terminator 2 paced? Hell no, but the presentation, choices, and concepts are all shockingly bold for the time and have stood the test of time as well.

No there are still some classics from the 40's that I can watch and enjoy today... Full Metal Jacket is probably the most watchable Kubrick movie I can think of, because it was the most mainstream.

And people in the industry will list all sorts of movies that they think inspired them or loved that the majority of people couldn't give a hoot about. I've heard Scorsese speaking with love about some old voyage to the moon film... but if you tried to get people to watch it today I doubt they could take 5 minutes before getting bored... tastes change and few films will ever stand the test of time to the point that they can be enjoyed by future generations.. Kubrick will always be loved by people that want to focus on the technical aspects of films... but most people prefer something that they can enjoy as a story not a lesson in cinematography.

 

[Matt_Black]

Pooh sells merchandise like mad. The Muppets don't. Even the gift shop dedicated to them at WDW is mostly full of Mouse stuff. Why? Because that stuff sells.

And thus collapses your latest futile argument...

Keep snorting that hunny, you Pooh apologist. The Hundred Acre Wood is destined to be bulldozed into a WalMart. (Do you see what I'm doing here? This is what you sound like ALL THE TIME.)

 

[flynnibus]

tastes change and few films will ever stand the test of time to the point that they can be enjoyed by future generations..

Tastes change - but that does not change the significance of the films. The GMR isn't about 'what films I like' it's about Hollywood history and focuses on impact/significance/history more than it relies on "seeing films I like"

The problem is more that as that history of hollywood gets older and older.. it's not a popular history topic for younger generations right now. There is less cultural awareness of Hollywood's golden age, the westerns of the 50s, the mood shift of the 70s, etc. So the attraction celebrates things newer audiences have no idea what is being focused on.. instead seeing only "I don't know these movies".

Maybe the film in the queue should be reworked to be more of an introduction and history lesson for those younger generations that come through now.

 

[thomas998]

Tastes change - but that does not change the significance of the films. The GMR isn't about 'what films I like' it's about Hollywood history and focuses on impact/significance/history more than it relies on "seeing films I like"

The problem is more that as that history of hollywood gets older and older.. it's not a popular history topic for younger generations right now. There is less cultural awareness of Hollywood's golden age, the westerns of the 50s, the mood shift of the 70s, etc. So the attraction celebrates things newer audiences have no idea what is being focused on.. instead seeing only "I don't know these movies".

Maybe the film in the queue should be reworked to be more of an introduction and history lesson for those younger generations that come through now.

You could go the route of making it more of a history of films... but I'm afraid if you went that direction you would create a Hall of Presidents which while appealing to some is probably never seen by the younger visitors unless forced to go with their parents.

 

[imagineer boy]

I agree, 2001 or The Shining would be great additions. Kubrick was one of the greatest film makers of all time and he deserves a nod.

Maybe they could add a scene from the Korova milk bar or the Eyes Wide Shut masked ball.