Special Movie Debate: John Carpenter

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

[doner24 | 1,197]

I’ve seen the following and The Thing is my fave followed closely by Escape from NY and Big Trouble in Little China.

 

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

1 minute ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Good lord. 

[Gloves | 11,794]

John Carpen-who?

[G-type | 2,483]

my top 5 are:

In the Mouth of Madness

The Thing

They Live

Big Trouble in Little China

Halloween

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

Both of his Masters of Horror episodes are free to watch it appears.

They're fun, and it looks like I'm the only one who's seen them

https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/286426/s01-e08-cigarette-burns

https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/286436/s02-e05-pro-life

[DefaultGen | 5,413]

I didn't realize how popular Christine was. I can't remember a conversation I've ever had with anyone about it. The Thing is obviously my tops followed by Big Trouble in Little China. Action movies aren't my favorite genre so I had low expectations going in but that movie is delightful.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

If you're our demographic and you haven't seen Big Trouble in Little China... well, you need an intervention.  Or to be shunned and ostracized.  Or both.

[Gloves | 11,794]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

If you're our demographic and you haven't seen Big Trouble in Little China... well, you need an intervention.  Or to be shunned and ostracized.  Or both.

I've only seen two of the movies in the list, one of which for the first time last year.

[G-type | 2,483]

My complaint with Big Trouble in Little China is that it didn't have enough of the magical/fantasy stuff. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

Just now, Gloves said:

I've only seen two of the movies in the list, one of which for the first time last year.

[Sumez | 2,967]

I'm a Gloves for this subject. I've only seen The Thing, Escape, and Big Trouble, and only very recently too. These just aren't movies you come across frequently for some reason, even though they've been on my to-watch list for probably decades.

That said, neither movie really did much for me compared to the hype that always exist around most of John Carpenter's movies. I'm interested in seeing more of them, but I don't think what I've seen so far has been particularly memorable. At least Big Trouble in Little China had some pretty funny moments, so I'm voting for that.

Apologies for this undoubtedly unpopular take.

[Gloves | 11,794]

The two I've seen are Halloween and The Thing. I saw The Thing within the last year on account of the game of forum werewolf we did themed after it. 

My favorite Halloween movie is the third lol. 

[nrslam | 476]

Although I've seen several of these, I was never a big Carpenter fan.  Too many night scenes with  lighting so bad that you can't really see what's going on, and I always assumed this was deliberate to cover up the cheap production values.

For favorite, I picked Christine mainly because I liked the book. The movie is getting a 40th anniversary theatrical re-release and I just might go to see how poorly it holds up.

[RH | 4,921]

I've only seen Big Trouble in Little China and that's because of discussions/debate about it on here.

I've heard of John Carpenter.  I've just not really seen any of his films.

[The Count | 528]

Christine is my favorite of his. I also liked They Live and The Thing, good stuff.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

Rough ranking off the top of my head

1. The Thing
2. Big Trouble in Little China
3. They Live
4. Halloween
5. In the Mouth off Madness
6. Escape from New York
7. Prince of Darkness
8. Cigarette Burns
9. Assault on Precinct 13
10. Starman
11. Escape from LA
12. The Fog
13. Christine
14. Pro Life
15. Dark Star
16. Body Bags
17. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
18. Village of the Damned
19. The Ward
20. Vampires
21. Ghosts of Mars

[Daniel_Doyce | 475]

Blank Check podcast did a runthrough of his movies recently that is a great listen for all JC fans.

Also, once he retired, he mostly likes to chill out and play video games, which sounds pretty fun.

[mbd39 | 2,025]

I've seen most of them. Halloween and They Live are my favorites by far. I went with They Live as favorite, but it's close.

 

[G-type | 2,483]

I like these director-centric ranking topics... Scorsese would be a good one to do.

[Tabonga | 2,324]

1 hour ago, G-type said:

I like these director-centric ranking topics... Scorsese would be a good one to do.

Maybe Ed Wood Jr.   ..................

 

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Tabonga

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

[AstralSoul | 502]

I don't follow directors so Halloween is the only movie of his ive seen and is therefore the best by default. But I love the movie and series.