Movie Debate #144: It's a Wonderful Life

[Reed Rothchild | 9,550]

[Brickman | 3,995]

9

I’m a Jimmy Stewart fan so I’ll always rate his movies high (except maybe some westerns because I’m not big into those).

I think this movie holds up well and is a classic for a reason. It doesn’t always make the cut every Christmas for me but I like to watch it every 2-3 years.

[Hammerfestus | 3,863]

Puts me to sleep every time.

[fox | 1,668]

1 hour ago, Hammerfestus said:

Puts me to sleep every time.

This.  It’s so long and so slow.  I like Jimmy Stewart, so someone convince me to sit down and finish this, please.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

12 minutes ago, fox said:

This.  It’s so long and so slow.  I like Jimmy Stewart, so someone convince me to sit down and finish this, please.

It's not really made for modern generations that are used to cutaways, jokes and explosions every fifteen seconds.  It's a great movie, but if you can't deal with the heavy dialog and much slower pacing of just about all movies made before the eighties, then it's going to be a pretty hard sell...

[Brickman | 3,995]

39 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said:

It's not really made for modern generations that are used to cutaways, jokes and explosions every fifteen seconds.  It's a great movie, but if you can't deal with the heavy dialog and much slower pacing of just about all movies made before the eighties, then it's going to be a pretty hard sell...

Pretty much this.

Most audiences can’t handle older movies because they actually relied on proper story telling vs just having things blow up or some slap stick joke every 5mins because a panel of 20 people told them that’s what they like. 

It’s pretty much like trying to convince a kid who plays Fortnight to play a NES game. They prefer the explosions and fast pace.

[G-type | 2,483]

I've seen it a few times and I like it. I don't know if it quite deserves its "classic" status. A little overrated.

[JamesRobot | 5,808]

[Sumez | 2,968]

Never seen it. Another one of those movies I've heard mentioned a lot online, but never come across in any other fashion 

[Link | 2,715]

7 ½ for me (voted 7). It's great, but I don't really need to watch it again. Maybe once more in my life, two if with somebody. In my mom's book it would probably be a 10.

[doner24 | 1,197]

7-I watch it yearly. The end payoff is nice, it is a bit slow in the middle. 

[RH | 4,924]

This is a tough one.  I think this movie is so boring, but in the best kind of way.

Growing up in America, this is one that on Christmas Day there was always one TV station that put on a 24 hour loop so they could run the station on limited staff.

It’s a great movie.  One worth watching multiple times and I would call it a classic.  But it’s also not a film you want to watch and pay attention again, and again, and again.  IMHO, it’s a great film to put on after the presents are unwrapped, the paper is cleaned up and you’ve eaten lunch and are ready to have a nap.

I will pay attention, snooze a bit and then maybe wake up and watch 5-10 more minutes.  Rinse and repeat. This is simply a “lazy Christmas” movie.

[nrslam | 476]

An above average Christmas movie, and I watch it every 3 or 4 years. Can't imagine watching it at any other time of year, though.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

It's worth watching at least once, but that's probably enough for most people.

[Estil | 1,265]

Years ago I was able to get the color version on DVD...they did a beautiful job (especially the intro):

My late wife was really into all the different versions of A Christmas Carol/Scrooge and this was one of her favorites...I honestly LOVE colorized films/shows as long as they do a good job.  And I hope as the technology progresses we can automatically colorize any film without that weird purple effect (you might have seen them on YouTube).