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8MM - Extremely Underrated Movie

FusionFuryFusionFury Posts: 14,121
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in Movies #1
It's a Nic Cage movie that has gone under the radar.

About a missing girl that spirals into a catch-and-mouse chase to find the man in a video. Great acting by a young Joaquin Phoenix.

Comments

  • TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
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    #2
    8MM had one of biggest marketing campaigns of the 1990s. Widely reviewed, too.

    I vaguely remember the campaign pushing writer Andrew Kevin Walker heavily as The Best Thing Ever. "Here's the latest work by the man who brought you Se7en!" and "Se7en left you feeling squeamish? Here's 8MM by Andrew Kevin Walker! Enter the world of snuff movies!" Incidentally, Sleepy Hollow -- also penned by Walker -- was released in the same year, so their marketing campaign revolved around Walker as well. Gah. There were also heavily-circulated rumours of Walker fighting with director Joel Schumacher (sp?). But anyway.

    The all-out marketing campaign is probably what killed 8MM and Walker as everyone was rather sick of both by the time it was released. Those who gave 8MM a chance were left underwhelmed. I was one of them, actually. I only wanted to see it for Catherine Keener whom I still worship. The others expected more from it.

    I think the campaign heavily suggested it was gore-filled and shocking, so they were disappointed it wasn't as extreme as they were led to believe. The others found it unnecessarily unpleasant (I can't remember why, though.) Another biggest complaint is that it was too similar to Taxi Driver and Get Carter (original version).

    I haven't seen it since its theatrical release so my memory of the film isn't that clear, but if I remember correctly, it was so focused on Nic Cage chasing the tail that almost all characters were rather underdeveloped. No build-up, either, which produced no suspense. Oh, some in the audience shouted "Baddie!" when a certain character made its first appearance. Their guess was proven correct during the last reel. Heh!

    I should rewatch it to see if it's as good as you say.
  • kirbyreedkirbyreed Posts: 1,816
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    #3
    it's not that good. good for nicolas cage but that doesn't really mean anything. it's fine to spend 90 or so minutes on but it's by no means a must see.
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