Classic movies make comeback with youth

“Old movies are simpler. Take away all the special effects, and you’re left with just good acting and good plots,” junior Tatiana Tabuccol said. The love for older movies is becoming increasingly popular with students. Classic movies dating back to the 80’s are capturing the hearts of the youth once again.

Recently, many old movies are being remade such as, “Ghostbusters” and “Footloose“.  Back in the days before special effects, they had to rely on quality stories and acting. Now, this is all masked by the special effects.

Today, not all movies have to date back 50 years to be a classic. Many movies from the early 2000s still manage to capture and retain the love of viewers. Movies like “Mean Girls”, and “Harry Potter“. “Mean Girls” took the ever famous mean and popular girl concept, and turned it into a smash hit. The Harry Potter movies did use special effects, but with stellar acting and an amazing stories, they became instant classics.

“Even though I enjoy both new and old movies, I think new movies are just inspired by old movies. The plots are super similar but just adding more special effects,” Tabuccol said.

Students are starting to gravitate more towards the classics like the musicals “Grease“, “The Sound of Music“, “The Wizard of Oz“, “Footloose” and many more. As remakes of movies are being produced, nothing compares to the original. According to Rotten Tomatoes, a popular movie review site, on average 10 percent more people prefer the classic over the remake.

New ways of watching movies has made a huge impact on younger generations. Junior Isabelle Lombardi said, “Netflix plays a huge role because teenagers are rediscovering a lot of older movies that have been put on Netflix. They’re seeing how awesome they are.”

Many people believe that new movies are inspired by the old ones. The old movies had to tell a better story whereas today, movies just recycle the plots and add special effects.  Classic movies are more real and that’s what makes them so timeless and still so popular today.

“It’s fun to watch these movies that my parents watched when they were my age. It’s cool to listen to the music, see the outfits, and listen to the way they talked back then,”  junior Amit Kumra said.

Watching classic movies can inspire discussion. Themes from classic movies still resonate today and family movie night is a great way for families to spend time together and connect. Parents can relive the movies they loved in their youth while watching their kids enjoy them for the first time.

While the clothes, music and hair styles may be different, great movies will always make people feel a certain way. Whether it is happy, sad, frightening or inspired, a great classic movie will move the audience no matter your generation. “There are certain old movies that I could watch over and over and never get sick of them. They truly are the best,” senior Maddie Huntley said.