First a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Nikki Darling who turned 35 a few days ago.
Secondly, I had an interesting talk with someone the other day who was trying to download movies off of the internet, and while I don't condone that practice I believe in live and let live.
However, he had mentioned that some of these movies that had to be paid for including such classics as "Day The Earth Stood Still" from 1951 which makes the movie 67 years old. He said he thought it was stupid that one would have to pay for these films as they are old and that studio greed was responsible.
I always believe movies should come at a cost, no matter what age. As a film maker, I would never want my movie stolen by people who didn't think they had to pay. I explained to him that when films fall into the public domain, they are often tampered with, scenes cut, and the prints usually are not too great.
However, my main point is that movies are somebody's hard work and if you want to see it you should pay for it no matter how old the film is. I hear this a lot from people and it always amazes me. I have heard it called greed but it's just capitalism and paying to download a movie online is no worse than paying for the DVD in most cases.
I will stand behind anyone who has made a film if someone is trying to get it for free. Nothing in life is free, and yes, these are just movies, but they are extremely popular and still make some money so why shouldn't the studios continue to collect the money.
Thirdly, thanks for the recent comments. It's always good to hear from people who like these films or have worked on them in some way. Just to clear the air, NO I will NOT be seeing the Halloween film in October or the remake of SUSPERIA. SACRILEGE!!
I appreciate & respect your opinion about movies coming at a cost. As the movie producer and older film connoisseur that you are, it's easy to see how you have a strong emotional connection to film making and that you place considerable value on the perceived contribution that film and movies have provided to our world. Although there are the non-financial things like talent, tastes, intellect and heart involved in film making, historically most film production is arguably more about revenue streams and Wall Street assigning a bean counter to monitor production costs and profits. The value of intellectual property is determined by many useful factors, depending on the audience in question and the reason for valuation. However, one could also take a very different view and look at how the cash flow from Star Wars alone enabled Rupert Murdoch to finance his purchase of 20th Century Fox and most everything else he's acquired since then -- currently he is worth $19.3 Billion (2018). A great quote to summarize our perception of value comes from writer and entrepreneur Charlie Gilkey who wrote, "People don't buy products because of the actual value of the products - they buy stuff because the price of the product closely matches their perceived value of the product." While I agree with you that there is still much qualitative financial value for many of the 50+ year old movies available today, there will always be some (like me) who love to sit in the dark, forget all their problems, and take a mini-vacation into someone else's life or adventures vicariously through a great movie. That unfortunately has become a pretty expensive date night and even to a greater degree for a family with kids. When does enough money become enough for these Movie Studios? Actors and Actresses as well as Production Companies can't seem to get enough of the stuff and it continues to expand. Most movies produced these days have budgets well in excess of $500 million. Considering that a movie night out is about the only vacation that a lot of people can afford nowadays, maybe movie studios should consider giving their films a product life span (such as 50-years for example), and shouldn't complain too much if after half a century, the value in their product ends up being that people consider it worthy to share in and take joy through the imagination and dreams of those movie greats without having to pay for it. There are some things in life that are still free. And they are often the best things that life has to offer... like a beautiful sunset in a glorious sky. Why shouldn't some of those beautiful old movies also become part of the best things life has to offer for everyone? -Peace-
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