Peter Jackson - Legacy and Future

is the future going to be great, or is he the next orson wells?

http://imdb.com/title/tt0360717/
from JoeUser Forums
I do not believe you will find many who would pan Mr. Jackson's handling of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I for one find them to be amazing. However, I wonder what lies ahead, and ultimately how Peter Jackson will be remembered in 50 or 100 years time.

Look at Orson Wells. Citizen Kane often cited as one of the best ever made. Touch of Evil (despite the strange casting of Charlton Heston) also a classic. What other OW movies can you name, right this instant? CK 1941, ToE 1958, what of his later work, and what happened to the promising figure he was supposed to be.

Fast forward. Can Peter Jackson top Lord of the Rings? Possibly not. Should he try? Damn straight yes. Will he succeed? I hope so. His next movie, King Kong (http://imdb.com/title/tt0360717/). King Kong has been made 19 times in one form or another (http://imdb.com/find?tt=on;nm=on;mx=20;q=king%20kong) and yet the first in 1933 still stands as the best. Time will only tell how Peter Jackson's version will fare.

As for his past, I have not seen his entire back catalog but I would wager I have watched more than most.

  • Bad Taste (1987) and Meet the Feebles (1989) I have not seen, perhaps others can tell us their experiences with these.
  • Braindead or Dead Alive (1992) I have seen, and oh boy, what a movie. A slasher zombie flick with more blood than dialog, and there is a lot of dialog. Camp and slapstick with humor to spare. How can you describe a movie that uses a lawnmower as a weapon, or that uses the line “I kick ass for the LORD!”. Don't take it too seriously.
  • Heavenly Creatures (1994). In my opinion, an amazing movie. From the extreme climax, to the interesting use of claymation to the development of the relationship between the two central characters this is a movie that delivers. His first film to be shot with a budget it is a quantum leap in quality from Dead Alive.
  • Forgotten Silver (1995). Still have not seen.
  • The Frighteners (1996). I liked this movie from the first time I saw it. Not many other people did. A commercial flop at the time I wonder just how many are re-evaluating their initial opinion on this film.

    just one man's unvalued opinion and ramblings

18,369 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have saw the first Jackson's, Bad taste and it is quiet an experience,
The pitch is quiet simple and doesn't suffer to be disclose.
Some alien invader come in a small town in New Zealand and make everybody disappear. The only response of the authority consist of "the boys", a bunch of special action experts. The movie is very funny and very gory, I discovered it 10 year ago and had bought the dvd last year and find it still very funny. You could feel Jackson was potentially an interresting and efficient director. The joke says that his familly has to eat the saucassages used for imitating ET gust for 3 months.

Meeting the feeble is a little different, it is some kind of gory and creepy satyre of "the muppet show". I wouldn't recommand it to children. It's funny but disturbing from time to time. I like it but I wouldn't buy the dvd.

As a comment, the matter with Orson Well was that his first movie was considered for years and year as the best ever made. He couldn't beat himself and ultimately was always looking for producer to his idea. Being an actor was just a way to attract producer sight and also to eat. In my view, Jackson should be considered as the new Lucas, only really gifted and able to write decent dialogue.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
You raise an interesting point. Orson Wells was alowys looking for someone else to produce his next big thing. Peter Jackson is his own producer and has never waited or looked for someone else. In fact, Peter created his own production company and special affects co. Each early film helped fund the next, although now he does not have to worry about funding. I guess there is a similarity to Lucas in that respect, except Lucas dodn't start Lucasfilms until after the sucess of Star Wars. With Indiana Jones and Star Wars Lucas has spawned 2 great brands but in my opinion has never done anything of note outside of those two (perhaps TXH1138 and American Grafiti, both pre SW). A fate I do not wish upon Mr. Jackson.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
From what I heard, "Frighteners" (the one with M.J. Fox right?) was a flop because people really didn't know what kind of movie it was, which means it's not so much the movie that sucked as was the ads for it.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Hey, I saw "Frighteners" in a theatre, bought the video, loaned the video and consequently lost the video. I thought at the time, and still think that it is one of the best and most fun movies. I did not know Peter Jackson had directed it until after the LOTR. And I agree with Super Baby that it was a flop because A) people didn't know what kind of movie it was and the trailers received almost no TV time B) Michael J. Fox was considered "washed up" even though he was still (and still is) in the prime of his life.