For a long time, the quality of a movie was often measured by the level of the box office.
The "box office determinism" has led many films to only follow the trend and marketing, but to make a large number of bad films.
Like "Journey to the West: The Haunting of the Heavenly Palace", "Catch the Demon 2", "Macau Storm", "Little Times", when it was released, it made a lot of money, but eventually lost its popularity.
In Pigo's view, whether a movie is good or not is not how high the box office is, but whether it can withstand the test of time.
There are 10 films in film history, which failed miserably at the box office when they were released, but are now regarded as classics by audiences.
The box office failure of these ten films is also one of the ten unforgettable "tragedies" in the history of film, and some of the ten directors even ended up depressed.
—10—
《Letter of Submission》
2007 丨Doubles 7.5
"Letter of Submission" is the second film directed by Chen Kexin after "going north", and it is also the first time that Chen Kexin directs a costume play.
The film is adapted from the "Thorn Horse Case", one of the four strange cases at the end of the Qing Dynasty, which tells the story of the three brothers who worship from life and death to the entanglement of cannibalism.
In 2007, the boom of costume blockbusters has not yet dissipated, and Chen Kexin also saw this opportunity, hoping to establish his own golden sign with the help of such a large production.
In terms of actors, Chen Kexin found Jet Li, Andy Lau, Andy Lau, Jin Chengwu three powerful "top stream" to play the three brothers, jet Li's salary alone is as high as 100 million, or the price of friendship, not to mention all the starring actors added together.
In addition, the film is heavily funded from the scene layout to the costume accessories, and the war scenes emphasize the use of live-action shooting and "human sea tactics", which makes a magnificent epic sense.
Especially in the film's "Battle of Shucheng", in order to shoot a short period of ten minutes, the entire crew spent more than twenty days, and even the location of each group performance was carefully arranged, and finally presented a classic paragraph that was enough to enter the annals of war films.
The director shot hard, the actors acted very hard, and jet Li, one of the leading actors, won the Academy Award for the first time with this film.
However, after the release of the film, not only the evaluation is not high, the box office performance is not strong, and the box office of 202 million is undoubtedly a huge loss compared with the investment of 300 million.
Looking at it now, "Letter of Submission" is definitely a masterpiece, and the story of "Letter of Submission" is no longer simple black and white, not only about brotherhood, but also about the complexity of human nature and political conspiracy.
Especially in the context of the current "flooding" of costume films, it is rare to be able to take into account both storytelling and profundity.
—9—
The Whisperer
2002 丨Doubles 7.6
In 1993, Wu Yusen went to Hollywood to develop, and successive films such as "Broken Arrow" and "Change of Face" have achieved good results, which has also allowed him to gradually gain a foothold in Hollywood.
In particular, in 2000, "Mission Impossible 2" won the global box office championship that year with 546 million, making Wu Yusen one of the first-line directors in Hollywood.
But Wu Yusen, who was at the peak of his career, reversed his great future in Hollywood because of this "Wind Whisperer".
The film is a war film set in World War II, in which Anders, an officer played by Nicholas Cage, is ordered to protect the Indian translator Yaz, while also shouldering another mission: once the translator is captured, he must be killed in case the code is leaked...
The first time he made a war film, Wu Yusen boldly applied the techniques of police films to it, and showed the tragedy of the war with a good violent aesthetic style, and the brotherhood of Anders and Yaz was also very moving.
From the perspective of the lineup, there is oscar film emperor Nicholas Cage sitting, coupled with Wu Yusen's previous works have been a win-win situation of word of mouth and box office, so the producer MGM Company is very confident and gives enough budget for the film.
The production cost of "Wind Whisperer" was more than 120 million US dollars, and the producers not only borrowed a large number of US tank equipment during World War II, but also rented a private ranch with an area of more than 4,000 square meters to shoot war scenes.
However, the results of the film's release were surprising: in Addition to North America, the film only grossed more than $70 million at the global box office, lost MGM's money, and the stock price fell sharply, and the company's senior management resigned.
Wu Yusen has also gone downhill since then, and then the director's science fiction film "Memory Rift" box office performance is only decent, completely announcing the end of Wu Yusen's development in Hollywood.
But years later, the film has regained public recognition with its quality and occupies an unshakable position in the world war film sequence.
—8—
Cleopatra
1963 丨Doubles 7.8
Hollywood in the 1960s was facing an unprecedented crisis.
At that time, the film industry was being violently impacted by the television industry, and many people preferred to lie on the sofa and watch TV comfortably than to watch movies in the cinema, and movies were no longer a necessity for people's entertainment and leisure.
In order to save a large number of audience losses, Hollywood bigwigs have come up with various tricks, such as spending huge sums of money to shoot various epic blockbusters, and using big scenes and big stars to attract audiences back to the cinema.
Produced in 1963 by Fox Corporation, Joseph M. L. Mankiewicz's "Cleopatra" was born in this context, and the film was also known as Fox's "bankruptcy" because of its huge investment.
At that time, Hollywood's top productions were basically more than $10 million, but Cleopatra spent a full 44 million, which translates to almost $400 million today.
The astronomical cost is exchanged for the ultimate visual shock: the film's scenes are gorgeous and extravagant, such as the magnificent Roman city and the Egyptian palace, which are built at great expense.
Elizabeth Taylor, the Hollywood actress who plays Cleopatra, changed a total of 65 outfits in the film, one of which was made of 24 carats of gold cloth, which cost nearly $200,000 alone.
Originally hoping that the film could create the glory of the epic film "BinXu", but did not want the film to only earn more than $20 million after its release, once leaving Fox on the verge of bankruptcy.
"Cleopatra" is a magnificent epic, which not only brings visual immersion, but also makes people have a deeper understanding of cleopatra's legendary woman.
From this point of view, today's court "big heroine dramas" such as "The Biography of Mi Yue" and "The Biography of Zhen Huan" are actually a copy of "Cleopatra".
—7—
"Black Gold"
1997 丨Doubles 7.8
"Black Gold", which invested up to HK$60 million, can be regarded as a big production of Hong Kong police films.
The director and screenwriter of the film are the brothers Ma Dangxiong and Ma Dangjie, who are known as the "generation of tyrants" in the Hong Kong film and television circle, who persuaded Yongsheng Entertainment Company to invest in them, and then found Andy Lau and Leung Ka Fai to star, which shows that the brothers are very confident in this film.
However, after the release of the film, it only got more than 10 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office, because its innuendo to local political events in Taiwan was also listed as a "banned film" by the Taiwanese side, and it also lost a lot of box office.
To be fair, the box office and quality of this film are not directly proportional, it boldly exposes many political scandals in Taiwan, and the gangster vendettas, riots, and power and sex transactions in the film are traced in Taiwan.
In addition, Leung Ka Fai's performance in this film is also a highlight, he played zhou Chaoxian will be the gangster gangster domineering and fierce, as well as the sophistication and calmness are all shaped into three points, casting a classic role in gangster films.
In particular, the phrase "who is in favor, who is against" makes people feel a strong deterrent across the screen.
Of course, the film's box office fiasco is also related to the choice of schedule, and it also happens to encounter the "Titanic" that is popular all over the world, which is tantamount to a moth to put out a fire.
After the box office fiasco of "Black Gold", director Ma Dangxiong was discouraged for a while, quit the film industry and came to the mainland to do business, and achieved great glory.
—6—
"Jing Ke Thorn Qin King"
1998 丨Doubles 8.1
Many people know that Zhang Yimou's "Hero" opened the "blockbuster era" of Chinese films, in fact, as early as 1998, Chen Kaige had already made an attempt at costume blockbusters.
For Chen Kaige, "Jing Ke Thorn Qin Wang" is his most ambitious work, and he was in preparation after filming "Farewell to the Overlord" until 1998.
The film can be regarded as the first real commercial blockbuster in China: Chen Kaige not only rebuilt the Qin Palace, but also found Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, Li Xuejian, Wang Zhiwen and other stars to star.
However, after the film was released, the audience did not buy it at all, and the box office of more than 10 million yuan was a mess, and the film was once hidden.
At that time, the biggest controversy about the film was that Chen Kaige "made things up" and tampered with history at will.
But now, Chen Kaige is not an unfounded adaptation, but based on the perspective of "human nature", to present the most famous "assassination case" in history.
For example, the King of Qin, played by Li Xuejian, people know his greatness and his cruelty, but they cannot know his side as a "human".
And "Jing Ke Thorn Qin King" is actually excavating the true humanity of these historical figures and letting the audience see the many possibilities behind the history.
Today, the film has been fairly evaluated, as evidenced by its rising ratings.
—5—
Blade Runner
1982 丨Doubles 8.5
The director of "Blade Runner", Ridley Scott, is a big Hollywood director with the same name as Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and so on.
In 1979, he directed the sci-fi film Alien, which was a huge success, and was given the opportunity to direct this commercial blockbuster based on Philip Dick's science fiction novel.
Set decades later, the film tells the story of Blade Runner Rick, who is ordered to hunt down a "replicant" who is almost exactly the same as humans, and in the process meets and falls in love with rachel, a replicant.
In terms of special effects, the film continues the sophisticated texture of "Alien", whether it is the glass building of the Taylor Company pyramid or the huge billboard that the aircraft passes, it is full of technology.
The film eventually cost nearly $30 million to complete the production, but after its release, the box office was only more than 30 million, and many people regarded it as a bad film.
But with the advancement and development of technology, especially the popularity of terms such as artificial intelligence and cyberpunk, Blade Runner has been re-evaluated.
The film's imagination of the future of human society and the pursuit of life by bionic people make the whole film no longer a mediocre commercial film, but a dystopian science fiction fable.
This is actually the helplessness of some commercial films represented by "Blade Runner": wanting to make the story profound means paying the price of the box office.
—4—
Billy Lynn's Halftime Battle
2016 丨Doubles 8.3
In 2016, Ang Lee used 120 frames + 4K + 3D technology to shoot an anti-war theme story, but it became Ang Lee's worst box office "Waterloo".
In fact, before that, Ang Lee proved the visual charm of 3D technology with "The Fantasy Drift of Young Pi", and the perfect combination of technology and story also brought Ang Lee a high reputation.
But when Ang Lee applies more advanced technology to shooting a realistic story with a bland plot, the gimmick of technology is clearly greater than the story.
In particular, the film is subject to the technical requirements of 120 frames, resulting in not only expensive ticket prices, but also not many theaters that can meet this requirement, so the box office of the film is greatly limited.
After the film was released in North America, the box office was only a miserable $1 million, or the Chinese audience gave Ang Lee more face, the box office of 150 million yuan accounted for 95% of the global box office, but the loss of more than $40 million was really shocking.
Despite such a poor box office, the film still has a high score of 8.3.
In fact, putting aside the technology, the reflection on the war in the film, the thinking about the alienation of human nature, and Ang Lee's consistent delicate psychological depiction of people also prove that this is actually a good movie above the standard.
—3—
"The Party Fights Against differences"
1916 丨Doudou 8.7
Released in 1916, "The Party Is Different" was the earliest epic blockbuster in Hollywood.
Nowadays, the film has long been included in the ranks of film history classics, as long as the history of the film is talked about, it is impossible to avoid "the party is different".
The film invested more than $2.5 million, which seems like a small number today, but more than 100 years ago, it was undoubtedly comparable to the top big production of Titanic.
Griffiths, the film's director, was the founder of Hollywood blockbusters, and his predecessor, The Birth of a Nation, is regarded as the starting point of Hollywood blockbusters.
Therefore, griffith was full of confidence in the filming of "The Party is Different", he first spent a huge amount of money to build the ancient Babylon City, and then pioneered the cross-editing of four different time and space stories, and finally the film was released for more than 200 minutes.
However, after the release of the film, many viewers could not understand the performance method of the film, coupled with the fact that the film was too long, "The Party is Fighting Different" finally ended with a dismal box office performance of $200,000.
The failure of "The Party Is Different" not only lost all of Griffith's family wealth, but also owed more than $1 million in debt, resulting in Griffith paying off debts for the rest of his life.
Griffith's life was bleak in his later years, and he spent the last years in his hospital bed, eventually dying of cerebral hemorrhage in 1948.
Griffiths ruined Griffiths' career as a director, but left a great work for film history, and its advanced approach to expression also inspired countless later films.
—2—
Once Upon a Time in America
1984 丨Doubles 9.2
Like Griffiths, italian director Sergio Leone was ruined by the box office.
Before Hollywood filmed "Once Upon a Time in America", Leone had already shocked the international film world with the Western "Dart Trilogy", so Hollywood invited Leone to the United States to develop.
In fact, as early as the 60s, Leone wanted to make this gangster-themed "Once Upon a Time in America", and this time with sufficient financial support from Hollywood, Leone could finally achieve his wish.
It is no exaggeration to say that from the preparation to the release of the film, Leone brewed for more than a decade.
However, after the film was completed, the production company arbitrarily deleted the film because it was "too long".
The original 229 minutes, which can be divided into the upper and lower films, were cut into 139 minutes, and the whole story was fragmented.
After the release of this version of the crippled "Once Upon a Time in America", it was not surprising that it attracted a bad review, and the final box office was only 5.32 million US dollars, compared with the cost of 30 million yuan, a loss of nearly 25 million, according to the exchange rate at that time, equivalent to 150 million yuan.
You know, it was already 1984, and the highest-grossing film in the world that year was "Ghostbusters", which grossed $434 million, compared with "Once Upon a Time in America", which was almost unable to get the box office.
Leone was so devastated that he never made another film, and a few years later he was depressed, leaving only the World 7 feature films.
But fortunately, many years later, the full version of "Once Upon a Time in America" was released at the Cannes Film Festival, winning unanimous praise and soothing the spirit of a generation of film masters.
—1—
Journey to the West
1995 丨 Douban average score of 9.1
The classic degree of "Journey to the West" presumably does not need Pico to say more.
However, when the film was released that year, it was almost the same bad review, and it was considered a "spoof" classic bad film, especially in the mainland, after the release of the box office, it only received 400,000 yuan at the box office, becoming the most miserable work of Stephen Chow at the box office.
The defeat of "Journey to the West" really made Xingye depressed, and his color star company collapsed, and director Liu Zhenwei temporarily withdrew from the film industry to Canada.
However, with the popularity of the Internet and the influence of postmodernist ideas, "Journey to the West" was widely circulated on the Internet and became the focus of heated discussion among college students for a time.
Many people began to use postmodernism to interpret "Journey to the West", and the once spoof and vulgarity became a typical symbol of nonsense, and Zhou Xingchi also enshrined himself.
And the love between the Supreme Treasure and the Purple Xia Fairy has become a classic love text that makes countless people cry.
These 10 films all suffered bad reviews when they were released, and were buried because of poor box office, but it was good to "overturn" them and let them regain the appreciation of the audience.
What makes Pigo happy is that today's audiences no longer blindly follow the box office, and the reputation of a movie has become an important indicator for audiences to judge the quality or failure.
When a good film is no longer measured by the box office alone, Chinese films will have a better future.
Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: Ah Zhi
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