"Before the Movie"

[El Diablo]

Shadow, CDS:

I am not deleting those two posts because I feel like there's a small chance I'm missing some sort of brilliance in the responses. But most likely my first instinct was right and they are just idiotic responses to the thread. In that case, please try harder so I don't have to go on a deleting rampage.

[oe39]

[ QUOTE ]
Everyone became a wine expert after seeing Sideways.

[/ QUOTE ]

weird because that character was so pathetic

[Shadowrun]

El:

I shall expound upon my answer of "Top Gun".

Before, this classic Bruckheime/Tom Cruise/Val Kilmer movie was released there were relatively few people who had a passion for the air force.

The producers wanted the assistance of the United States Navy in order to access Navy personnel, installations and equipment. The Navy was willing to aid the film on certain conditions; the film had to benefit the service; the script had to be authentic; and it had to be in good taste.

The film opened in the United States in 1,028 theatres on May 16, 1986. On its first weekend it came in at number one with a $8,193,052 gross, and went on to a total domestic figure of $176,786,701. Internationally it was embraced, taking in $177,030,000 for a worldwide box office total of $353,816,701.

Top Gun's home video success was again reflected by strong DVD sales, which were furthered by a special-edition release in 2004. Sales of Ray Ban 'Aviator' sunglasses jumped 40%, due to their ongoing appearance in the film, predominantly by Maverick and Iceman. The movie also boosted Air Force and Navy recruitment. This was evident in the fact that the Navy used its success by having recruitment booths in some
theaters to lure enthusiastic patrons.

Edit: I didn't see someone else already mentioned "Top Gun", sorry.

[edfurlong]

[censored] Tony Hawk video games. When the first one came out every little bastard in America was on a skateboard.

[Phresh]

I thought of a good one that I'm certain none of you would know.

8 Mile:

This movie totally messed up TONS of rap battles when it came out and the effects are still felt today. I'm very into this and have been since before the movie came out, so I've witnessed the crap first hand.

The underdog battler in 8 Mile, B Rabbit, completely destroys everybody he goes against. Line after line, excellent punchline, absolutely no filler, no [censored] ups. This movie was the introduction to emcee battles for MANY people and they totally believe that battlers of B Rabbit's calibre are totally normal and expected.. so when they go to a battle and expect 8 Mile and don't get what they think is a "good" battler, they boo and ruin battles. As soon as someone falls off for 2 seconds or doesn't have an amazing punch, they boo. This messes up the emcees and totally ruins the atmosphere.

Seriously [censored] up and most battles today are filled with moronic 17 year old rich kids who don't know [censored] about anything. Even more annoying than booing for the slightest [censored] up is staying completely silent at a truly great line. A completely unoriginal and stale gay joke gets more love than something unique and funny. Any jackass with no flow/style can beat someone by telling a yo mama joke. :-(

[The DaveR]

The Shins before that movie.

Momofuku and Shake Shack before the New York restaurant press and the Foodie blog universe discovered them.

A friend of mine also has a theory that Carlito's Way almost singlehandedly brought back retro 70s in in 1993, which lasted for about 9 years after.

[adsman]

Great thread idea. I'm struggling to think of a movie but I can certainly think of a book example of this. After "Under the Tuscan Sun" came out, Americans and English descended on Tuscany on masse and purchased every property in sight. I have a friend who has been living there for a long time and she said that it was absolutely astounding.

[pokerspite]

I bet there was a spike in church attendance after the Exorcist came out.

[MattSuspect]

Gleaming the Cube for suburban Skaters. Probably increased 10 fold in my neighborhood.

[7ontheline]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Everyone became a wine expert after seeing Sideways.

[/ QUOTE ]

weird because that character was so pathetic

[/ QUOTE ]

When I first watched the movie, I was surprised at how popular it was because the two main characters were so horribly sucky at life. It was very hard to get emotionally invested or root for anyone in that movie.

That said, I wonder if it actually had an effect on Merlot sales.