In the desperate attempt to avoid being swallowed in the bog
of decaying unctuousness that is talking about SPEED 2 at length, I’m aiming A
Leaf on the Wind in a more positive direction this week. Yesterday I tried not
to undermine the movie CON AIR, which competed for dollars at the box office
with our principal topic. In looking at other competing films of the year, much
less the month itself, I felt a general spotlight may help in keeping things
lighthearted. As I write this, it’s obvious it’s going to be difficult.
In June of 1997, the wretched BATMAN & ROBIN and the hit
films MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING, Disney’s HERCULES and FACE/OFF bowed on the
silver screen, after SPEED 2. All of them made more money domestically than
SPEED 2 and their worldwide totals crushed that of our unimposing sequel. This
is not to say that financial gain is a rating for a successful picture, as
BATMAN & ROBIN here can prove. B&R was not successful, and is an unwelcome addition in the Batman mythos,
to many. That said, none of these cost what SPEED 2 did, not even B&R!
I have not seen HERCULES. I’m not a huge fan of Disney
animation and have never cared for the “song and dance” numbers of most of
their pictures. I have little to say about it except for the fact it cost 85
million to make and brought in 252 million worldwide (not to mention licensing
and such).
I have seen MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING and FACE/OFF. Neither
really left a lasting impact with me, but they both succeeded in ways that
SPEED 2 never did, and also put CON AIR to shame. Then again, two Nicolas Cage
films were released in the same month as SPEED 2, so maybe that had something
to do with the poor reception of the sequel to SPEED. Or not.
Other… memorable movies released in 1997 should make you
think of SPEED 2 in a favorable light. Who recalls MEET WALLY SPARKS? BOOTY
CALL? LIAR LIAR? McHALE’S NAVY? GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE? Or how about my personal
favorite, 8 HEADS IN A DUFFLE BAG? O yes, 1997 was a year full of absolute
shit. It also had quite a few glaring beauties. GROSSE POINT BLANK. The first
AUSTIN POWERS flick. AIR FORCE ONE. THE FULL MONTY. AS GOOD AS IT GETS. JACKIE
BROWN. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL. AIR BUD.
AIR BUD?!? Well, it was better than SPEED 2.
1997 had highs and lows that were probably of a deeper pitch
than earlier years. In fact, I’d even advance that ’97 was the start of violent
up and down swings in the box office that we still see today. SPEED 2 was
obviously the lowest. TITANIC, released in December, was definitely the
highest, in terms of income. Even I have to admit that TITANIC raised the bar
for movie studios, in terms of money spent, director control and repeated
realization of monetary gain.
George Lucas understood repeated monetary gain. So much so,
he rereleased the original STAR WARS trilogy to theatres with updated visual
effects (and a few… minor story changes) during the same year. That racked up
huge totals for Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox, which likely could
have paid for the losses of SPEED 2 and had enough left over to spend on a new
STAR WARS project. Even a redone series of films made Jan de Bont cry.
8 HEADS IN A DUFFEL BAG will have to wait until another day.
I’m still trying to be positive.
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