The GREMLINS Appreciation Thread

[Matt]

I've always wonder what would happen if GIZMO himself ate after mid-night...would he be a good Gremlin? Or does the Gremlin metamorphosis automatically bring out a mogwi's evil nature...?

I'd imagine Gizmo would be a good Gremlin. After all, as Drizzle said, even when Gizmo mutliplied and the other Mogwai were "born" they were evil as Mogwai. Being Gremlins did not turn them evil, it simply made them more dangerous.

 

[co2]

I remember seeing this in the theatre as a kid, and I enjoyed it as well as it's sequel....
But I hadn't seen it in years and started watching it the other day...and couldn't get through the first half hour. Maybe it's just me but it feels like this movie didn't age well.

 

[ang_hulk]

the first one was alot of fun and the creature designs were great,the second one..............well...ya know.

 

[co2]

I do remember the second one being pretty damn funny.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

It was not meant to be a spoof of the first film. You don't make a spoof of a beloved film with the same director and cast. Mel Brooks and the Zucker's make spoofs to make fun of a film or genre. It's simply a sequel that tried to up the ante of the first and failed. Yes, it could be called camp, I prefer to call it crap.

It's convienient to call a bad film a spoof or camp 20 years after the fact. Show me where Dante said he was spoofing his first and beloved film. He simply made a sequel that failed both financially (just $41 million worldwide), failed critically, and for the most part failed the public. It's a film that failed to capture the spirit of the original film.

listen to the commentary on the second film, he says that was exactly his intention to make a satire and commentary on the first film, to go overboard with the humorous aspects and to spoof what was in at the time, e.g. hulk hogan, cable television, big corporations, genetics. yes the attitude of the gremlins did change from a collective personality to separate ones, was different but it worked and rick baker first to push that idea, it worked.

After continually turning down offers to direct a sequel to Gremlins, Dante finally accepted when he was given almost carte blanche by Warner Bros. to do whatever he wanted. In what must count as one of the most bizarre and outrageous sequels ever made, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) pulls out all the stops, mercilessly parodying the original film (characters point out flaws in the Gremlin 'rules', there is a comedic spin on Phoebe Cates' 'Santa Claus' speech from the first film and a bunch of Gremlins strangle film critic Leonard Maltin as he pans the original film on a TV show). At one point, Dante has the Gremlins disrupt Gremlins 2 itself

on the idea of it bombing well thats what happened back then when you wait 6 years to make a sequel. at least with today with a better media coverage and the net a film can be marketed for ages before it comes out, back then hell i didn't even know there was a gremlins 2 until i saw the trailer announcing its release at the weekend.

and trust me, if dante and co hadn't come back we were looking at things like gremlins in space

 

[spideyboy_1111]

i always wanted a 3rd movie.... yet i fear one day we will get one... and they will all be cgi

 

[Drizzle]

I've always wondered the same thing. I think it's safe to say he would be the good version of the Gremlins though. You have to remember that whenever he got wet he would multiply worse Gremlins obviously. The ones that always came from him seemed to have an evil side to them from the beginning.

I'd imagine Gizmo would be a good Gremlin. After all, as Drizzle said, even when Gizmo mutliplied and the other Mogwai were "born" they were evil as Mogwai. Being Gremlins did not turn them evil, it simply made them more dangerous.

Going back to this for a second. Two of the mogwai in the second one that spawned from Gizmo weren't really evil: The crazy-hyper one and the goofy, stupid one. They weren't really evil. One just had severe ADD and the other one didn't know any better.

 

[Lex Luthor]

i always wanted a 3rd movie.... yet i fear one day we will get one... and they will all be cgi

Unfortunately, that sounds about right. Only it will probably be a remake. With CGI of course.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

there was rumours of a gremlins 3 direct to dvd but dante said he wouldn't do it as wb was insisting on cgi gremlins and he demanded puppets so it was put on hold indefinably

 

[dark_b]

i think groundbreaking animatronics for closeup and CGI for the whole body and walking could work.

of course if they would have:
- 100-150 milions
-ILM
-spielber as producer

then 100% CGI gremlins was an option.

i think it is a bad argument that_ they were puppets in the firs two moveis. CGI is a new age tool. you use for everything. if in the 80'a there was CGI belive me everyone would use it.

 

[E. Nygma]

when i was younger i had a bunny rabbit stuffed animal that i named Gizmo

Loved that movie too

 

[shogunrua]

I've always wonder what would happen if GIZMO himself ate after mid-night...would he be a good Gremlin? Or does the Gremlin metamorphosis automatically bring out a mogwi's evil nature...?

I don't remember where I've read it, but I've read that in the early drafts it was Gizmo was going to eat after midnight and turn into the evil gremlin Stripe, but that Spielberg didn't like the idea of turning a gizmo into something evil.

 

[terry78]

Gremlins 3 was technically Small Soldiers according to Dante. But i would like to see a third sequel. They could be a animatronic/CG combo, as Soldiers was. If they're just sitting around, they're puppets. When they're running around causing grief, CGI. It'd be interesting if they go back to China where the mogwai is from and unearth some others.

 

[dark_b]

i sense a prequel in the modern times ;(

 

[DDS]

Gremlins 3 was technically Small Soldiers according to Dante. But i would like to see a third sequel. They could be a animatronic/CG combo, as Soldiers was. If they're just sitting around, they're puppets. When they're running around causing grief, CGI. It'd be interesting if they go back to China where the mogwai is from and unearth some others.

I'd drink from a sweaty sock to see a Gremlins 3 like that.

It'd better not be straight to DVD, though.

 

[SpandexFan]

I must be the only one who likes Gremlins 2 better than Gremlins 1. The first one was a film you watched as a kid and loved, but you watch it years later as an adult and realize it wasn't so great. Gremlins 2 made fun of itself and the entire theme, even poking fun at Billy's girlfriend's Christmas tragedy story. The smart Gremlin with the accent, the satire on Donald Trump and NYC corporate yuppies, it was a much smarter film than the first one.

 

[Mogwai]

i enjoyed the 2nd one, i watched it A LOT as a kid. the gremlin designs were much better than the 1st IMO.

 

[KnightBat]

I love both of the films, but I'm partial to the first one more because its darker, and more of a horror film then the second one, which plays up the comedy/satire more. The score to the first film is also really creepy. The Gremlin/Mogwii designs are much better in the second one though, although the Gremlins in the first one look scarier then the ones in the second one for the most part. (Mohawk being an exception).

I've also wonder what would happen if Gizmo ate after midnight. I thought this is something they could explore in a third movie or maybe the origins of the Mogwii/Gremlins.

 

[thedeadite]

I just watched the first again today and my love for this movie will never die. I'm gonna watch the second tomorrow, been a few years on that one.

 

[fabman]

LOVE both Gremlins movies. To be honest, I love everything which is directed by Joe Dante. He's great. He's my idol. Such an amazing and underrated filmmaker.