Is the term "cult flm" changing(again)?

Nowadays if you ask someone what a cult film is, the most likely answer is probably a movie like Donnie Darko. I mean of course for most people a cult film is just a film that is vintage and low budget right? But is it possible for other movies to become a cult film, like maybe Transformers? Sure it may not be low budget, but it does fit the bill.




First we should define what a cult film actually is,  a cult film is by strict definition a film that has a small but dedicated fanbase despite a films critic reception. Over the years though the meaning has changed with films such as Rocky Horror Picture, Labyrinth, and Donnie Darko gaining cult status. It is because these particular films and others like them gaining the status that there is a somewhat misconception that cult films are. It can be easily believed that cult films have to be either from the 80s, quirky and bizarre, or a independent low budget film. This isn't entirely the case since not every film with those symptoms have gone on to be remembered as cult classics.

Which then leads to my argument, if by definition a movie that a rocky horror musical can also be a cult film such as a big budget franchise like the Transformers series. As we mention before, a cult film is a film that has a strong following despite reviews. Despite their sequels getting less and less reviews, the transformers film franchise stills seems to have its number of fans that allow the series to continue. It doesn't stop there a lot of other films such as Jupiter Ascending and even the DC films such as Batman V Superman is gaining quite the following despite it's initial reception.

  

Of course in the end time will also tell. Like Labyrinths, most films gain a cult status long after it's initial release. And while a lot of these films are off to a good start, it is to wonder if they will be fondly remembered ten year later.

Digimon Pre-Adventure Part 2

With 14 days left until the English release of Tri it's probably a good time for me to finish part 2 of the Digimon Pre-adventure series. This is a small series where I talk about a few of the digimon materials that were released before Digimon became an actual hit thanks to the Adventure anime. Basically the time when Metalgreymon was Blue instead orange.

If you want to read the first part you can do so here http://brainnonsense.blogspot.com/2016/08/digimon-pre-adventure-part-1.html




The Game

Digimon World debut in 1998 in Japan, but came out internationally around the time Adventure became popular and was a good mix of what Digimon became known for while still staying true to the virtual pets. The game featured the player being transported to the digital world to help out File Island. As I mentioned this game came out internationally when everyone was way more familiar with the anime than they were with the pets. This included me as well, while a loved getting to explore the eccentric digital world with my digimon like the kids in the show, I was taken a back by the digivolution system. unlike the show you couldn't automatically evolve Agumon to Greymon with a digivice and had to stop exploring to properly care for unless you want a Numemon( which happened more times than I can count.)

Despite it's flaws and glitches though the game became a cult hit with fans and Bandai eventually got  wind of this and released spiritual successors with Digimon World Re:Digitalze for the Vita and Digimon World: Next Order.

                                       

The Pilot Movie

Like the game the digimon movie came out internationally much later than it did in Japan. Internationally, the movie came out along with the following two films as one movie sometime around Adventure 02 was airing. In japan though, this movie came out a week before the actual anime and acted as sort of a pilot for the show.

In case you don't remember the story it involved a young Tai and Kari meeting there first digimon(a Koromon) four years before the series started. Hilarity ensues as the kids try to keep the monster under control until it grows too big for it's own good and begins to wander around town and soon began a fight with a wild digimon.


Like the Hurricane Touchdown movie, this film also offered a new tone not found within the anime. The movie was less of a shounen anime and reminded me more of movies like ET or Where The Wild Things Are as the the film focuses on the child like wonders of befriending a monster followed by the dangerous consequences.

What was probably the weirdest thing I took from this movie that still has me questioning it today was creating an agumon that was 10 times larger than was in they are known for. At first I figured that it was they're way of spectacle to the movie by presenting something you wouldn't find in the show, but after finding out it this actually served as the pilot, I do wonder if the original intent was to have rookie level digimon this size. The only problem with that theory though is that rookie levels from manga and games have been implied to be smaller and with not a lot of behind the scenes information, it's still up in the air how much was planned before and after the movie was made for the anime series. But it's still fun to speculate.

And now the real Adventure

A week after that the rest is history, Adventure debut on TV in japan, along with it coming out internationally shortly afterwards. The anime helped put digimon in the same league of other kids franchises with several other games, movies, and more merchandise to follow. And pretty soon, US fans will get to properly celebrate it's 15th anniversary with the English dub of Tri premiering this month. It will be fun to see the movie in theaters and I hope the event will bring the same excitement I had seeing the first episode on Fox Kids.