Are there any old movies you have seen that weren't popular, but movies you believe will be much more popular (for whatever reason - which is another interesting sub-question).

Outside of sci-fi it's hard for me to think of any.

Good choice. 

-“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

So if I understand your post, you're not saying these movies need a 'Remake'. It's about the original movie having a resurgence?

They Shoot Horses is excellent (if not a little lengthy) and the final scene stunned me when I first saw it.

I loved Rollerball when it was first released and still think it is far superior to the remake.

For me...maybe A Clockwork Orange.

I know it is a cult favourite now, but back when it was released I don't think it was particularly popular.

Also, Alien Nation.

There are many things that have stood out on the test of time. The main issue is how it is looked at and appreciated nowadays, when the audience's attention span is limited to "action" and not much else.

So, here's my small list ... with a couple of comments.

Lawrence of Arabia/David Lean -- the amazing ability to allow something to work itself on its own right before your very eyes. The long shot of the desert and eventually Omar Shariff shows up is likely one of the best known shots in film ... and we get to feel a lot of other things ... the images coming and going it seems like, the heat of the desert moving around like an ocean ... it's timeless!

8 1/2/Michelangelo Antonioni -- I never thought this was a great film, but it broke the static of a lot of films in those days, all being the same with a "story" and visuals to support it, and all of a sudden you get a film that kinda disdains the story itself ... and just flows along.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie/ Luis Bunuel --  An incredible fun film to watch that ends with a throw away ending kinda letting you know there is no meaning or ideas that can explain anything ... and in between the film goes through the inside of the minds of the characters. Really fun and crazy film. It's not even surrealistic, but it is a really pointed film in terms of what we think about anything. AND not the first time Luis ever did this.

Viridiana/Luis Bunuel -- Perhaps no other film EVER gave someone a huge finger and became known for its insanity when a bunch of hobos in the end, recreate the Last Supper ... the film is fun to watch, and quite crazy but it doesn't really give away its eventual touch. 

Belle du Jour/Luis Bunuel -- Not a pleasant film by any stretch of the imagination but it ended up getting everyone's attention because it made room for fetishes ... and Luis had used many of them in other films for along time ... 

Alphaville/Jean-Luc Godard -- It was supposed to be a satire of the American films and the "film noir" thing, and it ended up being one of the best known of them all. The hardest part of this is hearing the philosophy being spoken while something is being done as if the comments justified the deed, which is how a lot of tyrannical this and that do their thing ... but ... well ... this is a film!

The Road Warrior/George Miller -- Maybe it was all the antics and incredible design of so many bits and pieces, but the strength of this film and how the music in it was used, is such a butt kicker it's not funny. And the characters ... will you ever forget the gyro ... or the feral kid ... or that massive truck ... full of sand!

Roma/Federico Fellini -- It's actually a boring film until the last 20 minutes or so when you get to see the papal fashion show ... if you have never seen it, this is insane, and it is colorful and great. The other great moment is the kid taking a pee in INTERVISTA. Never did a kid give a church such an erection ... oppps ... a reason to get upset!

The Seven Samurai/Akira Kurosawa -- Ended up defining the Samurai thing in a lot of Japanese films, and in the end, the film was not exactly a story of the samurai ... it was a story of survival! Beautifully shot, with what looks like a dollar or two budget ... and still one of the great films ever made.

Deep Throat/Gerard Damiano -- One for the road ... a orn film, horribly done, with really bad film stock, and an even worse story ... ends up telling the church and everyone else to shut up ... they helped make the film even more famous and made the video players famous ... it started the video craze almost immediately, but folks still went to all the Pussycat Theaters in LA and SF.

I probably could go on for a while on this ...

These movies are popular, though. Especially on the film message boards online. All the movies you have mentioned are on many Top 10's of many members, and highly respected. And the average age is about 25. 

I'm asking which great, but unpopular movies do you see becoming popular in the future. "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" might have had Jane Fonda, but "La tout va bien" seems to be more popular, and it's a French movie with an American actress! Of course, going to Vietnam might have hurt her temporarily, but as soon as the coast was clear, I would have thought all her fans (or self-described feminists) would have seen it, especially since it's free on YouTube, where is where I seem to find good movies I haven't seen before, and maybe Turner Classic Movies (usually imports, but they got rid of the best thing they had - Underground - low-budget, obscure, foreign, independent)

How would YOU know? You suck dick on drums.

I just looked this up, and the 16th highest grossing movie that year, but I think it's one that can be more popular than it is currently (online and in "real life") because of the internet age and a new economy (the gig economy) that's similar, except using different forms, although I could see events like this in the future... maybe a result of a rich or powerful guy who sees the movie and tries it out?

"Network" on the other hand would be a bad example because aside from its critical success, people still talk about that movie a lot today. I guess it's like having a hit single ("so they buy the album"), with the catch-phrase "I'm Mad As Hell, And I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore!" which is usually the first thing people say when you mention this movie to them.

I'm not sure that the original question can be answered properly ... times change, and all of a sudden, what made something important in 1970, is totally and completely incomprehensible in 2020. Not to mention that a lot of posters will ignore the history behind it, and the litter that the film, or whatever part of it, created.

In the 50's and 60's in Europe, the Vatican had a big mouth and they made a lot of films much more famous than they probably would have been without a word being said ... and of course, the same religious group ended up making DT one of the most famous films ... not only was it selling at the theater ... everyone went to see it with a funny hat on ... but it helped start the video craze ... all of a sudden video recorders and videos were available ... and guess what sold the most? 

Compare that to nowadays, when the media exposure is about the quantity of money they have invested in the film, and you know that whatever is ... this or that ... will be ignored in favor of some "action" or some other far out this or that that makes it pink, and better than a cartoon!

But a lot of films, are remembered time and time again ... and the only issue I have with it is that the ability to SAVE and make these things available is diminishing, even as some films that should have been available, are still controlled, and expensive.

A lot of things I like ... 

Orson Welles's Chimes at Midnight ... is continually dismissed because of a stuck up Shakespearean bunch of idiots that can not fathom a world that is not as pretty, clean, and romantic as their notion is of the bard and its characters. Never mind that "The Globe" didn't even have enough latrines for its public ... specially as those might have been specially saved for the upper class!

Luis Bunuel, made a lot of fun of the religious orders ... they say something about graven images, and continuously stand by them and pretend that those images are the real representative of the whole ... idea! For this, he created many stories that upset the clergy, even though a Dominican Friar and close friend to Luis always said ... he just challenges your ideas and beliefs! So in one film you get a picture of Jesus laughing. In another you see the greatest array of foul mouth terms, to someone in atop a pillar. And then, you get a supper. And if that is not enough, you get a group in a later film setting up explosives under his name! ... best we ignore all that non-sense, right?

There are some films in American History, that I think deserve some more attention ... and at times, I think they were vilified for the wrong thing. "The Wild Bunch" is a very interesting film, and no doubt one of the most incredible spectacle ... but we continuously dislike the end of the film ... which was almost the same thing as the start of the film ... kids playing and killing scorpions with sticks and fire! Guess what the adults did in the end? The irony and accusing finger ... becomes a bizarre adventure that made him glorify some violence, in various directions after that film! And in my book, some of the stuff he did AFTER just was not that good, and was built around the expectation of some glorified violence, which to me, was just like the opening of the horror film and its gore ... bloodier ... and of course now it's in color and we can really see it better, like we need to!

Of course know one knows.. I'm just asking for educated guesses.

Speaking of "The Wild Bunch", it seems to be a poorer movie, influenced by "The Professionals". It even has Robert Ryan! It had quite the cast, fine writing, but maybe the title screwed it up with some movie with a little girl. I think that's something that has more of a factor now - titles. Maybe times I type in a movie, and they constantly give me some sh*tty re-make, or the most recent movie, which is never what I'm looking for.

I've never wanted to watch it, partly because of the scene with the eyes (can't be doing with it) but mainly because I just don't like Kubrick!

Talking of Malcom McDowell, the film Caligula should be re-visited. On researching I note there is a 173 minute 'ultimate cut' that premiered at the Cannes film festival last year that includes entirely new footage that was not included in the original theatrical release. I've only seen the original to date and nearly everyone involved distanced themselves from it. It's nowhere near as bad as it's reputation though. Even the 'porn heavy' version had a lot going for it as a portrayal of the Roman Empire at a very strange time. It always seems a lot more real than the usual costume dramas. McDowell would easily have won the oscar that year if it hadn't effectively been blacklisted.

Some more films I really like that I wish could get a better look.

Happy Hunting ... 

"Stink" is a harsh word. 

Diamonds was not so good for me. 

The Bond movies were total escapism, not meant to be taken seriously.  For me, they began to stink when they made them serious. They also began to stink when the writers began to follow the trends of the time.

The Roger Moore Bonds are campy, a couple to the point of becoming ridiculous, but Roger is fun to watch for sure. 

Yep 'campy' is spot on. I love Moonraker and will happily watch that and The Spy Who Loved Me as a double bill featuring villian (later turned hero, sorry spoilers!) Jaws played by the wonderful Richard Kiel. It did well at the box office grossing $210 million according to wiki on the back of a cost of 'only' $34 million, although that was expensive for a film in those days! (Heaven's Gate was still round the corner)

Goldfinger will always be the best Bond for me with maybe Casino Royale (Daniel Craig's version not the spoof version!) challenging it amongst the more modern Bond films. Pierce Brosnan's are the ones I would probably not bother with at all now. 

Film history has a lot of stuff that simply won't die, though it is hard to not feel bad for so much radio stuff from the 1930's on ... and specially a big applause to Orson Welles, that got so many folks scared that the FCC immediately created 10 commandments for radio ... and these are still there! Listening to it, reminds me of the first films that scared people ... stories of people running out of the theater as the train is coming your way, and that gun is firing towards you ... a reality that film created that is still "alive" today through cleverness.

If you want to see how some things are remembered, go catch VISIONS OF LIGHT which is about cinematographers, and how they did what they did, and how they "made" some directors bit time. And when you see it, there will be bits that you see that ... I've seen that ... but didn't realize ... and the beauty of it all is what makes film great not the "action" crap of over rated cartoon films. There are things that will stun you ... if you have the courage to see it ... Roman Polanski alone had 3 huge moments ... in his vampire satire, the heroes enter a ball room and there are mirrors all around ... and all the vampires stop dancing to look at him and his girlfriend and only then do we see nothing in the mirrors behind him. Later in another film there is a hidden bed behind the door at the end, that GOT EVERYONE in the theater to move their heads to try and see what was behind it ... IN A THEATER. And later his use of a handheld camera that gave us a lot of the Asian film later in Kar-Way and others ... Tess's rape is by the camera ... a moment that in the end, kinda defines the new role of the camera as YOU! And I'm not sure many of us would bother with Bertolucci without Storaro but my saying anything won't matter if you don't know the films ... and their reason for being remembered ... and it wasn't the fame or the fan stuff. You'll never forget that kid in Intervista at the start. But few folks will bother to go see it ... not enough cartoon action for the majority of folks, I guess!

It all started to get a bit silly when James Bond (Pearce Brosnan) rode a tsunami wave with nothing but a surf board, a parachute and bad special effects. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzUYspuzHUY" rel="nofollow - Bikini Beach Vampire Love Vaporwave (youtube.com)

Some of the films I'm trying to review ... and they all fit in ... sort of ... a bunch of old stuff ... older maybe than what we are used to catching up with ... but they are about the only things I can catch and review these days ... since all the others are too spendy for me to watch ...

Beowulf and Grendel ... Sturla Gunnarsson's take on the story

Happy People ... Werner Herzog's documentary about a bunch of folks way out in the frozen spaces

Heart of Darkness ... Nicolas Roeg takes on the famous story

House of Gucci --- Ridley Scott directed and nice but a film that didn't click with me

I am Damo ... I reviewed the special on it and liked it ... this is basically the same thing. Wonderful story!!!

Incognito ... Crime thriller with Jason Patrick and Irene Jacob

Ithaca ... film directed by Meg Ryan

Kesari ... Hindu film

Kieu ... Vietnamese film

Padmaavat ... Hindu film

Picasso ... a massive documentary on Amazon which is far out and incredible ... not listed anywhere as a "film". Lots of old footage. Very far out.

Queen of the Desert ... Werner Herzog's film about a British woman that ran around the whole of the Sahara Desert ... and is known to have been instrumental in helping a lot of the Arab countries to come together and to be.

Rainy Day ... Woody Allen ... really did not get a good "take" on this for a review ... yet!

Safe Heaven ... Lasse Hallstrom film with Josh Duhamel

Sense and Sensibility -- Ang Lee's film ... when I get over who's gonna cry next I may review it!

Sweet Bird of Youth ... Nicolas Roeg does Tennessee Williams with Elizabeth Taylor ... bad combination in my book ... she doesn't fit Tennessee Williams, but can do a Martha because she can finally not give a damn and swear at Richard! (Edward Albee)

The Devil's Violin ... Film about Paganini

The Innocent ... Luchino Visconti's film with Giancarlo Giannini

The Revenant ... Alejandro Inarritu's film with Leonard CiCaprio ... awesome music by Mogwai

Total Eclipse ... Agnieszka Holland's film about Rimbaud and Verlaine

Vincent & Theo ... Robert Altman ... interesting juxtaposition to a more modern story.

And, of course, a film on Guy Guden by Robert Altman is STILL not in the cards!   

Hi,

The weird thing about this, and a lot of Hitchcock material, was that he had it all defined and written before shooting, making him one of the .... probably ... easiest directors to work on and with, and I think his knowing what he wanted and sticking with it, helped make his films better. You don't get that feeling that the story or the film is open to ideas and suggestions as they show up during the making of it.

For Hollywood tastes and styles, this is perfect college/uni material ... tightly written and put together. Nothing in it feels lost or wasted. I think, and have to check again (haven't seen a Hitchcock film in 40 years!!!), to see his sequencing in the film ... I always thought it was tight. And probably one of the hardest things to teach a writer to do ... as the mind likes to take a lot of twists and turns ... which in a film like Hitchcock's would not help.

But one nice thing ... Hollywood always "hints" of things earlier in a lot of films, when they look innocent enough ... and in Hitchcock films there rarely is a "hint" ... which I think makes his suspense better ... and a lot of horror films still have not learned that!

Hi,

Exactly ... however, sometimes not giving it away helps ... and within the shot you might see the bomb ... of course, but that would not, necessarily, be a hint, though it could ... but again, if it doesn't go off, the whole time the suspense is increasing ... what about that bomb?