THE 100 GREATEST PROPS IN MOVIE HISTORY, AND THE STORIES BEHIND THEM
July 10, 2017 12:38 PM Subscribe
They're found on dusty warehouse shelves; buried under flea market knick-knacks; Googled, Ebayed, begged for; commissioned from blacksmiths, painters, and model makers for one-time use; and constructed out of whatever $5 can buy at the local craft store. They are sketched out, improvised, or placed in scenes by the fate of logic, existing to serve the performances or action around them. But while iconic movie props make us laugh, gasp, scream, and/or sit in absolute silence, they rarely start iconic; as a property master will tell you, the best on-screen objects go unnoticed, silently winning you over with truth.
This is just the sort of thing I love: the technical side of film-making, told by people who are genuinely interested and engaged by it.
posted by SPrintF at 1:06 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 1:06 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
I was skeptical but that turned out to be compulsive reading. Fascinating stuff, thanks!
posted by zardoz at 1:17 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by zardoz at 1:17 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
A nice list, with some unusual choices like the brass balls from Glengarry Glen Ross. I mean, ideally it should be the stack of leads that gives the film it's title, but there's really no competition.
Also, a question: How many people out there looked at the dotted line in the Oldboy screencap and winced when they saw the hammer's claw pointed forward.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 1:21 PM on July 10, 2017
Also, a question: How many people out there looked at the dotted line in the Oldboy screencap and winced when they saw the hammer's claw pointed forward.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 1:21 PM on July 10, 2017
At first glance I thought the title was "THE 100 GREATEST POOPS IN MOVIE HISTORY" and was really curious how they were being ranked.
Are we excluding comedies like Dumb & Dumber, American Pie, and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle?
If so, I think Pulp Fiction would take a top spot.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:24 PM on July 10, 2017
Are we excluding comedies like Dumb & Dumber, American Pie, and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle?
If so, I think Pulp Fiction would take a top spot.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:24 PM on July 10, 2017
Keep an eye on the cell phones. Half the time it's just a piece of cardboard covered in black tape.
posted by sexyrobot at 1:40 PM on July 10, 2017
posted by sexyrobot at 1:40 PM on July 10, 2017
I would be willing to argue Rosebud over the lightsabre though.
posted by Samizdata at 1:44 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Samizdata at 1:44 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
Just to derail us into theatre props for a moment:
Every now and again, the National Theatre in London finds itself doing a play where the plot dictates a characters must be beheaded and have his severed head displayed on stage - Lord Hastings in Richard III being just one example.
In cases like this, the prop head is meticulously sculpted to match the relevant actor's features, and he's given the option of taking it home with him as a souvenir when the production ends its run. Over the course of a long career, I guess you might even be able to collect three or four of them.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:45 PM on July 10, 2017 [23 favorites]
Every now and again, the National Theatre in London finds itself doing a play where the plot dictates a characters must be beheaded and have his severed head displayed on stage - Lord Hastings in Richard III being just one example.
In cases like this, the prop head is meticulously sculpted to match the relevant actor's features, and he's given the option of taking it home with him as a souvenir when the production ends its run. Over the course of a long career, I guess you might even be able to collect three or four of them.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:45 PM on July 10, 2017 [23 favorites]
Herodios: "Why isn't there a watermelon there?"
I'll tell you later.
posted by octothorpe at 1:52 PM on July 10, 2017 [26 favorites]
I'll tell you later.
posted by octothorpe at 1:52 PM on July 10, 2017 [26 favorites]
Wow, this is really fantastic! I've only checked out the last 10 so far and each one is really interesting, even for movies I haven't seen or dislike. It's choking my ipad a little but I'm going to get through this. The list so far is already so wonderfully unexpected I'm actually excited to see what else is on the list and will avoid appliers here until I finish. A+ post!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:54 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Room 641-A at 1:54 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
There's an impressive lack of guns and weapons in the list. I was expecting Deckard's blaster to be in there somewhere because it's been lusted after by prop nerds for over three decades, but was pleasantly surprised by what they chose from Blade Runner instead.
One that I feel is missing is the IMSAI computer from Wargames. The attention to historical accuracy and detail they paid on that one was and still is really remarkable, right on down to the fact that the IMSAI was just a headless microcomputer in a box, and that to use it you needed to talk to it with a terminal, and there was nothing in the actual box except for the microcomputer.
Another one I feel is missing is the Light Cycles from Tron, which are almost as iconic as the Light Saber and just as firmly rooted in special effects instead of physical prop making. There's also the indentidisks, but it's rather forgettable because it's really just a glowing frisbee, which wasn't nearly as imaginative or memorable as the Light Cycles.
I'm now wracking my brain for what I would choose as my personal favorite prop, and I'm actually having a really hard time to the point I'm not sure if I have one, or ever had a favorite. I wouldn't want to be in charge of making this list.
One personal favorite comes to mind, and of course it's from Blade Runner. One of the things that they apparently made for the film were real, embroidered patches for the uniforms of the Tyrell Corporation security guards. A friend of mine had one that he had sewn on his industrial/goth/punk styled jacket. I was always super envious of it.
It's one of my favorites because that level of attention to detail is totally insane. The patches never got any screen time as far as I'm aware, and even if they did they could have used any number of generic security guard props that would look fine in a motion blurred shot. But, no, Ridley Scott had to have custom patches designed and embroidered for Tyrell's private security forces.
Ah, here's a link. Looks like someone is making replicas of the patch now, but the original that my friend had wasn't black and orange. It was black and green, like this one, or this one.
posted by loquacious at 1:56 PM on July 10, 2017 [4 favorites]
One that I feel is missing is the IMSAI computer from Wargames. The attention to historical accuracy and detail they paid on that one was and still is really remarkable, right on down to the fact that the IMSAI was just a headless microcomputer in a box, and that to use it you needed to talk to it with a terminal, and there was nothing in the actual box except for the microcomputer.
Another one I feel is missing is the Light Cycles from Tron, which are almost as iconic as the Light Saber and just as firmly rooted in special effects instead of physical prop making. There's also the indentidisks, but it's rather forgettable because it's really just a glowing frisbee, which wasn't nearly as imaginative or memorable as the Light Cycles.
I'm now wracking my brain for what I would choose as my personal favorite prop, and I'm actually having a really hard time to the point I'm not sure if I have one, or ever had a favorite. I wouldn't want to be in charge of making this list.
One personal favorite comes to mind, and of course it's from Blade Runner. One of the things that they apparently made for the film were real, embroidered patches for the uniforms of the Tyrell Corporation security guards. A friend of mine had one that he had sewn on his industrial/goth/punk styled jacket. I was always super envious of it.
It's one of my favorites because that level of attention to detail is totally insane. The patches never got any screen time as far as I'm aware, and even if they did they could have used any number of generic security guard props that would look fine in a motion blurred shot. But, no, Ridley Scott had to have custom patches designed and embroidered for Tyrell's private security forces.
Ah, here's a link. Looks like someone is making replicas of the patch now, but the original that my friend had wasn't black and orange. It was black and green, like this one, or this one.
posted by loquacious at 1:56 PM on July 10, 2017 [4 favorites]
I haven't read the whole list but if Hershey's Chocolate Syrup isn't on it, it should be. You know. The blood in the shower scene from Psycho.
posted by Splunge at 1:58 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 1:58 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's so nice to see a Top 100 Whatevers list where the descriptions aren't all just LISTEN UP HERE'S WHY THIS ONE DESERVES TO BE IN THE TOP 25
posted by theodolite at 2:11 PM on July 10, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 2:11 PM on July 10, 2017 [4 favorites]
The Godfather is such a perfectly crafted film it is tough to think anyone had fun, let alone they had fun tormenting an actor with an actual severed horse head.
posted by munchingzombie at 2:20 PM on July 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by munchingzombie at 2:20 PM on July 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
My favorite prop of all time is the P.K.E. Meter from Ghostbusters, which also showed up in They Live and Suburban Commando.
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:23 PM on July 10, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:23 PM on July 10, 2017 [4 favorites]
I never really considered it before but it's pretty weird that the Jumanji boardgame was written in Latin alphabet with instructions in English but was about an African jungle. Colonialism!
posted by Green With You at 2:30 PM on July 10, 2017
posted by Green With You at 2:30 PM on July 10, 2017
One of the things I love most about being an actor is the thrill of stepping onto a set and being immersed in a perfect little world, with objects (often handcrafted) richly imbued with meaning by having being chosen.
This list is great and so many of the stories are marvelous. Especially loved the one about ET and the president of Hershey.
posted by merriment at 2:34 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
This list is great and so many of the stories are marvelous. Especially loved the one about ET and the president of Hershey.
posted by merriment at 2:34 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
Hard to say what my favorite prop is, but I really would have liked to have seen the story of the handcuffs from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which were a physical prop that needed to behave in a slapstick fashion with both Bob Hoskins and the cartoon Roger.
posted by Navelgazer at 2:39 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Navelgazer at 2:39 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wow, someone besides me has seen Cronos! (You should see Cronos.)
I was hoping to see something from Buckaroo Banzai on there, like the oscillation overthruster.
Or, you know, a watermelon.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:40 PM on July 10, 2017 [9 favorites]
I was hoping to see something from Buckaroo Banzai on there, like the oscillation overthruster.
Or, you know, a watermelon.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:40 PM on July 10, 2017 [9 favorites]
I haven't read the whole list but if Hershey's Chocolate Syrup isn't on it, it should be.
They are trying pretty hard, on this list, to stick to things that are actually props (an item an actor interacts with on screen) and not practical effects, though sometimes it is an extremely fine, fuzzy line. But that's a practical effect.
I would just as eagerly read a giant listicle of practical/makeup effects specific to black and white movies though. That stuff fascinates me too, what you did to make the brain assume a color.
I love reading commentary from craftspersons about their craft. I wish movies came with special features, maybe pop-up video or sidebar style, with all that nerdery in it from the prop/costume/set/makeup/wardrobe/stunt departments.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:42 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
They are trying pretty hard, on this list, to stick to things that are actually props (an item an actor interacts with on screen) and not practical effects, though sometimes it is an extremely fine, fuzzy line. But that's a practical effect.
I would just as eagerly read a giant listicle of practical/makeup effects specific to black and white movies though. That stuff fascinates me too, what you did to make the brain assume a color.
I love reading commentary from craftspersons about their craft. I wish movies came with special features, maybe pop-up video or sidebar style, with all that nerdery in it from the prop/costume/set/makeup/wardrobe/stunt departments.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:42 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
I used chocolate syrup as blood in a black and white movie I made. The scene was in the woods.
We ended up with an ant problem.
And not the good kind.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:43 PM on July 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
We ended up with an ant problem.
And not the good kind.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:43 PM on July 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
I have long fantasized, when I win the lottery, about visiting every little community theatre and college scene shop I can find and purchase their painting from the play Harvey -- they've all done it, that painting is definitely somewhere in the rafters. If you're not familiar with this prop, a key plot point for a good chunk of the show is a painting of the main character with a giant anthropomorphic rabbit standing behind him. Someone had to have been conscripted to make this painting, something large enough to read from the cheap seats.
I would cover the walls of my home with these amazing, unique works of art, every painting slightly different in their interpretation of a rabbit, and how accurate their rendition of the lead actor's image is....
...and then slowly go insane.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:47 PM on July 10, 2017 [37 favorites]
I would cover the walls of my home with these amazing, unique works of art, every painting slightly different in their interpretation of a rabbit, and how accurate their rendition of the lead actor's image is....
...and then slowly go insane.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:47 PM on July 10, 2017 [37 favorites]
Yes, this is what internet lists should be. I mean it's really 100 Great Movie Props With 100 Great Stories About Them, not necessarily the 100 greatest props EVAR, but it's a better article that way. The idol may be less iconic than the actual Ark of the Covenant prop, but if it has a better story behind it, that's a good enough reason for inclusion for me.
Interestingly, there are three items in the graphic at the top of the article that didn't make the list — perhaps the artist was working from an early draft of the article? The graphic has the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch (the list instead includes the coconut shell from Monty Python and the Holy Grail); a bowling pin (I don't know, maybe from There Will Be Blood?); and a pair of binoculars (possibly Rear Window; the list has the camera instead).
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:50 PM on July 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
Interestingly, there are three items in the graphic at the top of the article that didn't make the list — perhaps the artist was working from an early draft of the article? The graphic has the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch (the list instead includes the coconut shell from Monty Python and the Holy Grail); a bowling pin (I don't know, maybe from There Will Be Blood?); and a pair of binoculars (possibly Rear Window; the list has the camera instead).
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:50 PM on July 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
I would just as eagerly read a giant listicle of practical/makeup effects specific to black and white movies though. That stuff fascinates me too, what you did to make the brain assume a color.
Like the interior design of the house used in the old Addams Family TV series.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:51 PM on July 10, 2017 [6 favorites]
Like the interior design of the house used in the old Addams Family TV series.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:51 PM on July 10, 2017 [6 favorites]
I usually roll my eyes at the commenters who disagree with ranked lists like this, but here I am gonna do it anyway because the guitar from Fury Road is criminally underrated. Every person I know says that moment with the flames is when they went all in with the movie and decided to buy anything that George Miller was selling, no matter how insane it was. That guitar set the tone for the whole movie (which the rest more than lived up to thankfully) that it should be higher on that list. It's hard to argue with their top choices, and I loved reading all the blurbs about everything, but that guitar is a magical moment and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
Enclosed you will find my high horse I must give up for safekeeping, as I've finally found the ranked list that will make me fight somebody on the internet. She likes a little carrot after her oats, and she really likes it when you scratch her behind the ear. She likes contemporary adult in the morning and easy listening at night.
posted by lilac girl at 2:56 PM on July 10, 2017 [10 favorites]
Enclosed you will find my high horse I must give up for safekeeping, as I've finally found the ranked list that will make me fight somebody on the internet. She likes a little carrot after her oats, and she really likes it when you scratch her behind the ear. She likes contemporary adult in the morning and easy listening at night.
posted by lilac girl at 2:56 PM on July 10, 2017 [10 favorites]
72. The captive bolt pistol, No Country for Old Men (2007)
"...It wasn't your conventional weapon."
No, no it was not.
I'm really happy to see the overlooked and underrated I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (#86) get some love. (Even if property master Greg McMickle has no love for Kennen Ivory Wayans!)
posted by Room 641-A at 2:58 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
"...It wasn't your conventional weapon."
No, no it was not.
I'm really happy to see the overlooked and underrated I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (#86) get some love. (Even if property master Greg McMickle has no love for Kennen Ivory Wayans!)
posted by Room 641-A at 2:58 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
Keep an eye on the cell phones. Half the time it's just a piece of cardboard covered in black tape.
I've always been kind of fascinated by the proverbial crudeness and cheapness of a lot of movie props and the propmaster's eye for how much detail is needed to make the prop look good enough on screen. I wonder how much blue-ray and high-def TV has changed what you need to do with props so they don't end up looking like this.
posted by straight at 3:00 PM on July 10, 2017 [4 favorites]
I've always been kind of fascinated by the proverbial crudeness and cheapness of a lot of movie props and the propmaster's eye for how much detail is needed to make the prop look good enough on screen. I wonder how much blue-ray and high-def TV has changed what you need to do with props so they don't end up looking like this.
posted by straight at 3:00 PM on July 10, 2017 [4 favorites]
no red slippers?
(i don't even have to tell you what movie has those - you know)
posted by pyramid termite at 3:18 PM on July 10, 2017
(i don't even have to tell you what movie has those - you know)
posted by pyramid termite at 3:18 PM on July 10, 2017
Ugh. 6. Wilson, Cast Away (2000)
REALLY?! I hated that movie. And, why would a property master have to beg a volleyball company to donate balls? "... the name 'Wilson' was in the script, and so I approached Wilson the company to make me volleyballs. Wilson wasn't interested, at that point. Moviemaking had nothing to do with them. But I was very fortunate to find a woman there who, after I explained I was working with an Academy-Award-winning actor and an Academy-Award-winning director, the ball was called Wilson, for godsakes, and I needed blank ones, so I could make the face with Tom's handprint. She got me 20 -- only 20. "
Wilson volleyballs cost less than $10. A major Hollywood movie doesn't have the budget to cover that? Insert my WTF face here.
Other than that, cool article!
posted by pjsky at 3:19 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
REALLY?! I hated that movie. And, why would a property master have to beg a volleyball company to donate balls? "... the name 'Wilson' was in the script, and so I approached Wilson the company to make me volleyballs. Wilson wasn't interested, at that point. Moviemaking had nothing to do with them. But I was very fortunate to find a woman there who, after I explained I was working with an Academy-Award-winning actor and an Academy-Award-winning director, the ball was called Wilson, for godsakes, and I needed blank ones, so I could make the face with Tom's handprint. She got me 20 -- only 20. "
Wilson volleyballs cost less than $10. A major Hollywood movie doesn't have the budget to cover that? Insert my WTF face here.
Other than that, cool article!
posted by pjsky at 3:19 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Where's the coffee mug from Heartbeeps?
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:27 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:27 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
>>REALLY?! I hated that movie. And, why would a property master have to beg a volleyball company to donate balls? "... the name 'Wilson' was in the script, and so I approached Wilson the company to make me volleyballs. Wilson wasn't interested, at that point. Moviemaking had nothing to do with them. But I was very fortunate to find a woman there who, after I explained I was working with an Academy-Award-winning actor and an Academy-Award-winning director, the ball was called Wilson, for godsakes, and I needed blank ones, so I could make the face with Tom's handprint. She got me 20 -- only 20. "
Wilson volleyballs cost less than $10. A major Hollywood movie doesn't have the budget to cover that? Insert my WTF face here.
He needed blank ones. I don't know why he needed completely blank balls but that's what he requested and he only got 20.
posted by linux at 3:35 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wilson volleyballs cost less than $10. A major Hollywood movie doesn't have the budget to cover that? Insert my WTF face here.
He needed blank ones. I don't know why he needed completely blank balls but that's what he requested and he only got 20.
posted by linux at 3:35 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
no red slippers?
Per the caveats at the top of the article, I imagine those were excluded as being "costume" rather than "props."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:57 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Per the caveats at the top of the article, I imagine those were excluded as being "costume" rather than "props."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:57 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think for Spaceballs I would've chosen the canned air.
posted by stinkfoot at 4:20 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by stinkfoot at 4:20 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
One of the things I love most about being an actor is the thrill of stepping onto a set and being immersed in a perfect little world, with objects (often handcrafted) richly imbued with meaning by having being chosen.
....Thank you for noticing. Sincerely.
Props were how I kind of got my zen when I was stage managing - lots of times it was on me to procure or make them, and I took a special pride in the paper props like letters, books, etc. because I would come up with actual verbiage for the actor to read if need be, or just to be fun. My very first backstage-only stint was in high school, where I was prop mistress during a production of Hair (yes, my high school did Hair). I had a big bag of random assorted pill-like candy for the drugs that I kept in a box labelled "Month-old koala dung" and there was a glorious prank pulled on closing night which involved smuggling a centerfold picture onto a poster that was subsequently destroyed onstage.
The zen actually came in with the setting up of the table, though - theater props are handled differently, because actors have to be able to find things quickly offstage if they have only ten seconds to run out and run back; so there are tables on either side of the wings with very specific Les-Nesman-masking-tape walls marked out for each prop. I would set those things up and keeping that organized is probably when I've been at my most anal. If space allowed I would map out a little spot for actors to rest stuff like scripts, their coffee, etc. and I would confiscate anything that dared stray.
I also learned some cool tricks for prop manufacture in my travels; there is a brand of rawhide chew toy that looks amazingly like actual bacon ("Beggin' Strips" dog treats, however, look nothing like it) and I know how to make an amazingly realistic-looking model of a raw chicken breast cutlet out of hot glue and a little paint.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:24 PM on July 10, 2017 [8 favorites]
....Thank you for noticing. Sincerely.
Props were how I kind of got my zen when I was stage managing - lots of times it was on me to procure or make them, and I took a special pride in the paper props like letters, books, etc. because I would come up with actual verbiage for the actor to read if need be, or just to be fun. My very first backstage-only stint was in high school, where I was prop mistress during a production of Hair (yes, my high school did Hair). I had a big bag of random assorted pill-like candy for the drugs that I kept in a box labelled "Month-old koala dung" and there was a glorious prank pulled on closing night which involved smuggling a centerfold picture onto a poster that was subsequently destroyed onstage.
The zen actually came in with the setting up of the table, though - theater props are handled differently, because actors have to be able to find things quickly offstage if they have only ten seconds to run out and run back; so there are tables on either side of the wings with very specific Les-Nesman-masking-tape walls marked out for each prop. I would set those things up and keeping that organized is probably when I've been at my most anal. If space allowed I would map out a little spot for actors to rest stuff like scripts, their coffee, etc. and I would confiscate anything that dared stray.
I also learned some cool tricks for prop manufacture in my travels; there is a brand of rawhide chew toy that looks amazingly like actual bacon ("Beggin' Strips" dog treats, however, look nothing like it) and I know how to make an amazingly realistic-looking model of a raw chicken breast cutlet out of hot glue and a little paint.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:24 PM on July 10, 2017 [8 favorites]
Points to the site for doing it as a single page and not 100 click throughs.
posted by tavella at 4:26 PM on July 10, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by tavella at 4:26 PM on July 10, 2017 [23 favorites]
I've always been kind of fascinated by the proverbial crudeness and cheapness of a lot of movie props
I saw some of the original props from Star Trek: TOS at a traveling museum show and they were shockingly crude. The phasers looked like they were carved out of a hunk of 2x4 lumber and spray-painted black with a few knobs glued on.
posted by octothorpe at 4:35 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
I saw some of the original props from Star Trek: TOS at a traveling museum show and they were shockingly crude. The phasers looked like they were carved out of a hunk of 2x4 lumber and spray-painted black with a few knobs glued on.
posted by octothorpe at 4:35 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
Another Good One: the Teddy Bear from Die Hard.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:36 PM on July 10, 2017
posted by Navelgazer at 4:36 PM on July 10, 2017
I was also going to give the website props for single page, but then I tried to finish the article on mobile and it about killed my iPhone.
posted by rikschell at 4:40 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 4:40 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
My favorite is a background prop that shows up in every sci-fi.
posted by ckape at 4:41 PM on July 10, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by ckape at 4:41 PM on July 10, 2017 [7 favorites]
Unexpectedly absorbing pick. Thank you.
I have a small personal collection of weird antique electronics, and I've dug into it a few times for friends doing shorts, plays and the like. It's very satisfying to find the right piece, one that you know is more than just eye candy or gee-whiz knobbery. In every case so far, I've managed to find stuff that really could be in that world, and had a reason to be there. It's also good to tell the actors that yes, they can actually use the thing as they wish, it won't break (or if it does, I can most likely fix it.)
The prop I'd most like? No contest.
As for the ST:TOS phasers - a lot of those were indeed crude and simple, for cost reasons and because they had to be sturdy. Only a few good ones were made (I think the term is hero prop) for close-ups or scenes where they're the focus of attention. It's still a common enough practice.
posted by Devonian at 4:47 PM on July 10, 2017 [6 favorites]
I have a small personal collection of weird antique electronics, and I've dug into it a few times for friends doing shorts, plays and the like. It's very satisfying to find the right piece, one that you know is more than just eye candy or gee-whiz knobbery. In every case so far, I've managed to find stuff that really could be in that world, and had a reason to be there. It's also good to tell the actors that yes, they can actually use the thing as they wish, it won't break (or if it does, I can most likely fix it.)
The prop I'd most like? No contest.
As for the ST:TOS phasers - a lot of those were indeed crude and simple, for cost reasons and because they had to be sturdy. Only a few good ones were made (I think the term is hero prop) for close-ups or scenes where they're the focus of attention. It's still a common enough practice.
posted by Devonian at 4:47 PM on July 10, 2017 [6 favorites]
Drama Club Prop Story: decades ago in junior high school we put on You Can't Take it With You by Hart & Kaufman. The script calls for there to be, on a table, "one of those plaster-of-paris skulls ordinarily used as an ash tray, but which serves Penelope as a candy jar." It also calls for two kittens to be on the table, lapping up a saucer of milk.
We skipped the kittens, but somebody said they had an actual human skull at home, which had the top of the cranium opening on a hinge. Naturally, that became our candy jar. It was painted, and somebody took it home to paint it a different color so it would stand out better. A few teeth were lost during rehearsals, but no matter.
I noticed in the Broadway production a few years ago, they stuck with the plaster skull, although they had a live kitten — just one. Who knows, ours may have been the only production of the play ever to use an actual skull.
posted by beagle at 5:07 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
We skipped the kittens, but somebody said they had an actual human skull at home, which had the top of the cranium opening on a hinge. Naturally, that became our candy jar. It was painted, and somebody took it home to paint it a different color so it would stand out better. A few teeth were lost during rehearsals, but no matter.
I noticed in the Broadway production a few years ago, they stuck with the plaster skull, although they had a live kitten — just one. Who knows, ours may have been the only production of the play ever to use an actual skull.
posted by beagle at 5:07 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
hanov3r, yes, as also seen on two Star Trek movies, three Star Trek series, The Last Starfighter, V, and I'm sure others.
posted by ckape at 5:23 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ckape at 5:23 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm kind of weary of these Top X of All Time lists, but this was a really great example of the genre. It was so nice to have one of these that didn't spent half its time justifying itself to you or yelling about how incredibly great item #44 is compared to #45, but just got to the interesting stories.
posted by Copronymus at 6:17 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Copronymus at 6:17 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
That was incredibly satisfying. I have a couple of minor quibbles, but they're so small I'm not going to even mention them. That's how satisfying.
posted by Mchelly at 6:21 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 6:21 PM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
Wait, are they saying the Snitch in the HP series was a mechanical prop? I always figured the wings were entirely CGI.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:39 PM on July 10, 2017
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:39 PM on July 10, 2017
Another Good One: the Teddy Bear from Die Hard.
Yeah, no. Down that path of madness lies a certain bunny from an airplane.
And a vale of tears...
posted by Samizdata at 7:08 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeah, no. Down that path of madness lies a certain bunny from an airplane.
And a vale of tears...
posted by Samizdata at 7:08 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
This was really well done. Kudos.
posted by gwint at 7:18 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by gwint at 7:18 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
I would have loved to hear about the glasses that McCoy gives to Shatner in Star Trek II and are later sold in Star Trek IV. There's something about those frames that I've always liked.
Great list, glad they included the trap from Ghostbusters. The proton packs get more screen time but the design of the trap is more interesting, what with the mechanism and the way it has to fit into the Containment Unit.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:30 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
Great list, glad they included the trap from Ghostbusters. The proton packs get more screen time but the design of the trap is more interesting, what with the mechanism and the way it has to fit into the Containment Unit.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:30 PM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's a fun read, well worth posting, but a shitty list. A good share of the props aren't really all that interesting in themselves, I mean the banjo from Deliverance is a banjo, it's only that the scene is unsettling and famous that makes it a desirable prop, same with many other items. That's a different thing than, say, the Maltese Falcon which is of significance as a singular film object in a wholly different way.
And, of course, there is the usual and seemingly unavoidable American exceptionalism at work, where 90 of the 100 props are from English language productions and with only a handful of others from outside the US. It's fine if people want to hold such a narrow view of the movies, where their pleasure is all that matters, but for fuck's sakes stop calling these damn lists "The Greatest" anything in movie history if you're going to ignore the majority of movie history and most of the world's cinematic past when making your list. It's an insulting celebration of ignorance and parochialism. Call it the 100 greatest props of Hollywood history and drop the few outsiders that you struggled to put in anyway, or, better, just call it 100 great movie props and do what you want without the pretense of it being another fucking ranked list. Just don't pretend it's in any way an adequate accounting of actual movie history.
Otherwise, just for a start, how about adding things like:
Monsieur Hulot's pipe or umbrella
The titular earrings from The Earrings of Madame de...
The hairpin from Ornamental Hairpin
The orange from Late Spring
Any of hundreds of weapons from Hong Kong action movies, the Flying Guillotine perhaps
The calliope/music box from Rules of the Game
The yoke from Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
The cricket bat from Lagaan if you want popular movies
The drum from The Tin Drum
The giant photo blow up from Blow Up
and on and on and on.
Basic stuff really, but since most US viewers don't give a shit it may as well not exist I guess.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:51 AM on July 11, 2017
And, of course, there is the usual and seemingly unavoidable American exceptionalism at work, where 90 of the 100 props are from English language productions and with only a handful of others from outside the US. It's fine if people want to hold such a narrow view of the movies, where their pleasure is all that matters, but for fuck's sakes stop calling these damn lists "The Greatest" anything in movie history if you're going to ignore the majority of movie history and most of the world's cinematic past when making your list. It's an insulting celebration of ignorance and parochialism. Call it the 100 greatest props of Hollywood history and drop the few outsiders that you struggled to put in anyway, or, better, just call it 100 great movie props and do what you want without the pretense of it being another fucking ranked list. Just don't pretend it's in any way an adequate accounting of actual movie history.
Otherwise, just for a start, how about adding things like:
Monsieur Hulot's pipe or umbrella
The titular earrings from The Earrings of Madame de...
The hairpin from Ornamental Hairpin
The orange from Late Spring
Any of hundreds of weapons from Hong Kong action movies, the Flying Guillotine perhaps
The calliope/music box from Rules of the Game
The yoke from Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
The cricket bat from Lagaan if you want popular movies
The drum from The Tin Drum
The giant photo blow up from Blow Up
and on and on and on.
Basic stuff really, but since most US viewers don't give a shit it may as well not exist I guess.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:51 AM on July 11, 2017
Ugh. Apple, not orange in Late Spring. Don't know how I let that get past me.
posted by gusottertrout at 1:46 AM on July 11, 2017
posted by gusottertrout at 1:46 AM on July 11, 2017
Site hates my browser, so I bailed, but I'm curious where they ranked Indy's fedora and whip?
posted by Beholder at 3:12 AM on July 11, 2017
posted by Beholder at 3:12 AM on July 11, 2017
The only prop from Raiders that they listed is the golden idol.
posted by octothorpe at 4:55 AM on July 11, 2017
posted by octothorpe at 4:55 AM on July 11, 2017
And, of course, there is the usual and seemingly unavoidable American exceptionalism at work, where 90 of the 100 props are from English language productions and with only a handful of others from outside the US.
I saw somewhere on Twitter (which I'll never re-find because Twitter) that editors tell film writers to stick to movies that the audience will have already heard of, so lists are going to be American films from the last 25 years or so.
posted by octothorpe at 5:01 AM on July 11, 2017
I saw somewhere on Twitter (which I'll never re-find because Twitter) that editors tell film writers to stick to movies that the audience will have already heard of, so lists are going to be American films from the last 25 years or so.
posted by octothorpe at 5:01 AM on July 11, 2017
Those pointy sphere things from 'Phantasm' still haunt me. I can remember when I was 12 being utterly petrified when I saw the trailer on the telly and the bit where they came zooming down the hallway. Yargh. And the hourglass from Wizard of Oz still freaks me out.
Great list, would read again.
posted by h00py at 5:09 AM on July 11, 2017
Great list, would read again.
posted by h00py at 5:09 AM on July 11, 2017
I saw somewhere on Twitter (which I'll never re-find because Twitter) that editors tell film writers to stick to movies that the audience will have already heard of, so lists are going to be American films from the last 25 years or so.
Yeah, no surprise at all there. It's great to continually reinforce the idea that the reader need not change as they are the ideal by dint of being born in the right place at the right time. USA!
posted by gusottertrout at 5:28 AM on July 11, 2017
Yeah, no surprise at all there. It's great to continually reinforce the idea that the reader need not change as they are the ideal by dint of being born in the right place at the right time. USA!
posted by gusottertrout at 5:28 AM on July 11, 2017
Also, whatever happened to the idea that it's occasionally worth introducing your readership to something they haven't come across before? Something they might even come to love thanks to you helping them discover it?
posted by Paul Slade at 5:38 AM on July 11, 2017
posted by Paul Slade at 5:38 AM on July 11, 2017
Exactly. If one of these sites were to make a list of the greatest math problems, they'd limit themselves to basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication. No division though, too tough for the readership!
posted by gusottertrout at 5:42 AM on July 11, 2017
posted by gusottertrout at 5:42 AM on July 11, 2017
so lists are going to be American films from the last 25 years or so.
People may have a point about the US-centricness of the list, but I don't feel the recency criticism applies here: by my count, 55 of the 100 items on this list are from movies more than 25 years old.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:50 AM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
People may have a point about the US-centricness of the list, but I don't feel the recency criticism applies here: by my count, 55 of the 100 items on this list are from movies more than 25 years old.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:50 AM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: It's an insulting celebration of ignorance and parochialism.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:57 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:57 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
I directed and starred in a drawing-room comedy that required a piece of taxidermy to be placed on a mantle. We lucked into finding a stuffed owl from a nearby museum but were warned it was preserved with arsenic, so we should avoid handling it. Fast forward to our dress rehearsal, when the mantle tipped forward, and the poisonous owl came flying at me -- seemingly in slow motion. "This will be an interesting coroner's report," I thought.
I should mention at this point that I did not, in fact, die.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 7:01 AM on July 11, 2017 [23 favorites]
I should mention at this point that I did not, in fact, die.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 7:01 AM on July 11, 2017 [23 favorites]
Site hates my browser, so I bailed, but I'm curious where they ranked Indy's fedora and whip?
posted by Beholder
The only prop from Raiders that they listed is the golden idol.
posted by octothorpe
You rank me the idol, I rank you the whip!....
(Come on, I can't be the only one who wanted to make a joke like that, right?)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:07 AM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Beholder
The only prop from Raiders that they listed is the golden idol.
posted by octothorpe
You rank me the idol, I rank you the whip!....
(Come on, I can't be the only one who wanted to make a joke like that, right?)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:07 AM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
>Basic stuff really, but since most US viewers don't give a shit it may as well not exist I guess.
Nice rant, but you really just wanted to show off your fancy taste in movies, didn't you? :D
posted by BurntHombre at 7:28 AM on July 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
Nice rant, but you really just wanted to show off your fancy taste in movies, didn't you? :D
posted by BurntHombre at 7:28 AM on July 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
Familiarity is an important part of why people read this sort of list, and if you don't get people to read your stuff then you might as well not bother. Part of journalism is knowing what story you're telling and to whom you're telling it - and the purpose of this list was not to introduce people to great movies from outside the US through the medium of props.
There's a very good argument that there should be more articles that do, and that the general willingness of the popular media to actively lead its readership into new ideas is woefully inadequate, You can cite this list as an example, but a particularly egregious one? Hardly.
It is not a 'shitty list'. In the grimy gamut of listicles, it is exceptionally fine. As someone from outside the US, it introduced me to a number of movies I either haven't seen or knew nothing of, so even by the light of 'it's all familiar ground and shirks a chance to enlarge cultural perceptions' it has some merit here.
So cut us journos some slack already! There's fighting against cultural imperialism, and there's fulfilling our brief, and we can't always do both at once.
posted by Devonian at 7:34 AM on July 11, 2017 [7 favorites]
There's a very good argument that there should be more articles that do, and that the general willingness of the popular media to actively lead its readership into new ideas is woefully inadequate, You can cite this list as an example, but a particularly egregious one? Hardly.
It is not a 'shitty list'. In the grimy gamut of listicles, it is exceptionally fine. As someone from outside the US, it introduced me to a number of movies I either haven't seen or knew nothing of, so even by the light of 'it's all familiar ground and shirks a chance to enlarge cultural perceptions' it has some merit here.
So cut us journos some slack already! There's fighting against cultural imperialism, and there's fulfilling our brief, and we can't always do both at once.
posted by Devonian at 7:34 AM on July 11, 2017 [7 favorites]
Nice rant, but you really just wanted to show off your fancy taste in movies, didn't you? :D
Heh. No, really not, these "greatest in history" lists just set me off.
As I briefly mentioned at the start though, the post is a good one, with the list at least having some meat to it beyond the rankings. I would have liked to see it done more by type, with the unique movie props, like the box from Hellraiser or the light sabers getting a separate list from the props that are important to the movie, but not really unique in themselves, like the claw hammer from Old Boy.
You could make a nifty lists of all sorts of different props in that way, one of just significant paintings form movies, one of jewelry and fashion accessories, weapons, knick knacks, or quasi-scientific gear perhaps. The idea is a lot of fun, and I wouldn't mind seeing more done with it, as long as they named it properly and told people what they were actually doing instead of pretending to be encyclopedic.
posted by gusottertrout at 7:37 AM on July 11, 2017
Heh. No, really not, these "greatest in history" lists just set me off.
As I briefly mentioned at the start though, the post is a good one, with the list at least having some meat to it beyond the rankings. I would have liked to see it done more by type, with the unique movie props, like the box from Hellraiser or the light sabers getting a separate list from the props that are important to the movie, but not really unique in themselves, like the claw hammer from Old Boy.
You could make a nifty lists of all sorts of different props in that way, one of just significant paintings form movies, one of jewelry and fashion accessories, weapons, knick knacks, or quasi-scientific gear perhaps. The idea is a lot of fun, and I wouldn't mind seeing more done with it, as long as they named it properly and told people what they were actually doing instead of pretending to be encyclopedic.
posted by gusottertrout at 7:37 AM on July 11, 2017
So cut us journos some slack already! There's fighting against cultural imperialism, and there's fulfilling our brief, and we can't always do both at once.
I get what you're saying Devonian, but I can't wholly agree. I mean were this a list of the "greatest political events, or greatest inventions, or greatest anything and limited almost entirely to US/English speaking people and works, it would come off as incredibly misguided. But cultural products aren't seen as being all that important really, even though at the same time we know quite well they actually can be deeply meaningful. It's rewarding the cultural solipsism of the readers to keep telling them everything in culture that's important is something they already know or at least are generally aware of. That shouldn't happen.
The lists are fine, appealing to readership is undoubtedly necessary, but playing along with ignorance by pretending its wisdom isn't so hot and has consequences.
posted by gusottertrout at 7:48 AM on July 11, 2017
I get what you're saying Devonian, but I can't wholly agree. I mean were this a list of the "greatest political events, or greatest inventions, or greatest anything and limited almost entirely to US/English speaking people and works, it would come off as incredibly misguided. But cultural products aren't seen as being all that important really, even though at the same time we know quite well they actually can be deeply meaningful. It's rewarding the cultural solipsism of the readers to keep telling them everything in culture that's important is something they already know or at least are generally aware of. That shouldn't happen.
The lists are fine, appealing to readership is undoubtedly necessary, but playing along with ignorance by pretending its wisdom isn't so hot and has consequences.
posted by gusottertrout at 7:48 AM on July 11, 2017
the guitar from Fury Road is criminally underrated
I hated that guitar, for me it was the biggest false note in the whole film. It tipped the tone over from exaggerated, cartoonish and strange to cheesy.
It may be relevant that I really don’t like guitar rock.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 8:10 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
I hated that guitar, for me it was the biggest false note in the whole film. It tipped the tone over from exaggerated, cartoonish and strange to cheesy.
It may be relevant that I really don’t like guitar rock.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 8:10 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
It may be relevant that I really don’t like guitar rock.
Er, yeah, because that scene is when the dial gets turned up to 11. Metal AF.
posted by Fleebnork at 8:41 AM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
Er, yeah, because that scene is when the dial gets turned up to 11. Metal AF.
posted by Fleebnork at 8:41 AM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's rewarding the cultural solipsism of the readers to keep telling them everything in culture that's important is something they already know or at least are generally aware of.
Quite right. As the great BBC radio producer John Walters used to put it: "It's not our job to give them what they want. It's our job to give them what they don't yet know they want."
posted by Paul Slade at 8:51 AM on July 11, 2017
Quite right. As the great BBC radio producer John Walters used to put it: "It's not our job to give them what they want. It's our job to give them what they don't yet know they want."
posted by Paul Slade at 8:51 AM on July 11, 2017
I guess it technically didn't appear first in a movie, but the Log Lady's log is on my list of the greatest props of all time .
posted by grubby at 9:02 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by grubby at 9:02 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Every person I know says that moment with the flames is when they went all in with the movie
Whereas I, using non-sotto voice, said, "OH COME ON!" when that damned guitar made its appearance. I was all in before that and then suddenly I was jerked out of the movie and was rolling my eyes so hard they nearly fell out of my head. It took a good half hour for me to get absorbed again.
I hate that fucking scene.
I hated that guitar, for me it was the biggest false note in the whole film. It tipped the tone over from exaggerated, cartoonish and strange to cheesy.
YES THIS SO MUCH
posted by cooker girl at 9:19 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Whereas I, using non-sotto voice, said, "OH COME ON!" when that damned guitar made its appearance. I was all in before that and then suddenly I was jerked out of the movie and was rolling my eyes so hard they nearly fell out of my head. It took a good half hour for me to get absorbed again.
I hate that fucking scene.
I hated that guitar, for me it was the biggest false note in the whole film. It tipped the tone over from exaggerated, cartoonish and strange to cheesy.
YES THIS SO MUCH
posted by cooker girl at 9:19 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
I can't believe they forgot the cane from Citizen Kane.
posted by zeusianfog at 9:33 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by zeusianfog at 9:33 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
I thought this was really interesting, and I am not enough of a movie buff to feel really strongly about errors, omissions, or placement on the list. So all in all one of the best listcicles ever! As usual there is some bias towards recency, but that mat be because there is less information and no one around to interview about props from older films.
posted by TedW at 6:13 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by TedW at 6:13 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
I wish they had gone further and had a stricter definition of prop-ness? Prop-itude? The innate nature of being a prop?
That is, I want more of Ghostbusters' trap, and Phantasm flying spheres, and Cronos, and lightsabers and less of red balloons, Reese's Pieces, and boxes of chocolates. I want more of "this thing does not exist in the world" and less of "we used the thingiest thing of this thing in the world". I don't want dressed and aged volleyballs or paintings or even customized baseball bats. I want oscillation overthrusters, arks of the covenant, hoverboards (or flux capacitors).
posted by aureliobuendia at 7:34 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
That is, I want more of Ghostbusters' trap, and Phantasm flying spheres, and Cronos, and lightsabers and less of red balloons, Reese's Pieces, and boxes of chocolates. I want more of "this thing does not exist in the world" and less of "we used the thingiest thing of this thing in the world". I don't want dressed and aged volleyballs or paintings or even customized baseball bats. I want oscillation overthrusters, arks of the covenant, hoverboards (or flux capacitors).
posted by aureliobuendia at 7:34 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
At first glance I thought the title was "THE 100 GREATEST POOPS IN MOVIE HISTORY" and was really curious how they were being ranked.
I bet Pink Flamingos would be much higher on that list.
Also, I was mildly disappointed that the bomb from Dr. Strangelove wasn't on there, but perhaps it was considered a vehicle.
posted by TedW at 7:36 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
I bet Pink Flamingos would be much higher on that list.
Also, I was mildly disappointed that the bomb from Dr. Strangelove wasn't on there, but perhaps it was considered a vehicle.
posted by TedW at 7:36 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Every now and again, the National Theatre in London finds itself doing a play where the plot dictates a characters must be beheaded and have his severed head displayed on stage - Lord Hastings in Richard III being just one example.
In cases like this, the prop head is meticulously sculpted to match the relevant actor's features, and he's given the option of taking it home with him as a souvenir
heh, I made a prop like that for a high school drama class, where I was decapitated at the end of a scene from Macbeth - I gave the head my exact hairdo, and applied fake blood liberally. After the performance, I put the head in a box, brought it home, dropped it in a corner of the living room and forgot about it. Then a few days later my poor mom opened the box and got the fright of her life.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:06 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
In cases like this, the prop head is meticulously sculpted to match the relevant actor's features, and he's given the option of taking it home with him as a souvenir
heh, I made a prop like that for a high school drama class, where I was decapitated at the end of a scene from Macbeth - I gave the head my exact hairdo, and applied fake blood liberally. After the performance, I put the head in a box, brought it home, dropped it in a corner of the living room and forgot about it. Then a few days later my poor mom opened the box and got the fright of her life.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:06 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Whereas I, using non-sotto voice, said, "OH COME ON!" when that damned guitar made its appearance. I was all in before that and then suddenly I was jerked out of the movie and was rolling my eyes so hard they nearly fell out of my head. It took a good half hour for me to get absorbed again.
Oh good, I wasn't the only one. I found it really jarring and cartoonish in a world where people kill each other over gasoline and water, use other humans as living blood banks and then there's this guy on bungee cords with a flame throwing double guitar.
The waste of fuel alone would logically be kind of a non-starter. The craftsmanship and care of an instrument and amplifier stack seems kind of counter-intuitive, too, where they're quickly reverting to nearly stone-age handicrafts where they exist at all besides wrenching on dying old vehicles. We're talking about a world where someone would be more likely to make a garrote out of a guitar string than anything else.
posted by loquacious at 1:39 PM on July 13, 2017
Oh good, I wasn't the only one. I found it really jarring and cartoonish in a world where people kill each other over gasoline and water, use other humans as living blood banks and then there's this guy on bungee cords with a flame throwing double guitar.
The waste of fuel alone would logically be kind of a non-starter. The craftsmanship and care of an instrument and amplifier stack seems kind of counter-intuitive, too, where they're quickly reverting to nearly stone-age handicrafts where they exist at all besides wrenching on dying old vehicles. We're talking about a world where someone would be more likely to make a garrote out of a guitar string than anything else.
posted by loquacious at 1:39 PM on July 13, 2017
The warlords of Mad Max: Fury Road are all about presentation. Check out the masks, the fake nose, the suit tailored to reveal pierced nipples, the unlikely vehicle designs. Check out the scene where Immortan Joe distributes water to his people by spewing it from a cliff side rather than distributing bottles of it. Y'all can hate the Doof warrior if you want, but you can't make the argument that he didn't fit perfectly in the world presented in the movie.
I thought this was the best example of a Top However Many list to grace the internet in a long time! The stories were fascinating, and the props came from a wide range of movies. (Some earlier commenters were annoyed there were only ten non-US movies in the list, but I was delighted there were a whole ten non-US movies in the list. Glass half full, or one-tenth full, or whatever.)
And most of all, I absolutely loved that this list was researched, and presented stories from the people involved, rather than just having been an extended opinion piece by staff writers.
Would love to see a "Next 100 Greatest Props" list, as long as #1 of that list was the Zuni Fetish Doll from Trilogy of Terror.
posted by ejs at 10:09 PM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
I thought this was the best example of a Top However Many list to grace the internet in a long time! The stories were fascinating, and the props came from a wide range of movies. (Some earlier commenters were annoyed there were only ten non-US movies in the list, but I was delighted there were a whole ten non-US movies in the list. Glass half full, or one-tenth full, or whatever.)
And most of all, I absolutely loved that this list was researched, and presented stories from the people involved, rather than just having been an extended opinion piece by staff writers.
Would love to see a "Next 100 Greatest Props" list, as long as #1 of that list was the Zuni Fetish Doll from Trilogy of Terror.
posted by ejs at 10:09 PM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
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