The Movies that made Us - Season 1 (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: -
	Director: Brian Volk-Weiss
	Actors: Donald Ian Black, William Atherton, Richard Edlund
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: January 2020, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: The story behind the creation of some iconic movies.
Review: This series is brought to you by the same team that did The Toys that made us, but while I watch that other for its pop culture stories, this one really talks about some of the Movies that made me. As I mentioned in my other reviews, I was not much playing as a kid with brand toys and their story as depicted in the series didn't happen in Europe: most of the associated TV-shows were non-existent and those toys were really expensive. Movies on the other hand, I could enjoy for free and from an early age (dubbed in French of course), like three of the four presented in that first Season: Home Alone, Ghostbusters and Die Hard. Believe it or not, I had never seen Dirty Dancing before. It is not so surprising that this girly movie about dance didn't "make" me like the others, but I had plenty of opportunities to watch it since but I never did. This is now fixed, as I watched it in order to be able to complete my review of this TV-series! The presentation of the series is similar to The Toys that made us: humoristic and dynamic narration, interviews with the main contributors, no fear to mention the failures and conflicts, tons of archive footage, and apparently a lot of research. The series is different from the kind of making-of we usually see as bonus on DVD/Blu-ray editions for several reasons. First they managed to get a lot of footage and interviews around those relatively old movies. Then the narration and interviews make the story less neutral. In particular it is often annoying that in a making-of everything seems to have gone well, people are all in good terms with each other... which is not real life, and the series is more fair in that respect. The movies selected for this first season have in common that they were small productions from the 80's that had a huge success, although very few believed in them at the start. It means that kids who saw them in theaters or soon after on TV are now in their 40's, like me, and able to talk about how those movies influenced them, and eventually make a TV-series about them. I definitely recognize myself as one of those. Being transported while watching those movies at home with my parents, by the fireplace, after a family dinner, with my brothers, built found memories that I will never forget. It is thanks to such movies that I grew a love for Cinema and Genre in particular, and that I started this blog years later. OK the series is well-done but is not a masterpiece, but I give it an extra rating point for the meaning behind the title. What other movies from that time period made me and could be in the second season (also inspired by what his creator is planning)? Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones 1, 2, 3, Jurassic Park, Alien 1&2, Terminator 1&2, Predator, Robocop, Total Recall, Lethal Weapon, many Westerns.. If you add the constraint that the movie has to be an underdog the list shrinks.
Rating: 7 /10