WookieeWarrior77 said:
There are a few exceptions to this (the first two Spider-Man and Harry Potter movies)
I had grown from being a movie-loving kid/teen into cranky college-age when someone loaned me a video of the first Harry Potter movie. It very much felt authentic, with a sense of adventure to a period 15-20 years before, though you must forgive some sad cgi. Now, if Cerberus was stop-motion animated… chef’s kiss! [edit. John Williams music definitely helped.]
I saw Chamber of Secrets in the theater. It was even better, including awesome sets/sfx that would have been vfx under Lucasfilm-- even Dobby was a technological improvement upon Jar Jar (and maybe Weta’s Gollum too.) I don’t think any of the later Potter books made good adaptations, or even sensical movies. Columbus’ tone was perfect, and given his resume he was in a kind of unique position to deliver such audience-pleasing adventures. Imagine him doing Attack of the Clones.
Sure while we’re at it, hire Sam Raimi for Revenge of the Sith. Spider-Man was another movie I really liked on VHS in college, a very retro adventure. Then I found out “wow is that really the Evil Dead guy?!” So don’t blame the calendar, it’s not that the 80s have passed. It is that certain directors just don’t accept the Spirit of the 80s. Bear in mind Lucas himself directed little in the 80s, except second unit on Return of the Jedi, and possibly a few fill-in days on Return to Oz.