For this week, the theme for Wanderer's Thursday Movie Picks is Globetrotting Movies. If you're not familiar with this activity, it's pretty straight forward. Each Week Wanderer over at the blog Wandering Through the Shelves presents a different theme. The idea is for participants to pick out three-five movies that fit that theme, and include a short description of their choices. In theory it's pretty simple, though sometimes finding movies to fit the category can be challenging.
According to Google, Globetrotting is defined as "the action of traveling widely around the world." Okay, that's pretty straight forward. So a "Globetrotting" film would be one that involves characters travelling around the world. Obviously, these films usually take place on Earth- I don't know of any globetrotting films set on other planets. Of course there are some science fiction films that could be
considered solar system or galaxy-trotting. Most of the Star Wars films see characters travelling to several different worlds. Alternatively we could point to movies like Interstellar that involve exploration of a Solar System.
So obviously, in a globetrotting film we can probably expect to see a variety of places visited by its characters, preferably locations that are very far apart from each other. A lot of globetrotting films may try to take advantage of their varied settings by using locations with very different environments, giving each visited place a unique appearance. Now admittedly it is a bit difficult to identify how far one must travel to be considered "globetrotting" but I would imagine at least travelling between different countries or continents. For instance, a film that takes place across several different American states probably wouldn't qualify.
It was tricky to pick out a set of films that easily qualified for the definition of "globetrotting." Figuring out what films constituted sufficient travelling was no easy task. But I found a few good ones, I think.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Tomb Raider (2018)
The 2018 reboot of the Tomb Raider films draws on some of the changes that have occurred in the more recent games, particularly the emphasis on survivalist themes and efforts to get to know Lara on a more personal level. But it still offers a big globetrotting adventure across several different locations. What changes compared to the Angelina Jolie films is the fact that we meet a younger Lara before she's fully established herself as the Tomb Raider and still developing her skills while also dealing with some complicated personal issues. But even with the complications in her life Lara still isn't ready to give up pursuing an ancient legend in an effort to find answers and outwit a dangerous secret society that is deeply intertwined with her life.
Great picks!
ReplyDeleteIndiana Jones is just wonderful - and with Tomb Raider you reminded me that I still have to finish the game.
I love 20,000 Leagues..a lot of fun to watch this film. For me, Last Crusade is the best of the bunch and one I find enjoyable maybe because Sean Connery is in this film. The other Jones's films don't do much for me especially that Temple of Doom. I have seen the Angelina Jolie films but not the reboot.
ReplyDeleteLove your choices!!
ReplyDelete20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a terrific twist on the theme and a fun movie with a great cast. I use to watch it all the time when I was a kid. That's mainly how I knew Kirk Douglas, along with Gunfight at the O.K. Corral until I was in my teens and started watching more adult pictures.
While Raiders of the Lost Ark remains my favorite of the trilogy Last Crusade is a close second. Ford and Connery have such a super chemistry though the spunky Marion is sorely missed.
I've only seen bits of the Angelina Jolie version of Tomb Rider and that was ages ago.
My first thought was another Jules Verne film version-Around the World in 80 Days but I absolutely loathe that bloated headache inducing mess so I found three others that all interconnect to each other in some way.
The Great Race (1965)-Spoof of old time serials with the hero-The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) all dressed in gleaming white and his sidekick Hezekiah (Keenan Wynn) going head to head with snidely Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon chewing on every piece of scenery in sight) all in black and his faithful assistant Max (Peter Falk) in a continent spanning motor race from New York to Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. Complicating matters is fellow racer, journalist and suffragette Maggie DuBois (Natalie Wood-never lovelier) who butts heads with Leslie as they head over land and sea to their goal. Shootouts, duels, pie fights and all manner of complications ensue!
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965)-In 1910 a wealthy British newspaper publisher Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley) offers 10,000 pounds (about a million today) to the winner of an air race between London and Paris, a great distance at the time. The contest draws an eclectic and eccentric gaggle of fliers and amateurs including Rawnsley’s rebellious daughter Patricia (Sarah Miles) who compete in all forms of airborne crates including hot air balloons!
Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969)-The 1,500 mile Monte Carlo rally passing through England, Paris, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monte Gelato Falls, the Treja River, Italy, Åre, Jämtlands and län, Sweden in the 20’s is the setting for this wacky sequel to Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines with some of the characters returning plus Tony Curtis from The Great Race as a brash American.
Delete20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was one of the films that introduced me to James Mason, alongside another Verne adaptation- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1958). I do remember it seeming a bit weird when I finally saw North by Northwest and for the first time got to see James Mason not doing a Jules Verne story.
Marion was definitely the best of Indy's various love interests. I think the idea was that Spielberg was trying to do something reminiscent of the various "Bond Girls" but it didn't quite work here.
Oh, how did I forget Around the World in 80 Days? There have been several versions of that, though I should probably feel embarassed to admit the one I best remember is the 2004 Disney version that doesn't have much resemblance to the book. It takes the basic premise of the book but mostly runs in its own directions with it, complete with historical inside jokes and celebrity cameos.
I actually know TWO of the movies on your list, though it's been a few years since I've seen either.
The Great Race was a pretty crazy film, as you can expect from a plot that hinges on being able to drive from New York to Paris. That one actually went on to inspire a cartoon series called "Wacky Races" which featured a character named Dick Dastardly that was heavily based on the Jack Lemon character. There have also been various racing video games that incorporate crazy racing (i.e. odd combinations of characters, outlandish settings for tracks, power-ups, obstacles you could never get away with on an actual racing track), the Mario Kart series being probably the most famous, that I could see having their roots in The Great Race.
The Last Crusade is a great pick! I've seen parts of the newest Tomb Raider and from what I saw, I liked it it more than the Jolie version.
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