I made a pledge to myself that I will see Hunger Games and John Carter at some point in the theater. Hunger Games just opened so I have hope that will happen but my time on John Carter grows short. It has been out two weeks, I believe, and if I don't get off the stick and see it in another two weeks it might be gone from the theaters.

Blockbusters sure aren't what they used to be.

Back in the day I wanted to see King Kong. Not the black and white version (I'm not that old) or the Peter Jackson version, but the Dino De Laurentiis produced version in 1976. The movie played at Mission Valley theater for two and a half months during that summer, but I never got time to see it. My dad was my transportation back then and he didn't get any free time to go. When Jaws came out in 1975, we were living in Pensacola, FL. I had no desire to see the movie, but it played close to six months at the local theater. I remember because I there were ads on TV during Christmas time.

None of these can hold a candle to what happened when Star Wars came along. Over one year at the same local theater in San Diego. Lines snaking around the theater for over three months. I saw Star Wars in that theater so much I lost count at 20. A similar thing happened with Empire Strikes Back. The movie was at the Cinerama on University Ave for over six months. Opening day you had people in costume from the movie. Think about what that must have been like; people dressed in winter clothing (part of the movie took place on the ice planet of Hoth) in the spring in Southern California.

Other blockbusters I saw at the time were the first two Star Trek movies. The same scenario happened with them. You had movies people wanted to see, long lines, and movies that stayed at their respective theaters for months.

When I watched the hype that surrounded each Twilight movie and the promotion done for the Hunger Games, even when I saw the coverage for the second trilogy of Star Wars films, there was such a difference in the hype between the old and new I feel a bit disappointed for people when they talk about the new blockbusters as being blockbusters. Just watching the news reports about the opening of Hunger Games, there are books, posters, and a lot of promotional material out for anyone who wants them. The local news had stories of exercise classes, yes exercise classes, that are based on the Hunger Games. Local archery clubs are trying to take a bite out of the Hunger Games hype. There have been articles for at least a month about the costumes, the actors and other aspects of the movie, especially in covering the fan base of this movie and those of Twilight. In the case of John Carter, the mega franchise that just didn't make it, months of articles leading up to the film, then an equal amount of articles deciphering why it didn't become a big blockbuster have been written. In to this you have to add promotions on the web, leaks of footage, and something unheard of up until the late 90s, coverage in magazines like Entertainment Weekly, Time and Newsweek.

In my opinion, the big things movies like Star Wars and Star Trek had back in the 70s and 80s were even though they were the big movies on the block in terms of SF films, SF was still a dependable but niche market. It was heart attack time if those films were on the cover of a national magazine, and if that was the case it was strictly for the review and the inevitable pictures and comments about the crazy fans. If there was coverage in a national magazine or a local newspaper, as a fan you felt vindicated that someone dared come into your world. It was like coverage of the San Diego Comic Con in the 80s and 90s. Coverage wasn't serious, it gave a good laugh and it was puffery. In the 70s to 90s, the Internet was in the baby phase, so there wasn't a way to generate a buzz outside of the geek world.

There is another important factor that separates blockbusters from yesteryear and today. Women. There is no doubt Twilight and Hunger Games are driven by a young adult, mostly female audience. In the interview of fans and long lines seen on TV the kids waiting in line are young women. The taste of young women are going to be different from those of the male geek. Yes, I am drawing a clear distinction from the male geek that would have seen Star Wars or Star Trek and the young female watching Twilight or Hunger Games. There isn't a stigma of the geek with Hunger Games or Harry Potter. The smart marketing done with the new blockbusters is to make it acceptable to the masses. Going for the general female audience opens up the films to a broader range of people. Even with a film like Harry Potter, with magic and all that, it was set in a contemporary environment. No spaceships, lasers or other geeky stuff that might label the fan as different. For the Potter, Games and Twilight shows, even if there was an element of magic or the supernatural in the stories, the environment was not much different than the world outside, so the fan had a secret that made them other, but they could still be part of the rest of society.

If I wanted to dress like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader or Captain Kirk, I'm going to stick out like a sure thumb. If someone wanted to dress like Harry Potter, they may look a little odd in the school academy uniform, but it wouldn't be too out there. If they wanted to be Bella, they would blend in with everyone else. That's a big difference between the outcast SF fan of Star Wars and Star Trek and the blending in fans of Twilight and Hunger Games. Just look at what happened a few years ago when the San Diego Comic Con, wanting to be part of the mainstream, made a push for the Twilight crowd. You had young females who talked about Team Edward and Team or Team Jacob, with their teenage angst and shimmering vampires, up against 'real' vampires with goth clothing and years, and I mean YEARS of Vampire the Masquerade under their belt. While it was good for attendance, the two groups aren't anything alike and as anyone in the geek world knows, Twilight aren't real vampires. You can imagine the image of young Twilight fans who think they are 'geeks' because they know all aspects of Twilight going up against veteran geeks of The Masquerade, Star Wars, Star Trek, comics and the like. It was a culture class bloodbath.

With aggressive market to a young female fanbase and stories that could be in the world outside the window, the new blockbusters definitely capture the imagination of their fans. Social media and the drive to have the next big thing has hurt the new blockbusters because the time frame for them to be true blockbusters is short. By the time Hunger Games has come up, there are games, toys, clothing and there have been months of articles about the movie. The goal for it to make hundreds of millions of dollars is in place. Within a month the focus will be on the new blockbuster, the new fan favorite. By the end of the year, Hunger Games and other blockbusters of the summer might be nostalgic memories if you had time to get to the theater in time. If not, no problem because by the end of the year the DVDs will be out in time for Christmas.

That is another sad aspect of current blockbusters. When Star Wars left the theaters after a year and a half of being out, this would have been 1978, the VHS was released in 1982 and not everyone had a VHS player. So if you wanted to see it, there was an urgency to see it because you didn't know when you might see it again. Realistically, the Hunger Games released this week in theaters will be available by Christmas in Blu Ray glory. I could try to find time to see it in the theater with a bunch of people I don't want to be around, or wait until the fall and see it in the comfort of my home in front of the huge flat screen.