Since today is a Bank Holiday we asked members of the BanterFlix team to share their memories of some of the films they used to watch on those lazy Bank Holidays from their youth.
Jason and the Argonauts (Darren Vincent)
From when I was about the age of 6 to 16, I spent most of my weekends staying at my Granny’s house in Sydenham. My dad liked that she looked after me in the early days and I kept her company too (not because my dad wanted me out of his sight for the weekend).
I didn’t complain because I was happy to see her and not only did she live closer to my friends, she was very close to the MOVIEZONE video rental shop on the Holywood Road. They had an offer in which you could rent 3 VHS films for 3 nights for £3. Now you may think in the 1990s/early 2000s this is a bargain, but back then it was a burden.
The elusive third film was always hard to squeeze in on a 2 night weekend, especially with only one VHS player. The shop owner used to rub his grubby hands together and mock me when he seen that I would rent out the same movie the next weekend. “Did you like it THAT much, or did you just not have the time?”…I would get my vengeance on Bank Holiday weekends.
On the Monday me and my Granny and my Uncle would watch war films such as the Bridge over the River Kwai and the Dam Busters, in fact, he even went as far as nicknaming me Gunga Din because I used to struggle to pronounce it. One of my fondest films was the 1963 Jason and the Argonauts. We all watched as a group of legendary Greek Heroes set sail in search of the illustrious Golden Fleece.
The movie is known for its classic claymation battle scenes brought to life by Ray Harryhausen and features clay skeletons battle Jason’s team of sword and sandal-wearing heroes. Looking back now it is almost laughable but you have to admire the production especially with Jason running away from a 300ft clay titan.
The film is described by Tom Hanks as the greatest film ever made, better than Citizen Kane. Looking back you can see that that era of muscle-bound mythical heroes was beginning to wane and the film was a box office disappointment. Yet, Jason and the Argonauts has a timeless quality to it, a throwback to a simpler era of story-telling which does not rely on its special effects to drive the plot. The action scenes are well thought out and each set piece drives the plot at a nice but frantic pace. Definitely worth a late rental fee.
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (Joe Mc Elroy)
Growing up Bank Holiday’s and films were a match made in heaven. In the morning you would have a kids movie, in the afternoon there was a family film and in the evening there was a big blockbuster. For me, no Bank Holiday was complete without an Indiana Jones film. Anytime any of the original trilogy (thankfully The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull didn’t come out until I, like the titular star was much older) was on the TV you knew you were going to be swept away on an adventure with the intrepid archaeologist.
When I was younger I wanted to be Indiana Jones more than anything else in the world. Discovering artefacts in exotic locations and getting caught up in whirlwind adventures, there was nothing else I would rather do. That is until I discovered the more mundane aspects of archaeology and my passion for that life diminished.
Even though some films are better than others in the series the one that I love (and seen) the most growing up was The Last Crusade. I was always disappointed when it wasn’t showing on TV on a Bank Holiday Monday but thankfully my old video recording of it was always on hand to save the day. To me, it was the perfect blend of adventure, action, drama, comedy and horror. Something I still believe to this very day.
I remember loving the film for what it was at a base level, a rip-roaring race for the Holy Grail but now as I watch it with older eyes the thing that wins me over more than anything is the relationship between Indy and his father. The casting of Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr. was an absolute masterstroke. Who else could fit the patriarchal role of the world’s greatest adventurer other the original James Bond?
As a man who obsessed over the grail to the detriment of his relationship with his son, Connery fits the role with his constant bickering with his son. This serves only to disguise his clear love for him. This is apparent more than ever in the aftermath of Indy’s fight with SS Colonel, Ernst Vogel on top of a tank as it hurtles off a cliff.
Henry overcome with emotion grabs hold of his son worried that he’d lost him. It is all but sealed when Henry, after referring to his son as Junior calls him Indiana as he pleads with him to forget about the grail instead of risking his life for it, showing Indy the respect he has sought from his father all his life. This heartwarming arc is the glue that holds and strengthens the film.
However this is not just a domestic drama, it’s the adventure of a lifetime and it zips along at a breakneck pace to the tune of John Williams iconic score, which contains some light-hearted pieces this time around. Spielberg too is on top of his game delivering exciting action set pieces aplenty. From the opening chase atop a circus train to a thrilling boat chase in Venice and a rescue mission in the desert, the film is relentless in its pursuit to entertain and succeeding on every level.
After going “too dark” with the second film (The Temple of Doom) Spielberg upped the humour in this outing as it is interspersed throughout the action. From getting Indy’s horror at discovering Elsa’s nocturnal mutterings from his father to Marcus (“lost in his own museum”) Brody’s bumbling antics, the film is as funny as it is exciting. That’s not to say that the film is all fun and games. The horror and danger tied to the series are still present.
I used to fast forward or hide during the scene where Walter chooses poorly by drinking from the false grail. The way he would age rapidly before turning to dust terrified me, scarring me as a child. Out of all of the Indiana Jones films, The Last Crusade is my easily my favourite.
Objectively I think that Raiders of the Lost Ark is the better film but Last Crusade has that bit more heart to it which is why I tend to gravitate to it more than any other film in the series. As a child growing up in the countryside, I would happily watch the action unfold on a bank holiday in front of the television. As soon as Indy and his father would ride off into the sunset I would race outside, ready to let my imagination soar pretending that I was on my own adventures as Henry Jones, Jr.
Moonraker (Jim McClean)
So when we decided to share our Bank Holiday movie memories there was only ever one contender for me and that was 007!
Bank Holidays were built for throwing on the tele in the afternoon and watching a Bond movie on either BBC One or UTV. Usually, I’d have been at my grannies because my mum would’ve been working, she’d never turn down double-time at work on a Bank Holiday, but I didn’t mind because my granny’s TV was bigger than ours (it truly was a beast) and she’d happily watch the movie with me, along with all the various horror movies we’d watch together, but that’s a story for another time.
I thought it would be hard to pick a specific movie because there’s 24 to choose from, there would’ve been 25 by now if it hadn’t been for COVID-19, but the Bond movies I usually watched on a Bank-Holiday were usually from the Connery or Moore tenures and for some reason, the first 007 film that instantly came to mind when I sat down to write this piece was Moore’s fourth outing as 007, Moonraker.
Now, let me be clear right from the get-go, Moonraker is by no means one of my favourite Bond movies; admittedly I have a soft spot for it, but it doesn’t come anywhere within my top ten bond movies, but I’ve such a vivid memory of watching the film at my grannies, sprawled out on my stomach in front of the television.
Released in 1979, Moore’s fourth outing as 007 felt like a reaction to Star Wars, which had been released two years prior. The huge box-office success of Lucas’ film meant that in an attempt to keep Bond relevant for cinemagoers producers felt the need to send 007 into space to battle the villainous Hugo Drax. They seemed to be right, despite mixed reviews, the film went on to be one of the highest-grossing entries within the franchise and the film’s special effects were even nominated for an Academy Award.
But, as a young lad I didn’t care about those box-office figures or Oscar nominations, I just cared about the spectacle onscreen and there’s no denying Moonraker delivers on that front. The outer space finale may seem out of place within a bond movie, but it’s pretty damn impressive, as is the cable car sequence in Rio de Janeiro, which saw the return of Jaws.
Yet, for all its onscreen spectacle there’s one moment from Moonraker I’ve always loved, no not the moment where they used the theme from Close Encounters of The Third Kind on the keypad, but a moment I think is possibly the coolest onscreen moment for Moore’s entire tenure as 007.
Whilst out on a driven pheasant shoot, Bond fails to hit a flushed pheasant but does shoot a sniper who’s hiding in a tree close by. When Hugo Drax gleefully informs 007 that he’d missed, Moore turns to him with a knowing smirk on his face and dryly responds, ‘Did I?’.
That moment is genuinely one of my favourite moments for 007 and proof if ever any were needed that Moore’s eyebrows deserved an Oscar nomination in the best supporting actor category. It’s strange though that whilst Moore isn’t necessarily my favourite Bond (I’ll always be a Brosnan man myself), but when I sit down and think about some of my favourite Bond moments so many of them come from Moore’s tenure.
That iconic opening from The Spy Who Loved Me, not to mention Wet Nellie, the infamous underwater car we see later in the same film or even the finale of A View to A Kill at the Golden Bridge in San Francisco. These are some of the moments I think of when I think of 007 and it all stems from those Bank Holidays at my granny’s house.
Whilst it might be easy for some to poke fun at some of Moore’s outings as 007 it’s impossible not to admit he kept the franchise going and introduced so many younger viewers to Fleming’s iconic creation!
The Parent Trap [1998] (Therese Rea)
As we approach another bank holiday, if we were in normal circumstances, people would be making plans to go away for the weekend or looking forward to having a drink on a Sunday without the fear of Monday blues.
However during lockdown every day for the past 7 or 8 weeks has felt like a bank holiday, but with a lot less holiday. In the past bank holidays in the Rea household were spent on day trips to Newcastle, Portrush and Bangor depending on the weather. If we had to stay put for whatever reason, there was one film we watched together and that was Nancy Meyer’s 1998 film The Parent Trap.
This is the second time that German novelist Erich Kastner’s book, Lottie and Lisa, has been given the Hollywood treatment; as Disney first released the film in 1961 with Hayley Mills, Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith in the title roles. The 1998 release includes Lindsay Lohan, playing both twins Annie and Hallie whilst Natasha Richardson and Dennis Quaid, play their divorced parents whom they try to reunite.
As the story goes, Hallie Parker and Annie James, both live very separate lives. Hallie lives in America with her Dad and Annie lives in London with her Mum; unaware that they are twin sisters separated at birth. One Summer, the twins are sent to camp by their respective parents, with no clue that they would be reunited and once reunited, the twins hatch a plan to bring their parents back together.
The film deals with the hijinks between the newly reunited siblings and their plot to bring their parents back together. We also meet one of the best villains in Disney history in the shape of Meredith Blake, played by Elaine Hendrix, Nick Parker’s vain and self-centred girlfriend.
Both films share similarities, staying close to their source content and also using the same lead actress to play both twin roles; which also meant adapting the same camera style and techniques in both films. The use of the split-screen dates back as far as the 1890s, used in films to often showcase a character’s inner thoughts.
In 1961, Disney won an Academy Award for the Mill’s version of The Parent Trap and was the first major blockbuster to have success using this editing technique. The method was used again in Meyer’s version in 1998 with Lindsay Lohan playing both roles, which was so seamlessly edited together; for years I was convinced Lohan had a twin sister.
It was said that during these takes Lohan wore an earpiece and was fed lines to remind who which twin she was playing and she had a body double as a reference to focus her lines toward.
This bank holiday, one thing is for certain, the weather will be very unpredictable, so if you haven’t seen either film both are now available on Disney+ and just as good as each other.