The Insane Exaggerated Cities of 90s Cinema

[@JoshuaKallenberg]

Your train videos were some of my favorites of yours, some of us really appreciated them, sad they didn't do well :/

[@liamtahaney713]

Yes I am sad to hear the algorithm didnt reward them, but for me it was absolute maximum quality content

[@rolanddeschain6089]

Someone who doesn't know this channel might be confused by this comment.

[@kingdoo21]

His train videos inspired me to write a script called The Great Train Race which is really just Speed Racer with trains set in 1907.

[@RS-ry4lp]

They’d have done better if he got rid of the stupid fucking puppet and masturbatory meta elements.

[@Icedsobaka]

Yeah i was also surprised they didn't do well

[@djshire1984]

"Was there just something in the water in Hollywood?" Yes, cocaine.

[@mullac1992]

Cocaine make big building

[@JayHankEdLyon]

Babe: Pig in the City should've been in Gotham. The tagline would've been "Got ham?" This used to be a country.

[@StriderZessei]

Alas, we now live in a Society.

[@jorgehaswag7294]

Now we live in Gotmilk

[@RextheDragon881]

Goatmilk

[@morgansimpson315]

Is it was Gotham, we could have had BatPig years ahead of schedule.

[@SadeN_0]

terrible.

[@cannonballking7]

Those train videos kicked ass, they may not be appreciated now but in time people will look back to see them as the superb works of art they were...

[@aslanevrim4348]

Yeah loved them and watched them twice. What is it with this hate against trains ?

[@KenrickBlock]

Agreed!

[@EtruskenRaider]

Dammit Luc Besson! You promised us floating noodle junks! Where’s my floating noodle junk Luc?

[@BeeranProductions]

It's sad to hear the trains videos were not successful. Two of the best videos this season!

[@MariaVosa]

I smell a conspiracy! KZbin is clearly bought by Big Car or something!

[@VioletOrbWeaver]

@@MariaVosabig car is unwilling to admit to its limited cinematic appeal compared to the diverse beauty of public transit

[@STormnNormn2027]

It is worth mentioning that the miniatures used for the city in The Hudsucker Proxy were continually reused for other films. Batman Returns, The Shadow, Godzilla, The Fifth Element, Independance Day. I actually own a piece of one of those buildings leftover from its destruction in Godzilla.

[@Flint-Dibble-the-Don]

That's cool as hell. Have you spotted that particular building in any of those movies?

[@STormnNormn2027]

@ I have. It is one of the buildings Godzilla hits with his tail while overlooking Central Park.

[@FullSenderson]

I watched the train video twice. I clapped. I clapped because it was different.

[@tessiepinkman]

I really loved your Train videos. Very weird that they didn't perform.

[@TheDandy99]

It’s weird they went off tracks for most watchers

[@thatmanonthemoon]

YT didn't show them to me, probably not the only one

[@nikolasmolin5749]

I believe a lot of creators have been seeing less views

[@Flint-Dibble-the-Don]

​@@nikolasmolin5749I've been seeing tons of new videos lately that are under 100 views and totally random. Not all bad either. Kind of like classic You Tube.

[@derpy_kirby9239]

I’m a simple man I see Patrick uploads: I drop everything to watch it :)

[@CommanderVibral]

Honestly, I have been stopped in my tracks that the two train videos didn’t get the platform they deserved! Were people just derailed from watching, or did the algorithm decide to switch tracks and send them to a different station? This content was full steam ahead with quality, and it’s an engine-uity masterpiece! Whoever didn’t watch is clearly loco-motive in their choices. Let’s conduct ourselves better next time, folks!

[@goth_fraggle-y5i]

bravo!

[@williamdixon-gk2sk]

I tried to read this comment but got sidetracked by all the bells and whistles...

[@rogerk6180]

"A city that could not exist in real life" Clearly never heard about Chonqing.

[@Pullaka]

hahahaha. I was going to text exactly the same.

[@lukegordonharris]

Yeah I’m halfway through and I’m surprised there hasn’t been any discussion of the influence of Asian cinema, from Anime like Akira to Hong Kong action - megacities were partially extrapolating Tokyo to US cities

[@CodyWalton1979]

"Robocop is a much more accurate Detroit movie than The Crow." True, but ironic considering Robocop was famously shot on-location in Dallas and prominently featured both Reunion Tower and Dallas's brutalist city hall building.

[@simonwilde4404]

5th Element owes a lot to the work of Mobius and 'The Incal' Hyped if that Taika Waititi Incal project ever happens. That will be a mega city for the ages.

[@HarryBuddhaPalm]

Also the "Harry Canyon" segment of "Heavy Metal" which was about a flying taxi driver in a future megalopolis that picks up a mysterious red-haired woman in his cab.

[@chapablo]

The train videos had a slow start, but one they get going they will be unstoppable. Y’know, like a big thing that’s hard to stop.

[@bronzeecho]

like a missile the size of the chrysler building

[@RABartlett]

There was one more major cinematic megacity: Champion City in 1999's MYSTERY MEN. I think another factor in the trend starting in the early 80's and ending in the 90's was a sort of overall metrophobia where New York City in particular was painted as a squalid, crime-filled hellhole. There's a lot of debate over Rudi Guliani's policy and whether he actually contributed anything to declining crime rates, but he definitely went on the PR offensive of framing NYC as America's Gift Shop. You can sort of see this in TV sitcoms, going from NIGHT COURT, to SEINFELD, to FRIENDS, to WILL & GRACE, where the city goes from dangerous to quirky to kinda fancy (The evolution of the SNL opening titles throughout the decade is interesting to watch). This sort of "gentrification" also maybe crosses with the boom for fantasy and historical pieces, which is where people focused a lot of the world-building and opulence. (ELLA ENCHANTED actually gives you a quick glimpse at what the megacity might look like in a medieval fantasy). It's actually sort of interesgting how the first couple of HARRY POTTER movies sort of use the sort of 90's ennui as a contast to the wonder of the Wizarding World.

[@williamdixon-gk2sk]

I was mildly shocked he didn't cover Champion City as well as Edge City from the mask. Maybe there just wasn't much footage to work with? I do recall there only being a few shots of the cities in these films.

[@josieferrandino9742]

Comment before I watch: He better mention how the same set of New York buildings built for Hudsucker Proxy were re-used for almost every iconic Mega-city of 90s cinema.

[@josieferrandino9742]

He did not in fact mention that the buildings made for Hudsucker also appear in: The Shadow (1994), Baby's Day Out (1994), Batman Forever (1995), Independence Day (1996), Batman and Robin (1997), Fifth Element (1997), Godzilla (1998) and Bewitched (2005). Meaning that five films he mentions all share a set of miniatures that ended their life as set dressing in the Bewitched movie.

[@BAM5636]

That's cool. I didn't know that. Long live the Hud!

[@kami_in_the_skye]

@@josieferrandino9742*This* right here is why I will still at least briefly skim the comments on most videos I watch even though there's also usually psychic damage waiting for me down here. Thank you!

[@ghijkmnop]

The thing that got me about Burton's first Gotham was how that cathedral could simultaneously be stretching 500 feet into the sky and crumbling to dust if you look at it wrong.

[@Doomxeen]

I loved the train videos. My kid even watched most of them with me because he fuggin' loves trains.

[@George2647g]

Honorable mention to 'Sin City' a 2014 anomaly..

[@tajcee]

Agreed.

[@floraphana]

this video really makes me want to rewatch patrick's 2-part series on trains

[@99brickstudios]

I'm fully with you on the train videos. Those were amazing!!

[@kassyh117]

Hello Patrick ! French viewer here ! I just discovered your channel thanks to a French youtuber, who is also engaged in a relentless war against the word "content", and who recommanded your video "Who's killing the cinema" This video was absolutely amazing and captivating ! As a big fan of Hercule Poirot I loved the moustaches 😂 You won a new subscriber from far far away, I'm gonna watch all your videos 😁

[@thetonycanepa]

The train videos were in my opinion the best pieces you have produced to date (followed closely by Grand Prix). You have leveled up and are producing your best work ... and sometimes that means part of your audience may change. Keep going, keep digging deep, keep loving movies. P.S. The Noblesse cookie commercial was the first time I laughed out loud at Nobbles. Well played, sir.

[@otzmaanalytics4679]

Before I watch: Megalopolis? (BTW, I loved all of the train material. So much so that it made me rewatch both The General and Silver Streak, AND introduce my son to them.)

[@LynnHermione]

It is good, and looks very pretty.

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

Awesome to hear you introduced your son to them, some of my fondest memories as a kid was watching some of the spectacular train sequences in Octopussy and The Train (1964), idk i think quite a lot of kids grow up fascinated by trains and locomotives partly because of those visual references going back to train scenes in The General and Westerns. It rlly sparks the imagination when you're young

[@kurtwaldron-e4e]

Definitely fits! Although it has the very bizarre quality of the actual Megalopolis looking nothing like a real city, with buildings that resemble plants more than anything else.

[@bensneb360]

The Shadow is one of the most underrated and enjoyable, superhero films of all time, always glad to see it get love

[@kurtwaldron-e4e]

Every bit as good as either of the Burton Batman's even if does lack a villain anywhere near as memorable.

[@tajcee]

I was just going to comment the same thing! Loved the dark deco look of The Shadow.

[@TimOHare93]

Patrick, your train video was great. People didn't appreciate Citizen Kane either when it was first released

[@brothertaddeus]

Blade Runner was originally a flop but went on to become a cultural touchstone. I hope the same for the train videos, which were fantastic.

[@superbogopop]

I was thinking to myself: "Weird of him to bring up Gotham City by R. Kelly instead of Kiss from a Rose by Seal cosidering the video also takes place in Gothan City." I was a fool to doubt in the first place

[@kaicanyonellis]

You got me. I'm watching the train videos next.

[@artkub5396]

I have high hopes for Gunn's Superman movie. That Lex' skyscraper looks dumb and I I adore it.

[@MariaVosa]

Hopping over from Nebula to give this video a well deserved Like - especially for the Matt "cameo" and Emma getting to talk about Kilmer. But I have to say I was a bit surprised you didn't end by discussing Megalopolis! Even if that movie was a flop, it really embodies everything you talk about with capitalism, class anxiety and most of all flourishes! So a *Question* for the Q&A video: What do you make of Coppola bringing back the mega-city concept and do you think it bombing so hard will mean that it will take another 25 years before we see another attempt at this?

[@marksutter182]

I can't believe the train videos flopped. After part one, part two was my most anticipated video from you ever.

[@lydia1634]

The train videos rule. It is a very bizarre concept to wrap one's mind about, but I am definitely going to be thinking about it for a while. It's like the "Baseball is the most cinematic movie" episode. Changes how I see particular tropes.

[@MrBlue3rd]

The exaggerated feel of Gotham City makes it feel more like a Comic Book world.

[@kabuki7038]

Holy smokes. Patrick Willems quoting Oswald Spengler was not on my bingo card

[@frizzyrascal1493]

Finally someone mentioning Batman Forever‘s Gotham City. It was so over the top and absurd, but also great with the neo-art deco.

[@TheNeoParody]

People shitting on the 1993 mario bros movie as if its set design didn't go hard as fuck

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

Look, if it was something else, an original story, nobody would argue. But it was based on the game with castles, wide open greenery, trees, mushrooms, pirahna plants, etc. The opposite of that movie in like, 1,990 different ways.

[@naheemquattlebaum2267]

Thank you!

[@BAM5636]

Yeah its creative. Problem is trying to reimagine something so differently than the original all during it's initial peak in pop culture. It has some redeemable qualities certainly but it's just really bad at being a mario movie.

[@RS-ry4lp]

A polished turd is still a turd

[@thecianinator]

Everyone agrees Super Mario Bros is a good movie, it's just a terrible Mario movie. The directors were hired to make a Mario movie, and instead of doing that, they made whatever movie they wanted to make and just called it Mario. That's disrespectful to your audience, and no one likes being disrespected.

[@iulz9942]

im so heartbroken about the train videos im so sorry they were amazing

[@nylohro4091]

Honestly one of my main hopes for James Gunn Superman is him creating a Fleischer inspired Metropolis but I have doubts we'll see that. And you had the mega cities of the 90s with Batman as you discussed then the superhero movies pivoted to more grounded and real cities but then they eventually pivoted away from that and no we're in an era of superheroes just battling in empty fields somewhere removing the city element altogether.

[@conorgalaska7876]

The train videos ruled, I hope you are proud of them.

[@BlaiseChesterton]

I loved your train essays. I think they'll gain steam over time. ;)

[@ryankleinicus]

That's my bad, Patrick. I only watched the train videos 2x each instead of my usual 3x each. I'll never outlive this shame.

[@Germania9]

Underrated: LA 1999 in Strange Days is like Blade Runner in speedrun. It's fast, violent and yet very colourful. And I doubt City of Lost Children is mentioned here. And here's obscure one: The unnamed city in Nirvana starring Christopher Lambert.

[@HarryBuddhaPalm]

Oh, yeah, "City of Lost Children" is a big oversight. It's amazing.

[@angeliprimlani9389]

Not enough people have seen Strange Days.

[@Germania9]

Should also have added Osaka in Black Rain directed by Ridley Scott And also the rainy unnamed city in Se7en.

[@ElectricEvan]

As a struggling public transit activist I can relate to the "Watch my train video" that is a mood

[@przemysawdobrzynski2590]

This is the price we pay for CGI - no more amazing real sets in big movies.

[@ashuebot-tabi4449]

Most blockbusters and plenty of mid range films today still use miniatures and elaborate sets. This is just pointless CGI hate.

[@przemysawdobrzynski2590]

@@ashuebot-tabi4449 They do use them but not in this same scale as before, that's why we dont't have this exaggerated set-cities anymore. Also I don't hate CGI, just pointed at some consequences of this era.

[@ashuebot-tabi4449]

@@przemysawdobrzynski2590 They don't use them at this scale because as CGI has evolved, filmmakers have implemented it alongside the analog work. If anything, the films that brag the most about being all practical are the most CG heavy. You may not hate CGI, but this line of reasoning is exactly why the industry is devalued and its tools are deemed lesser.

[@przemysawdobrzynski2590]

@@ashuebot-tabi4449 I don't think they're lesser but it's like comparing a painting made by a human with painting made by AI. There is something missing in there. Huge sets with handmade cities were a lot richer and detailed, every part of it could be a little masterpiece, but with CGI you just get these impressive but somewhat random, generic cities straight from some templates. You don't have to built it with your own hands knowing that actors will be using these spaces nowadays so you just don't pay this much attention and imagination to it as an artist.

[@ashuebot-tabi4449]

@przemysawdobrzynski2590 This is exactly the uninformed and shallow view on CGI. Those artists spend years looking at reference material, scanning the existing practical sets and props, creating models and environments: it's as intensive as any prop building, set design or animatronic work. Do you really think ILM and Digital Domain earn hundreds of thousands to just type prompts into software that just farts out designs? That actors can't work around these digital environments is an issue with them and their directors, not the VFX artists: black box theater has seen directors and actors work with less than most all digital sets, there's no excuse besides directors not putting enough thought into CGI and actors not working hard enough.

[@djpashtet]

I'm one of those statistical outliers, who really enjoyed the train duology. Thanks for staying true to yourself! :)

[@Thmoliv]

I feel like this video was made for me. This is my Roman Empire

[@owlexanderhamilton2508]

NO FUCKING WAY the train videos failed. those objectively ruled

[@rhinniek]

Poor Things feels like the closest thing to this in modern times.

[@jamesbridges6792]

Honestly the only reason I haven't watched the train video yet is because I still haven't watched the newest Mission: Impossible movie and didn't want it spoiled. Can't wait to watch both soon, though!

[@GoMrBob]

The train videos were awesome. I love trains... plane movies? automotive movies? lets goooo

[@AntonyHarePI]

The Train videos were far and away my favourite in years.

[@Weezing336]

I'm sorry but R. Kelly's "Gotham City" is actually pretty great.

[@SuperNuclearUnicorn]

I hate that R. Kelly had to be such a shitty person, because he's got so many bangers. Ignition (Remix) might be one of best songs ever made, but I can't listen to it because I don't want to support someone like that

[@tb_eest]

The train videos were good!

[@HugoFitzpatrick]

Trains, cities and movies.... This was made for me 😎

[@joedaniel8935]

So sad that the train videos didn’t appeal to more of your audience! Guess I’ll have to watch them again!

[@Kolkio22]

The Judge Dredd film city scape reminded me of the album sleeve for "Somewhere in Time" by Iron Maiden.

[@CheCockerham-i4e]

The Batman might be like the first time in a long time where Gotham (or any city in a superhero movie) felt very stylized and lived in, it felt very much like a wasteland filled with greed, chaos and corruption, I hope both James Gunn’s Superman and the MCU’s Fantastic Four continue this trend but in the opposite side of the spectrum with the fun, retro-futuristic, promise of tomorrow vibes of Metropolis and NYC

[@Comicbroe405]

I feel like with The Batman & Penguin show we're sort of getting back to this.

[@jaylenjayden9305]

Agreed and I’m pretty sure Gunn is doing something similar in Superman

[@Comicbroe405]

@@jaylenjayden9305 Fs. The giant globe on the Daily Planet is giving me hope.

[@negative6442]

Blade Runner 2049

[@sinistercinemareviews5420]

I watched and really enjoyed both train videos. I don’t know what’s up peoples asses.

[@CompleteAnimation]

These movies are so dark and shadowy. KZbin's compression really isn't up to showing off the visuals of Batman.

[@canderia]

You gotta train your audience to appreciate premium train content.

[@TagardMC]

Champion City in Mystery Men I think was the LAST outrageous city of the 90s.

[@HarryBuddhaPalm]

Yeah, it was the Burton Gotham cranked up to 11. It deserved a mention.

[@jonyu3]

This is what i wanted from megalopolis

[@klein8697]

Patrick's train videos are much like blade runner, a flop that will in time be cited as the origin point for other's greatness.

[@Zeldafan355]

Patrick, I'll have you know I already watched the train videos. They were very good.

[@DavidH_Scott]

Shout outs to all the true Train Bros. out there that loved the train episodes

[@TTillman3]

Blade Runner features the iconic Grand Central Market, where we first meet Deckard, as well as Union Station; so it’s not just the Bradbury Building, and it’s not just the lobby of the Bradbury Building that’s featured.

[@HarryBuddhaPalm]

Deckard's apartment is also a real place, I believe.

[@kayEnt3rtainm3nt]

Yes, that was the Ennis House ​@HarryBuddhaPalm

[@benschofield7565]

And the 2nd street tunnel

[@pennywaldrip3774]

Megacities are the nostalgia we were looking for all along.

[@Red_Spidey]

Sam Raimi's New York in the Spider-Man trilogy feels so huge and giant; when Spider-Man swings, you feel like he would be at the top by now, but no, he's still somewhere at the bottom. It's truly like a concrete jungle for Spider-Man to swing in.

[@akshatmishra494]

Genuinely cannot believe that the train videos flopped. Even in the sea of your videos which are already s tier youtube, they were some of my favorite video essays I had ever seen. I still see part 2 about action movies while watching lunch sometimes. They will age well Patrick and I think the algorithm will be kind to them in the future.

[@theantone7476]

Thank you for this amazing video, so many beautiful shots of cities in other 90s movies outside of Batman and Crow. I gotta see these movies

[@kodyk124]

I watched both your train videos! They were great and introduced me to an aspect of cinema history that I hadn't ever noticed. Also, loved your video about the most 80s movie!

[@nicholasmitchell2734]

I was thinking about the train videos the other night because The American Friend was on tv and it has a train sequence and it's awesome

[@10000Hawks]

THE BATMAN FOREVER COAT

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

Brazil and Batman have the same cinematographer: Roger Pratt BSC - he is very good friends with Terry Gilliam; I got to spend a lot of time with Roger and his family and got to study his work in the process. Him and his family would be delighted to hear you say his work had such a far reaching impact.

[@coffeysays]

Pretty smug now I watched the train videos before they became a sleeper hit (pun intended)

[@gav7428]

A Spengler reference was not something I expected in a P Willems video, I have to say

[@davymugire8581]

So what you're saying is more studios should make movies like megalopolis

[@TheConstantSeeker]

Emma taking the chair for her own segment!! YAAASSSS We stan.

[@echoecho57]

Man they really nailed the Nobbles/Patrick dynamic this episode 😅

[@ShowtimeLycan2]

Well *I* watched the train videos. I thought they were just wonderful, Patrick.

[@oatmat]

Finally a new video, I thought Patrick had forsaken us

[@Kaiterra]

Sad to hear about the train videos, they were great, and it was a wonderful subject to cover with some good insights.

[@theme6530]

The train videos are my favorites, really affected my film backlog and fun as hell

[@curtisbailey78]

Great video! I immediately recognized the theme but have to admit to my chagrin that I'd never realized that mega cities really were a major 90's thing. Also, the train videos were *chef's kiss*

[@jasperheckinbocker1101]

Was ready for a reference to my beloved mortal engines when it came to moving cities

[@Skute]

It’s funny because I did hold off on watching the train videos at first but they were great of course.

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

It's genuinely surprising to hear the train videos did poorly, they felt like something from early Blue Flame Special episodes, they're such a key part of film and especially action, but I guess maybe I've always been a train fan and some of my favorite film have big train action sequences, it's not exactly broadly familiar to people, but then again I hope this doesn't mean you start deviating from what you want to talk about to appeal to algorithm too much, your video topics are always so uniquely you and always super expansive in reach, very different from a lot of movie video essays nowadays that feel they need to cater to gen-z or letterboxd coded films

[@ErichWK]

I legit love your train videos. People are just philistines

[@HeathcliffeMcHarris]

Dang I really liked those train videos

[@HeathcliffeMcHarris]

I must be out of touch

[@HeathcliffeMcHarris]

guess I gotta go review to see if I was wrong about them

[@justdannyquinn]

5:52 - 5:58: I'm genuinely baffled because I thought those videos were brilliant.

[@adelakucerova415]

Guys suddenly I got feeling that I should watch some train videos. Should I give in?

[@davidedelson9061]

Wait, the Train videos thing was real? That wasn't a gag or a bit? I assumed those were just like, references to videos too dull for you to have actually made, but then. I went back and looked and they're real! I would have watched them if I noticed them coming out, but somehow I absolutely missed you making those videos.

[@aaronborok8398]

Honestly really surprised you didn't mention Megalopolis at all It kinda feels like a grand return to this type of mega city aesthetic, to the point of literally being named "megalopolis"

[@adammorris3890]

Uploaded just in time for lunch. That's how we like it.

[@joshsawyer573]

Breakfast for me 😈

[@thejinchuriki4855]

I loved the train videos and they gave me a love of trains and trains in stories. Now I want to use trains in my stories

[@MJkhan635]

Batman wasn’t the highest grossing film of 1989 like you stated it was the Last Crusade

[@karlkarlos3545]

Nationwide, it was Batman. Internationally, it was Last Crusade.

[@Anitube]

I have gone to watch your train video again because of this video, good job.

[@TheCertifiedGeneralist]

I miss art deco Batman.