I read the book "Less Than Zero" many years ago and thought the book was really good. When the movie came out I was pretty excited to see it but I didn't actually like it that much. Dazed and Confused was much much better as a movie.
Why do you have to choose one over the other? Totally different feel and eras. RDjr was nothing short of amazing in less than zero. I had friends choose similar roads to his character, so I can relate. Dazed and Confused is great all the way around for me too. I can't choose, I love them both.
There's reason why Dazed is in the mid 90s on RT and Less Than Zero is in the mid 50s. I do t always agree with everything and Less Than Zero was well respected by critics and an ok movie. But it's not on Dazed's level at the end of the day.
Maybe you can appreciate sad and depressing sh*t a lot more than a fun movie. Dazed is a "happy" movie with an ensemble cast that doesn't get too deep into one single character or a lot of introspection. Cheer up man, Rudy G is closer to Durant's level then ever.
Dazed and Confused was new fresh and more original. I picked that one. Less than Zero was nowhere near as good as the book. There were great performances especially by Robert Downey Jr. But there was also a large helping of cheese in that movie. If Dazed and Confused is cheesy it doesn't rise to near the same level as Less than Zero does. I still enjoy Less than Zero despite its flaws. Dazed and Confused was more groundbreaking, and had far fewer flaws.
I can't vote, there's not an option for "both". I really like these 70s/80s movies (obviously dazed was like 94 or so, but just great times in general)... I'm a sucker and my wife will watch them too.
On a side note they wanted to do a sequel to Less than... And "change the ending" of the first one... Haha, I'd probably watch it if it were made back then with the original cast...
Rules of Attraction is the follow up to Less Than, in a strange way, with some of the same characters away at college.
Ah interesting, I wasn't even thinking on that, so that movie was with different actors though, right? Was it decent? I saw this on a decently sourced Wikipedia about the Less than Zero film and it was stating this (this was a long time ago, now... God time flies) "On April 14, 2009, MTV News announced that Ellis had nearly finished Imperial Bedrooms, his seventh book and the sequel to Less Than Zero. Ellis has revealed that the film's main characters are all still alive in the present day, and has already begun looking ahead to the possibility of a film adaptation. Ellis feels that interpreting it as a sequel to the 1987 Less Than Zero adaptation "would be a great idea" and hopes to be able to reunite Spader, McCarthy, and Gertz should Fox option the sequel." I saw some more recent news somewhere but I don't think it's going to happen. I also didn't realize how big the series was with regards to the books...
Wasn't Downey, Jr. basically high during the entire filming and film? Or, was he strictly just acting with no influences?
Why do we have to choose? Ha ha... both great, great movies. I'll give a slight nod to Dazed & Confused only because when I started smoking herb in college, it became one of those movies my roommates and I would watch (and quote) endlessly (and annoyingly).
I've never seen less than zero. does it take place in Texas also? I think that's what did it for me with Dazed & Confused. Oh and a young Mila!
No it's the early to mid 80's LA New Wave scene. Again he goes with the Costello reference with the mooted Imperial Bedrooms. And yes RD jr was sky high during the filming of Less than Zero..
What? It may be a fact to you, but it sure isn't a "fact" to me. As someone who remembers the '70's well, I can tell you that Dazed and Confused captured the essence of the era as lived in Austin, and other enclaves of what I would call the last gasps of the hippie era in Texas (like parts of Houston at the time), brilliantly. Focused on the high school, of course, but Austin and the lifestyle shines throughout. The "conflict" between sub-cultures was real. Just a great flick, in my opinion.
I first saw it in a tent at a massive festival in the UK, Glastonbury June of 95. I was floored hearing those Texas accents all the way over in England in a tent in a field close to Stonehenge, full circle indeed!
Agreed. I was the exact age of the kids portrayed in that movie (graduated in '77) and it was an accurate portrayal of the basic high school night life in our neck of the woods in Houston (Telephone Road/Garden Villas).
Less than Zero. I think finishing junior and senior year in Texas after Dazed and Confused came out I just heard a few too many quotes to not be tired of it. That's more of a personal preference than quality judgement, though; Dazed has a much deeper bench.
