Film is cyclical. It always changes with the tastes of moviegoers. While a scarcity of certain movie genres may be part of a cycle, we can’t help but feel that some genres are tragically fading away.
Here’s to hoping we’re wrong about these beloved but disappearing types of cinema.
1. NOIR MYSTERIES
Movies like The Good Guys purport to be noir films, but vintage costumes alone do not make a noir mystery. Films like Chinatown and L.A. Confidential have all the vibes of a dim, smoke-filled jazz club—that is what noir is.
2. HISTORICAL EPICS
While Ridley Scott’s Napoleon will break a dry spell of epic, historically-inspired films, it is likely an anomaly. We will get a 1917 or Master and Commander once in a while, but studios seem far more concerned about green screens and superheroes than long, thoughtful, slow-burning historical epics. And yes, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer lit the world on fire, but he’s a very established director, and I’m sure studios are giving him the green light on just about anything.
3. MARAUDERS AND MAGIC
Also referred to as “Sword and Sorcery,” this genre of film combines a jacked, sword-wielding protagonist operating in a world where sorcery and magic are as common as sunrises and sunsets. While films like Dungeons and Dragons come close, movies like Conan the Barbarian are few and far between today.
4. LOW-BUDGET COMEDIES
For every studio-backed smash like Wedding Crashers, our formative years were also enriched by low-budget comedies like Back to School, Napoleon Dynamite, Billy Madison, and Caddyshack. Today, it seems like studios either invest in a massive star to lead an over-the-top “comedy,” or they don’t do comedy at all.
5. KID-CENTRIC SPORTS MOVIES
What childhood would be complete without seeing kids their own age playing sports on the silver screen? Apparently, lots of childhoods will be completed without these kinds of movies. As more kids have retreated indoors, the genre that produced The Sandlot and The Mighty Ducks seems to be less financially viable for the studios.
6. ASIAN MARTIAL ARTS FILMS
While there is undoubtedly a steady stream of high-flying, knuckle-chucking martial arts movies out of the East, they don’t seem to have the backing of prominent movie studios. Once upon a time, movies like Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were big-budget films released, first and foremost, to American audiences.
7. REALISTIC DISASTER MOVIES
There was a time when directors and studios wanted the audience to believe a devastating tornado or underwater oil gusher was happening inside the theater. Movies like Twister and Deepwater Horizon have given way to far less convincing action films with far more CGI than they need.
8. RAUNCHY COMEDIES
Jennifer Lawrence’s No Hard Feelings took a shot at bringing the raunchy comedy back. Yet, there was a time when a film’s raunchiness was not the reason for controversy or headlines—it was expected. The era of Superbad and The 40-Year-Old Virgin may have been the peak of the don’t-bring-your-mom-to-the-theater comedy. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that even Jennifer Lawrence can save this genre.
9. THE STRANGER DANGER FLICK
This is the genre where someone walks into your life by chance, and all seems well at first. Then, the protagonist realizes this person (who often has immediate access to their living room or child’s nursery) is unhinged and unwilling to leave. Movies like Cape Fear and Funny Games are examples of this fading genre.
10. SPOOF COMEDIES
There was a time when movies were made to spoof other movies, and the spoofs were arguably more entertaining than the originals. Scary Movie spoofed scary movies. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story spoofed music biopics. The Naked Gun spoofed spy movies. Spoofs were once abundant and glorious, but the times are changin’.
11. MARITIME FILMS
Great films often transport the audience into an entirely unfamiliar world. Could any world be more different from your cubicle than the cramped, disease-ridden hull of a British Royal Navy ship or the tight confines of a nuclear submarine? Unfortunately, films like Master and Commander, Crimson Tide, and U-571 are perhaps too expensive for studios’ liking.
12. MOVIES WITH TALKING BABIES
Whether the babies were geniuses or a narrator spoke on the baby’s behalf (Look Who’s Talking), talking babies will never not be hilarious. It’s hard to recall when the last type of talking baby movie even released.
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