25 Movies That “Couldn’t Be Made Now”

Typically, the 25 movies that “couldn’t be made now” are just fine, if you have a sense of humor. But these days, who knows?

As Good as It Gets

The fact is that there was offensive language and material in this movie, but it was more of a risk because of the story, not the content. Having a sense of humor didn’t make it much better.

Something’s Gotta Give

A lot of people think this movie would drop to HBO Max without a theater release. But in terms of content, it’s rather tame.

Blazing Saddles

Let’s put it simply: Mel Brooks knew how to get away with this content. The jokes, the sense of humor, and the fact that it aimed the audience’s vitriol at the worst characters made this a classic.

Life of Brian

There’s always a risk when it comes to involving religion, especially a few key faiths that don’t like being made sport of. But if you can laugh something off then good for you. If not, well, don’t watch it.

Female Trouble

Cult classics are great given that they don’t always attract large crowds and can survive on a threadbare fanbase. You might need to look to find this, but it’s easier to appreciate due to that fact.

Gremlins

Does anyone get the feeling that kids were tougher at some point in history? The stories that were marketed to us back then were often scarier, and more nightmare-inducing, and yet we survived.

Police Academy

One might think that people today would want to see cops in a lighter and humiliating tone. But somehow this movie still offends some critics.

Porky’s

Sure, plenty of frat-boy and high school movies have come out that are piggish and objectify women. Are they in the right? Not really, but they find ways to be entertaining. But if you think this type of movie isn’t made today, well…

Titanic

This is an interesting pick since a lot of people will rise to defend this movie. But thinking that it couldn’t be made today has more to do with cost than anything else.

Soul Man

Does anyone remember White Chicks? It was okay then apparently, but it’s fair to admit that the blackface attempt in this movie was cringe-worthy and something one is eager to forget.

Tootsie

There might be a lot of reasons that people might claim that this movie can’t be made today. But it might have more to do with the idealism rather than the budget or risk it would require.

The Last Samurai

What’s amusing about this is that an isolated case of one white person is an issue. But accepting parts of white culture wasn’t a big deal. Hmm. For the right price this could still be made again, after all, Shogun came back, right?

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

Here’s the thing about having a sense of humor: You can laugh at yourself and everything about you. If you can’t, well, don’t watch movies that ‘appropriate’ your sense of self and culture.

Manhattan

There are a lot of people who will reply with ‘You know why’ when asked why this couldn’t be made again. If you can’t handle the content, don’t watch, plain and simple.

The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It

A spoof movie is a special moment that can occur when and if it’s the right time. The only reason this movie couldn’t be made again is because…it’s been made. Copycatting a spoof movie is something even a rookie wouldn’t attempt if they’re wise.

Driving Miss Daisy

Movies like this are apparently meant to ‘hold the hands of white viewers…to come to terms with their own racism’. Apparently, that means that white people need to feel guilty at every turn instead of enjoying a good movie. Hmm.

The Color Purple

The unfortunate part of a lot of movies is that the story gets lost in the concept of skin color, racist ideas, and other bits of mess that people pick at like loose paint. This is a great story if people would let it be what it is.

Mr. Mom

As a stay-at-home dad, it’s tempting to tell any and all critics of this movie to install a zipper over their lips. But the fact is that this was a funny movie that built and worked off of stereotypes that have changed and are still changing.

Sixteen Candles

Yes, there are moments of cringe in this movie that make us wonder what we were thinking when we were in high school. But as raw as the sense of humor is at time, it’s still a funny movie. The issue of date rape though is still debatable, like it or not.

Revenge of the Nerds

At one point it does feel as though this movie was about who could be pettier, the jocks or the nerds. These days, the only reason this movie couldn’t be made is because the intermingling of jocks and nerds has been ongoing for decades.

Air Force One

It’s fair to say that people paid attention to two people out of everyone in this movie, Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman. They were the big hero and the big bad, respectively. Today, that same dynamic would be needed, or it wouldn’t work.

Ordinary People

The idea of Adam Sandler turning to drama was kind of hard for many people to take. If any other comic did this it might slide today, but back then it was jarring enough to be worth noting.

The Reader

The title alone might get a few people to take a peek. But today it’s fair to think that it would be better off as an indie film that was kept to smaller theaters.

Brokeback Mountain

This had a shock factor to it that a lot of people wanted to experience for themselves, whether folks want to admit it or not. These days it’s rather common and would be more of a risk unless one had a pair of actors who were a great draw.

You’ve Got Mail

Getting excited about email these days isn’t something that one typically hears about that often. To make this more exciting one might have to get great actors or create an even more exciting bit of drama.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Classics often get the benefit of the doubt quite often, for many reasons. But hard subjects don’t often get a lot of positive attention these days without intense scrutiny.

Batman Returns

It’d be great to say that this is a joke entry, but plenty of people appear to think that more sexual scenes are needed in superhero movies. Did anyone see Deadpool by chance?

Cannibal Holocaust

Does anyone remember the day when there wasn’t a need for disclaimers? Sure, this movie was tough to watch, but no one said that people had to.

Marnie

It’s tough to think of Hitchcock as anything but a great storyteller. But as many storytellers will hopefully respect, there is something twisted in the minds of writers and those to craft one tale or another, as Marnie proves.

Saturday Night Fever

Well, there’s one reason why this movie wouldn’t be made, and it’s one that a lot of people don’t want to admit. Disco is, unfortunately, dead, if not buried. Anything else in this movie that might prevent it from being made is still being filmed in modern films, so don’t kid yourself.