‘The Movies That Made Us: Season 2’ Review (Netflix)
A little while ago I reviewed season one of The Movies That Made Us and I really enjoyed it; so I was super-excited when it was announced that we were getting a second season of this show.
The creative team behind the series The Movies That Made Us have created the perfect formula for a TV show that they could continue to endlessly make and people would still tune in to watch it. This is a show that explores the behind-the-scenes look at some of our favourite films which we don’t usually get to see. It talks about casting issues, music licensing, location scouting troubles etc so if the episode is focusing on one of your favourite films or an iconic film in history people are going to enjoy this added perspective.
Each episode in this series uses the same structure where they talk about these behind-the-scenes elements of the show with interviews, a quirky introduction by the narrator (voiced by Donald Ian Black) and ends with two key crew from the show returning to an iconic venue used in the original film. Due to the same structure being used repetitively throughout the season this means there was very little room for a drastic change in the second season. Usually when the second season of a show is announced we expect something to change whether that is new characters, different storylines etc. but we expect something new. However, despite the movies that the episodes focus on, the structure stays the same so labelling it as a second season maybe wasn’t the best – I think it should have been called volume two, as there was very little difference between season one and season two.
The Movies That Made Us is a show perfect for those who are looking to get into the film industry because, as previously mentioned, the show discusses creating a movie… warts and all! It talks about issues such as budget, pitching a new film to a network, the constant changes to scripts etc which will give new film creators some insight into the difficult journey that has to be travelled to get your film to the big screen. For example, take the iconic film Back to the Future, which still has a cult following and has been made into a West End musical (which I personally really want to see!) and the episode following this one was about Pretty Woman, which is also now a musical on the West End! This film almost had a different title of “Professor Brown Visited the Future” with a chimpanzee called Shemp. Also, the iconic Delorean was originally a fridge but had to be changed due to cost-cutting measures. Not only does this show highlight the processes in filmmaking but also educates people on some of these iconic films. I didn’t know that Forrest Gump is based on a book! My only issue with this show is that, at certain points in the season, the narrator would talk and the interviewees would respond to what they said which is a bit confusing as it was never addressed if the narrator was supposed to be the interviewer in the room or not.
Overall, this is a super interesting a fun season that gives a unique look at the filmmaking process. It’s useful for those looking to get into the film industry and also great for those who love the films being looked at.
