I know most of the readers of FH love movie male nudity. I love following the on-screen skinning of actors, the trends, the surprises, the differences over the decades. If we're honest though, we know that really great movies, those movies that we collect and watch again and again, don't really need it. My movie collection, from collecting DVD's through digital, includes many films with little to no nudity. A quick glance at my collection includes classics like Star Wars, Jaws and The Wizard of Oz. Holiday films like Love Actually and Miracle on 34th St. Films directed by Hitchcock, Donner, Lucas and Spielberg.
There are a handful of great films, where the nudity either enhanced, or made the film better. The skinning dipping scene in A Room With A View, is the fist one that comes to mind. The skinning dipping scene wasn't necessary needed, but it was like a playful intermission, a brief visual escape which made the film even better. I also can't imagine watching Shame without Michael Fassbender's nude scenes, especially at the beginning of the film. They were shocking for a mainstream film, but really helped define the character. Without them, the audience would have felt something was kept from them, something audiences generally don't appreciate. Director Steve McQueen wisely put Fassbender's frontal's at the beginning of the film, getting the needed element out of the way once Brandon was introduced to the audience.
So so films however, are a different story. There are so many films I saw, and didn't really like, that I ended up buying or watching again, only because of a scene of male skin. I've watched the original Jaws several times. I've watched each of the sequels, just once. Had Jaw 2 included a butt scene from actor Mark Gruner, or Jaws 3D, a skinning dip scene with Dennis Quaid, I may have actually bought them on DVD, but when they hit the sales bin of course...
Although I'd love to seen more Mark Hamill skin, there was no need for Luke Skywalker to walk around naked in Star Wars. The prequels however, could used a dosage of derriere. I hated all three of the prequels and barely got through one viewing. If however, Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor or Liam Neeson had dropped their Jedi robes, even for a second, they may have warranted a closer look.
I have bought, although not kept, so many so-so and even bad movies over the last twenty years, mostly because of brief scenes of male nudity. It was especially common in the 80's and 90's to throw in a quick male butt to garner additional promotion. These two decades were filled with 'sex' comedies, with virtually no sex, but just enough skin to get horney movie viewers attention. These scenes may not have proved to increase box office in any substantial way, but they did increase profits, especially with future video and DVD releases.
Who really would have watched The Blue Lagoon without the nudity from Christopher Atkins. We all nude Brooke Shields nudity was a body double, but we saw all of Atkins. They story was really not that compelling, and could have been told in a page or two. The acting was not really great either, but it didn't matter. I was obsessed with seeing the film when I was a kid. I knew of the nudity long before I was able to get my hands on a VHS copy. I re-watched the film, those scene over and over. I bought a couple of DVD's over the years, the original release, the special edition and the digital release. I know I'm the only one who watched again, hoping that Randal Kleiser might have slipped in a surprise.
I could list hundreds of movies who's success and reputation was based on the addition of a little skin. Those few seconds of Sean Astin's ass are the only reason I DVR Toy Solders, when I see it's airing on the movie channel. I wonder then, why some movies missed their opportunity for additional promotion and increased video and DVD sales. There are some pretty bad movies, that could have been improved with a bit of male butt. This entire piece, is actually based on seeing part of a recent film. I say part, as the movie didn't really hold my interest, even though the male cast members certainly did. See which movie I'm I'm talking about by checking out the next page HERE:
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