I think it's sad

Movies will never EVER get made again this way.

I just sat down and watched the theatrical version with someone who had never seen it before and it as like watching the film new again.
I felt the palpable atmosphere of the movie and the utterly luxuriant lighting. I even got a little lump in my throat at the end when they were all waving like a theater play with the curtain coming down.
I cannot believe how beautiful this film is, it is a lighting masterclass, darkness's rubber, the sets, everything is utterly sublime.

I then saw a trailer for Hugo and realised it doesn't have the texture or the craft behind it, there's no mysticism to the effects and definitely no CHARM whatsoever.
Nothing that pulls you into this other world which seems a little too perfect (I don't hate Hugo I haven't even watched it but it s a benchmark for movies of today in terms of looks and quality).
Hugo look's like a magazine cover and Legend is like an art gallery.

Ridley Scott took 12 hours pre-lighting each scene before he even shot making the film just under a year to make.
Hollywood would never allow that now, they wouldn't allow such extensive use of rubber or pre production that lasted half a year.
It would be CG sets with CG creatures and non of the charm or gritty, dark feel of Legend.
Subtle lighting would be replaced with teal versus orange and nothing in between, no shades or textures, no beautiful sets but green screened composited characters in a far too well lit FX background and camera moves intended to disorientate rather than tell a story.

Legend was a product of its time and a grand experiment from Ridley Scott going nuts for a year. It is bittersweet and divine but at the same time a flawed masterpiece.

I wish I had a hundred movies like it across a span of genres to sit through, movies that have been crafted to this degree in this kind of style but time moves on unfortunately and now film making is far too clean creating worlds that are just way too perfect.

I mourn the old and despair the new.