Chapter 14

On the screen, the male and female leads, after numerous misunderstandings and overcoming various difficulties, finally triumphed over the temptations of wealth and fame, and each sidelined the second leads, successfully coming together.

Watching the heroine on the screen happily put on her wedding dress, it seemed as if the entire scene began to brighten. Li Qian couldn't help but reach up to pinch his chin, lost in thought.

In his previous life, he had seen no less than a thousand movies, whether in theaters, on DVDs, or by sneaking into film school screenings. These included domestic and foreign films, from old silent films to the works of the fourth and fifth generations of Chinese directors, to recent online micro-movies, and even many films that couldn't make it to theaters and could only be released on DVD to recoup some costs. He had seen them all, and he had his own set of criteria for judging the quality of a film.

In his view, although the plot was clichéd and the camera work clumsy, at least the main storyline was solid, and the pacing was on track. In 1995, it could definitely be considered a qualified film.

However, it was precisely this film, which was of decent quality and could serve as a way for young couples to spend their weekend, that had an extremely sparse audience—only a dozen or so people, including Li Qian and Wang Jinglu, were scattered throughout the hall. One person started snoring shortly after the film began, and soon after, two more people left halfway through!

Although it was an 8:30 AM showing on a Saturday, this performance was clearly not impressive, and the audience's reaction directly labeled the entire film as a "flop."

Therefore, as they walked out of the screening room, Li Qian's brows were tightly furrowed.

"Do you think it was good?" he asked Wang Jinglu.

"Very good! Qianqian finally married Li Mingyuan! So happy!" she said.

Li Qian was speechless.

So, this is the standard by which girls judge whether a movie is good?

...

Twenty minutes after the first film ended, the two of them went to the restroom separately, and then the second film, "Pride and Resilience," began.

Unexpectedly, the box office for this film was still poor!

It was already 10:10 AM on a Saturday, and it was a new American blockbuster... yet the entire screening room only had about thirty to forty people!

This was a Schwarzenegger action film!

A smooth story, sharp editing, the pure adrenaline rush from Schwarzenegger's muscles and fists... although Li Qian wasn't particularly fond of typical American action films, he still felt it was worth the ticket price.

In Li Qian's view, regardless of the different genres, whether from an artistic or technical perspective, the quality and sincerity of this film were enough to surpass the previous "Love, Never Loses."

However, the audience still didn't buy it.

"Do you think it was good?" After the film, Li Qian asked Wang Jinglu the same question.

Wang Jinglu frowned and thought for a moment, looking conflicted.

"Then... what do you think?" she countered.

Li Qian was speechless.

"I'm the one asking you!" he said.

Wang Jinglu hesitated for a moment before reluctantly said, "Well... I don't really like this kind of movie, all the fighting... but the story was still good! The male lead is really strong!"

Li Qian was speechless again.

Thus, as they walked out of the screening room, he was somewhat distracted. But then, when he and Wang Jinglu queued up for the third film, "The Three Musketeers in White," he was stunned!

A sea of people!

Before the film started, Li Qian stood up and looked around the screening room—there was at least a 70% occupancy rate!

This made Li Qian suddenly excited!

Director: Zhou Kuiyuan, leading actors: Bian Fang, Lu Youming, Chen Bin, Sun Yuanyuan.

With high expectations, he entered the story, and then Li Qian was once again stunned!

The feeling was as if he was transported to 1980s Hong Kong! It was the feeling of 1980s Hong Kong TVB martial arts films, apart from a few classic Jin Yong series!

But the audience was buying it!

During the film, people occasionally whispered in admiration—

"Damn, so cool!"

"Really awesome!"

"Great! Well done!"

These were the men and boys.

"Bian Fang is so handsome, look at him jumping onto the roof, so cool!"

"Chen Bin is also handsome, and his character is the strongest!"

These were the girls and women.

Li Qian's eyes twitched, and he was speechless.

...

At 1:45 PM, at a rice noodle shop.

When the two bowls of rice noodles were served, Li Qian was still somewhat distracted.

Wang Jinglu ate very delicately. She picked up a few strands of noodles with her chopsticks, blew on them gently, and waited for them to cool before taking a small bite, making no noise.

After a bite, she noticed Li Qian stirring his noodles and spacing out, so she spoke up, "You seem a bit listless?"

Li Qian looked up at her, and the smell of the noodles seemed to revive him. He lowered his head and quickly scooped a mouthful, and Wang Jinglu quickly shouted, "Be careful, it's hot!"

Li Qian paused, then put the noodles back.

After a moment's thought, he said, "I don't know what's wrong, I'm just a bit distracted! Mainly, the situation with these films is a bit... beyond my expectations, so I feel a bit confused!"

"Oh!" Wang Jinglu didn't quite understand what he was confused about, so she picked up a few more strands of noodles, blew on them gently, and swallowed them before speaking again, "What do we do this afternoon? How about we go to the video store?"

"Video store? For what? Do you want to buy someone's music?"

"Not really, just to browse! Anyway... I don't want to go home right away."

"Oh."

"Right, right, you like Zhou Mo's music, right? How many albums do you have?"

"Three, I think? 'Dreamer,' 'Quicksand River,' and... yes, 'Fireworks.'"

"Ah, you don't have as many as me. I also have 'Glass Cup' and 'No Bridge to Cross,' which are also very good. Do you want to borrow them to listen?"

"Sure!"

...

Slurping, Li Qian finished his bowl of noodles in just a few minutes.

Then, he spaced out while waiting for Wang Jinglu to finish.

After she finished, they paid the bill and left. Li Qian suddenly stopped at the door and said, "How about... we go see another movie this afternoon?... I have something I can't figure out, I want to see another one!"

"Oh, sure, let's go, I have nothing to do anyway! Watching movies is fun!"

So, the two of them returned to the cinema. Li Qian asked, and the ticket seller said there were still tickets for the 3:00 PM showing of "Alien 3," so he quickly bought two more tickets.

This was another imported film, and it was said to be the last week of its run, with the weekend being its final showing.

This film was very popular, and Li Qian had already seen it in his previous life, even watching it with Liu Qiang and others, but he still wanted to see it again.

Because it was... a sci-fi film!

Because he knew that this was likely the highest level of Hollywood film technology in 1995 in this timeline!

Li Qian felt that this film might help him unravel some of the questions in his heart.

...

At 2:45 PM, "Alien 3" began its ticket check and entry.

After entering and before the film started, Li Qian, as usual, looked around at the occupancy rate.

Although it was the last week of its run, the screening room still had about 30-40% occupancy. Considering the poor performance of "Love, Never Loses" and "Pride and Resilience" earlier in the day, Li Qian knew that this film had really made a lot of money.

This made Li Qian think of the invasion of Hollywood films in his previous life.

Before the 1990s, the entire Chinese cultural sphere, including East and Southeast Asia, was dominated by Hong Kong films. Due to differences in cultural orientation, values, and aesthetics, except for Japan, which had always tried to integrate into Western culture, Hollywood blockbusters had little influence in this region. This allowed Hong Kong, with its small population, to develop into the largest film production base in Asia, achieving the glorious success of Hong Kong films.

However, with the development of technology, the maturation of Hollywood's production capabilities and models, and the integration of resources within Hollywood, the last decade of the 20th century saw a wave of American blockbusters aggressively entering this market. Ultimately, with the release of Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" and the subsequent "Titanic," Hong Kong films were knocked down, and the entire Chinese cultural sphere became a box office base for Hollywood blockbusters.

This situation continued until Li Qian's rebirth, when domestic films seemed to be rising, with a few urban and comedy films achieving good box office results. However, in the overall market, they were still weak, especially under the pressure of Hollywood blockbusters, domestic filmmakers were unable to produce significant innovations, and many were just trying to make a quick buck, even leading to the world's first so-called variety show film.

Even as domestic films began to rise, their box office and influence were still limited to a smaller Chinese-speaking market. Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia had long become Hollywood's backyard.

In this timeline, Li Qian hadn't heard of "Jurassic Park," and "Titanic" was still unknown, but the trend of "big investment, big return" driven by technological development and market maturity was unstoppable. After nearly a century of development, Hollywood's technical capabilities and production models had matured, and this could not be changed. So, even without "Jurassic Park," "Alien 3" arrived on schedule.

...

In the screening room, Li Qian reached up to pinch his chin, focusing intently on the big screen.

The story of Earthlings befriending aliens and then fighting against evil aliens was, to Li Qian, who had seen countless Hollywood blockbusters in his previous life, not at all novel. The somewhat crude special effects of the time also left him feeling unsatisfied and a bit fake. However, he had to admit that Hollywood filmmakers were really good at telling these sci-fi stories beautifully!

And for the audience of the time, especially Chinese audiences, this level of special effects was already good enough and impressive enough, and the story of aliens was already creative enough!

So, when the cute alien in the film displayed its superpowers to the male lead, Li Qian clearly heard the "wow" sounds from the audience...

When the male lead was repeatedly embarrassed by his alien friend, he also clearly heard the laughter around him...

And when the alien warship appeared over Washington, the grand and magnificent scene made many people gasp and sit up straight...

Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

Li Qian knew that Hollywood blockbusters had truly arrived!

What should the domestic film industry rely on to resist? Martial arts films?

He repeatedly rubbed his chin, where no stubble existed, and fell into deep thought again.