Thank you! The dumber the better. Case in point, "the last action hero". Outstanding, fucking stupid action flick.prfsnl_gmr wrote:Counterpoint: Action films are great. The dumber, the better.
Taken is a classic, not due to Liam Nelson’s awesome speech, but due to scenes like this:
What was the last movie you've seen?
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
What are you talking about? Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning was great! Saying it's the best Universal Soldier film is kind of damning with faint praise, but Regeneration and Day of Reckoning were both way better than that franchise deserved.RCBH928 wrote: Do you mean they intentionally meant to turn it into a parody of action films or it was so bad people actually considered it a joke/parody?
Day of Reckoning was a solid horror movie that legitimately gave me chills at the beginning and an awesome and brutal action movie.
Systems: TI-99/4a, Commodore Vic-20, Atari 2600, NES, SMS, GB, Neo Geo MVS (Big Red 4-slot), Genesis, SNES, 3DO, PS1, N64, DC, PS2, GBA, GCN, NDSi, Wii
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PretentiousHipster
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Yea, parody and deconstructions are two different things. Hopefully just a misunderstanding? This one felt a lot more subversive than what a parody would do.
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Watched Beavis and Butt-Head Do America last night. Funny shit!
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Reboot month continues....
Night of the Demons (2009)
Angela is once again throwing a party and once again she unknowingly releases a horde of demons upon her unsuspecting friends. Bad things happen. Lots of people die and massive amounts of blood is spilt upon the land. You know the drill.
Alas, Ack was right and this one pretty much sucks. I say pretty much, because despite the horrible script, pacing, partying and plot, the demons themselves at least had some pretty sweet (and messed up) designs. So that's nice at least. But beyond that it just feels like a cheap movie that's trying to hard to be 'Try-hard' in an effort to stand out, and failing miserably at it at every turn. Kinda like if your 13-year-old brother wrote a script that was meant to shock you, but since he's just 13 all his efforts amount to little more than a giant pile of cringe. So just ignore this one. Is no bueno.
Oh, but if I ever make a friend who is named Angela and she invites me to a Halloween party, I must remember to politely decline. It's just better not to tempt fate at this point, even if all the invitation amounts to is a crappy techno-rave.... Especially if all it amounts to a crappy techno-rave.
Night of the Demons (2009)
Angela is once again throwing a party and once again she unknowingly releases a horde of demons upon her unsuspecting friends. Bad things happen. Lots of people die and massive amounts of blood is spilt upon the land. You know the drill.
Alas, Ack was right and this one pretty much sucks. I say pretty much, because despite the horrible script, pacing, partying and plot, the demons themselves at least had some pretty sweet (and messed up) designs. So that's nice at least. But beyond that it just feels like a cheap movie that's trying to hard to be 'Try-hard' in an effort to stand out, and failing miserably at it at every turn. Kinda like if your 13-year-old brother wrote a script that was meant to shock you, but since he's just 13 all his efforts amount to little more than a giant pile of cringe. So just ignore this one. Is no bueno.
Oh, but if I ever make a friend who is named Angela and she invites me to a Halloween party, I must remember to politely decline. It's just better not to tempt fate at this point, even if all the invitation amounts to is a crappy techno-rave.... Especially if all it amounts to a crappy techno-rave.
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Indeed , its a misunderstanding. I read it more like "It took every action film trope to the extreme end turning it more funny than serious" . The fact that it is late in Van Damme career it helped push that idea in my head. I never heard of this movie series, if you recommend I will watch.
Given how expensive and high end movie gear was back then, some movies make me scratch my head thinking a group of CEOs and multimillion investors read the script and said "Yes, lets do it!"
Only saw the trailer, I am sure Duke Nukem 3D was based on Arnold's character in this movie.stickem wrote: Thank you! The dumber the better. Case in point, "the last action hero". Outstanding, fucking stupid action flick.
Given how expensive and high end movie gear was back then, some movies make me scratch my head thinking a group of CEOs and multimillion investors read the script and said "Yes, lets do it!"
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Raging Justice
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Righting Wrongs a.k.a. Above the Law (1986)
This is an interesting movie. It's a starring role for Yuen Biao, a guy who seems to get overshadowed by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, despite sort of coming up in the martial arts genre with them. He's quite good in this movie. He convincingly plays a proper badass, but also a somewhat complex character with some depth. He struggles with the issue of whether or not the justice system can be counted on and whether or not it is right to take matters into your own hands and go "Above the Law" a.k.a. be a vigilante. Cynthia Rothrock has almost as much of a starring role as him. She very much represents "The Law" and is quite obstinate about working within the system and following the rules. One of the major themes of this movie is the conflict between their view points. She believes in the law so strictly, she reminds me of Javert from Les Miserables
Both of them have some truly, killer action sequences and some of the people they go up against are every bit as badass as they are. The action in this movie is fun, exciting, and damn creative too. Often times I would see someone do something so damn cool I had to rewind and watch it again like an instant replay. The movie even has one of the earliest examples I've seen of the so called, "Gun Fu" that John Wick is famous for.
This movie has all the trappings of a cheesy, 80s action movie and I often smiled or laughed at some of the movie's more ridiculous moments, some of which were probably unintentionally ridiculous. There are some over the top moments during some of the action scenes in a way that only an 80s movie would do. Big explosions, dramatic slow mo shots, exaggerated facial expressions and screams, and villains really hamming it up, etc. There's even one random thug who reminded me of one of the goons from Tim Burton's Batman. Surprisingly though, the movie gets damn serious and dark at times and takes its central themes quite seriously (like what is the best way to seek justice against criminals). Actions have consequences in this movie and sometimes it is hard to know who is really right and wrong in their choices when it comes to the central characters.
The tonal shifts are interesting, but sometimes jarring. Sometimes it feels like the movie may be punching above its weight class in trying to handle its themes. The soundtrack in particular doesn't really fit some of the movie's darker and more serious moments. The music never gets out of, "silly, fun, 80s movie" mode, even when the movie itself actually does. Also, while I enjoy many of the movie's lighter, funnier, moments (including the unintentionally funny ones) there are scenes involving certain supporting characters that are so over the top silly I was rolling my eyes. There's a group of cops in this movie (including a father/son duo) who get way too much screen time and I hated every single one of their scenes as they all involve them acting like buffoons and I suppose it's supposed to be funny, but it felt more cringy than anything. One of these characters gets a really, well done, redemptive moment in the movie, but it's immediately followed by another cringe-worthy scene involving his annoying cop buddies and more annoying father that kills the good will the previous scene creates towards him. To say more is spoilerish. I honestly feel like this would be a stronger movie with all their scenes edited down or cut out entirely.
Overall though, I really enjoyed this movie. The way the story plays out is surprising in some ways, subverting my expectations in a good way. The 80s cheese is fun, and the darker elements work pretty well even though sometimes the music and sillier scenes clash a bit with them tonally. The action sequences are absolutely top notch and will probably be the only reason some people will watch this. The movie seems to be considered something of a cult classic among genre fans.
One major problem with this movie though is the hassle of actually watching it. There's like three different versions of it all featuring different scenes, dialog, cuts, and even endings. A lot of people seem to prefer the Hong Kong version which I watched. It's a bit more brutal in the action department. It also features what seems to be the movie's original ending, while other versions seem to have a new, re-shot ending, that ends the story in a dramatically different fashion.
There's also the issue of dub vs sub. The version I watched had pretty, sloppily, poorly translated subtitles with characters saying ridiculous things like, "When I storm. I don't turn around" and a bad guy telling his goons to attack Cynthia Rothrock's character by saying, "Polish her apple!". There are two dub tracks if you count the one from the VHS release. Like many English dubbed, Asian/Hong Kong, movies you have dialog that doesn't sync up with mouth movements and rather unimpressive acting. Plus, I just hate hearing voices that don't actually belong to the actors, although Cynthia Rothrock's voice may actually be hers that we're hearing.
In short, it's damn near impossible to recommend the best version of this movie to watch as they are all flawed in some way or another. I'd suggest the Hong Kong version with Chinese audio and English subtitles. This movie needs some kind of ultimate edition, blu ray, release like Jackie Chan's Armour of God 2 got from 88 films
This is an interesting movie. It's a starring role for Yuen Biao, a guy who seems to get overshadowed by Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, despite sort of coming up in the martial arts genre with them. He's quite good in this movie. He convincingly plays a proper badass, but also a somewhat complex character with some depth. He struggles with the issue of whether or not the justice system can be counted on and whether or not it is right to take matters into your own hands and go "Above the Law" a.k.a. be a vigilante. Cynthia Rothrock has almost as much of a starring role as him. She very much represents "The Law" and is quite obstinate about working within the system and following the rules. One of the major themes of this movie is the conflict between their view points. She believes in the law so strictly, she reminds me of Javert from Les Miserables
Both of them have some truly, killer action sequences and some of the people they go up against are every bit as badass as they are. The action in this movie is fun, exciting, and damn creative too. Often times I would see someone do something so damn cool I had to rewind and watch it again like an instant replay. The movie even has one of the earliest examples I've seen of the so called, "Gun Fu" that John Wick is famous for.
This movie has all the trappings of a cheesy, 80s action movie and I often smiled or laughed at some of the movie's more ridiculous moments, some of which were probably unintentionally ridiculous. There are some over the top moments during some of the action scenes in a way that only an 80s movie would do. Big explosions, dramatic slow mo shots, exaggerated facial expressions and screams, and villains really hamming it up, etc. There's even one random thug who reminded me of one of the goons from Tim Burton's Batman. Surprisingly though, the movie gets damn serious and dark at times and takes its central themes quite seriously (like what is the best way to seek justice against criminals). Actions have consequences in this movie and sometimes it is hard to know who is really right and wrong in their choices when it comes to the central characters.
The tonal shifts are interesting, but sometimes jarring. Sometimes it feels like the movie may be punching above its weight class in trying to handle its themes. The soundtrack in particular doesn't really fit some of the movie's darker and more serious moments. The music never gets out of, "silly, fun, 80s movie" mode, even when the movie itself actually does. Also, while I enjoy many of the movie's lighter, funnier, moments (including the unintentionally funny ones) there are scenes involving certain supporting characters that are so over the top silly I was rolling my eyes. There's a group of cops in this movie (including a father/son duo) who get way too much screen time and I hated every single one of their scenes as they all involve them acting like buffoons and I suppose it's supposed to be funny, but it felt more cringy than anything. One of these characters gets a really, well done, redemptive moment in the movie, but it's immediately followed by another cringe-worthy scene involving his annoying cop buddies and more annoying father that kills the good will the previous scene creates towards him. To say more is spoilerish. I honestly feel like this would be a stronger movie with all their scenes edited down or cut out entirely.
Overall though, I really enjoyed this movie. The way the story plays out is surprising in some ways, subverting my expectations in a good way. The 80s cheese is fun, and the darker elements work pretty well even though sometimes the music and sillier scenes clash a bit with them tonally. The action sequences are absolutely top notch and will probably be the only reason some people will watch this. The movie seems to be considered something of a cult classic among genre fans.
One major problem with this movie though is the hassle of actually watching it. There's like three different versions of it all featuring different scenes, dialog, cuts, and even endings. A lot of people seem to prefer the Hong Kong version which I watched. It's a bit more brutal in the action department. It also features what seems to be the movie's original ending, while other versions seem to have a new, re-shot ending, that ends the story in a dramatically different fashion.
There's also the issue of dub vs sub. The version I watched had pretty, sloppily, poorly translated subtitles with characters saying ridiculous things like, "When I storm. I don't turn around" and a bad guy telling his goons to attack Cynthia Rothrock's character by saying, "Polish her apple!". There are two dub tracks if you count the one from the VHS release. Like many English dubbed, Asian/Hong Kong, movies you have dialog that doesn't sync up with mouth movements and rather unimpressive acting. Plus, I just hate hearing voices that don't actually belong to the actors, although Cynthia Rothrock's voice may actually be hers that we're hearing.
In short, it's damn near impossible to recommend the best version of this movie to watch as they are all flawed in some way or another. I'd suggest the Hong Kong version with Chinese audio and English subtitles. This movie needs some kind of ultimate edition, blu ray, release like Jackie Chan's Armour of God 2 got from 88 films
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
I’m really digging these reviews, Raging Justice! I’m a huge fan of Asian action movies, and it’s cool reading your reviews of both some of my favorites and some I’ve never heard of. Keep it up!
Also, @michi, your reviews are always such a pleasure too!
Also, @michi, your reviews are always such a pleasure too!
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Raging Justice
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Thank you for the kind words. I have always loved the genre too, but it's only recently I'm delving into a lot of the ones that are considered classics or cult classics and it's been a fun experience.prfsnl_gmr wrote:I’m really digging these reviews, Raging Justice! I’m a huge fan of Asian action movies, and it’s cool reading your reviews of both some of my favorites and some I’ve never heard of. Keep it up!
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
The two most recent movies I’ve seen are Belle (2022) and Alphaville (1965).
Belle is anime legend Mamoru Hosada’s very modern take on Beauty and the Beast. It’s beautifully animated and frequently touching. Moreover, the music is stupendous. Unfortunately, some of the humor falls a bit flat; the story goes a bit off the rails towards the end, and it should have been at least 30 minutes shorter. Still, it was a feast for the senses, and I am glad I saw it in theaters. (My daughter really wanted to see it; so we went to a matinee together. We pretty much had the place to ourselves!) I feel like Mamoru Hosada is soooooooo close to making a real masterpiece, but just hasn’t gotten there yet. Still, he’s a really exciting director, and I look forward to seeing what he does next.
Alphaville is a French New Wave, dystopian, science fiction film noir directed by the inimitable Jean Luc Godard. In it, a well-established French pulp hero, Lemmy Caution, investigates a city managed by an artificial intelligence. This city, in the distant future, in a distant Galaxy, looks remarkably like 1960s Paris, making it the prettiest dystopia put to film. (Seriously, if I had to pick a fictional dystopia in which to live, as opposed to the actual dystopia in which I live currently, I would choose the dystopia from Alphaville.). The whole thing is both very, very French New Wave and very, very mid-century science fiction. So, if, like me, you like both of those things, you’ll also like this very bizarre, but thoroughly engaging, film.
Belle is anime legend Mamoru Hosada’s very modern take on Beauty and the Beast. It’s beautifully animated and frequently touching. Moreover, the music is stupendous. Unfortunately, some of the humor falls a bit flat; the story goes a bit off the rails towards the end, and it should have been at least 30 minutes shorter. Still, it was a feast for the senses, and I am glad I saw it in theaters. (My daughter really wanted to see it; so we went to a matinee together. We pretty much had the place to ourselves!) I feel like Mamoru Hosada is soooooooo close to making a real masterpiece, but just hasn’t gotten there yet. Still, he’s a really exciting director, and I look forward to seeing what he does next.
Alphaville is a French New Wave, dystopian, science fiction film noir directed by the inimitable Jean Luc Godard. In it, a well-established French pulp hero, Lemmy Caution, investigates a city managed by an artificial intelligence. This city, in the distant future, in a distant Galaxy, looks remarkably like 1960s Paris, making it the prettiest dystopia put to film. (Seriously, if I had to pick a fictional dystopia in which to live, as opposed to the actual dystopia in which I live currently, I would choose the dystopia from Alphaville.). The whole thing is both very, very French New Wave and very, very mid-century science fiction. So, if, like me, you like both of those things, you’ll also like this very bizarre, but thoroughly engaging, film.