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Post by Batflunkie on May 28, 2024 9:57:04 GMT -5
Watched Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)  I've seen bits and pieces of it before, but never the whole thing. Thought it was pretty good and damned impressive for the time. As someone who loves Fury Road, I thought that it was at least important to at some point see the Road Warrior at some point. There's also a great "compare and contrast" video by Red Letter Media in regards to Road Warrior and Fury Road (it is a little bit on the adult side, so be forwarned) |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 28, 2024 21:36:10 GMT -5
Watched Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) I've seen bits and pieces of it before, but never the whole thing. Thought it was pretty good and damned impressive for the time. As someone who loves Fury Road, I thought that it was at least important to at some point see the Road Warrior at some point. There's also a great "compare and contrast" video by Red Letter Media in regards to Road Warrior and Fury Road (it is a little bit on the adult side, so be forwarned) I'm more partial to Road Warrior, but I also saw it long before. I was vaguely aware of Mad Max, via these ads they used to have in Starlog, for movie soundtrack albums. One of them was the Mad Max soundtrack, with the old movie poster image....  I had no idea about the story or anything beyond what is in that image. Jump ahead to around 1982-83 and our town is wired for cable and we end up with Cinemax, for most of the year, thanks to a mistake, on the cable company's part. I watched it several times there, mainly to figure out what the heck is going on. Of course, this was the American dub, where Mel Gibson ends up sounding like Cliff Robertson and the only Australian voice you here is the one cop who ends up having to use an electronic voicebox, because they didn't overdub the effect. I saw the poster ad in Starlog for The Road Warrior and wanted to check it out; but, I can't recall exactly when I first saw it; either as a video rental or when I was at college, with a dorm showing (we had a movie night, once a week, with a different film, which made the circuit of the other dorms on campus). Loved it, more than the original (little more straightforward in the story, plus the world was a bit more interesting. It was years before I realized the actor who played Wez (the main henchman, on the motorcycle with the androgynous "partner") was the same actor who played Bennett, in Commando (or, as Cracked Magazine called him, Freddie Mercury-On-Steroids), Vernon Wells. Road Warrior, through no fault of its own (apart from its awesomeness) became the film that launched a thousand pro wrestling gimmicks and names, starting with The Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal, various Lords Humungi, and several Mad Maxes and Maxines. |
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Post by Batflunkie on May 28, 2024 21:44:28 GMT -5
Of course, this was the American dub, where Mel Gibson ends up sounding like Cliff Robertson and the only Australian voice you here is the one cop who ends up having to use an electronic voicebox, because they didn't overdub I've always been curious about the American dub of Mad Max, has it survived anywhere? It always kind of pains me when American dubs of old Kung Fu movies like Sonny Chiba's Street Fighter series is kind of forgotten about. I mean I understand that it's more pure to the film's intent to have it in it's original audio with subtitles, but the dub is what introduced so many people to it to begin with even if it is considered bad |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 28, 2024 22:34:18 GMT -5
Of course, this was the American dub, where Mel Gibson ends up sounding like Cliff Robertson and the only Australian voice you here is the one cop who ends up having to use an electronic voicebox, because they didn't overdub I've always been curious about the American dub of Mad Max, has it survived anywhere? It always kind of pains me when American dubs of old Kung Fu movies like Sonny Chiba's Street Fighter series is kind of forgotten about. I mean I understand that it's more pure to the film's intent to have it in it's original audio with subtitles, but the dub is what introduced so many people to it to begin with even if it is considered bad The commercial DVD that I originally bought had both the American dub and the original Australian audio tracks. That's where I first heard the original audio. You can hear the difference here..... and the original Australian audio of the same scene...... |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 3, 2024 4:11:46 GMT -5
After watching part of it a long time ago, a few days ago I finally caught Thunderbolt & Lightfoot (1974) in its entirety... Did some checking, and found that it has been previously reviewed in this thread by Jasoomian, the sorely-missed brutalis, and codystarbuck. The latter two gave it very positive reviews, while the Jasoomian had mixed feelings - which I share. I found it a little too slow-moving, with a number of solid scenes just sort of hung together, sometimes without much sense. I understand that the whole point of the film is that it's a character-driven drama, but some care should have been taken to have the story make a little more sense (codystarbuck noted the very casual way they procured that anti-aircraft gun to pull off the vault heist; I would add to that the way Red and Eddie, portrayed - quite ably by George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis - as generally unintelligent clods, tracked down the two titular characters with laser-guided precision in the vast stretches of Montana after being given the slip, twice). One thing that really struck me as I was watching is that the relationship between Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood) and Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) often seemed to suggest a mutual sexual attraction - I felt a bit gratified when I checked a number of online reviews and found that this aspect has occurred to quite a few others (and apparently it's still the subject of heated debate, i.e., many deny any gay subtext while others insist that it's there). Another thing I found really interesting is the number of familiar faces who appear in bit roles throughout the film: Catherine Bach, Gary Busey, Vic Tayback, Jack Dodson, Burton Gilliam, Bill McKinney and several others. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 3, 2024 19:59:46 GMT -5
After watching part of it a long time ago, a few days ago I finally caught Thunderbolt & Lightfoot (1974) in its entirety... Did some checking, and found that it has been previously reviewed in this thread by Jasoomian, the sorely-missed brutalis, and codystarbuck. The latter two gave it very positive reviews, while the Jasoomian had mixed feelings - which I share. I found it a little too slow-moving, with a number of solid scenes just sort of hung together, sometimes without much sense. I understand that the whole point of the film is that it's a character-driven drama, but some care should have been taken to have the story make a little more sense (codystarbuck noted the very casual way they procured that anti-aircraft gun to pull off the vault heist; I would add to that the way Red and Eddie, portrayed - quite ably by George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis - as generally unintelligent clods, tracked down the two titular characters with laser-guided precision in the vast stretches of Montana after being given the slip, twice). One thing that really struck me as I was watching is that the relationship between Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood) and Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) often seemed to suggest a mutual sexual attraction - I felt a bit gratified when I checked a number of online reviews and found that this aspect has occurred to quite a few others (and apparently it's still the subject of heated debate, i.e., many deny any gay subtext while others insist that it's there). Another thing I found really interesting is the number of familiar faces who appear in bit roles throughout the film: Catherine Bach, Gary Busey, Vic Tayback, Jack Dodson, Burton Gilliam, Bill McKinney and several others. It's Michael Cimino, so it's going to be more about character than plot. You can read all kinds of subtext; but, the thing that always struck me was that it was about lost generations. Eastwood's character is part of the Korean War generation who were pretty much forgotten and ignored and Bridges is the young generation, lost in a world that doesn't seem to be turning out to be what they were promised (plus Vietnam) and they are kindred souls, in a way, except Eastwood is the more worldwise and he takes the mentor role. Both are kinds of rebels and misfits, as are Kennedy and Smith. The cast is due to it being character heavy, as it is filled with great character actors. I saw it as a kid, when it was shown on ABC TV and there was just something about it that always spoke to me. What that was changed over the years, which I think is a strength of it. As a kid, it was the heist, as I loved heist films and tv plots, particularly Mission Impossible. As I grew older and especially after the military, it was both the not fitting in and the lost veteran, shoved aside when the war was over. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 3, 2024 20:00:19 GMT -5
ps Bill McKinney seemed to be in everything that Eastwood did, in the 70s.
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Post by berkley on Jun 3, 2024 22:05:09 GMT -5
I saw only part of Thunderbols & Lightfoot on tv as a kid in the 1970s, not enough to really get any strong impressions of the movie.
Mad max I was very lucky to see at our little cinema in my home town when it first came out, purely because I would always try to see anything that looked like science fiction, among other things. I really liked it and was pretty excited when I heard about Road Warrior - but couldn't get to the theatre for one reason or another and missed my chance. I did see it on video, I think it would have been around 1985 or so, but it's definitely something that needs the big screen to be appreciated and I didn't get to see it that way until just around a year ago, when they played all four Mad Max movies at one of the local movie houses here.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 4, 2024 6:12:53 GMT -5
I watched Ringu for the first yesterday, although I had seen its americanized version The Ring years ago. And surprise, surprise, I actually preferred the latter!
The Japanese original is fine, naturally, but I found a few things somewhat disappointing. The fact that the husband had psychic abilities, for example, felt way too convenient; that the dreaded phone call ("seven days" or, here, "you saw it") could only be received in the B4 cabin was less creepy than in its ubiquitous American version; the well being half-emptied bucket by bucket in just a couple of hours struck me as physically impossible. But those are small potatoes. Where the remake did particularly well, I think, is in setting up the great red herring about the fundamentalist family unfairly treating their innocent daughter, just to reveal that they were right all along. I love having the carpet pulled from under my feet like that! Ringu, for its part, didn't have the dreadful "you should not have freed her" revelation but stopped at "well, finding the body wasn't enough". An efficient ending, to be sure, but the remake managed to ratchet it up a little.
I think I'll try Ju-On next. I hadn't particularly liked The Grudge, despite the extremely spooky-looking ghost, so perhaps the original will do the trick.
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Post by tartanphantom on Jun 4, 2024 7:56:38 GMT -5
I watched Ringu for the first yesterday, although I had seen its americanized version The Ring years ago. And surprise, surprise, I actually preferred the latter! The Japanese original is fine, naturally, but I found a few things somewhat disappointing. The fact that the husband had psychic abilities, for example, felt way too convenient; that the dreaded phone call ("seven days" or, here, "you saw it") could only be received in the B4 cabin was less creepy than in its ubiquitous American version; the well being half-emptied bucket by bucket in just a couple of hours struck me as physically impossible. But those are small potatoes. Where the remake did particularly well, I think, is in setting up the great red herring about the fundamentalist family unfairly treating their innocent daughter, just to reveal that they were right all along. I love having the carpet pulled from under my feet like that! Ringu, for its part, didn't have the dreadful "you should not have freed her" revelation but stopped at "well, finding the body wasn't enough". An efficient ending, to be sure, but the remake managed to ratchet it up a little. I think I'll try Ju-On next. I hadn't particularly liked The Grudge, despite the extremely spooky-looking ghost, so perhaps the original will do the trick.
While I enjoyed all of the above-mentioned films (both the originals and the American remakes), they are indeed their own thing, and the plot foundations are the same, but obviously the films are tailored for their target audiences.
For some wacky Japanese Horror, try House.
If you want some really crazy, whacked-out horror films that will often leave you shaking your head in disbelief, look toward both Hong Kong and Indonesia.
I'm also still partial to the Tsui Hark's original Chinese Ghost Story trilogy, as they have solid production values and the acting is quite good.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 4, 2024 8:04:04 GMT -5
I watched Ringu for the first yesterday, although I had seen its americanized version The Ring years ago. And surprise, surprise, I actually preferred the latter! The Japanese original is fine, naturally, but I found a few things somewhat disappointing. The fact that the husband had psychic abilities, for example, felt way too convenient; that the dreaded phone call ("seven days" or, here, "you saw it") could only be received in the B4 cabin was less creepy than in its ubiquitous American version; the well being half-emptied bucket by bucket in just a couple of hours struck me as physically impossible. But those are small potatoes. Where the remake did particularly well, I think, is in setting up the great red herring about the fundamentalist family unfairly treating their innocent daughter, just to reveal that they were right all along. I love having the carpet pulled from under my feet like that! Ringu, for its part, didn't have the dreadful "you should not have freed her" revelation but stopped at "well, finding the body wasn't enough". An efficient ending, to be sure, but the remake managed to ratchet it up a little. I think I'll try Ju-On next. I hadn't particularly liked The Grudge, despite the extremely spooky-looking ghost, so perhaps the original will do the trick.
While I enjoyed all of the above-mentioned films (both the originals and the American remakes), they are indeed their own thing, and the plot foundations are the same, but obviously the films are tailored for their target audiences. Yes, that's exactly the impression I got... I even told my wife that the film reminded me a little of the animé series we watched as kids (without the horror aspect), what with superpowers or magical aspects grafted onto a story that, in a western context, wouldn't have used them at all. I'll check whether The House is on Tubi. (I watched the Ringu prequel, Ringu 0: Bâsudai, which was, alas, a pretty underwhelming affair. What I enjoyed the most was the way "birthday" is transliterated as "bâsudai".) |
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 4, 2024 8:18:32 GMT -5
I watched Ringu for the first yesterday, although I had seen its americanized version The Ring years ago. And surprise, surprise, I actually preferred the latter! The Japanese original is fine, naturally, but I found a few things somewhat disappointing. The fact that the husband had psychic abilities, for example, felt way too convenient; that the dreaded phone call ("seven days" or, here, "you saw it") could only be received in the B4 cabin was less creepy than in its ubiquitous American version; the well being half-emptied bucket by bucket in just a couple of hours struck me as physically impossible. But those are small potatoes. Where the remake did particularly well, I think, is in setting up the great red herring about the fundamentalist family unfairly treating their innocent daughter, just to reveal that they were right all along. I love having the carpet pulled from under my feet like that! Ringu, for its part, didn't have the dreadful "you should not have freed her" revelation but stopped at "well, finding the body wasn't enough". An efficient ending, to be sure, but the remake managed to ratchet it up a little. I think I'll try Ju-On next. I hadn't particularly liked The Grudge, despite the extremely spooky-looking ghost, so perhaps the original will do the trick It's kind of strange to me that both Ringu and Ju-On got Americanized remakes (and even sequels) further proving that us silly yanks can't stomach subtitles  I recently rewatched Last Action Hero (1993) for the hundredth time, remember finding it (much like Hackers and The Last Dragon) on Starz or Encore at my Grandparent's house in my teens. Absolutely loved it then, still love it now. While I wouldn't call it a perfect movie, it does what it does very well and the comedy timing of "Arnold Brownswagger" is pretty damn good, though he tops himself in Jingle All The Way |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 4, 2024 8:43:07 GMT -5
I watched Ringu for the first yesterday, although I had seen its americanized version The Ring years ago. And surprise, surprise, I actually preferred the latter! The Japanese original is fine, naturally, but I found a few things somewhat disappointing. The fact that the husband had psychic abilities, for example, felt way too convenient; that the dreaded phone call ("seven days" or, here, "you saw it") could only be received in the B4 cabin was less creepy than in its ubiquitous American version; the well being half-emptied bucket by bucket in just a couple of hours struck me as physically impossible. But those are small potatoes. Where the remake did particularly well, I think, is in setting up the great red herring about the fundamentalist family unfairly treating their innocent daughter, just to reveal that they were right all along. I love having the carpet pulled from under my feet like that! Ringu, for its part, didn't have the dreadful "you should not have freed her" revelation but stopped at "well, finding the body wasn't enough". An efficient ending, to be sure, but the remake managed to ratchet it up a little. I think I'll try Ju-On next. I hadn't particularly liked The Grudge, despite the extremely spooky-looking ghost, so perhaps the original will do the trick It's kind of strange to me that both Ringu and Ju-On got Americanized remakes (and even sequels) further proving that us silly yanks can't stomach subtitles I recently rewatched Last Action Hero (1993) for the hundredth time, remember finding it (much like Hackers and The Last Dragon) on Starz or Encore at my Grandparent's house in my teens. Absolutely loved it then, still love it now. While I wouldn't call it a perfect movie, it does what it does very well and the comedy timing of "Arnold Brownswagger" is pretty damn good, though he tops himself in Jingle All The Way I didn't understand why The Last Action Hero did so poorly at the box office. It was by no means bad when compared to all the '80s action/comedy films in the same vein, and I got a good laugh out of the Hamlet scene. |
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 4, 2024 8:46:44 GMT -5
It's kind of strange to me that both Ringu and Ju-On got Americanized remakes (and even sequels) further proving that us silly yanks can't stomach subtitles I recently rewatched Last Action Hero (1993) for the hundredth time, remember finding it (much like Hackers and The Last Dragon) on Starz or Encore at my Grandparent's house in my teens. Absolutely loved it then, still love it now. While I wouldn't call it a perfect movie, it does what it does very well and the comedy timing of "Arnold Brownswagger" is pretty damn good, though he tops himself in Jingle All The Way I didn't understand why The Last Action Hero did so poorly at the box office. It was by no means bad when compared to all the '80s action/comedy films in the same vein, and I got a good laugh out of the Hamlet scene. Well, it might have something to do with the fact that it came out the same week as Jurassic Park (according to wikipedia) Oh, the Hamlet scene is my absolute favorite and I'm so happy that they made a toy of it  I also deeply love the running gag of John Practice (F. Murray Abraham) killing Mozart |
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Post by commond on Jun 4, 2024 15:06:13 GMT -5
While I enjoyed all of the above-mentioned films (both the originals and the American remakes), they are indeed their own thing, and the plot foundations are the same, but obviously the films are tailored for their target audiences. Yes, that's exactly the impression I got... I even told my wife that the film reminded me a little of the animé series we watched as kids (without the horror aspect), what with superpowers or magical aspects grafted onto a story that, in a western context, wouldn't have used them at all. I'll check whether The House is on Tubi. (I watched the Ringu prequel, Ringu 0: Bâsudai, which was, alas, a pretty underwhelming affair. What I enjoyed the most was the way "birthday" is transliterated as "bâsudai".) Should be basudei, otherwise it would sound like birth die! |
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