Tag Archives: action

#92- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Quick recap: 

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Fun (?) fact: Han Salo doesn’t know and doesn’t care who shot first.

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My thoughts: So, I’m just going to get this off my chest: I loved Episode I. A little explanation first- I saw Episode IV for the first time in 8th grade, right before Episode I came out. Before then, I had always dismissed Star Wars as a silly sci-fi movie and would’ve never sought it out on my own had it not been for a few friends of mine. Once I saw the trilogy, I was hooked completely. So when Episode I came out a few months later, I got caught up in the hype. It never occurred to me (until much later) to think of Episode I as sort of awful because I was there as part of a community, not as a critic. I admit to buying Lay’s potato chips and Pepsi products simply because there was a Star Wars tie in (side note: I won a Queen Amidala phone from a potato chip bag and it was kind of a crummy phone considering she didn’t have too many catch phrases besides, ‘ I am Queen Amidala’). All that to say that I’ve always been afraid of revealing I like Star Wars because I don’t know the names of the ships or even many of the characters, yet I still love the series. Star Wars is the very epitome of American pop culture and I think there is something worth celebrating in that.

I’m not sure how many times I have seen Episode IV, although I doubt it is as much as Empire Strikes Back. Still, it has its merits, none of which I will be discussing here. Why? Simply because Star Wars has been analyzed in every corner of the internet at this point, even THAT corner. You know the one I’m talking about (I’m talking about the original Space Jam site which is STILL up, if you can believe it). My own analysis would add nothing to the conversation, plus I just don’t feel like researching to make sure I get every fact straight. Instead, I bring you a few stray observations:

  • Luke Skywalker is whiny. Annoyingly whiny. I had a slight crush on Mark Hamill as Luke but now I don’t see how that was possible because his character grated on my very last nerve this past viewing.
  • The special effects are still amazing and it blows my mind to think how much was done without a computer. I’ll add sadly that the only version available to watch from Netflix was the one with all the added CGI George Lucas thought would enhance the film. Spoiler alert, Lucas: No one sat in the movie theater in 1977 and thought, ‘yeah, Storm troopers are cool and all, but I just wish they were riding dinosaurs. That’s what this film is really lacking’.
  • I watched this movie with my 4 year old and this was his first time watching anything Star Wars related. I had high expectations he would enjoy it, but instead he was bored to tears because of the lack of Yoda.
  • And on that note, Episode IV was kind of boring overall. There was a lot of set up, which is important in the beginning of any series but not enough action for my taste.
  • The acting was hit and miss. Hit: Harrison Ford because he can do no wrong. Miss: Chewbacca.
  • My husband is in fact one of those Star Wars fans and spent the entire movie complaining once more about Episodes I-III. Anything can set those guys off.
  • The Force seems kind of hokey, now that I think about it. It really is a religion and that observation made the movie less fun, overall.

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Final review: 4/5. I’m anxiously awaiting Empire Strikes Back because it really is the best.

Up next: Meshes of the Afternoon

 

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#90- Seven Samurai

Quick recap: A group of farmers, tired of being pillaged by bandits year after year (and really, who isn’t?) ,decide to hire samurai to keep their town safe. Seven samurai, to be precise.

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Fun (?) fact: Seven Samurai was the first film to showcase a ‘reluctant hero’, as well as the gathering of the heroes, now common in a film like Ocean’s 11.

My thoughts: Nothing can kill my excitement for a movie quicker than ‘3 hours and 27 minutes’. I have heard people talk how amazing this movie is, but I just can’t see anything being worth 3 hours and 27 minutes. Except for Jeanne Dielman, but that was an action filled time watching her cook dinner and wash dishes. No way Seven Samurai could top that.

From the first scene, when the bandits decide to save their pillaging for another time when there will be stuff to pillage (common sense), there was non stop action. Maybe not action in the sense of fighting, although there was plenty of that, but action that drove the plot. I can’t think of a single scene that was unnecessary to the story, or a time that I felt bored. In the same respect, there wasn’t so much going on that I was confused. Although it is a long running time, it is well justified.

I think my favorite aspect of Seven Samurai and the part I was most surprised by, is the emotion. As the villagers and samurai became used to one another and started to work as a team, I became more invested in each character and although I  knew that the ending would be sad, it still took me by surprise. I think most of that stems from watching how kind the samurai were to the entire village. Save for Katsushirō, the samurai who fell in love, everyone respected the farmers and went to great lengths to prove they weren’t all that bad. But in the end, samurai are warriors and they had to do what they were hired to do.

The final scenes in battle and the final moments with the samurai are some of the more emotional I have watched. The final scene especially: the 3 surviving warriors watching the happy villagers plant their crops and sing, almost as if they had forgotten all of the violence that led to their freedom from the bandits. Instead of being angry at the seeming callousness towards the fallen men, the samurai note that it is the villagers who are the victors and so should be celebrating. They have done their job.

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Final review: 5/5. Watch this movie. Doesn’t matter if you dislike war films or having to read subtitles or whatever the excuse- watch this movie.

Up next: Monsieur Verdoux

 

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#89- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Quick recap: Two warriors go in search of a stolen sword, only to find out the skilled master they pursued is really a nobleman’s daughter who totes doesn’t want an arranged marriage. Her parents are so uncool, probably not allowing her to get on Snapchat or Instagram. She was right to pursue a life of crime, in my opinion.

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Fun (?) fact: ‘Crouching tiger, hidden dragon’ is a Chinese phrase, basically meaning to hide your strength from others. I’ll file this phrase away to remember the next time I become entangled in a duel.

My thoughts: I vaguely remember watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when it was in theaters .  This occurred during my sophomore year of high school, when I went out of town to an academic meet. The truth is, everyone else was old enough to watch the new Morgan Freeman film, Along Came a Spider, and I was stuck watching something ‘cultural’ and ‘sophisticated’. So that explains why I remember the experience and not much of the movie itself, because all I really wanted was a good murder mystery.

Watching the movie again as an adult was much more satisfying, I’m glad to say. 15 year old me was much more focused on the subtitles and not so much the detail, and so I missed out on how beautiful the film is. It’s one of the reasons I enjoyed Brokeback Mountain so much- because the scenery and setting is as vital to the story as the characters and plot. Several points in the movie I had to remind myself that this was shot in modern times and I wasn’t actually watching footage from ancient China. After the movie ended I found myself with a sudden urge to visit China and see all the places Ang Lee showcased.

One of the most surprising parts of the film was the theme of strong women. So much so that in the years since watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I had completely forgotten that there was any romance. The young girl, Jen , is the secret warrior and far more advanced than most adults who have been studying this form of martial arts their entire life. The argument she has about not wanting to marry comes partly from her love of a another man, but also because she recognizes that marriage will end most freedoms she currently enjoys. When her former love, Lo, comes back and tries to take her away, she refuses. It isn’t until the end of the movie that she accepts her feelings and goes to him. The other female character, Yu Shu Lien, is in the same boat. She has strong feelings for Mu Bai, a famed warrior, but has never mentioned anything because kicking ass for a living is kind of fun. So although romance is involved, it is not a driving force in the movie. Also worth mentioning, the main enemy,Jade Star, is also a woman.

The one part of the movie that didn’t work for me were the scenes that involved flying. I get the idea that fighting is really a dance and when the characters were in combat with one another, I was interested. But the scenes where the warrior flew over buildings in a single leap or ran up the wall felt sort of silly. It was easy to see that everyone had been hooked up to wires which had been edited out, instead of trying to convey that this was a magical part of the story. I enjoyed the fight scene in the trees because even though they were in battle, it was peaceful.

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Final review: 5/5. The soundtrack was as beautiful as the rest of the movie. I would definitely watch this one again

Up next: Seven Samurai

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#53- Aliens

Quick recap:  As if an murdering an entire crew wasn’t lesson enough, Ripley goes back to battle even more aliens. Sure, she thought it was just a consultant job, but some part of her mind had to realize that this wasn’t going to end well. Jones the cat thankfully makes the smart decision to stay home.

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Fun fact: The alien nest set was kept intact after filming and was later used as the Axis Chemicals set for Batman.

My thoughts: Let’s just get this out of the way: I hate Bill Paxton. Hate him. With a fiery passion. I don’t really have a reason for doing so, but he just looks like the kind of guy you would walk up to on a street and punch in the face. He does nothing to help himself look favorable in this movie, except for finally dying. I just really hate that guy. Moving on.

I'm proud of myself for not punching the computer.

I’m proud of myself for not punching the computer.

The book I am using to choose what movies to watch, 1001 Movies to See Before you Die, listed Aliens as a horror film and so I watched it. If I had watched this movie at any other time of the year I probably would’ve enjoyed it more, but this is definitely not horror. The aliens were scary, sure, but it wasn’t something to keep me up at night. To me, a good horror film is one that a group of girls would choose to watch at a sleepover and then after the movie, make a pact to never mention what they saw again.  Aliens had way more action and suspense than what I am looking for.

One thing that bothered me about the movie is that all the quiet, mounting terror is gone. The director tried to recreate the emotion as the marines discovered the alien nest, but there was just so much going on with the people in webs and other horrors, that I immediately knew everything would end badly. The gunfire and torch blowing was also a disappointment. I guess it was cool that the alien spewed acid when it had been hit,but I was hoping bullets and fire wouldn’t bring them down so easily. In the end, they were rather easy to exterminate.

A couple more things I found annoying: 1) adding in an adorable little girl for Ripley to mother instead of just using the cat again and 2) except for a brief scene at the beginning, no one mentions that Ripley is like, 70, now. It’s bothered me way more than it should have.

Final review: 3/5. I expected horror and it did not deliver. Bill Paxton, you’re lucky I gave it any points at all.

Up next: more Horrorfest!

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