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Sure it was made by Tarantino, but isn't that like buying trainers because they're made by Nike? What I saw (and remember, kids, this is my opinion, so you don't have to froth over your keyboard) was a bog-standard revenge plot, from an A-list Hollywood director, shot as a B-movie. How can it ever be a B-movie if he's got the backing and funding of everyone in "the industry"? And for that reason, it was also never going to be a bad movie. Tarantino can afford the crew, equipment, locations, sets, and actors to rip-off...sorry, "pay homage"...to all the Kung Fu films he watched as a kid. And how come when Tim Burton "pays homage" to Planet of the Apes he gets villanised? Sure it was a God-awful dogshit of a movie, but still...
My main gripe with the film was the protraction of every movement the characters made. No wonder they had to split the film into two parts - he hung on every shot, as if it would make the scene look more arty. He was wrong, it didn't. The use of nearly every already-over-used camera gimmick in the book didn't help either. I'm no film-making expert, but if you gave me a camera, I'd be able to come up with more or less the same results, on a smaller scale, but I wouldn't have the TarantinoTM tag to promote it. I mean, we're talking tricks and techniques they use on Hercules every week - no flair or inventiveness.
The whole concept of releasing the film in two parts stank of a marketing man's wet dream. Imagine the new TarantinoTM film, complete with the ability to double your cinema and DVD receipts. What a fantastic idea. There's no reason it couldn't have been released as one 3-4 hour film, except that he saw how well the Matrix and LOTR trilogies did, and wanted a piece of the multiple-release pie. I don't think it was a creative decision at all.
I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the film. Like I said, he can't make a bad film, but this one seemed to lack the replay value of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. They are true classics, creating unique and memorable scenes, not just in Western cinema, but the World over. The fact that he did lift so many scenes from martial arts films is both good and bad. If you haven't seen many Kung Fu films, then you're in for a visual treat of blood and colour. But if you have seen a fair few, then you know how unoriginal it was. Tarantino just claimed he was "paying his respects", or some other nonsense quote that gives him right to claim to be a master of the genre, and take what he wants.
But it was watchable. I, like so many other people, will be seeing the sequel - even though I have no pulsating urge to do so. I'll be seeing it for the same reason I buy a new pair of Adidas Campus every year: it's a comfy ride. A compentent film maker with an endless bucket of money, making films of people chopping each other up with swords. It has a certain entertainment value, but it is limited. Like the recent Dawn of the Dead film. It couldn't really be faulted, but it didn't really hold much presence outside the hour and a half you spend watching it. But if you argue that that is what the films are intended to do, then why can't Tarantino take his head out of his own chuff-tunnel and see that too?
Monkey_man's verdict: Good, but flawed.
My main gripe with the film was the protraction of every movement the characters made. No wonder they had to split the film into two parts - he hung on every shot, as if it would make the scene look more arty. He was wrong, it didn't. The use of nearly every already-over-used camera gimmick in the book didn't help either. I'm no film-making expert, but if you gave me a camera, I'd be able to come up with more or less the same results, on a smaller scale, but I wouldn't have the TarantinoTM tag to promote it. I mean, we're talking tricks and techniques they use on Hercules every week - no flair or inventiveness.
The whole concept of releasing the film in two parts stank of a marketing man's wet dream. Imagine the new TarantinoTM film, complete with the ability to double your cinema and DVD receipts. What a fantastic idea. There's no reason it couldn't have been released as one 3-4 hour film, except that he saw how well the Matrix and LOTR trilogies did, and wanted a piece of the multiple-release pie. I don't think it was a creative decision at all.
I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the film. Like I said, he can't make a bad film, but this one seemed to lack the replay value of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. They are true classics, creating unique and memorable scenes, not just in Western cinema, but the World over. The fact that he did lift so many scenes from martial arts films is both good and bad. If you haven't seen many Kung Fu films, then you're in for a visual treat of blood and colour. But if you have seen a fair few, then you know how unoriginal it was. Tarantino just claimed he was "paying his respects", or some other nonsense quote that gives him right to claim to be a master of the genre, and take what he wants.
But it was watchable. I, like so many other people, will be seeing the sequel - even though I have no pulsating urge to do so. I'll be seeing it for the same reason I buy a new pair of Adidas Campus every year: it's a comfy ride. A compentent film maker with an endless bucket of money, making films of people chopping each other up with swords. It has a certain entertainment value, but it is limited. Like the recent Dawn of the Dead film. It couldn't really be faulted, but it didn't really hold much presence outside the hour and a half you spend watching it. But if you argue that that is what the films are intended to do, then why can't Tarantino take his head out of his own chuff-tunnel and see that too?
Monkey_man's verdict: Good, but flawed.
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I bet you didn't moan about the blood in GTA which is kind of the same style (fountains of spraying blood etc).
Mr Snuggly wrote:
> Because fighting off 88 armed ninja-type people is well within the
> bounds of reality? It's not meant to be realistic, it exists in a
> little world of its own (also a convenient excuse as to how everyone
> can carry samurai swords aboard airplanes). It's hyper-realistic,
> hence huge geysers of blood spurting from every stump. Cartoon
> violence rules.
Of course the film had huge amounts of other, ridiculous moments but as you say - it's not meant to be wholly realistic, so I therefore didn't have a huge problem with these.
However, the mass amounts of blood I did have a problem with. I just didn't like it - I didn't think it was funny, cool or added anything at all to the film. I wished they'd have kept the gore reasonable so I could have watched the Crazy 88 fight in full colour, like the lucky Japanese can. But no.
> Because fighting off 88 armed ninja-type people is well within the
> bounds of reality? It's not meant to be realistic, it exists in a
> little world of its own (also a convenient excuse as to how everyone
> can carry samurai swords aboard airplanes). It's hyper-realistic,
> hence huge geysers of blood spurting from every stump. Cartoon
> violence rules.
Of course the film had huge amounts of other, ridiculous moments but as you say - it's not meant to be wholly realistic, so I therefore didn't have a huge problem with these.
However, the mass amounts of blood I did have a problem with. I just didn't like it - I didn't think it was funny, cool or added anything at all to the film. I wished they'd have kept the gore reasonable so I could have watched the Crazy 88 fight in full colour, like the lucky Japanese can. But no.
Sometimes unrealistic scenes can dramatically improve a film. For example: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film rocked, but partly due to the aerobatics that where combined with the martial arts e.g. flying through trees etc.
Because fighting off 88 armed ninja-type people is well within the bounds of reality? It's not meant to be realistic, it exists in a little world of its own (also a convenient excuse as to how everyone can carry samurai swords aboard airplanes). It's hyper-realistic, hence huge geysers of blood spurting from every stump. Cartoon violence rules.
Annoymous wrote:
> When you cut a vain blood squirts, so having your head chopped off
> would defiantly create a spurt of blood.
First of all, it's "vein". Secondly, no, that wouldn't happen. If an artery was severed, yes - but to a certain extent.
> Hence the blood fountains sort of make the film sightly realistic.
No, not really. It's entirely feasable for an artery to be severed and therefore have blood squirting from the stump of a severed limb, but glorious fountains of red akin to a high-powered spray hose are ridiculously off the scale and unnecessary.
> When you cut a vain blood squirts, so having your head chopped off
> would defiantly create a spurt of blood.
First of all, it's "vein". Secondly, no, that wouldn't happen. If an artery was severed, yes - but to a certain extent.
> Hence the blood fountains sort of make the film sightly realistic.
No, not really. It's entirely feasable for an artery to be severed and therefore have blood squirting from the stump of a severed limb, but glorious fountains of red akin to a high-powered spray hose are ridiculously off the scale and unnecessary.
When you cut a vain blood squirts, so having your head chopped off would defiantly create a spurt of blood.
Hence the blood fountains sort of make the film sightly realistic.
Hence the blood fountains sort of make the film sightly realistic.
nickelback$
Auf deutsch wrote:
> Still enjoyed the film muchly though even though it was my 4th time
> of seeing it...I'm thinking this might just edge it's way onto my top
> ten favourite films
Mine too.
It's like a should I or shouldn't I watch it... Watch it. Want more.
> Still enjoyed the film muchly though even though it was my 4th time
> of seeing it...I'm thinking this might just edge it's way onto my top
> ten favourite films
Mine too.
It's like a should I or shouldn't I watch it... Watch it. Want more.
I liked it.
So screw you and your opinions.
So screw you and your opinions.
Just watched it for a second time this week (purely because I'm seeing it early tomorrow morning) although I skiped the Hattori Hanzo chapter *yawns*
Still enjoyed the film muchly though even though it was my 4th time of seeing it...I'm thinking this might just edge it's way onto my top ten favourite films
Still enjoyed the film muchly though even though it was my 4th time of seeing it...I'm thinking this might just edge it's way onto my top ten favourite films
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