The 2007 movie is a mess, a good one.

~~Leo656~~ · 04-23-2020, 03:19 AM

I have no doubt that was part of the conversation, sure. But the actors were practically keeling over from dehydration just walking around, so there's absolutely an issue of practicality involved as well.

For them to try and assemble anything "exciting and dramatic" out of the fight scenes would have required, shall we say, very liberal and excessive use of jump cuts, in order to hide the very frequent edits, which would have threatened to make the whole thing look like an even bigger farce. They certainly wouldn't have been going full-blown, "Cobra Kai Season 2 Finale" with the choreography. More like "3 Ninjas: High Noon At Mega Mountain", or "Side Kicks". That wouldn't have been very good, either.

It's like why Keaton's Batman spent most of his time scowling and knocking guys out with one punch, rather than engaging in Batfleck-level shenanigans. Dude couldn't f*cking move! Doesn't make his movie retroactively "bad" or even "lesser" for being trapped within the restraints of 1989's technology; it's simply something that later films managed to do better. Y'gotta grade these things on a curve, it's only fair.

Yes, there was almost definitely a lot of conversation about "not being too violent for the kiddies", but I'm inclined to believe that at least some of the choices made for the choreography was simply put down to not wanting to literally bury these guys after they died of heat stroke, and/or not wanting the movie to be a choppy-looking piece of sh*t. I'm inclined to believe they could have still managed more than "block-block-kick" and not had to resort to so much comedy, BUT, it probably would have come at a trade-off that ultimately might not have served anyone all that well in the end.

Now, you wanna talk about a movie that always get put over despite the fight scenes being wretched, I'll see your TMNT 1990 and raise you a Superman II. That whole movie's pretty much a flaming wreck, but it comes with the "bonus" of the most boring and hack-ish "fight" scenes between all-powerful demigods that anyone's ever put to film. And they didn't have the "excuse" of being buried in foam rubber, either. They could've done just about anything they wanted, and that pansy-ass slap fight is the best they came up with. I mean, I know a thing or two about setting up make-believe fights, and I'm inclined to believe just about anyone could have staged a better climax than that pile.

I know you agree with me about that movie. I'm just putting things into perspective.

04-23-2020, 03:19 AM	#18
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	I have no doubt that was part of the conversation, sure. But the actors were practically keeling over from dehydration just walking around, so there's absolutely an issue of practicality involved as well. For them to try and assemble anything "exciting and dramatic" out of the fight scenes would have required, shall we say, very liberal and excessive use of jump cuts, in order to hide the very frequent edits, which would have threatened to make the whole thing look like an even bigger farce. They certainly wouldn't have been going full-blown, "Cobra Kai Season 2 Finale" with the choreography. More like "3 Ninjas: High Noon At Mega Mountain", or "Side Kicks". That wouldn't have been very good, either. It's like why Keaton's Batman spent most of his time scowling and knocking guys out with one punch, rather than engaging in Batfleck-level shenanigans. Dude couldn't fcking move! Doesn't make his movie retroactively "bad" or even "lesser" for being trapped within the restraints of 1989's technology; it's simply something that later films managed to do better. Y'gotta grade these things on a curve, it's only fair. Yes, there was almost definitely a lot of conversation about "not being too violent for the kiddies", but I'm inclined to believe that at least some of the choices made for the choreography was simply put down to not wanting to literally bury these guys after they died of heat stroke, and/or not wanting the movie to be a choppy-looking piece of sht. I'm inclined to believe they could have still managed more than "block-block-kick" and not had to resort to so much comedy, BUT, it probably would have come at a trade-off that ultimately might not have served anyone all that well in the end. Now, you wanna talk about a movie that always get put over despite the fight scenes being wretched, I'll see your TMNT 1990 and raise you a Superman II. That whole movie's pretty much a flaming wreck, but it comes with the "bonus" of the most boring and hack-ish "fight" scenes between all-powerful demigods that anyone's ever put to film. And they didn't have the "excuse" of being buried in foam rubber, either. They could've done just about anything they wanted, and that pansy-ass slap fight is the best they came up with. I mean, I know a thing or two about setting up make-believe fights, and I'm inclined to believe just about anyone could have staged a better climax than that pile. I know you agree with me about that movie. I'm just putting things into perspective.