OT: Mel Gibson in "The patriot"
Dvddaddy2
today and being the movie hound I am... i wanna talk about it.
I dont know if its just me or what... but I had extrodinarily low expectations
for Mel Gibsons new effort "The Patriot" but Low and Behold it turns out to be
a worthy sucessor to gibsons own "Braveheart". The film... is simply amazing.
DID ole' Roland Emmrich really direct this one ya think? Or did Mel hold his
hand all the way through it?
The story by Robert Rodant is every bit as hectic, world weary and spitefull of
war as his "Saving Private Ryan"(although it doesnt reach RYAN proportions of
greatness) I was particularly entralled to see that EVERY carachter in the
film... no matter how small or insignifigant has his own story and arc. From
the Slave... to the biggot, to the frenchman, to Gibson learning to embrace his
own dark past to make a better furutre, to the little girl learning to talk, to
the Cornwalllis learning that in war you cannot be noble. this story just has
some incredible meat to it.
I really really like that Gibson's Benjamin Martin is haunted by his past. Too
often in the Rousing 4th of July Americanna epic we get a man who LOVES WAR.. A
man who Storms the ramparts waving a flag and screaming "FOLLOW ME BOYS"! Type
of John Wayne attitude.
While yes It's true... in the end ofthe film Gibson does carry the flag. But
it's not so much that he carries the flag to fight for america. its that he
carries it to fight for his sons memory I think. Gibsons carachtor is right...
war is not a noble thing.
It is not wearing a suit to the battle field and seeing who shall "Claim the
day". It's about killing and death.. being covered in blood and in a deep dark
part of you somewhere down inside your soul... enjoying it in a sick way.
Witness the scene where MEL pounds a guys head into hamburger with a hatchet.
The look on his face... he's enjoying it as much as he is hating it!
And hey, It looks like Combat violence is here to stay now! There was some NICE
gore in this movie. At the end when Thewillis takes a miniball to the arm...
theres probably one of the BEST squib shots in modern cinema, I also fondly
rememebr a shot where a cannon ball misses its mark and rolls across the
battlefield knocking peoples feet off.
Rene Auberjinous makes a nice return to cinema after being stuck on that
dreadfull Star Trek show for 6 years. He plays the uptight 1700's preacher role
to a t.
David Thewillis pretty much typecasts himself FOREVER as the asshole forighner
in his role as gibsons evil counterpart. but man!
Was there ever a more evil villian in a war film? It's great because too often
we get the enemy as THE ENEMY nothing more. Here.... even though he's an evil
bastard... Thewillis has a plot and some time to play around with his
carachter.
Even at the end... when the film turns patriotic... it NEVER feels heavy handed
to me. I dont feel like I was ever forced into an "America triumphs moment"...
of course theres a couple slow motions shots of a wounded gibson seeing flags
wave... but it doesnt feel as forced as the "Earn this" scenario in SPR..
Overall... I just cannot stop complimenting this movie! It was great stuff!
and TOMORORW i'm off to see "The Perfect Storm" which i hear is already an
instant classic too.
As long as i've been going to the movies I really do not think i've EVER had a
weekend where I've seen TWO mvoies that came out in the SAME week that were
both great.... I think it may happen this week!
-ANDY
"Start with the officers and work your way down" - Mel Gibson instructing his
12 year old son on how to kill British soldiers in "The Patriot"
to send email TAKE OFF YUR PANTS
Ken Jay
...........another talented Aussie making us all proud down under.......
See 'ya!
Nat.........
from....yep, you guessed it.......that little land down under!
Laura Gustafson
"Dvddaddy2" <dvdd...@aol.comYURPANTS> wrote in message
news:20000630013509...@ng-ba1.aol.com...
Dvddaddy2
>...........another talented Aussie making us all proud down under.......
He did put in a pretty good performance. Although at times I felt he was trying
a wee bit to hard to sort've "live up to working with gibson" if ya know what I
mean.
His final scene is wonderfull though... the look on his face when.....
thinkingmom
dvdd...@aol.comYURPANTS (Dvddaddy2) wrote:
> I know i shouldn't start another OT thread in here but I just saw a
great movie
> today and being the movie hound I am... i wanna talk about it.
>
> I dont know if its just me or what... but I had extrodinarily low
expectations
> for Mel Gibsons new effort "The Patriot" but Low and Behold it turns
out to be
> a worthy sucessor to gibsons own "Braveheart".
<snipped the spoiler stuff>
> and TOMORORW i'm off to see "The Perfect Storm" which i hear is
already an
> instant classic too.
>
> -ANDY
>
> Well I was going to pass on it, but I might just have to see The
Patriot now. I had ancestors who fought during the Revolutionary War,
including one, Israel Bissel, who made a ride similar to Paul Revere's
only it was longer (345 miles in 5 days, evading British patrols the
whole way). The story goes that he had at least one horse drop dead
under him. And Andy, let me know if you liked Perfect Storm. My son and
I read the book together and we both loved it. It would be cool if we
could go see the movie together.
--Jen, looking for some good holiday movies--
>
--
I grew up kissing books and bread.
--Salman Rushdie--
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Dvddaddy2
did you think I had alot of spoliers for PATRIOT in my mini review? I relaly
didnt think I did. I suppose I should rethink my ideas on spoilers though!
I just got back from "PERFECT STORM" about 20 minutes ago. It's a good movie. A
near great movie. BUT all in all it falls short of being a true classic. I
really liked the story of the ANDREA GALE and her crew but in the middle of the
movie we are also subject to a bunch've other recues that have nothing to do
with the plot of the movie. And the rescue of a certain group of army guys is
VERY disjointed and hard to keep track of who is who and who is injured becuase
they all have the exact same uniform and helmet on...
The perormances by the crew of the Andrea Gale are great. Clooney as always
shines in the roll of the likeable asshole. Walhberg is of course the new
guy... the real stand out though is JOHN C REILIY of boogie nights fame.... he
plays a member of the crew. His last words in the film are probably one of the
saddest moments in film history.
over all... i'd reccomend it. decent movie.
THE BEST PART of seeing perfect storm though is that you've got a good chance
of seeing the teaser trailer for next years BIG movie "PEARL HARBOR"
The preview is so beautifull that it will bring tears to my eyes. The whole
thing is cut to the famous "A day that will live on in infamy" speech... it
starts off with the people on Hawii doing their daily chores. taking out the
laundry, cooking breakfast yada yada.
Then it starts showing a group of young children playing baseball over a bright
sunrise... One kid gooes back to catch a pop fly and looks up at the sky....
and A WHOLE SQUAD of beautifull CGI zero's fly into his few and sweep across
the screen with stunning beauty.
Then the trailer cuts to very disjointed images of the battle. Ships blowing up
and sinking. People burning. Ben Affleck runing with a thompson.... Cuba Goodin
Jr firing a quad 50. and then it zooms in on the american flag and says only
the words PEARL HARBOR MEMORIAL DAY 2001.... and then a black title card saying
A MICHAEL BAY FILM.
Damn.... I wanna see that movie SO BAD IT HURTS!
I'm SUCH a michael bay fan too!
Lelia Taylor
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Actually, Andy, there was some point to this. The owner of the small boat
is the author of the book and, after all, a lot of the power of the book
(and the movie) comes from his experience in the storm. I find it
interesting that he is honest enough to show himself as a bit of a jerk.
BTW, I have not yet read the book---Annie told me about this.
Also, because the Coast Guard was busy rescuing the people off the small
boat, they could not get to the Andrea Gail to help them. If you recall,
they ran out of fuel and ended up needing to be rescued themselves.
I agree with you, though, about the scenes regarding the rescue of the Coast
Guardmen---very disjointed and difficult to see clearly. Of course, that's
probably the way it really would have been, don't you think?
--
Lelia
Never judge a book by its movie. (J. W. Eagan)
"Dvddaddy2" <dvdd...@aol.comYURPANTS> wrote in message
news:20000701013043...@ng-ck1.aol.com...
>
> I just got back from "PERFECT STORM" about 20 minutes ago. It's a good
movie. A
> near great movie. BUT all in all it falls short of being a true classic. I
> really liked the story of the ANDREA GALE and her crew but in the middle
of the
> movie we are also subject to a bunch've other recues that have nothing to
do
> with the plot of the movie. And the rescue of a certain group of army guys
is
> VERY disjointed and hard to keep track of who is who and who is injured
becuase
> they all have the exact same uniform and helmet on...
>
Dvddaddy2
SPOILERS
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> The owner of the small boat
>is the author of the book and, after all, a lot of the power of the book
>(and the movie) comes from his experience in the storm
The author of the book is Sebastian Yunger and he lived in the town GLOSTER
during the storm.
I saw a big documentary on the discovery channel last monday where it had
interviews with him(he is a young guy, i'd say about 30 or 32) where he said he
and his girlfriend sat on thier front porch and watched the huge waves roll in
during the storm. If (like he said in his interview) he was on the coast
sitting on his porch during the storm it must've been very hard for him to also
be out on the small boat.
>BTW, I have not yet read the book---Annie told me about this.>
I'm almost sure she gave you some bum info Lelia. But then again I have only
seen the documentary and the film. BUT the documentary had first person
interviews wiht the author of the book.
>If you recall,
>they ran out of fuel and ended up needing to be rescued themselves.
See in the movie this is totally diffrent than in real life.
In the MOVIE the coast guard guys that pulled the three people off the small
sailing boat are the ones who run out of gas and crash.
in REAL LIFE. the guys who picked the three people up offa the sailing boat
droped the three passangers off on the big coast guard boat and then went agian
to look for a downed MILITARY crew.
a totally DIFFRENT crew from a military helecopter were the ones who crashed
and they were in turn rescued(in the same manner as the guys in the movie) by
the SAME coast guard boat the other guys visited.
I can see why that was all combined in the movie. After all... in FILM you've
just grown attached to thesse guys who saved civillians and you're heartbroken
the life savers need life saving. Besides... two helicopter rescue crews
wouldnt work on FILM.... it would just be disorienting.
but in REAL LIFE.... it was two diffrent sets of people. One crew a COAST GUARD
rescue ship and one crew a MILITARY ship.
>Of course, that's
>probably the way it really would have been, don't you think?
Yeah you're right. Also I find it very hard to belive that the one guy who once
he hits the water and says he's "Too busted up to swim" and has to be lashed to
another guy could be healed up enough by the end of the storm to go out looking
for the guy they lost off their ship.
over all, the movie i think was okay... I think they should've left the whole
movie to focus on the crew of the andrea gale and not bothered wiht the other
stuff becuase as a viewer we are never given enough information to acutally
CARE about the other people like the ones on the sailing vessel and the rescue
crew. I mean i dont know about the rest of the viewing public but i spent all
that time WAITING for the film to go back to the andrea gale so i could watch
the story i CAME to see and was interested in.
Lelia Taylor
"Dvddaddy2" <dvdd...@aol.comYURPANTS> wrote in message
> LELIA
>
> SPOILERS
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GLOSTER
> during the storm.
>
> I saw a big documentary on the discovery channel last monday where it had
> interviews with him(he is a young guy, i'd say about 30 or 32) where he
said he
> and his girlfriend sat on thier front porch and watched the huge waves
roll in
> during the storm. If (like he said in his interview) he was on the coast
> sitting on his porch during the storm it must've been very hard for him to
also
> be out on the small boat.
>
You're probably right about this---I didn't see the documentary (hope it
comes on again sometime).
>
> >If you recall,
> >they ran out of fuel and ended up needing to be rescued themselves.
>
> See in the movie this is totally diffrent than in real life.
>
Well, we all know filmmakers have an inborne need to change the story, don't
we? They never think the truth i good enough : )
>
> >Of course, that's
> >probably the way it really would have been, don't you think?
>
> Yeah you're right. Also I find it very hard to belive that the one guy who
once
> he hits the water and says he's "Too busted up to swim" and has to be
lashed to
> another guy could be healed up enough by the end of the storm to go out
looking
> for the guy they lost off their ship.
>
You know, I thought that was the same guy but then I decided it wasn't, that
I'd gotten confused by the scenes of the rescue and that it didn't make any
sense for it to be him. Silly me, expecting it to make sense <g>
>
> over all, the movie i think was okay... I think they should've left the
whole
> movie to focus on the crew of the andrea gale and not bothered wiht the
other
> stuff becuase as a viewer we are never given enough information to
acutally
> CARE about the other people like the ones on the sailing vessel and the
rescue
> crew.
>
You are so right about this. I cared some about the Coast Guard guys but
none about the people in the small craft. In light of your information from
the documentary, their pesence served very little purpose, except perhaps to
give a reason for the Andrea Gail not getting any help.
--
Lelia
Words have no wings but they can fly many thousands of miles.
(Korean Proverb)
Web Master
: Warning---spoilers...
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: Actually, Andy, there was some point to this. The owner of the small boat
: is the author of the book and, after all, a lot of the power of the book
: (and the movie) comes from his experience in the storm. I find it
: interesting that he is honest enough to show himself as a bit of a jerk.
: BTW, I have not yet read the book---Annie told me about this.
No, the author of the book had no direct involvement in the story.
Here's a story from today's Houston Chronicle Newsmakers section:
Sebastian Junger got the idea for his best-selling book, The Perfect Storm,
after working for a tree-cutting company and tearing up a leg with a chain
saw. "I was laid up for a while, and I got to thinking about dangerous
work," he says in the August issue of National Geographic Adventurer.
"I picked out six jobs that didn't involve guns, and that weren't
performance jobs," Junger said. "People who are exhilarated by risk --
and I'm one of them, I admit -- are almost invariably college-educated.
They choose their risks. ... Those who take risks for a living tend not
to have gone to college. They take risks in order to eat. The fishermen
I wrote about -- they dread the risk part of their jobs." While mulling
over it and limping around Gloucester, Mass., the "perfect storm" hit
and he found out a fishing boat had gone down. "Well, clearly, that
was dangerous work, so I thought I'd write about the Andrea Gail."
--
Bev Vincent
-- "We don't need no stinkin' handcuffs."
(In the Deathroom)
Dvddaddy2
>comes on again sometime).
>
i saw a diffrent version of the documentary on History Channel late last night!
History reruns all their stuff into the ground. I am sure you can catch it on
there.
> I thought that was the same guy but then I decided it wasn't, that
>I'd gotten confused by the scenes of the rescue and that it didn't make any
>sense for it to be him.
ALl of that helicopter rescue and whatnot is basically padding. You'll note
theres no real STARS playing any of those guys. Dash Mihook is the recue
swimmer but he's only been in a few movies. Bob Gunton from Shawshank
Redemption plays the captain of the boat but hell.... he speaks what three
lines?
>except perhaps to
>give a reason for the Andrea Gail not getting any help.
Yeah. and in real life... a month after the storm t hat guys yacht washed up on
a beach in virginia in near perfect condition!
-ANDY
Bev Vincent
"Dvddaddy2" <dvdd...@aol.comYURPANTS> wrote in message
> >You're probably right about this---I didn't see the documentary (hope it
> Redemption plays the captain of the boat but hell.... he speaks what three
> lines?
Or rather one line over and over again...It's my boat, it's my boat, it's MY
boat...
I thought the movie rocked, though. I'm easy fodder for movies, easily
entertained and little bothered by many things that irk other viewers. I had
a thorough blast watching it. Almost had to reach for my dramamine...
--
Bev Vincent
Unless otherwise attributed, all prose examples, both good and evil, were
composed by the author.
(Stephen King, Author's Note, "On Writing")
Bob
> Warning---spoilers...
>
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> Actually, Andy, there was some point to this. The owner of the small boat
> is the author of the book and, after all, a lot of the power of the book
> (and the movie) comes from his experience in the storm. I find it
> interesting that he is honest enough to show himself as a bit of a jerk.
> BTW, I have not yet read the book---Annie told me about this.
snip...
Sebastian Junger wrote the book that The Perfect Storm is based on. Linda
Greenslaw also wrote a book called "The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's
Journey. Apparently, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio played her in the movie.
There was an article about her in the L.A. Times Calendar section either
July 3 or 4.
Bob
Luna457954
>during the storm.
I hate to be the spellcop (I can see the swarms swarming now, waiting to jump
on me), but it's Gloucester.I grew up only a few miles from there.
What I have to complain about in a film I otherwise liked a lot are the
atrocious attempts at a Boston area accent. IMO, you can't do that accent
unless you grew upthere ( I remember being amazed at Matt Damon's accent in
Good Will Hunting until someone told me he was raised in Southie), so I have to
cut 'em some slack. But they really were awful.
Kelly
P.S. Another example of a good movie with bad accents was Ethan
Frome...everyone should watch this one, it was wonderful.
********************
"I'm not trying to be awkward. I'm not trying to be rebellious. I've just got
no interest in being a member of any club. And, if I need to, I'll speak my
mind."
--Ewan McGregor
Lelia Taylor
flick. I see movies and read books for entertainment and pleasure and
really don't care if they don't make perfect sense or if a few things don't
work right.
--
Lelia
Words have no wings but they can fly many thousands of miles.
(Korean Proverb)
"Bev Vincent" <MaxD...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:t0K85.455$L6.929@client...
Louisa Hellwig
Bev Vincent <MaxD...@hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:t0K85.455$L6.929@client...
>
> "Dvddaddy2" <dvdd...@aol.comYURPANTS> wrote in
message
>
news:20000705120952...@ng-fj1.aol.com.
..
> > >You're probably right about this---I didn't
see the documentary (hope it
> > Bob Gunton from Shawshank
> > Redemption plays the captain of the boat but
hell.... he speaks what three
> > lines?
>
> Or rather one line over and over again...It's my
boat, it's my boat, it's MY
> boat...
>
> I thought the movie rocked, though. I'm easy
fodder for movies, easily
> entertained and little bothered by many things
that irk other viewers. I had
> a thorough blast watching it. Almost had to
reach for my dramamine...
I think the only reason I'm indifferent about
seeing the movie (despite my frequent dreams about
George Clooney) is that, if I recall the book
correctly, Junger is pretty open about the fact
that no one knows for sure what exactly happened
to the Andrea Gail - besides the fact that it
didn't come back. No one knows what the guys on
the boat did, thought, etc., because none of them
made it back. We can speculate all we want, but
we don't *know*. My daughter has already seen the
movie and told me about it, and when I finally
asked her "If they all died, how do we know what
happened?", she just looked at me, surprised, and
said "I didn't think about that." She actually
thought "The Perfect Storm" was a documentary.
It reminds me of that story Reagan told, while he
was president, about a plane in WWII that was shot
down, everyone on it died, and he was relating the
gunner's *thoughts* as they were going down. It
was freaking *months* before anyone woke up and
asked, "Hey, if they all died, how the hell did
Reagan know what that guy was thinking?"
Lisa Ann
--
"I always meant to say I'm sorry for the things I
said and did; I'm sorry, I feel better now, do
you?" Cowboy Junkies, "Black Eyed Man"