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The low point in production values in 1970s film!

posted 14 years ago by mail-2775
4 replies | jump to latest

The production values are a new low for what could be called a "feature" film. The acting is wooden, the cinematography is piss-poor, and just the first ten minutes tells you all you need to know about this film.

This whole thing is roughly the equivalent of one of the 70s TV miniseries, but not one of the good ones, and with worse acting. The camera work is about half as good as the worst episodes of Starsky and Hutch, but the acting is almost a tie.

This isn't even a B movie. The airplane crash is the most poorly executed sequence in all cinematic history.

You need to see this to understand Scorsese? Yes, if suffering through a horrible film is necessary to know what good films are, then maybe.

I'll tell you this: If you haven't seen this two hour waste of film yet, don't, please just take my word that Scorsese is a truly great director and all of his films---except for this one---are good.

[–] noirlethal 14 years ago

I almost stopped watching at the plane crash, I have seen better in 1940s noir films. However there are some interesting moments in the film. I would suggest any true fan of Scorsese to watch this movie.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

A new low in production values? Betcha never seen any other Roger Corman productions - this one has actually superior production values compared to the vast majority of the movies he manufactured. Only St Valentine´s Day Massacre looked better and had a bigger budget. I also disagree about cinematography being "piss poor" - it may be a long way off his achievement in the next year´s Mean Streets, but it´s nevertheless adequate at the very least.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] mail-2775 12 years ago

Thanks. I only saw one Corman, but yes, it was far worse.

[–] jt-hix2112 11 years ago

Much better production values for an exploitation film, though it is very clear that Scorsese is still learning his craft at this point and will really start to show his potential with his next film, Mean Streets. But compared to other Corman movies, this is way better.

My short films: http://www.youtube.com/user/jthix2554/videos?flow=grid&view=0