why water? *spoilers* - Six-String Samurai (1998) Discussion

[–] OtisElevator 20 years ago

I dunno. Not with Las Vegas looking extremely similar to the Emerald City...

One might go so far as to say that Death was another version of the Wicked Witch, and that the guitar was akin to the ruby red slippers. Who knows how he (Buddy) got his guitar in the first place? It's something to enjoy thinking about.

-The Rev

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[–] elpato84 20 years ago

I like to think that it was Elvis' himself guitar, acquired mysteriously in some forgotten time.

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[–] SpookeeP 19 years ago

While I, too, would have loved to see Death defeated in another way (I felt that the water thing was just a rip off because of budget constraints), I'm starting to get the feeling that maybe The Kid could have defeated Death simply by willing it to happen. The Kid grew to appreciate rock-n-roll and instantly liked it over heavy metal....
Y'know, I was gonna go on a rant there, and just decided to back out. The water thing was actually the last way that I expected Death to bite it. So, I dunno why water was used... Why not?

...The Devil stood, And felt how awful goodness is; saw Virtue in her shape how lovely...

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[–] mikko_kuusirati 19 years ago

"The water thing was actually the last way that I expected Death to bite it."

That was probably one reason they did it, y'know. :)

And the damn guitar is Buddy Holly's, not Elvis's.

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[–] CharlesBronsonPinchot 19 years ago

"And the damn guitar is Buddy Holly's, not Elvis's"

If it was supposed to be Buddy Holly's guitar, they would have used a Fender Strat, not the piece of crap the "Buddy" in this movie played.

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[–] mikko_kuusirati 18 years ago

I'm thinking they simply couldn't afford a Fender Strat, especially looking at the painfully hard knocks that poor guitar would get in filming the movie.

Besides, it's post-apocalypse - you scrounge, improvise, make do with what you have, it's a part of the genre. :)

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[–] madigan1978 18 years ago

"Death" has a Fender Strat, so they could afford it. Plus, the movie had a budget of $2,000,000. You can get a Strat for $500.

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[–] Tuarinn 18 years ago

plus- buddy holly made the Gibson Les Paul Popular, man. if i remember right, buddy's guitar in the movie looked like a les paul to me.

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[–] CharlesBronsonPinchot 18 years ago

plus- buddy holly made the Gibson Les Paul Popular, man. if i remember right, buddy's guitar in the movie looked like a les paul to me.

Please tell me you're joking. He made the Strat an icon, not the Les Paul. And the guitar in this movie looked nothing like a LP, anyway. Not trying to sound rude... It's just that these are elementary Rock n Roll facts, man :)

Compare:

Pics of Buddy Holly and his guitar:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=%22buddy%20holly%22&sa=N&tab=wi

Pics of Strats:
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=stratocaster

Pics of Les Pauls:
http://images.google.com/images?q=%22les+paul%22&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=

Pics of the "6-String Samurai" and his guitar (note it's a semi-hollow body, unlike the Strat or LP):
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=%22Six-String+Samurai%22&btnG=Search

And before you ask - Yes, it's a very slow day today. ;)

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[–] Tuarinn 18 years ago

you're telling me that this :
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/09.17.98/gifs/6-string-9837.jpg

looks nothing like this:
http://www.mikigakki.com/img_system/4995930110546-75864_0

i apologize for my utter incompetance.

and an update from the official buddy holly archives : His first LES PAUL.
the article :http://www.buddyhollyarchives.com/center99.shtml
the picture: http://www.buddyhollyarchives.com/images/buddy4.jpg

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[–] CharlesBronsonPinchot 18 years ago

you're telling me that this :
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/09.17.98/gifs/6-string-9837.jpg

looks nothing like this:
http://www.mikigakki.com/img_system/4995930110546-75864_0

i apologize for my utter incompetance.

and an update from the official buddy holly archives : His first LES PAUL.
the article :http://www.buddyhollyarchives.com/center99.shtml
the picture: http://www.buddyhollyarchives.com/images/buddy4.jpg

The only resemblance between the two guitars is that they have a single cutaway. That describes about a quarter of every electric guitar ever designed (the rest mostly being double cutaways, like the strat). The guitar in the movie is twice as big as a LP, has F-holes, and sloppy curves.

And I didn't say Buddy Holly never owned or played a Les Paul, but you're hard-pressed to find more than a handful of pictures of him playing anything other than a Strat. In fact the link you posted has a huge strat icon right at the top of the page. When anyone thinks Buddy Holly, they think "Sunburst strat and big glasses" ... and "plane crash" :(

Here's a rundown of all the equipment Buddy used:
http://www.buddyhollyonline.com/equipment.html
(Quote from the site: "There is only one photo I can recall of Buddy actually playing the Les Paul... . Whatever reason there was behind Buddy not liking the Les Paul, it was traded in for what became the guitar most identifiable with Buddy Holly, the Fender Stratocaster.")

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[–] MikeyEvan 13 years ago

Closes thing I could find.

http://www.dv247.com/assets/products/61590_l.jpg

Originally thought it was a Gibson ES.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Gibson%20ES/yannis_kontos/1957GibsonES295.jpg

(edit)

1965-1966 Martin (according to the goof section)

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[–] andrewwjohnson 11 years ago

When the kid tossed the water on death he started melting melting. Then the kid started walking toward Los Vegas which looked like the Emerald City in "The Wizard of Oz. I get it.

TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.

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[–] pezjunkie 19 years ago

Water is life, the exact opposite of death. It makes up 90% (I think) of our body, 70% (I think...man, I suck at numbers) of the Earth's surface area, and especially in a desert, it's more precious than anything else. First time I watched the movie I had hoped for a better demise, but I think Hollywood movies have trained us to expect a huge, overdone death for the main villian. Now I like the "death by canteen," even more when you think of some possible alternatives (imagine if they had the kid use Buddy's sword to strike down Death, would've ruined everything right there).

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[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Virgil2127 19 years ago

I'd agree with both bug-me-not-imdb and pezjunkie. First off, there are a lot of Wizard of Oz connections, but if the entire film is built around comparative mythology, which makes this movie not only connected to Wizard of Oz, but eveb "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?" and "Star Wars". Especially in the desert, water is the element which sustains life, and thus, is able ward death away completely.

I know, it sounds a little corny at first, but within the context of the film, it works rather well. The Kid, who is the true hero of the film, has to outsmart death when he can't outfight him. This puts him on the level of characters like Odysseyus(sp?) and Thesus - heroes who use brains instead of brawn.

"All we ever see of stars are their old photographs." Dr. Manhattan, Watchmen

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[–] PCWProductions 19 years ago

I feel that the water was a really foolish way for Death to be defeated. Yeah, water brings life... clever. The movie was really entertaining, and I had to search all over my city to find it, but the ending? Deeply disappointing. I love that they had Death himself trying to become the King of Rock 'N Roll; he was a really cool character. Offing him that way was a weak ending. It seemed to me like Falcon couldn't think of anything else, so he settled with wrapping it up like that.

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[–] leviathan_021 18 years ago

I always figured the "kid" was Kurt Cobain. Death metal/Hair metal pretty much took over and ran pop-culture for a while...Then Came Cobain and Nirvana and pretty much "watered it down"....I guess I am looking far to into it huh?

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[–] macuna 18 years ago

yeah, but that's kind of what forums are for anyways :)

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[–] gnier 18 years ago

I am not sure if they called it water in the movie. Didn't he steal the bottle from the russians? That makes me think if it wasn't alcohol.

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[–] Oozo 18 years ago

Na, it's a lot simpler than that:

Ever went to a heavy-metal show?
Water (especially in the combination with soap) is just nothing which matches the classic heavy-metal image too well.

(And no, I'm not being serious, and yes, I like heavy metal - at least at times...)

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