So...in all fairness, I saw this movie a little while after it came out, maybe in 2003. Ok...so I was still a teenager then. And I haven't seen in since, but I remember loving it. Like..really loving it and telling people to go watch it. Then I come here and see all these people bashing it and making fun of it....I'm a little heartbroken.
shareI consider it a guilty pleasure. When you walk in KNOWING that it won't be up for any Oscars, it's a lot easier to enjoy. As is the case with all John Woo fare.
shareThis is indeed a guilty pleasure movie. I think the people bashing it actually like it, but like to laugh at how over the top it is at times.
shareDon't apologize for enjoying the movie. It was never meant to be educational or accurate.
share"It was never meant to be educational or accurate. "
So I suppose if they made a movie about Sept 11, 2001 and stuffed it full of cheese, with stereotypical characters and had the main story take place in Los Angeles and only when the characters fly to Washington or New York on Sept 11 does it actually intersect with 9-11, then it would be okay, right?
ALL historical cinema educates - some MIS-educates and some genuinely educate.
"It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons."
- Pierre Rissient
*****
So I suppose if they made a movie about Sept 11, 2001 and stuffed it full of cheese, with stereotypical characters and had the main story take place in Los Angeles and only when the characters fly to Washington or New York on Sept 11 does it actually intersect with 9-11, then it would be okay, right?
*****
In the vein of guilty pleasures as they were talking of, then yeah, it's fine. Like in a plot of a person dreaming, or a science fiction plot of alternate history, etc., etc... Advertising it as fact or accurate would be wrong.
Windtalkers was advertised as being loosely based on historical events (and lets face it, it re-defines 'loosely based')- it was never advertised as a documentary in any way. It's a Woo action blaster that's only redeeming 'educational' point was that it did manage to make more people aware of the Navajo code talkers, the Solomons, and Saipan. Who knows? Maybe it inspired some to actually learn more about them. However, using it as a teaching tool (or expecting it to act as one to begin with) would just be foolish.
*****
ALL historical cinema educates - some MIS-educates and some genuinely educate.
*****
True. It is also true that it's a personal responsibility to believe or doubt what you see, read, or hear in day to day life - including fictional movies. Looking for education value in profit motivated entertainment is silly anyway.
It's been said countless times before: If you want accuracy, look to documentaries.
People getting all shot up over lack of accuracy in fictional works reminds me of Salman Rushdie and his "Satanic Verses". A certain groups outrage over his inaccuracy resulted in a death sentence being laid on his head... sheesh!
That's OK, I am sure you made lots of bad decsions when you were young...if you had told me to go see this movie in the theatre I would have driven straight from the theatre to your mom's house and punched her in the throat.
-Grool
I suggest watching it again now that you aren't a teenager. I also liked it when I was 11 or 12 but an currently re-watching it and well, it speaks for itself that I lost interest about 3/4 of the way through and am now on here instead.
Can't keep me off this escalator!