I have no objection to people smoking but this film was laughable in its lack of subtlety as an ad campaign for the tobacco industry.
I felt it took away from the character in that if a person smoked that much they would be very unfit, have yellow teeth and a chesty cough!
I accept completely that this is a no-brainer type film for most.
Dont be so PC.
He smoked so what? If people are stupid to start smoking then that is there own fault.
That isn't the the point. The point is its a thinly veiled "product placement" commercial for the cigarette lobby.
shareYou've been brainwashed to think that.
cigarette lobby. Pah. You have no idea.
The US government subsidizes tobacco farmers. That's right. The US federal government pays to have tobacco grown.
The US government has set up a massive series of roadblocks and red tape ensuring that no new tobacco companies can form. They charge tobacco companies heavily to operate, this high cost is why they then have to use your money to pay tobacco growers to continue growing. Keeps the jobs American you see.
The US government then forces the monopolies they have created to spend millions on advertising against tobacco use. Pretty much every anti-tobacco ad you've seen was paid for by the tobacco companies. But no matter, because of the monopoly mandated by the government, and because of the subsidies, tobacco companies rake in the money. The US government turned them into mega billion dollar corporations through their laws.
Finally the US government takes a cut on the back end, taxing the hell out of citizens for choosing to smoke.
And so what you end up with is a massive "big tobacco" that is created and supported by the government, who are in turn forced under threat of law to spend money brainwashing you to think tobacco is Satan, thus justifying the government for gouging people who choose to smoke. It's whole lotta money for the government, and they love it so they keep working with the tobacco companies to screw you out of every dollar they can get.
I don't even smoke. I find it disgusting. But you're a tool if you think a smoker in a movie is a sinister plot by "the cigarette lobby" whatever the hell that even means (the US government has the largest lobby in America, literally, there are far more government lobbyists whose sole job as tax paid employees is to lobby the government for more money and jobs for government employees, they just keep feeding themselves and spending this nation into oblivion).
And you really have no personal knowledge of smokers if you think they all cough and wheeze and have yellow teeth. Far more of a percent of active duty US military service members smoke than the populace and they are in far better shape than the populace, just as an example.
This film is more of a homage to the "Escape From" Carpenter films. Snake Plissken used to smoke and Snow has the same mannerism and carefree attitude that Snake had so I wouldn't be surprised if he smoked. Plissken also inspired Solid Snake in the metal gear games, a character who smokes heavily and the iconic cigarette pack could be used to navigate through laser fields.
This whole film is a homage to the action genre of the yesteryears with macho heroes and the symbol of machismo back then were muscles and smoking. Arnie had his cigars and Stallone had his cigs.
-'Human intelligence' is an oxymoron-
That's the point of the movie.
In older movies the hero always smoked. Nowadays they don't. The Snow character and the movie itself was a deliberate throwback to the old style action movies - The constant glib one liners, going for one last mission... and lighting up.
There seems to be a lot of people who just didn't get the movie or think they are too sophisticated to like this type of movie anymore. I liked it and I miss the heroic glib one liners... and the incessant lighting up.
i'm going to leave this here....
http://www.uer.ca/forumpic/norm/8c31e9091d45b4752e2d179a2b5e6fea.jpg
You know a lot of top athletes smoke, right? You can still smoke and be healthy, same as many non-smokers are fat slobs who sit around watching TV and eating junk all day. If you're really concerned about your lungs close down the factories and get cars off the road. Smoking is just an easy scapegoat that does minimal damage by comparison. Stop being such a whiny liberal.
I think to say that smoking does minimal damage compared to cars is a bit uneducated and naive on your part. Do a bit of research you close-minded right-wing redneck.
shareThanks, Mayor Blooberg. Shouldn't you be banning 32oz sodas?
shareSmoking added a "cool effect" to this movie. It also added a decent amount of dialog related to smoking. The cigarette lighter was an important factor.
share^ This.
I thought it added a nice touch to the movie. God knows I'm tired cleaned up action flicks because, OMG, the main character can't be a smoker.
Smoking is no longer cool. It once was many years ago, you still see it in a western, but other than that smoking isn't cool anymore. It is, since the end of last century, very much proven to be unhealthy which therefore makes smoking instead of cool dumb. Dumb heroes smoke. Our hero wasn't dumb. Therefore it makes the story implausible instead of "making it cool." Athletes who smoke are even more dumb than our hero because it reduces their performance. Competitive athletes do everything in order to gain an advantage. You'll find people who need to smell or look good (actors, for example) as well as people who need to physically perform NOT smoke.
I've been loving too much, caring too little -- TormentoR.
Most actors smoke. Look it up. "Perform" - so, what about smoking after sex?
shareAgreed 100%
share[deleted]
Are you a doctor? you should definitely have MD after your name. Everything you said was 100% scientifically wrong. Just an FYI. But if you wanna go smoke and "be healthy" then power to ya.
"I'm no hero. Never was. I'm just an old killer, hired to do some wet work."
Here here, Big!
shareminimal damage by comparison.
Stop being such a whiny liberal.
Tobacco companies still pay large amounts to producers to include smoking in their movies. They know that stupid teenagers will be inspired to start smoking, become lifelong customers, and eventually be worth about $20000+ in revenue. Until they die from cancer or necrotic foot disease or emphysema or something.
shareThis.
Then those smokers become whiny conservatives complaining about whiny liberals.
Yeah, especially "something".
Like everybody else, including me
I'd just really like to read even a single report that ties cancer as directly proportional to smoking. I don't think it exist and I'm too lazy about this particular issue to look around, but I'd really like to see a credible report like that
My guess would be among smokers there a slightly higher chance to get cancer, probably not directly proportional to the amount of smoking
With a large population sample I'd bet cancer ratio between smokers and non smokers might not be that different
Edoardo
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You're about as ignorant as it gets.
You doubt there's a correlation because you're too lazy to research it and therefore haven't read a single study?
That's ridiculous, and you're absolutely stupid. Really, its not just an opinion, you really are absolutely stupid.
In the movie, wasn't there a line like "who smokes anymore these days?" or something like that?
Was it to show that Snow's character was more off-beat in a time where almost no one smokes? Like someone from our time walking around with a cassette tape walkman?
Good point, synchro505. It could also be that the director or writer knew how obvious the smoking scenes were and it was a way to get his spoke in? Anyway, as I initially wrote, it's not that I object to people smoking, its the the plainly obvious add-on of the smoking scenes: deep inhale, relaxing exhale; always in a situation where they are highly focused upon that breaks the spell of the story, imo.
Thanks for the whiny liberal comment, bighalsy.
@synchro505:
That was the point. He wasn't part of the norm. He was a rebel that did things his own way and had his own honor system. He didn't follow the crowd and wasn't a PC warrior. He was flawed but noble.
That was the point of the 'smoking'. It's similar to I, Robot with the converse sneaker thing. These guys are old school and therefore won't fall for the okey doke like the lemming that follows the crowd.
********
"Why are you the way that you are?...I hate...so much about the things that you choose to be..."
Come on, smoking is and always was a character trait that lends itself to scenes where the character does something on screen other than stand around looking goofy.
Once movies also showed actors drinking at every opportune moment.
It helps set a tone and in fact feels like a nice *beep* you to all the movies where smoking is made an issue by being portrayed as something evil.
Go watch a Disney flick if it bothers you.
In a good film it's dialog and action that makes a character not look goofy.
But not in this one.
NOBODY SMOKES ANYMORE, SNOW!
shareHe didn't smoke that much; he did, however, light up a lot of cigarettes.
I don't see how smoking is so evil and unacceptable but drinking is totally okay and it kills innocent people.
-Dad, who's that?
-Oh, that? One of my patients. He's...sick.
-Will he live?
-It's looking grim.