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Melton's Replies
I doubt he’s going to rape a girl from a party of 4, the other 3 of which are due back any moment and know who he is and where he lives. He’d have to murder all of them and hide their bodies, and I don’t think he’s a serial killer.
That said, it is somewhat careless to leave your ‘friend’ in that situation, but remember these aren’t the most compassionate bunch of gals - a motorcyclist flies off his bike and slams into a structure thanks to our ‘heroines’ improvised revenge mission, likely killing or maiming himself. The black one doesn’t seem to care about Zoe’s life, rather than pull over and let Zoe off, she speeds along while a psycho is bashing their car, putting Zoe in relentless mortal danger.
Finally, they go after Stuntman Mike like a pack of bloodthirsty dogs hunting a fox. Sure, he smashed into their car a few times, but in response they pursue him, beat him within an inch of his life, then Abby caves his face into his skull.
Tarantino loves shifting sympathies, and he’s definitely trying to make you sympathise with Mike in the second half, and makes you somewhat uncomfortable for cheering on this morally questionable second batch of ‘victims’.
Agreed.
No, the cheerleader in part 2.
Interesting. The parts that drag for me are:
- opening dialogue at start of the film in the car
- long take in second half where Zoe and girls… talk forever about falling in a ditch
- extended chatter at the farm about their plan to steal the car… get on with it
Now, I appreciate that Tarantino knows what he’s doing and is taking us down alleys so he can surprise us yadda yadda, but usually his ‘extraneous’ dialogue is really entertaining! Here it’s check-your-watch dull and bland.
He was also inconsistent with the ‘Grindhouse’ effects. The first half looks scrappy, scratched, missing reels etc. the second half is pretty clean.
Here’s a thought though - was he going for two different films squished together? In the first half Kurt Russell’s car is ‘Death Proof’, in the second the stunt-girls who kill him are ‘Death Proof’ 🤔
Well, sort of. In the latter half he’s still repeatedly smashing into the girls’ car while Zoe is holding on for dear life - he’s trying to kill them. It’s only when they start to gain the upper hand by shooting him that he turns into a whiny bitch and they hunt him down like a dogs on a fox.
It was a rare occasion where a villain actually got what he deserved and suffered appropriately. People seem to forget what a sadistic, sick psychotic bastard he is in the first half, just because he turns into a little bitch later on.
I guess it feels weird because the girls chasing him down weren’t really victims of his brutality. Yeah he attacked them but no-one got hurt so shooting him, chasing him, battering him… and caving his face in wasn’t exactly ‘revenge’, it was fractionally sadistic itself.
But that’s what I like about Tarantino - shifting sympathies and questionable morality. I probably agree with Tarantino that it’s his worst film, but it’s the worst of a great bunch and still plenty entertaining. I’ve only seen the standalone version, my guess is the Grindhouse version is better paced.
Yes… despite her having one eye much higher than the other, like Sloth.
A hilariously wrong comment. Mallrats is great, Smith’s dialogue is fantastic and the actors’ delivery is spot-on. Jason Lee is a revelation, as good as Jeff Anderson as Randall.
Jay and Silent Bob are on superb form, the film is as charming and funny as ever.
It makes the few comedies that get made today look like safe, bland, commercial crap. 90’s Smith captured a generation who were far more self-aware, intelligent, witty, acerbic and interesting than the boring phone-zombie virgins of today.
Many a great thriller is set on the cobbled streets of Europe. Denzel and Dakota were great in their Mexican-set revenge tale. Bring it on.
That is correct.
He did. It did.
I go with III because Terry Silver is just so comically evil and, while I genuinely enjoy the Danny-Miyagi relationship, I can’t take these films all that seriously.
II is a bit too restrained and lacking in karate, III leans into the absurdity of this friendly, good-natured kid constantly attracting psychotic karate bullies 🤣
Ali, she was heavier and more spirited.
I don’t think authenticity is a huge concern for the filmmakers. They filmed ‘Okinawa’ in Hawaii, and the actor playing the villain was Hawaiian, plus most of the karate moves and techniques are bullshit. Notice also how everyone in ‘Okinawa’ speaks to each other in broken, stilted English.
Kumiko’s kimono is the least of the film’s credibility problems.
<blockquote>Why are these movie board commenters so external and superficial, fight-oriented apes instead of understanding that these movies are all about the INTERNAL, not about the external? If anything, they're SYMBOLIC, not realistic. If anything, they show what karate IS, not what karate moves LOOK like.</blockquote>
Bullshit. Your film has ‘karate’ in the title you need to deliver. You can still have lots of wisdom-dispensing <i>and</i> show us some beat-downs, The Matrix struck a good balance.
Also, in the rare moments we actually saw some fighting… it wasn’t great. Miyagi’s attack on Chozen and his gang was poorly choreographed. It doesn’t have to be Jackie Chan but let’s see some eyebrow-raising moves in keeping with Miyagi’s supposed reputation as a beast. Ironically, the best fight was Miyagi vs Kreese with the car windows at the start.
Stow the bigotry dude. Daniel-san is gender-fluid and identifies as non-binary. It’s not for you to determine whether or not Ali ruined his bonus-hole.
Daniel’s so dumb he doesn’t understand the moral issues with murder and its legal consequences? Wow.
I love how cartoonishly evil the KK villains are. Miyagi is literally saving this crusty old guy’s life and he’s yelling at him ‘YOU ARE LOWER THAN A DOG!’
WTF!? 🤣
I enjoy it as one if the trashier King movies, I like the setup of the town and Devil setting up shop, but it never really convinces me that these items are super-special. A corny electric shock effect and flashback don’t really sell it.
It’s also not convincing that normal people would start skinning pet dogs etc. The book did a much better job of showing how the objects made the buyer feel.
That said, the cast is great, especially Von Sydow, and so is the music.
I saw it 15 years ago because of the hype and was… underwhelmed. It was alright, nice simple set-up but didn’t really go anywhere interesting.
I’d like to see it again, see what I missed, but your post has reminded me how meh it was.
Shhh. Never interrupt an obnoxious twat when they’re nuking their own career.