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The pod race - Page 2

post #51 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacob Singer
I'm not even sure what the NASCAR comment is supposed to mean, unless you're implying that finding the pod race exciting is the mental equivalent of liking to watch stock cars going in circles.
What happens in the pod race? They go three loops, IIRC. I think the most exciting thing that happens on Ani's end is that he jumps the bad racer dude, again if IIRC. So for the most part, it's about watching the pods go three laps, hence the Nascar comparison; I'm not a big racing fan, so that was not a jab at you jsut a comment on my biases. The main drama comes from Ani fiddling with his shit to keep it together. Since I have no idea how his stuff works, but it keeps working, it's not very exciting to me. Ani doesn't seem to be sweaty or nervous, at best he's pensive while doing this. Not exactly edge of the seat emoting about his problems.

You called it "visually amazing and viscerally exciting," what makes you think that?
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post #52 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatboy Roberts
The idea that Escape from LA is a satiric comment on action movies is very new to me though.
The last big action sequence takes place in Disneyland, and at the end Snake Plisken turns off the world. There's also a surfing sequence. How was this so hard to miss?
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post #53 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:37pm
Quote:
The last big action sequence takes place in Disneyland, and at the end Snake Plisken turns off the world. There's also a surfing sequence. How was this so hard to miss?
I think you're trying to attribute a deeper meaning to something that isn't there, that's all. I seriously doubt there was any deeper thought added to that than "It'd be funny to have this ultimate badass fuck up Disneyland, and what's more badass than blowing up the world?" If there's anything to the Disneyland and Surfing mentions, it's that it's a California gag, not an action movie gag, especially when you look at Jacob's earlier Carpenter quote.

Carpenter doesn't really deal with the kind of subtle message-making that you're trying to give to him, and too much of what happens in Escape from LA happens in his 90's-00 output that's just irredeemably shitty. I find it hard to believe he thought to make an acerbic statement on the idiocy of action movies while then continuing to plunge headfirst into that idiocy deeper than he'd ever been.
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post #54 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:42pm
That's subtle?

I do believe it's intentional though.
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post #55 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Dellamorte
You called it "visually amazing and viscerally exciting," what makes you think that?
The sense of speed, the brute force sounds of the engines, the occasional first-person viewpoints, the kinetic energy of the collisions and crashes, the first music cue late in the race - it all works for me. I'm not saying I was on the edge of my seat wondering whether or not Ani was gonna win, but for the duration of the race I felt like I was there on Tattooine.
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post #56 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:50pm
"You might have survived Cleveland. You might have escaped from New York. But this is L.A., vato. And you're about to find out that this fucking city can kill anybody! "

They're obviously making fun of themselves, the genre, and the absurdity of it all. Pam Grier plays a transvestite. Cuervo Jones the faux-Che, etc. etc. They were having fun, yes. It's a goof. Look at the "suiting up" sequence. If NY was meant to have a dark comic edge, this one is just plain goofy.
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post #57 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fett
That's subtle?

I do believe it's intentional though.
okay, so maybe subtle is a crappy word

But there's no way it's intentional. If anything is intentional, it's as it was said in Singer's quote: It's a goof on California, not action movies. Carpenter just wrapped it in uncool action cliches that he's still entertained by. His sense of cool isn't cool enough to make fun of movies trying too hard to be cool. He just makes movies that try too hard to be cool now. He's totally disconnected. And it shows in Escape from L.A.
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post #58 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:57pm
Thread Starter 
Is that the same playful goofiness on exhibit in Vampires and Ghosts of Mars? 'Cause I'd swear all that macho posturing is meant to be taken at least somewhat seriously.

EDIT: Fatboy beat me to it.
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post #59 of 71
3/10/05 at 9:57pm
People don't know Escape From LA is a comedy??
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post #60 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:01pm
Vampires is just not a very good movie (though with an entertaining performance by James Woods) while Ghosts of Mars is either a goof rehash of Precinct 13, or a straight jacking. That film has some knowing winks, though.
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post #61 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:04pm
Thread Starter 
Interesting quote from James Berardinelli:


Quote:
Apologists for Escape (and there are mass legions of devoted fans) point out that the film is as much a comedy as it is an action film. And, while it's certainly true that Carpenter has infused the film with elements of irony and wit, his sense of humor is so dour that it rarely sparks more than fitful laughter. In fact, it's easier to recognize that Escape from New York is trying to be funny than it is to actually unearth those few moments of comedy that appear more inspired than pointless.
EDIT: My bad, this is a EfNY review. I'm an idiot.
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post #62 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf
People don't know Escape From LA is a comedy??
Oh, it's an action comedy. It's just not a satire on action movies at all. It's a poorly made action movie made with very dated sensibilities that scatters a lot of unintentional comedy along with intentional comedy. And that combination is probably making you give more credit to Carpenter's sensibilities than he deserves.
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post #63 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:07pm
Go Ebert.
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post #64 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:09pm
I can play the quote game. From Roger Ebert:

Quote:
John Carpenter's ``Escape From L.A.'' is a go-for-broke action extravaganza that satirizes the genre at the same time it's exploiting it. It's a dark vision of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles--leveled by a massive earthquake, cut off from the mainland by a flooded San Fernando Valley, and converted into a prison camp for the nation's undesirables.

Against this backdrop Carpenter launches a special-effects fantasy that reaches heights so absurd that there's a giddy delight in the outrage. He generates heedlessness and joy in scenes such as the one where the hero surfs on a tsunami wave down Wilshire Boulevard and leaps onto the back of a speeding convertible. It's as if he gave himself license to dream up anything--to play without a net. This is the kind of movie ``Independence Day'' could have been if it hadn't played it safe.
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post #65 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:12pm
Thread Starter 
My quote was mistaken, and I edited the post.

I'd still take the pod race over the basketball scene any day of the week.
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post #66 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:14pm
Cool. You and Ebert share the same misinformed opinion of the flick. I also think he gave Carpenter entirely too much credit, something he's done with plenty of other movies.

Although I love that this tired ass conversation has turned into a Carpenter thread.

I maintain Carpenter wasn't satirizing shit, the fact that some of his intentional comedy works, mixed with his extremely dated idea of what would be "Cool to see" would cause someone to think he was trying to be satirical. I don't think he intended us to think "wow, that's so fuckin cheezy, I love that he's totally mocking action movies." I think he was going for "Holy shit he surfs a Tsunami, what a goddamn BADASS!!"

Carpenter lost track of what makes for good, compelling, cool filmmaking long before he decided to exhume the corpse of "Escape from New York" in the mid-nineties.
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post #67 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:20pm
Fatboy, that was Carpenter's intention. I'll see if I can dig up an interview, but yeah, that's what he was doing. It was a satire.
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post #68 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:36pm
While you're digging up the interview, re-watch the TPM DVD Podrace. It's been awhile, maybe you'll catch some new stuff, and it sounds like you're not familiar with the restored 2nd lap, which does up the ante quite a bit.

But I'm looking forward to the excerpt. Carpenter's always been a very interesting guy.
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post #69 of 71
3/10/05 at 10:38pm
I watched the film again four months ago. It was not very good.
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post #70 of 71
3/11/05 at 11:22am
Sometimes, sometimes I forget that you guys are nerds.
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post #71 of 71
3/11/05 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent Helix
I just think it went on for far too long a running time. The 'gee-whiz' factor of the visuals wore off long before the scene ended.
Helix, you read my mind too. Could be fun, but goes on way to long.
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