captainsolo said:
zombie84 said:
A Better Tomorrow I and II
After having re-watched The Killer for the first time in about 5 years I decided to give these a spin. I owned part II on VHS back in the day so I have more nostalgia for it, and it's also much more entertaining because it's the first real "John Woo Film" and has some pretty great action. The first film I have only seen once or twice and it's really something: it's not much of an action film. It's more of a crime drama, with some pretty good acting and directing, with operatic flourishes of violence that give it a slightly comic-book edge. That's on full display in the much hackier--though in some ways more entertaining, in that over-the-top 80s way--sequel, but the original film is a pretty important landmark in Hong Kong action cinema and it's easy to see why. Much like it's American counterpart, Terminator, it's an action film that doesn't quite think of itself as an action film but an honest drama with lots of shooting and chases.
Very well said and accurately sums up these two films. I can't help but love them both. And the fried rice which is like my family. ;)
It's funny, because the VHS I had of part II was (obviously) dubbed, when I got the DVD I wanted to check out the original language but I think I realized that it was over-dubbed as well, so the acting wasn't all that better. Maybe for nostalgia of all else I ended up watching the english dub as usual, but then when it got to the scene where the guy throws the fried rice I wondered how the NYC scenes were in the actual original cantonese track. The dude was unintentionally (I think?) hilarious in the english dub, but in the cantonese original it was so absurdly over the top and cartoonish I literally spit my drink out when I heard it. He sounds like Bebop from Ninja Turtles! It's like they got some voice actor from english anime dubs, which is maybe what they did.
zombie84 said:
I should also say that I really, really miss the days when John Woo was taken seriously as a filmmaker. Even on Face/Off there was still a reverance for him.
I hated hated hated Face/Off before I knew who Woo was. I loathed MI:2 and wondered, who exactly is this guy who can make all this fantastic stylization in terrible scripts? Then came everything prior, and I realized...oh dear god can someone please get poor Mr. Woo back to Hong Kong immediately??
To be fair I haven't seen the film since the one time I saw it when I was 14 or so when it was new, but I remember being impressed by it, and so were reviewers--my grade 8 teacher even mentioned what a good film it was. Cage and Travolta actually commanded respect back then, and remember this was before the Matrix, so seeing wire use and slow motion action scenes was a lot more impressive and impactful, even if the script was a bit absurd. I think that scene where the kid is listening to Somewhere Over the Rainbow as the highrise gets torn apart in a massive gunfight is as inspired as anything Woo has done. Now, Broken Arrow--there is a turkey if I ever saw one. I don't know how the guy got Face/Off based on that, at least Face/Off had a few moments, even if it hasn't aged well.