CMT - Starship Troopers

War films and action films are not the same. In fact, you could argue they’re entirely different genres. If you’re looking for a thrill, search the action DVDs; they’re about the excitement and empowerment that violence brings. If you want commentary on violence itself and how it affects the human condition, browse the war section.

Most apparent to me are the differences in tone. Action is celebratory, while war is horrific. Both of them admire the skills of trained killers, but only one examines their victims. War is tragedy, drama and reality; they have a sobering quality that action movies avoid.

We can also consider the importance of the enemies. Action movie bad guys are largely interchangeable. Until the main antagonist is finally confronted, nameless goons take most of the punishment. Ultimately they serve to contrast with the protagonist; the hero can’t be strong and exceptional unless others are normal and weak.

In a war picture, the opposition is part of the film’s identity. They help determine the level of drama, and they control the direction of our emotions. If each side is given enough screen time, you may not be able to root for either party. If there is a group that you can rally behind, the enemy challenge helps to define that group.

Classic Movie Trailers – Starship Troopers (1997)

I feel I should let you in a secret. Zombie movies are not about zombies. If you examine them closely, you'll find they're about the people dealing with their threat. The enemy is just an external pressure, that forces the characters to grow and change.

The bugs in this movie serve the same purpose. They also do it better than zombies ever could. I haven't found a better foe for this kind of film, and right now I'm certain that one doesn't exist.

Let's go back to the dead for a minute. Zombies are best when the situation is dire. If you have a group of people low on ammo and supplies, a horde of undead is a shambling wave of death. If we change the group to infantry and back them up with tanks, you get a boring movie.

Sure, they would lose a soldier here and there, but I'm not afraid for the great majority of them. You could argue it depends on the size of the army, but if you reduce the soldiers it's more of a survival film. With all units working like they're supposed to, a group of unarmed dead people are no more than that. You could even speed them up but the fact is, a human body is not a bullet sponge, regardless of what games say.

Once you add assault vehicles into the mix, you'll see that the undead underperform. Maybe machines are a slightly better fit, but they actually might be worse, for the opposite reason. When I see a field of men against a squad of Terminators, I can't believe that any people survive. When we get broke there's no good way to fix us, and death is fairly permanent last time I checked.

Alien bugs are perfect for a number of reasons. First off, they don't allow you to empathize with them. Machines and monsters share this trait; when you see them against people, you'll root against them almost every time. We really aren't concerned about the health of the bug colony; they present a real challenge without taxing our emotional energy.

Secondly, bugs are just strong enough. Consider the shell on a beetle and the ant exoskeleton. It's true that we can squash them with no trouble at all, but bugs are really small on this planet. The imagination doesn't have to take a great leap, to figure out a giant bug would be a human terror.

They are death machines but they're natural ones. They're not hard like steel, and they're not fragile like decaying corpses. We can assume their shells deflect incoming bullets, and we can count on them being very aggressive. If bees are any indication, disturbing a nest of giant insects is a fatal mistake.

I can't imagine a better subject for science fiction. There are plenty of species, so you can borrow thousands of attributes. It's a stretch to think that they can cause a meteor shower, but besides that plot point, they work in every respect. There's some good variance among them, and they have the numbers to give a serious fight.

“Starship Troopers” is a very human story. It has a fair amount of romance, betrayal and heartbreak. Here we're forced to grow up facing certain death and fight as human beings, against an inhuman foe. The enemies are paramount in a picture like this, and I haven't seen a film that has made a better choice.

Trailer Here

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@ChannelSeals

See “Starship Troopers” on Netflix!

Next Week: April Foolish starts with “Galaxy Quest”.

CMT - Darkman

Great fiction is exactly that; it can be typed, filmed or illustrated, but none of those methods denote quality. The main reason why I suggest comics to other people, is the fact that they're really underappreciated. For proof we can look at the price tags; for a thirty-two page comic, you're going to pay three to six dollars. That's pretty far from the ten cent comics of the 1920's, and for the same price you could buy a novel, with a lot more content.

Over the years, comics have suffered from low distribution, as they've moved from the newsstand to specialty stores. The only comics sold by book retailers, are soft and hardcover collections, not single issues. Unfortunately, the singles are the backbone of the industry; they help keep the cost of collections down and provide a proving ground. What you're left with is very low readership, which adds to the cost barrier for new readers. It's a death spiral that hasn't claimed books, but it's an immediate threat to other printed media.

Magazines aren't selling like they used to. Newspapers don't circulate nearly as much. We live in an age of smartphones, tablets and streaming. We want it all fast and we want to view it quickly, so print often looses to video. Movies leave nothing for the imagination, so why take time to read when you can see the action?

The answer is that even though mediums compete, ideally they should all be working together. The yearly film events can be even better, when they're supplemented with additional material. You can also expect to see more films you like, because popular singles become popular collections, and a producer decided to buy the film rights. In short, comics give you what you love today, and they will be the subjects of films tomorrow.


Classic Movie Trailers - Darkman (1990)


According to Wikipedia, "Darkman" was a sixteen million dollar movie. It made forty-six million at the box office, which seems like a decent but modest return. If you add marketing and subtract actor subsidies, there might be little profit to speak of. Nevertheless, there were two sequels made, but neither of them were released theatrically.

I don't want to disregard "direct-to-video" movies. There must be great ones in that space, but tight budget productions are seas of compromise. That is to say that film doesn't do small very well. Series are usually short lived, unlike those on television. I don't know about the quality of Darkman II and III, but I can tell you that afterward, the franchise died a quiet death.

I can't say that no effort was made. The original film was adapted to comics, and Marvel came out with a six-issue mini series. Four novels were published with the Darkman name, and they even shot an unaired TV pilot. You might think that spells the end of the character. You might say, he simply proved to be unpopular.

Please keep in mind that comic runs have numerous volumes. Many years pass with great titles out of print. Even Spider-Man and Superman were killed off and replaced. The changes were short-lived, but without low sales they wouldn't have changed. 

Plenty of comic book movies were remade and rebooted. They seldom strike gold on the very first try. For every "Batman Begins" and "Deadpool", there's Ang Lee's "Hulk" and "Superman Returns". Disney and WB have money to burn, as well as the smarts to try until it works.

Sometimes it's a good product at the wrong time. The superhero genre almost died in the fifties. It took some savvy editors to reintroduce them, and there wouldn't be a Marvel Studios if they didn't take those steps. You wouldn't have "Gotham" or "Daredevil" on TV, and maybe that's a world that isn't as fun.

I think we should be clear on a very important issue; Darkman is a comic hero, regardless of his origin. There are obvious similarities between him and The Shadow, but Batman might have been an influence too. All you need is a pinch of RoboCop and a dash of Mission Impossible, to make an identical dish.

His is a simple story, of lost love and revenge. It may be a little depressing, but that only strengthens my case. A graphic novel can bring all the pain and tragedy, without a financial need to give a happy ending. There are lower expectations regarding sales, which goes hand-in-hand with creative freedom.

You want to know why comics are great? You want to know the big secret few have figured out? Comic books give you just enough, and they allow you to fill in the blanks. For instance, if they're written well, comics won't be ruined by bad acting.

There are no dated effects to worry about. When you read, the voices you hear are voices you prefer. You don't have to envision people and locales, everything is illustrated wonderfully. These are all strengths of sequential artwork, but don't forget, it gives you the power to control the pace. An awesome explosion is a fleeting moment in film; in comics, you can linger on a shot as long as you please.

The other major thing to note is studios pay attention. High book sales increase the chances that an IP gets picked up. "Watchmen" sold great for many, many years and well before a film was shot. If you like a property, or a neglected genre, your money still speaks louder than you can.

We're currently in a place where adaptations are common. Movies rehash books, instead of continuing their stories. If each media can tell a smaller part of a larger whole, you'l have greater satisfaction with the pie. More paying customers can drive down prices, and make their voices heard by every studio and publisher. 

What I believe is we control what we want to see. You can spread the word about a TV show, but it can still be cancelled. If you keep the IP going, wherever it is, you help to bring that world back to life. So I may just dig into some Darkman comics; there are a few movies I haven't seen and some novels to enjoy. 


Wish me luck.




Trailer Here.

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See "Darkman" on Netflix!

Next Week: "Starship Troopers".

CMT - Escape From L.A.

I'm certainly no expert in what makes good entertainment. However, know that there is no such thing. Even though there are hundreds of critics and pundits, none of their opinions can outweigh yours. I could study film for the next fifty years, but my views would continue to be entirely subjective.

So regarding "guilty pleasures", there's no guilt necessary. There's nothing embarrassing about enjoying a film. I'm certainly not the target for the "Twilight" movies, but if they work for me I don't have to explain why. A satisfactory experience is largely emotional, and it's a mistake to boil it all down to logic.

Still, we can analyze film to a certain degree, and knowing how it works for us is valuable information. Not only does it help us to be better consumers, it allows our tastes to grow and change, just like we do. When you run into the opposite of what you're looking for, it can satisfy in a way you wouldn't have believed. After that happens there's a time for reflection, to learn, adjust and escape from an old state of mind.



Classic Movie Trailers - Escape from L.A. (1996)


"Escape from L.A." is not "Escape from New York". The first film is what I want from action movies today. Being largely a grounded experience, it doesn't risk absurdity with preposterous stunts. The basic idea underlying its approach, is to serve up the goods without breaking the immersion.

The downside to that game plan is you're somewhat restrained. It can feel like the action is on a short leash. If there's one thing I would change about Snake's first adventure, it's the level of intensity, which I thought could have been higher. Still, if I directed this sequel in the early nineties, I never would have thought to go this big.

The movie is so delightfully ridiculous, any complaints about disbelief are missing the point. It took a while for me to see where it was headed, but it proved to be one hell of a rollercoaster ride. Instead of smirking at the unrealism, I was pleasantly surprised by how unrealistic it was. The dial was turned up beyond my expectations, so it made me question where the limits were.

Imagine how much fun you can have with an audience, when your story has no rules and nothing's out of bounds. If you can show them something they didn't see coming, you'll command their complete attention. There are few things that can match character investment, but one of those things is simple curiosity. Caring about what happens to a person onscreen, is sometimes beat out by the need to see what's next.

"Escape from L.A." is a comic look at the action film genre. It laughs at unrealism by laughing at itself. Interestingly you might also say, that it laughs at realism just as hard. The "one-man army"concept is rooted in fantasy, so it doesn't ask that you buy the idea with a straight face.

Most action stars should be cast as Terminators. If the hero is human, he can really test your patience. Every scene that shows the star escaping death, is yet another step towards inconceivability. Action can be a clichéd, boring experience, which is the exact opposite of what it's trying to do.

We want to be on the edge of our seats, and that's a hard place to be if the soldier is always unscathed. However, if you're not allowed to take the film seriously, you can get the adrenaline rush you're looking for. When a movie embraces its lack of credibility, it's no longer an issue or hindrance. Instead of leaving an intense moment shaking our heads, we can leave it laughing and eager for the next one.

Admittedly, I'm ready for more of the same. The closing scenes were satisfying, but it wasn't enough. Snake has an amazing edge over his contemporaries; they're much too serious to be half as fun. Plissken makes them all seem terribly restrained, even amidst their martial arts, gunfire and explosions. 

What I need is a stack of trade paperbacks, collecting a series of comics that continue the story. A whimsical tone is perfect for the medium, and the Snake from twenty years ago can be reinvented today. The advantages of graphic novels should be pretty clear, but they can capture a.moment in time and explore it indefinitely. Since they're illustrated and not filmed or described, they maintain the power of action without losing relevance.

I'd like you to take this moment and think about comic book films; there wouldn't be so many without great source material. I realize many people never bothered to read them, but you do yourself a disservice by ignoring that world. Every kind of entertainment has strengths and weaknesses; comics can poke fun at almost anything. They ensure that men like Snake will never have to retire, and they serve the audiences that studios don't see.


Trailer Here.

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See "Escape from L.A." on Netflix!

Next Week: A level-headed look at "Darkman", an anger-filled revenge story.

CMT - The Prophecy

There's nothing wrong with making a mistake. In fact, mistakes are an invaluable part of the creative process. In fiction there are way too many variables, to predict what products will succeed. Demographics are considered and genres are carefully chosen, but there's no exact science to depend on. I don't mean to devalue the power of marketing, but sales projections can be wildly off, and no method will always foretell human behavior.

Everything I say about the movies in this series, is said in hindsight with the benefit of history. I don't have any secret information, that explains why some films don't find large audiences. All I can do as a fan and creator, is praise something I see as an example of genius. Unfortunately, words have many different meanings, and as I write this I worry about how that 'praise' will be interpreted..

Religion is a horrible subject for rational dialogue. With an increasing amount of people joining the discussion, there's virtually no chance of maintaining calm. The instant someone becomes or pretends to be offended, is the exact moment when the train comes off the tracks. The churchgoing public couldn't appreciate "The Prophecy" and that fact wrecked the property before it began. It bet too big in my humble opinion, and in a manner of speaking, it failed too late.


Classic Movie Trailers - The Prophecy (1995)

When I first saw this movie in the theater, I was positively awestruck by the theme. I had seen plenty of movies by that point, but I'd never been so intrigued and I may never be again. Judeo-Christian beliefs permeate American culture, and their moral teachings are echoed by our fiction. Even if religion isn't acknowledged or recognized, the influence is apparent and ubiquitous.

I've lived my entire life under that umbrella. When you're born in it and grow with it, you accept it without question. Some can say the same about other cultures. When you're living with one orientation, you start to believe that's all there is.

Most of us know the differences between areas, but they have the relevance of a sleeping dream. Immediacy improves upon the idea of isolation, and men in other countries seem like men from Mars. After an immersion that is decades long, you expect your view of the world to be constantly reinforced. This film uses The Bible to create non-biblical narrative, that challenges that worldview in a smart and plausible way; it didn't go over well.

You have to remember this was 1995. It was eight years before "The Da Vinci Code" was on bookshelves. The movie based on that book debuted three years later; it was as bold as "The Prophecy" and a hundred times more profitable. I think the differing results are products of different timing, and the Code had the advantage of previous success.

The comparison of the two is very telling. On the one hand, Dan Brown's novel brought a significant audience, while "The Prophecy" opened to unprepared eyes. There was no proving ground for its challenging concepts, and it spent too much on the gamble with little proof of success. I'll admit I couldn't find the budget of the movie, but I highly doubt 16 million in sales was enough.

Fortunately the fantasy created in this film, is based on Jew and Christian text and not on Islam. If a similar story aired in a Muslim state, I have little doubt the creators would be dead. Blasphemy is dangerous to devout citizenry, and some authorities don't take creative licenses. You may have a matching opposition to this movie, but I love it very much and it doesn't bother me.

I won't spoil it here, but I will say it presents a compelling scenario. I was more religious when I saw it at first, but even then I viewed it as being totally removed. I'm more open-minded than some of my peers, and I was able to appreciate its artistic brilliance. Ultimately it uses what is taken for granted, to come up with answers to questions we didn't ask.

The closest experience I've had since, was the debut of "The Matrix", a few years later. The Wachowski brothers exited my imagination, but not to the extent that Gregory Widen did. He used the culture that cultured me, to create a universe I want to see explored. Like "The Matrix" films I've been terribly disappointed, that the series hasn't been serialized in books or TV. These concepts are too good to be left in the past, and each well is deep enough to refresh me for some time.

I recently discovered that this film had four sequels. They weren't released theatrically, but they're available on DVD. I can't help but feel that's where the series should have started. If it brought an audience to the theater, instead of searching for one there, it could have gained a following to support it indefinitely.



Trailer Here.


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@ChannelSeals

See "The Prophecy" on Netflix!

Next week, Give Me Comics March continues with CMT - Escape from L.A.

Domestic ticket sales for "The Prophecy" provided by boxofficemojo.com.