I watched the movie for the first time several years ago after your glowing review of it. I was not disappointed. Dark City is a brilliant movie that masterfully examines one of the great questions of the human condition. It's a shame it wasn't more successful, but at least it helped pave the way for The Matrix. The two make a great double feature.
i could see the RUMORS of the chemical thing, because dangerous chemicals can be involved with nuclear gear, as being what would lead to him being dispatched. Had it been any other agent, they would go "oh, you’re not dealing with nuclear waste[coolant, loose uranium, lead, anything that could pollute the environment], you’re just using unlicensed nuclear material. I'll call the Nuclear Regulatory Commission." I would say he violated EPA regs or something by not calling his superiors and instead flashing his badge. I'm sure he got fired for not contacting the NRC.
That ending is kinda haunting, but, in retrospect...I think we're doing a lot better now. COVID was a disaster, but I feel like the comics industry has come out of it for the better. Diamond Comics Distributors who, previously, held an estinally monopoly over the comics market, were a LODESTONE around the industry's neck, with their ardent refusal to adapt. (As recently as 2019, some of their customer service operations used Windows 95). DC and Marvel have switched distribution to Indiana-based Lunar Distribution (OK, technically Diamond is still a distributor, but as, like, a middle man between Marvel and Lunar) and Penguin Random House, respectively, and that latter deal is a HUGE deal, because Penguin Random House are a worldwide leader in book publishing (they control 24% of the North American publishing market as of December 2020, more than any other book publisher; HarperCollins trails them by 11%) and therefore could conceivably sell comic books to other retailers beyond dedicated comic book stores, like grocery stores and retail chains. While this is concerning for the future of comic book retailers, it might be a good sign for comics' widespread availability.
I have to admit, that the older I've grown, the lesser I've come to like the TNG Federation... they're too cartoonish, too communist-hippy-in-space...my favourite species are the Romulans
The scary part of the movie is, this would still be how the powers that be in first world countries would do should they encounter an extra terrestrial being and their technology. Find a way to neutralize the alien and how to exploit the alien's technology.
Ah, Demolition Man - one of the often overlooked 90's classic. Too bad that we now more or less live in Demolition Man's future; dystopian, politically correct word, when things will be censored just to protect feelings of oversensitive people...
Last Action Hero was ahead of its time, if it had come out just a couple of years later it would have been much bigger. Demolition Man was spot on of its time in that late early 90s terror of what was going on in LA at the time.....Predator 2 was just one more of a whole slew of movies that premised LA being a warzone in the near future. Then you also have the Beverley Hills Cop/Die Hard/Lethal Weapon tri-fecta of LA set Cop movies with leads that take no prisoners. Demolition Man's premise doesn't actually work half as well without that early 90s pessimism about LA's future and the idea that someone like Cocteau could take LA today and turn it into San Angeles within 40 years is ludicrous but didn't feel like it was when Demolition Man released. Demolition Man doesn't work in 97 when Face/Off/Con Air/The Rock/Air Force One are the big Action movies! Last Action Hero would absolutely have worked in 97 but didn't work in 93. - Oh, talking of Stallone wanting to set it 20 years in the future rather than 40 - That was a DUMB idea! Yes Brazil built their new capital in just four years but good grief - Rebuilding the entire Southland after an Earthquake into a Utopian Metropolis is a LONG-TERM project!
One thing I want to add about the Taco Bell and Pizza Hut thing was when I watched it in the UK VHS it was Taco Bell I had to ask my Dad who had not long been back from a trip to the US what it was. So I never knew about the change until the internet days. To note we had our first Taco Bell (with this films inspired brand symbol in tow) open in my city of Brighton just a few years ago. I do now finally understand all those Taco Bell memes!
So, the image you put up to show Hollywood preferring English actors to be villains is of Donald Pleasence, an actor known at least as much for playing good guys as bad, in You Only Live Twice, which is an English movie, not Hollywood. Following that up with four examples, three of which ARE English, but REG is African. Was that a very long day, Chuck?
I first saw Forbidden Planet on TV when I was a kid back in 1965 or '66, and it's been one of my top ten favorite SF films ever since. Granted, like most '50s SF, there's a bit of heavy-handed moralizing, mostly centered on the "things man was not meant to know" trope, and to be honest, that bothers me a bit as an adult, but it isn't something I noticed as a kid.
This movie defines "turn around": *Couldn't get the desired talent, location, cast and financing. *Couldn't decide what the hell the damn movie is: a horror-comedy-rock-fantasy? No one is going to see a movie its creators can't figure out! * Plot failure: The "phantom" is immediately outted. Some phantom. *And, despite being outted, the "phantom" signs Swan's / the devil's contract with his OWN name! * The most ridiculous scene has to be having a fully customed "phantom" sequestered in a tiny studio of sorts composing music wearing gloves? Consumes pills without water? Why continue wearing that obviously ridiculous custome if you're No. Longer. A. Mystery! Damnit! This movie's failure led to the destruction of the actors in it: Paul Williams ( drugs and alcohol problems; the rest? Mainly faded into obsequrity. This movie is an excellent lesson in putting your pride aside and waiting until you can get what you need to make the movie that people will want to see. "Phantom of the Paradise" -- A hard lesson in a movie made through numerous compromises.
Every time I hear the title *Last Action Hero,* I do an impression of Charles Dance bellowing about having shot somebody as if I were a salivating dog that just heard a bell.
I like how Hawthorne wasn't taken in by Stallone's star status, that he was just another human to him. As a result, he was honestly critical of the actor's faults.
The mutual dislike ironically works to the movies benefit. Cocteau seems legitimately annoyed at those 'barbarians' because the real life actor was annoyed.
Be well from all boggles and funny tax evading murder- death- killers, my fellow commenters . Enhance and becalm yourself in expectation of the coming week .
Getting so many movie recommendations from this episode. And hardly any of them are available to stream in Australia, sigh. At least not included in the subscription anyway. Little reflection needed on how I would previously think nothing of renting a a dozen videos for a week, but am not willing to pay extra now as I am already paying for Netflix, Disney, RU-vid and Prime.
It feels kinda natural, Spartan Knows what he's dealing with in Phoenix and everything is Alien to him , so you don't really notice it until its pointed out
Great background video. This was a time when VHS was still in full swing and I owned this, The Specialist, Cliffhanger and Judge Dread. This is the only one that I would consider a classic, but the others are all entertaining.
I love the idea that Arnold tricked Stalone into "stop or my mom will shot" only to have his self indulgent (but still fun in my opinion) Action comedy movie to be across the board lesser then this movie, especially after the scene with the Stalone terminator joke in "Last Action Hero".
to be fair, as someone who grew up in the 90s in Europe, I wouldn't know what Taco Bell was and probably would have thought it was made up for the movie. Still never tried it, but I do know it exists.
Due to how they didn't send Stallone far enough into the future for the changes to society to really make a ton of sense, there's something interesting I've noticed in how there seems to be a pretty clear generational divide in San Angeles. That divide actually makes a bit more sense in why Stallone is treated as a Neanderthal by some people or a fascinating oddity by others despite 35 years not being all that far into the future. First, there's the 60+ group, represented by Bill Cobbs' older policeman character. They recognize how corny the future is and are a bit nostalgic for the 'good old days' when Stallone shows up, but they lived through how bad the 90s were and are willing to go along with Cocteau's future due to the results its produced and because it allows them to retire with some security. Then, you have the late 40s-50s cohort, represented by people like Cocteau, the Cyro Prison Warden, and the Police Captain. They're old enough to remember how bad things used to be and were probably in their 20s and 30s as the vanguard of the movement that created this future. That's why they're so openly hostile to Stallone as he's seen as a direct counter to what they've personally built. While they seem to be the only group in this future that actually still display things like anger, other than the outcasts, they're unable to counter Wesley Snipes as they've actively refused to learn how and when to use violence in their youths and it's too much of a mental leap in their middle age to do so now. Finally, you have the 20s-30s cohort, represented by Sandra Bullock. They don't remember any of the upheaval of the turn of the century, so things like violence are seen as exotic to them as they've never had to experience the consequences of it, although that's pretty blatantly text within the film itself.
I think it's only known outside of the US as a way to mock yanks that their diet is so bad the reason why Taco Bell gives them the shits is because that's the only thing they eat with actual nutrients in it
