i just turned 70, both my parents died around 72-74 so i wonder at what moment i'll be popping my clogs, it is an interesting feeling. i'm an artist though and i say that i'm still getting used to being 17, i still hear mum calling up to me when i wake up "time to go to school" but these days i can ignore her and stay in bed till 11 every day. but i just took up sculpture, i still go on photographic expeditions to a new place as often as i can, i just started playing fallout 4 (level 122 already) and although my health could be a lot better, at least my son thinks i'll be around for a long time. i have been incredibly lucky in lots of ways my whole life, so maybe i'm the exception, but to me life is what you make of it, the crap stuff just has to be dealt with but the enjoyable stuff needs to be appreciated, i'm an optimist. let's get to mars is what i say, i want to draw martian sand dunes.
Whenever someone says an old movie "aged badly" because of changing fashions or attitudes, keep in mind that it's also possible that the movie is actually fine and it's society that aged badly.
I'm a 2006 baby so this is before my time. But when a movie that's 30 years old still remains relevant and reaches me, I can't help but feel that my faith in art is restored. I'm turning 18 in a week and this movie feels like it came into my life at just the right time.
I’d like to share my knowledge perspective with you in the hopes that you can gain some insight that will prepare for what’s coming, so that you don’t become someone who is “Falling Down.” Up until about 50 years ago in the US, a family of four was easily supported by A SINGLE INCOME. You could go to a car dealership and pay cash for a car, or make a financing arrangement to pay it off in a year or two, not 6, 8, 10, or more years as we do today. And now as you’re likely aware, a young couple entering the workforce, both with full time jobs, are struggling to make ends meet. Many of these people have already acquired a mountain of student loan debt. The idea of buying a home and living the “American Dream” is becoming increasingly out of reach. More and more people are beginning to feel that they, have been baited into paying for a big lie with their blood, sweat and tears. The burden of the debt based system, which borrows prosperity from the future to acquire things today has reached its breaking point. And soon, the masses who bear the burden of this doomed system will reach their own breaking point, just like Micheal Douglas’s character. Please don’t be one of them. This reply may seem long-winded, but it’s only because as someone who is a self-taught historian, and a humanitarian, knows that the youth (like yourself) are the most valuable and vulnerable part of humanity, and should be protected at all costs. I implore you to watch this 30 minute video that gives a non partisan explanation of the single biggest cause of the social and financial maladies that befall us today: Hidden Secrets of Money Episode 4 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iFDe5kUUyT0.html Fortunately for you this system will implode at a point in your life when you will have your best working years ahead of you to build, and hopefully preserve your prosperity. As for someone like myself who’s been paying Social Security and Medicare taxes since 1982, I will never collect a single dime of benefits by the time I would have become benefit eligible. May good fortune, good health and prosperity follow you through these turbulent times.
I always loved that movie. And had nothing but sympathy for Bill. His death at the end was one of the saddest I've seen. And one of his last lines just added to the sadness of it all: "I'm the bad guy?... how did that happen?"
For unknown reasons, Bill allowed his anger to lead him to insanity. As the Duvall character says to Bill, “Is that what this is about? They lie to everybody. “ Real men understand that. They recognize that the world owes them nothing. They make a difference one encounter at a time without violence. Duvall is the hero.
@@miguelservetus9534That’s east to say if you still are allowed to see your children. Sometimes people’s children are the only reason people feel life is worth living for besides all the violence he used was in self defense
@@StMichael7 Notice that the movie does not explain why he is not allowed the access to his daughter. We are informed that he is delusional, heading to work when he is unemployed. Clearly he was mentally deranged. Courts, as a general rule, want both parents involved. Nowhere in the movie does it suggest that the ex wife did him wrong. Let’s assume she did, and got a PDA restricting his access. A sane man goes about behaving to convince the court he is safe with his child. Courts do not reverse decisions when you break their rules. We note that he drew on Predegrast. So all his violence is not in self defense. And the scene with the grocer was not justified. It is not how normal people behave.
10 years ago my ex wife lied to a judge. And my daughter was removed from my life. I paid child support and received no visits for years. But the truth was on my side. Today her mother is in trouble with the law and next week my daughter is coming to live with me. Never give up
I went through something similar four years ago, but my daughter took my side, and I came out of 17 years of marriage with a backpack full of clothes, zero dollars, and all the love I will ever need in my life. I wish you and your daughter the best!!!
Guess you just have to endure it. Hope everything resolves to your way in a good way and that your daughter appreciates you and that you both have a great rest of your days.
THIS is the proper review I've been waiting to see of this movie for 30 years now! I was a young teen when I first saw it, and being an American having being sold the American lie for 30 years, wasting my life working hard when no one cared, this review is hands down the most accurate and best review I've ever heard of this movie and its meaning... I've been the shirt and tie guy, I've been a truck driver, I've been a laborer, and also layed off and unemployed, I understand exactly what Bill is mad about and that Bill really does represent everyone! Way to go Critical Drinker! You 💯% nailed this one! Keep up the good work!
When a movie review is so well conveyed about the reality of life versus the ideal. It just about makes you cry. Not economically viable and locked out of society hits home pretty hard for me.
@@geronimo5537 I completely agree. This particular movie review was done to damn near perfection. It hits home really hard for me as well. Where I've lived for most of my life, employment opportunities are trash. I've also experienced homelessness twice in my life, I'll die before I let it happen again. I will die fighting to succeed, and most people who haven't been there cannot relate to this movie or critical drinkers review. Sadly, any negative reviews of this particular review and the movie shows just how pampered and spoiled some people truly are. They cannot relate to hard times. I wish you the best of luck and better opportunities. Never give up.
This film was designed to prepare the voters to tell their Congressmen to pass the tough-on-crime bills that came out the following year. The emphasis of the film was that this man was abusive, always was, and cannot be reformed.
every guy who worked overtime at the office and never missed a deadline no matter how many working week ends spent without family only to be fired by the company to increase the stock value one quarter can understand this.
That scene of Foster in the fast-food restaurant comparing the real life burger to the advertisement was probably the greatest criticism towards mass media commercialism I’ve seen
Anyone notice how sweet and kind the ex-wife is behaving while speaking to the cop about how she cooperates with a judge (and system) to prevent her ex-husband (and father of her daughter) from seeing their daughter? This should terrify men who have decided to get married and start a family.
When you realize the state collects 50 to 60 cents on every dollar collected in child support, you start to realize it's a system that isn't going anywhere any time soon too. It's nothing more than a money racquet and incentiveizes women to break the marriage contract, leaving you to get relegated down to being nothing more than a visitor and a wallet in your child's life. I'll never throw my hat in that ring ever again. It's another lie in the American dream.
You know, you talking about this made me want to see it. Had to pause this and come back later. Man, what a movie! Definately worth a watch. I absolutely love how he sticks with his morals, but the gloves come off and he just refuses to be intimidated. The drive by shooting shows this so amazingly, he doesn't even flinch, he laughs it off, "you missed" and from there it just gets better.
Yep, same with Jeff Bridges‘ portrayal of Obadiah Stane in Iron Man… sometimes an actor really impresses on a role so much that one starts asking himself „is it even acting, or is he just having the blast of his life bringing the character to life?“
One time not too long ago, I was asked how my day was going at work. I said “have you ever seen Falling Down?” thinking the guy has never seen it and all he said was “oh shit” 😂😊😊😊😊
For me, one of the most outstanding moments was when Bill says: "I did everything they told me to." As I grew up, others often called me stubborn for not doing things that didn't make sense to me: many tried to grind me down as to uphold the "lies" that the film oft highlights. Even in childhood, I remember the concept of "delayed gratification" being beaten into us: it's a concept with kernel of truth (i.e., "don't be impulsive"), but wrung out into a string of lies: "don't deviate from our plan for you and you'll get your 'reward' at the end." Thus, for me, the film betokens the tragedy of conformity: don't take things at face value and always strive toward what gives your own life meaning, not what others want you to believe so as to manipulate you into giving them what they want. Life is too short for lies. Now that I think about it, this film stands in stark contrast to "A Serious Man", where the main character (Larry Gopnik) likewise suffers analogous problems but reacts in the opposite way: bemoans his fate while doing nothing. There should be a middle way to deal with conformity i.e., not passive like the main character, Larry Gopnik, in "A Serious Man", nor impulsive like Bill, in "Falling Down": being true to oneself in a strategic way.
I really realized it when I took a car trip to South Dakota. The roads in every state where so much nicer. While in SD they would start pouring a 3 mile side of the road and it would be ready to drive on the next day. On the way home as soon as we hit Mi my kids said something is wrong with the car. I said no we’re just in Mi.
@@foxtayle446 my nephew lives there and it’s insane. I refuse to even drive when I’m there. There’s a lot of crazy California drivers too. The long traffic lights! So stressful.
That was the saddest “Go away now” I’ve ever heard Drinker utter. I felt that in my soul. You know shit is dire in America when a Scot on the other side of the pond is lamenting America’s slow descent into ruin.
Felt the same. Eventually every man ages to the point he realizes the future is looking kinda bleak. "Is this it?" Movies like this remind us of that fact.
Can somebody do a health and wellness check on Drinker? Cause, damn, felt the same way on that sign off. He's been taking arrows and grenades for us all for a long time analyzing this nonsense being put out. But I'm glad he's there shining the light and calling out the Message.
"I'm the bad guy?" "Yeah" "How'd that happen? I did everything they told me to". That exchange gets my soul deeper every time because it's so relevant to my own life.
Same here, brother. Fortunately I figured out the whole system a lie to keep the cattle placated. You should do some research on Christian apologetics. Once you realize that evolution and old-Earth theory is all complete and utter BS, it'll blow your mind. EVERYTHING we were sold was counterfeit goods. And I do mean EVERYTHING. Genesis Science Network is a great place to start.
Damn. I think it’s time to rewatch this film. I remember it hitting me hard even when I was younger. Can’t imagine how hard it will hit now that I’m older.
To add a little more context to the story, From the 1940s (i.e., WW2) until 1989 (the fall of the Soviet Union) the LA economy was almost equally driven by Hollywood and the Areospace/defense industry. You were just as likely to bump into an aerospace engineer in LA as you were an aspiring actor. Well, once the Soviet Union collapsed, the amount of money the pentagon spent on Aerospace subcontractors fell and the industry in LA began laying off workers and consolidating. So the timing of the film met the reality on the ground. The protagonist was clearly one of those laid off aerospace engineers who was unlikely to find a similar job in the shrinking industry in LA. Combine that with his divorce and he just lost it.
It's an important context and no doubt the movie's theme was significantly influenced by this transition or "down-sizing" to use the euphemism of deception. Excellent to see this context mentioned. Very good film also and very good film essay here too.
The divorce aspect is even more important in modern times, as divorce itself has become a racket, whereby honest family men are utterly destroyed and their children traumatized so judges and lawyers can line their own pockets.
@@theguybehindyou4762the judges and lawyers is filling their pockets is just a side effect of the way the system is set up... You will always lose You leave --> you pay They leave --> you pay
@@theguybehindyou4762 excellent point. That's why you have the MGTOW movement. It happened to my brother. He's not a drunk. He's not violent. He doesn't sleep around. Works hard to provide for his kids who he loves deeply..but the mother of 2 of his 3 daughters decided that she didn't love him anymore and that was that. SHE made HIM sleep on the couch, then moved out into some dump of a flat with damp and mould and he was left heartbroken, depressed and destroyed while she got to keep the house and the kids. It's times like that that made me see the system for exactly what it is. Men stand absolutely no chance!!
No offense, but something had to go wrong with your journey. You haven’t been able to get a car at 40? Even the housing market, which hasn’t been great in a long time, didn’t really go nuts until ~2017 resulting in the catastrophe we see today. And while the prices had blown up by 2020, the interest rates were a golden ticket. Now, it’s a nightmare in both categories sadly.
I watched this one in the late-90s. It was on VHS in a very dusty and rural convenience store. This Canadian shop was a shadow of what used to be there. High taxes were still wiping out the small businesses across the country. There were maybe fifteen movies on the shelf. And Falling Down was the only "real" choice. I felt like it was a message from the void: _abandon hope all who linger here_
The "not economically viable" scene hits harder and harder every year. A man who did everything right gets arrested the day he stops being "useful". This happens too frequently IRL.
When I saw this as a teenager I assumed it was just racism. I assumed it was a guy who was denied a loan or something for his skin colour. But no, it was just the system chewing him up and spitting him out. Probably some executive gave himself a bonus for reducing headcount. Not caring about how many lives it ruins.
If you speak out against the system at best they'll label you insane, but they might just say you're 'belligerent' and throw you in prison. It's the same way abusive parents are with their children.
The part when he makes eye contact with Michael Douglas as he's in the back of the car and is about to drive away, he says "Don't forget me". I always figured he just meant, hey remember me and my story. Which I suppose he really does. However it just dawned on me that the film is basically saying to Bill, don't forget what the system did to you! As he's basically seeing it play out again in front of his very eyes, from another perspective(he obviously sees himself in the guy who is literally dressed exactly the same as he was and is also disenfranchised). So fricking cool how deep this film actually is.
It's the lie that if you work hard one day you can apply for a loan and start your own business, but the reality is that society wants to keep its working drones.
I love both his Batman movies, but you have to understand he was also under the pressure of the studio because they wanted something more family-friendly and merchandise friendly.
The films he made immediately before ( this ) and after ( 8mm ) his Batman movies not only show he could've done dark Batman films but we're also his best films. 8mm is a masterpiece film, which even features the future Joker.
@@theunknowncommenter725That’s true. Schumacher wanted to do a dark Batman movie, but WB suits overruled him. And let’s be honest, The Dark Knight Trilogy is miles better than both of Schumacher’s combined.
@@LexingtonDeville984 The Dark Knight is the only one of those three even worth watching. They absolutely bore me to tears and there is no way to take Bale seriously in those.
Falling Down, American Psycho, Office Space, and Fight Club. The four horsemen of disenfranchisement. Edit: I love the engagement yall but you're gonna have to keep the conversation going without me cause I am not reading all that lol
@@brianaguilar8283 You could include Joker but I'd argue his character isn't really disenfranchised because he never had a chance of being "normal" to begin with. His psychosis is well known to him and he only lies to other people about his mental stability, not himself.
@@sonicdash9652 American Psycho and Fight Club use the same story structure of "it was all pointless". The only difference being in the tangible results of the characters' actions.
Excellent breakdown of this very nuanced subject. This movie terrified me in 1993 as a young man growing up in LA. 3 years later I left for good. Thank you
"Falling Down" and "Robocop." Two prophetic films that are anthropological. Doesn't matter if you show them to someone in 500 years, they will still be able to relate to it in whatever disturbing civilization they will be surrounded by...
I can totally relate to the excerpt of a Judge trying to make an example out of you. My brother was kicked out of his own house, had a restraining order placed against him so he couldn't see his own children, then had to pay child custody for the children taken away from him. And why? For the great crime of refusing to transition his 13 year old daughter into a boy. My brother took his own life 5 months ago because of all this. Screw the corrupt judges and judicial system. FJB.
@@sargatanas91 The thing that made Demolition Man so brilliant, was that it featured a person in a place and time in which he had no business being in.
I did everything America told me to do and even did extra And yet, in 2008 I was bankrupted and slammed into permanent poverty. And now, people tell me I don't exist unless a biologist explains that I am indeed a women. We are ALL being used and lied to Great video.
I had always liked this movie from when I first saw it back when I was around 18 when it came out. Now I'm 49 and it's more relevant to me than ever. I was laid off from a $100K job 15 months ago and haven't been able to find ANY job in my field, even trying to make half what I was making. I had got divorced 8 years ago and my ex wife managed to convince the court that my children were afraid of me so I wasn't given any parenting time and in attempting to fight it she appealed a guilty verdict of the county court and it was overruled by the appeals court. I've had no way to fight back and am out of money. Great review of the movie and what it truly represents from when it was made, not what people interpret it as today.
Yah. This movie has lived rent free in my head forever. Just the way the Douglas says, "When did I become the bad guy?" nearly breaks me every time. So good.
For me it was the protestor was being arrested. He looks at Bill and says, "Remember me." Bill nods silently and as the man is taken away, it infers that something about Bill is seen by him...because he looks terrified.
Plus if you look deeply into the movie, His wife was making bogus accusations against him. Douglas might have had a temper but he never raised his hands against his wife.
@@malificajones7674 The story of way too many good fathers that were screwed by a system that still thinks mothers are important and fathers a side-note.
The one thing that bothered me towards the end of the movie, is how the police expended so much energy to find Bill, and arrest him, when all kinds of violence and chaos was going on in the city the whole time, and suddenly the one guy who becomes their priority is the dillusioned, fed up average guy who decides to even the score for one day. That line at the end, where he looks confused and asks Robert Duvall "So I'm the bad guy?" Yeah. In a world gone crazy, the average man just trying to get through life is the bad guy.
That's how police work. They apply overwhelming forces and resources to whatever is most in the public eye at the time. Used to be if you were a moonshiner running from the cops, you'd get a fair chase. Now if you run from a cop you get 52 cars, 14 roadblocks, stop sticks, and three helicopters that cost $15,000 an hour to operate. Why? To further the illusion that cops and the system are not made of human beings who do in fact bleed and can in fact be defeated and buried
A swindling shopowner, a frauding fastfood, a lying bum, a bunch of triggerhappy gangsters, a neo-nazi, a greedy city planning Basically the only 'innocent' victim that Dfense had a hand in, was the old dude
Might have had something to do with Bill committing about a dozen felonies, including popping off gunshots in a crowded restaurant and being at least indirectly responsible for the deaths of two people.
That was a FUCKING BRILLIANT analysis of this film. I couldn't have written this better at all. You said pretty much what every person who saw this film was thinking. It's a damn shame movies are not made on an intellectual level like this one anymore. Everything now is remakes of remakes and if one like this comes through it's passed over. Bravo Drinker this shot is for you 🥃
I caught this movie by accident ages ago and loved it. It critiques so many things that modern Hollywood would never dare touch, such as the gangs or race and racism, as well as classism, corrupt and bloated governments, pointless bureaucracy, greedy capitalism, and the little people just being stuck in a rut, not seeing that they are part of the problem.
This movie represents what the elites fear the most. It's not the crim on the south side of Chicago; it's the realization of the suburbanite from "Anytown USA" that the managerial state can't keep their promises anymore.
The current state of this is the obsessive drive for us to “return to the office”. Mind you, the same people told us in 2020 to adjust to “the new normal”, so we did, now they’re not selling office real estate and the places around are dead. I’m not going back to sitting in a car or train 10-15 hours a week. Did that for 25 years.
The criminal joke is: They never could. What the elite of any society at any time want us peasants to forget is that THEY live on OUR surplus and sufferance. That whole "Consent of the Governed" issue.
I hit the like button and had actually started to scroll but went back when I realized that I almost cheated myself out of the "Go away now" expecting to hear some variation of the "standard" version, but..
This movie only got made to the big screen cinema because of its star Michael Douglas, it was going to be a direct-to-cable TV movie. Plus, it was filmed just before during, and just after the L. A Rodney King Riots. Awesome movie, a modern-day Shakespeare play. We need this remade for today. As thus, thou American dream was everyone else's nightmare. Now those said bad dreams since 9/11 have become our bad dreams and an ascent into darkness for us all as well. :/
I remember watching this movie way back then and I remember him working for the defense for 30 years and after 30 years it was gonna cut and loose that's what started him to purge on what he was fed up with , And the thing is before you work for the government you have to have some sort of psychological exam in order to work for them , He left his job on a mental breakdown .
I moved to US to study in 92, saw this movie over there and returned to europe in 94. The day i left US i had lost my love affair with America. It was still more exciting to me than Europe, but something left my soul, and i could never put my finger on why. Today i see it and this movie proved to be a glimpse of our future.
People not trusting the media is an improvement. They've been lying to us for a very long time. Anyone with even a basic understanding of American history is aware that yellow journalism is largely responsible for at least one war, specifically the Spanish-American War.
I mean, every time the whole "Government gots to have more power because misinformation on social media is so dangerous" line gets brought up, my first thought is literally "A hundred years ago nobody would take the word of a stranger over what's written in a newspaper, so doesn't that mean it's legacy media who screwed the pooch?" I mean, they had everyone's trust, journalist was a respected job, and they blew it. They blew it SO hard.
@@qcriverrat Yeah, it's all been lost in a haze of pop nostalgia, but people either don't know, or have forgotten what a real dark edge a lot of American culture in the 1990s had. A post-Cold War world after decades of being gaslit by various institutions and factions that some maniac with his finger on the trigger would wipe out the entire human race in a nuclear holocaust, followed by an existential and identity crisis bathed in cynicism, passive-aggressive sarcasm, and ironic self-detachment that didn't really start to resolve itself until the decade was nearly over.
The decade started in a recession. Pensions were entirely deleted by then (started in the 80s). Tech savvy were finding BBS and Usenet that were showing them the "conspiracy nuts" weren't that far off. We just had a war and were now occupying land. Oh, and terrorism had touched us. Most of what you think wasn't there, was just starting to bubble just beneath the surface. Jungle love and "politically correct" was all en-vogue.
One thing missed by non-LA residents of this movie is the location shooting is absolutely 100% on point. Wherever Bill is supposed to be in the city, that's where they filmed, and you can actually easily map out the path he takes. Very, very few movies worry about map accuracy but this one got it right the best I've seen on film before, traveling from East LA to Santa Monica.
That was one of the things I loved about Steve McQueen's "Bullit". I used to live in San Francisco, and all during the chase through the city he is exactly where he should be everytime he makes a turn...
I've traveled and seen quite a few places where films were made and it's bonkers how wrong everything is. Like the movie Friday with Ice Cube. Ms parkers house was 2 streets over. The road that smokey, big worm, and the cholesterol spoke? Not even the road infront of Craig's house. 😂
If you like LA geography got to watch Chinatown with Jack Nicholson. Seeing places like MacArthur park in a historic context is a trip and it makes you appreciate all the old LA architecture.
@@Hexadeci The biggest thing Chinatown misses, through no fault of their own, is that the movie takes place in the '30s. The Chinatown depicted should be Old Chinatown in the area around Union Station. Unfortunately, the whole area was demolished by the mid-'40s.
This movie has always felt to me like it's based on a graphic novel, even though it's not. But now that you mention the repeated leveling-up of weapons and gear, it feels even more like it would be based on a video game.
Absolutely loved this movie ever since it was released! I was in my early 30's, married with 2 kids and living in suburbia. Went to the local convenience store (owned by a Korean) and asked to rent it. "We no have fawing down!" was the answer. When I finally got a copy, I couldn't stop watching it!!!
Mr Drinker, black man from Los Angeles, USA here . I must say I’m very proud of you and I know that sounds strange. You’re one of the few creators on RU-vid with a righteous moral compass. Your content is always thought provoking, funny and it’s great that you don’t pull punches on all the hypocrisy. This video is a perfect example of that. You deserve all your success and I wish you lots more. Please keep the torch lit, keep fighting the good fight and thank you for all you do. The tide will turn someday thanks to men like you. Hope to meet you one day, if I do, the entire night’s drinking is on me
I agree with all you said except “the tide will turn one day.” The pattern has remained for as long as history has been recorded that the next generation of kids will be worse in every way than the last. And its exactly how it always plays out because parents suck. They never seem to want a child to grow up to be their own person. Maybe you’re right and if you are, big ups on your optimism, but I’ve seen plenty to tattoo the idea in my mind that people don’t deserve what we’ve been given, but since we will eventually kill our own kind and self destruct our own species right out of existence, whatever we have been given and taken advantage of will end up benefitting whomever comes next.
Douglas is the hero. He’s not even the antihero, he’s the hero, albeit rough around the edges. He’s the little guy finally sick of the world walking all over him, and when he stands up, people give him a wide breadth. Ironic it’s called Falling Down. One of the best movies ever. I always hate when Douglas dies in the end. As a former resident of LA, I can say the movie depicted the place perfectly in the 1990’s, and after. It hasn’t changed much really
You see, children, this is called "Inference." It's when you find deeper meaning through context clues, without making it all about yourself. This is what makes us appreciate art.
That briefcase is a symbol of success in corporate America; professionalism, power, success, respect for work, status, authority, and preparation. The irony is that he just has a sandwich and an apple in it, the most basic elements a human needs to live on, kind of a remanent of what the dream turned out to be, just survival, the daily grind while the clock runs out. That scene, where we first get to see what was in it broke my cold heart, and it still does to this day.
Great interpretation of the briefcase. It also fits nicely to the moment where he handed over those basic necessities, maybe foreshadowing that this will be his last day.
Id like to add to it by saying that the irony of him giving it to a homeless person, yet the homeless person throws it away out of disappointment since he was expecting money. Symbolizing the fact that the homeless man is still stuck in "the lie".
Falling Down maps onto a lot of different things, good and bad. I think the guy's problem was always that he didn't have his own vision. He approaches every situation with advertisement in his head. A mother putting her daughter on a horsey with everyone smiling; that's the image he has, and when the kid happens to not feel like following that script he loses his temper at the deviation. The burger doesn't look the way it does on the ad, he loses his temper. He doesn't know how to deal with these things because he's so hyper-socialized into his culture's imagery he can't think outside it. He wasn't always a villain, but he always lacked an identity.
When I was 17, I came home after a shitty work week and complained during dinner about what’s the point, my dad smiled and recommended we watch the movie together. I’ll always remember it
@@denimchicken104 The point is you get to hang out with those you love while they are around. Such as his father and him sharing a movie. The point is whatever you make it. Some people would rather just cry about how unfair life is then actually make it better for themselves. Most people actually.
It's impossible to understand this movie without understanding the history of Los Angeles. The 1990s saw the loss of the defense industry, probably the prime economic driver of the LA economy. Younger people don't remember it, or didn't live through it, but Los Angeles was the center of the MIC. All major defense contractors had factories, design studios, and corporate offices there. Not too far away from the big movie studios that pumped out American culture to the rest of the world - was the industry that pumped out bombs to the rest of the world. It provided a good income for everyone from someone on the shop floor who barely graduated high school, to the Ivy League cream of American society in the C-suite. People sent their entire family through college on regular manufacturing jobs far later than the rest of the US. The ethics of the defense industry aside, it allowed everyone (white, brown, black, etc) a stable income and a way to advance in a society that was clearly decaying. With the end of the Cold War in 1989, and the collapse of the USSR in '91, the entire industry collapsed. Corporate offices moved to Northern Virginia (to be closer to the political heart), the defense plants, which were anchored to the LA metro since WWI, moved to cheaper (and un-unionized) regions in the South. Downsizing meant a lot of jobs disappeared entirely. This is where we find D-FENS. He's one of the unlucky many who lost his job entirely, there was no move-to-Alabama option for him, it was completely over. Everything he worked for, everything he was taught, and everything he did proved to be completely pointless. It's fitting that the only two movies filming on location in Central Los Angeles on the day the Rodney King verdict came down were Falling Down and Demolition Man.
Did you know that in the 19-teens there was an oil spill in LA that wasn’t stopped for years on end. There’s tons of oil wells hidden inside big buildings Some of them adjacent to residences
@@fastinradfordable Yeah, oil is another dying industry in Los Angeles. I don't see it last much longer, especially with the new regulations on offshore drilling.
My mom and dad worked at McDonnell Douglas, all their friends did too. We lived in Santa Monica near it, and nearly every homeowner in the area worked there. I remember. They were all skilled, educated and living the dream, growing families under the hot overcast Santa Monica skies.
As I've gotten older, this film has gone from a top 20 film to into my top 5. This explanation of the film by the drinker himself is without doubt his best work yet.
At release: "This film is about an evil man being exposed for the monster he is." In the present: "This film is about a broken system being exposed for what it is." Truly, the most interesting arch is not in the story itself but in our perception of it-how we went from having faith in society to slowly learning to resent it. I guess in the end, we're all Bill.
@@GrandCrusader That is not what I meant. I meant the attitudes people had towards the film that Drinker outlined. I found it interesting how such attitudes changed with time.
He lost the rest of my sympathies the moment he presented a firearm in the diner. No matter what turn his life took, that scared a lot of innocents to death and is inexcusable.
He's definitely a villain. What's scary is seeing him get to that point, and realizing just how easy it could be for any one of us to become a villain under the right circumstances. We've all wanted to do what he did.
He was never meant to be a villain but still he was obsessive person being obsessed over his daughter liking horses when she doesn't and his saying hes going to find his ex wife/ daughter and were all going to go sleep together well that could mean???
This is a quote attributed to the Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, author of "The Gulag Archipelago": "The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left alone. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love. They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know, that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over. The moment the Men who wanted to be left alone are forced to fight back, it is a form of suicide. They are literally killing off who they used to be. Which is why, when forced to take up violence, these Men who wanted to be left alone, fight with unholy vengeance against those who murdered their former lives. They fight with raw hate, and a drive that cannot be fathomed by those who are merely play-acting at politics and terror. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people's door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy... but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone."
Fun Fact: Michael Douglas has stated his role in Falling Down was his favourite role of his career, and you can see why. He really made this role his own, understanding the feelings of his character and being willing to push boundaries in order to do his character justice. If actors now put that much effort into their roles like he did, the crap Hollywood makes now would at least be halfway decent. Awesome video, you should definitely make more analytical movies like this because you’re bloody great at it.
But then again they would have to make something original for that to happen. It's like we're stuck in a time loop where they keep making the same thing over and over again because they can't get it right, or just simply lack creativity and are in their positions because of nepotism.
The one scene that sells Bill's crazyness, for me, is his daughter's birthday video when he insists that his wife sits her on the horse. It looks like he thinks that he bought it for her so she's supposed to be happy, and is upset because he did what was "good" and doesn't get the expected reaction. But any angle you look at it, he still shows a total lack of empathy for his child in this scene. I think he his a product of the system failing him, but that he was also predisposed to go berserk.
Really enjoyed the style of this video. I actually started the video, stopped, watched the movie and came back. Can’t believe I’ve never even heard of it until now.
@@dustman96 Sure, while succinctly American, the overarching idea rings true for most Western countries. United States' issues are not exclusive to the United States.
I remember watching this gem in the theater with my wife. There were scenes where a lot of audience cheered, including myself… I loved it… and she hated every bit of it, and I don’t think she ever viewed me in the same way afterwards. No wonder we eventually divorced.
One thing I think people fail to realize is this is part of the bigger "system" eventually things get so bad that "culture", society, and the system start to wake up and things start to change. The only thing that can fix the system, is when it starts to fall apart, and it self corrects, we can wake up, and live differently, it is up to the masses to fix the problem themselves, because they are part of it, and they fuel it.
Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide review of 'Falling Down' ended with a seemingly rhetorical question: "It's vivid, it's credible, it's extremely well acted...but what exactly is the point?" Thank You, Drinker, for your superb answer.
That "go away now" has to be the saddest line uttered in a while, and I think summarises the Drinker's complete anger toward society right now, in addition to his poignent and great summary of a fantastic movie that still holds up today, especially more than ever. Thank you Drinker, you great man.
I was thinking the exact same thing. Usually he utters that line as an ironic send-off. Keeping "in character" as a curmudgeon. But this time I heard nothing but weary sincerity and a "too damn tired of it all to sustain the fury" kind of anger. And that, more than anything else, is very telling. I think we all know EXACTLY what that feels like now.
An underrated gem of 90’s cinema and still relevant 31 years later. It holds a mirror up to society and shows that we are all one bad day away from snapping. And Michael Douglas turns in a career best performance.
It's not "one bad day", it's more "you can break anyone with the right pressure on the right spot. " It's more universal than people make it out to be.
It's about misplaced aggression. He was used and discarded and his child cut off by his wife. I can't feel sorry for tradcons like this anymore after years of warning about hypergammy and his blameshifting onto the "Left and wokeness".
You may not be old enough to remember the trailers for this film before it was released in theaters. It basically portrayed a working class white guy unable to simply get home to his kid for her birthday because every Ahole in LA was in his way. _And he wasn't going to take it anymore!_ Either the director or the studio was punking us all into going to see "revenge of the law abiding white guy." It turned out the movie was about his fractured mental state and breakdown. They didn't show that part in the trailers.
I love how Pendergast is not just a cop who hunts a criminal. He got a little backstory and I always felt a bit sorry about him. +1 for inculing him in this analyse.
For me the best scene is the guy being arrested for protesting on the street with the "Not economically viable" sign and when the cop car gets to Foster, the guy says "Don't forget me" and he just nods to him. For some reason it stuck with me.
"Don't forget me" guy is a lot of us. I had to work with senior citizens relying on Social Security and Medicare and they're him. Can't work anymore? We'll give you a fraction of the money you need and wish you good luck old chap.
I saw this film as a teenager and what stuck with me is seeing how closely (probably) many men live close to the edge, and it gave me a new respect for my father and brothers.
We are lions in a cage. The cage is rattled and we roar or we don’t notice because we have given up. The door is opened and the wild side is let out for most.
The society we live in relatively free of violence and the lack of fear of even feeding your family is a blip in history. History shows us that the world is violent and hard. We are currently reverting to the mean.
I love this movie. I never saw Bill as a villain, he always seemed like a misunderstood hero. This movie was relatable in the 90's and if anything its more relatable today.
Once he started waving the gun around at the fast food joint he ceases to have any sympathy from me. I don't care about the system or your grievances, at that point you just dragged a bunch of innocent people into your bs and scared the shit out of them, threatening their lives in the process
That scene when the cops come to arrest the guy demonstrating in front of the bank still hits hard to this day, especially when he makes eye contact with Bill and says "don't forget me." I can't tell you how many times I've had moments like this with complete strangers, where no words were needed... just a glimpse, a nod... that their suffering was acknowledged by SOMEONE. Thank you Drinker for bringing this timeless classic back to the forefront.
My moment was a few months ago walking out of a Costco. At the front was a guy my age (younger millenial) trying to sell something related to houses. He looks at my girl and I and says "You two look like a pair of young new homeowners!" I laughed and simply replied by saying "NOPE" and shaking my head. He laughed too and said "Same here, brother." What else are we to do but laugh?
I played Falling Down to my Ugandan village. Our village folk lost their minds. Many screamed in joy and anger. Some fought each other and landed heavy groin kicks. Amazing.
Well, *_I_* played Falling Down to *_MY_* Ugandan village and everyone had a calm, inciteful discussion about how the story follows the overall outline of Homer's Odyssey with the differences between the two pointing out how ancient cultures had more honor-driven value systems than our contemporary technological society. Then everyone lost their minds and trashed the place.
I've always loved that movie.. But this breakdown hit me... Hard. You've made me realize how much I've had in common with his character and circumstances the last 15 years or so and how much I've suffered even though I tried my best to "do what I was supposed to do". Lost almost everything and I've been clinging on to my faith in God for the last 4 years just to make it through. Wow. This was extremely well thought out and well said. Great job. Not gonna lie I got a bit emotional throughout. You hit the nail on the head every point you made.
I can tell you as someone who spent a career in law enforcement, once you see the system from the inside, you realize how broken it really is. One is the child support system. The judge can put you in jail for a set amount of time, no good behavior, nothing. You're only way out early is to pay off the entire amount. I saw a guy once who got put in jail for 90 days despite the fact he was paying child support, the very amount he owed every week, but the judge said he should pay it faster, so he put him in jail, which cost him his job and then couldn't pay it at all. Putting someone in jail for not paying child support on average where I am costs taxpayers about $90 a day for the room and food overall. So some guy who gets sentenced to 90 days in jail for child support costs taxpayers $8000. Not to mention, if you're in jail, you can't work. It's a rigged game. Now, there are some who won't pay their child support, but there are others with alimony and child support and the cost of living, well, how can they live themselves? And that's just one thing I've seen.
Imagine being a trucker, paying your child support, get injured so miss some work, get your license yanked so you can’t work. Met a couple homeless guys because of that.
This is the precise reason that feminist marriage laws cannot work alongside conservative marriage laws. You can’t weaponise the state against people who have no recourse or support, because the woman in question chose poorly.
You're bright. What you focus on is what you become. You are a product of your input, focus and attention. Never sell yourself short. Don't ever say that about yourself again please. 007
The part that gets me the most- when he sees the other guy protesting the bank wearing the exact same outfit- and gets hauled away by police - “don’t forget me”…
They're both in the same boat. They are both middle class white collar workers, educated, probably college graduates, who have become "surplus to requirements" and therefore "not economically viable." So they end up on the street. Probably their jobs still exist, but are now done by somebody in Mexico or Hyderabad in India. Their bosses do it because they CAN. A few years ago, here in France, where I live, Goodyear, the American tyre company, had a factory which they wanted to shut. I think they wanted to relocate to Eastern Europe, because of cost. The factory was efficient and productive, but being France, it was strongly unionised, and workers were well paid, with good benefits etc. When the workers found out about management's plans, they shut themselves inside the factory and took the factory bosses hostage. They looked after them well, feeding them etc, but they wouldn't let them go. There was a stand off. Finally, Goodyear management was forced to come to the negotiation table, and the factory stayed open. Jobs were saved. That's how it's done. Unfortunately, since the Reagan era, American workers have given up the rights that their fathers and grandfathers fought so hard for. Hence all the Bill Fosters of America.
@@AndriyValdensius-wi8gw American unions often have bad reputations because far too often they happen to be run by unscrupulous groups who use said unions to browbeat and steal a portion of the wages of the "union members" while doing little to actually help the average worker. The worst ones were the ones controlled by the mob, where the union really was just a legal method of extortion. So it often ends up being a double whammy of incompetence or outright malice under the guise of being "for workers rights" that most Americans would rather not have unions that be taken for a ride.
Yes, that is such a powerful scene I think. The way the guy sees him and says, "Don't forget me." In such a poignant way, followed by the nod as D-Fens acknowledges him gets me every time. Nobody wants to be forgotten.
@mrbigglezworth42 So I've heard. Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters, etc. It's unfortunate that there is such corruption. Once the mob / Mafia gets involved it all goes to hell. The principle of unions is good and very valuable. At times they were essential for fighting for workers' rights. But if the union itself becomes too powerful and / or corrupt, then the cure might be worse than the disease. All I can say is that a union should belong to its members, and the members should have a system of electing their representatives democratically. People who will genuinely work in their members' interests, rather than help launder the proceeds of crime.
i thing that even this is avoidance of true understanding; i mean, you are small, insignificant and basically nobody, no matter what you were raised to believe, and its ultimately good to realize that, but its also good to come to such realization in carefull and gradual manner, hence sudden realization of your true state can be unbearable burden for your psyche...only than you can embrace process of framing yourself, knowing its usefull lie and carry on, not blaming state, family, neither yourself...
Remember how protest was used by the state against the people in 2020 election cycle Then when the same people tried to protest a foreign state in 2024, the USA state sent in enforcers to beat them up while under sniper over watch? Dystopia is here
@7JeTeL7 agreed that we are all miniscule individually. But that doesn't mean we need to accept lies and manipulation by the powers that be. We can be a great force when combined, no need to bow our heads in nihilistic acceptance. Sure, in relation to the universe, all of us combined are nothing. But here on earth, the worker bees together can affect our hives.
The Western World that is, these issues are not prevalent in third world countries but they have their own issues which can be greater than being lied on a false promise.
@@RyanM-ke2gu oh, absoulutely; i just don´t think, that main character in this movie spiraled down because burger doesn´t look like some ad, or because "politicians lie", this was way deeper disillusionment via looking through "lies" of life...and no bowing, no nihilism; there is need for some story, only built on such acceptance
Falling Down is one of my very favorite movies ever, and your analysis is very well thought-out and presented. Well done, sir. You've got yourself another follow.
Every one mentions the quote of, "I'm the bad guy?", but I genuinely feel that the second question said by Foster, "How'd that happen?" is the most impactful and sets up his monolog extremely well.
I’ve noticed that many famous quotes, upon researching it, have even a better second line like -god is dead - and then the second line - and we killed him.
Seems like a story about a guy who helped to build a society but that very "society"he helped to build eventually turns against him and for no good reason other than peer based idiocy and marketing analysis.
"How'd that happen?" .. Super easy.. ALL plebs get pushed around, you can only push a person just so far before they break and push back _(standing up for yourself)._ Push-back is then viewed as Anger Anger is instantly renamed Aggression Aggression is immediately called Violence "Violence" nomenclature is intended to justify a Disproportionate Response _(physical attack)_ to your original complaint Disproportionate Response escalates your verbal push-back to an instinctual Survival Response to the unexpected "Disproportionate Response" Natural Survival Response is then redefined as Resisting Arrest Voila! You're now a Violent Criminal and being held down until ya suffocate _(or just shot)_ to death; your original complaint is then forever ignored. Out of nearly 3/4s of a million laws and regulations criminally enforceable, *_someone_* is bound to make at least *_one_* posthumous accusation stick well enough for the Media..
The part where he is on the phone and says hes "past the point of no return" and that means "it takes longer to go back than to go forward" was delivered exactly halfway through the run time. Masterpiece of a movie.
It's not just the half way point of the movie, it's also after his first murder. He is no longer just a man defending himself, now he can never go back.
That particular species of rage that brings one to tears: The last 30 seconds of your video only reinforced my endeavour to be a better human. Not merely a citizen, father, husband, cog in the wheel. Being a better human in an increasingly inhuman world. Surely everything should follow as consequents, right?! Im doing my damndest to believe it.
I’ve been an accountant and finance manager for 30 years now, I’ve seen the movie easy 7 times, I work 10+ hours per day for my bosses to get richer, I feel so close to Bill, but I’m probably more coward or I have 3 kids and need to carry on… The movie is a marvel and relaxes me… Thanks Michael!
Bro…you’re a social hero. Personal sacrifice for family is what everything hinges on. We all got here by generations of sacrifice. They all felt the same way. You’re doing them all proud.
You always have a choice to do something else. It's your decision not choose to work as slave but something else what you like and what gives value to the world. Also what you do shows always a pattern to your kids. So if you stay in slave work, there is a high chance they will do the same.
You’re not a coward, you know it’s not the right way to deal with things, it makes you strong that you do what you need to do for your family, that’s a strong man in my eyes & a family man, don’t ever feel weak for providing for your family, don’t ever think that. Sacrificing your own time & even your happiness for your family’s wellbeing and growth is what makes you a good man & don’t let society make you feel any less of a man or provider, as men we do what we must and do what we can & expect nothing in return and no recognition, sometimes that’s hard to cope with but just know every other man on this planet especially fathers will never see you as a coward but a hero.
I absolutely love the "Not Economically Viable" scene. It really resonates with me more now as an adult. It's completely melancholy, and the way the cops arrest and cart away this guy who merely dares to peacefully protest outside a bank, the symbol of state financial power, is chilling.
Yeah it was also a polar mirror opposite of D-Fens, it was brilliant how he was dressed the same too, and told D-Fens to remember him. It was a surrealistic moment, but basically that was the branching bifurcation moment for Bill, where he would either be carted away for standing his ground, or fall down standing his ground. He chose to fall on his own terms.
The other side of this scene is that they are dressed similarly, the white guy outside of the bank walking away and ignoring the black man with the sign is also dressed similarly. It's a scene that shows skin colour doesn't matter and that we are all just automatons set on a path of life by other peoples expectations. The major difference between the three men is that the black guy has found out the lie and is raging against it in a futile attempt to wake people up, Michael Douglas is just beginning to wake up to the reality and the anonymous guy outside the bank...he's still suffering through the delusion and believing the divisions and lies fed to us by the mainstream media. This is why the police arrest the protestor, the powers that be can't have him triggering critical thought among the general populace or the whole system will start falling down.
@@Billy-bc8pk I also love that the two men are essentially identical despite notably being a black man and a white man. The way in which they have been crushed transcends any race or identity politics, it's a symptom of the state system they bought into.
My dad is 75 and this is his favourite movie. Ironically, he was treated bad by society as well, but I chose to side with him instead of my mother when I was 17 because I knew the truth. The prejudice in modern society is so heavily skewed against working men, it just breaks my heart.