What Have You Bought Recently?

[42ndStreetFreak]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

I've never been much of a fan. It's OK, but falls too far short of the Siegel for me. To be honest, I prefer the 1993 version to the 1978, it has a lovely, cold, crawling creepiness and the military base setting is scary to begin with even before you add Pod People!

Love the '78 version, but I think Ferrara's '93 version was pretty dreadful actually.
i mean the entire Army base set-up ****s the concept from the start.

1, It makes the outbreak so small scale and insulated.
2, It's not a good idea to have a film about people becoming very similar, all obeying the same orders and becoming very regimented....on an army base!

[Gojirosan]

Originally Posted by 42ndStreetFreak

2, It's not a good idea to have a film about people becoming very similar, all obeying the same orders and becoming very regimented....on an army base!

That was one of the film's strokes of genius, IMO.

[42ndStreetFreak]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

That was one of the film's strokes of genius, IMO.

Where's the change?
Where's the contrast between becoming part of a hive mentality and losing your individual self?

A bunch of faceless regimented soldiers become a bunch of faceless regimented soldiers.
All of course taking place in a tiny fenced off compound away from everyday life anyway.

Seems to defeat the object.

Ferrara was totally lost in the wrong film for him imho.

[wongfeihung62]

But surely it was a clever ploy on the aliens part ,to use the army base so the takeover would be less noticeable?

[42ndStreetFreak]

Originally Posted by wongfeihung62

But surely it was a clever ploy on the aliens part ,to use the army base so the takeover would be less noticeable?

Yep, great for a fictional alien invasion plan.
Not so good for a satisfying, real world, movie experience that delivers all the things that made the first two films so popular and successful.

**** the non-existent aliens...lets think about the real flesh and blood audience.

[vincenzo]

I didn't rate the Ferrara Body Snatchers either.

[Gojirosan]

Originally Posted by 42ndStreetFreak

Where's the change?
Where's the contrast between becoming part of a hive mentality and losing your individual self?

Exactly. It made everything more ambiguous and alarming and subtle.

[Gojirosan]

Originally Posted by 42ndStreetFreak

Yep, great for a fictional alien invasion plan.

It was a fictional alien invasion.

[42ndStreetFreak]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

It was a fictional alien invasion.

Hmm...Yes well I meant it may indeed be a good idea if aliens were real and were trying to take over the world....But as cinema it stunk because it gave us nothing.
It was an emotional void.

What made the other 2 films work, indeed the entire point, was to see normal, everyday people, in the normal every day world we all inhabit, with all their little routines, quirks, problems, pleasures and eccentricities be wiped away to nothing but a blank, regimented nothingness.

The whole point is seeing Fred the sweet shop owner who waves to the children and gives them free candy suddenly, one day, ignoring the disappointed children and with a face set like stone.
And the next day those disappointed children now take no notice of Fred anymore either and have faces set like stone themselves.
Basic, everyday, humanity...wiped away.

But setting the film in a small, fenced off (literally), emotionally void, regimented environment, completely lacking any and all daily routines the audience can identify with and having almost no actual unique individuals....means the audience has nothing to latch onto, the alien threat is rendered null and void when we are given, on the screen, almost no individual lives and free will to lose in the first place.

It may be a 'true' plan the aliens would use...but as cinema it's a big black hole of utter emptiness as far as any emotional link to the audience goes.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Watched An American Werewolf In London last night.I don't ned to tell anyone about the film as we all know how great it is.The picture quality was fantastic though.Quite a grainy image and it looked lovely.John Landis hates technicians messing with his films and applying DNR (and rightly so). If only all director's were like this.Quite simply,this is the best that AAWIL has ever looked.I give it 2 thumbs up.