Escape to the Movies: White House Down

[cefm]

While it does get tiresome to hear film snobs slobber over "Citizen Kane" due to its truly revolutionary approaches to film lighting, angles, perspective, etc., the film and story themselves are very strong, so you don't have to care about the technical achievement to love the film for what it is.

Getting all jazzed up over Emmerich because of his ability to shoot technically amazing big action pieces builds much less of a consensus though, since his films themselves are un-worthy from the plot and acting perspectives.

 

[Mahoshonen]

Glad you liked the movie, but I have to ask you Bob: If the movie's plot was "One man must stop a rogue President from overthrowing the Constitution through a newly implemented Universal Health Care Law" would you still like it?

Just wondering.

 

[Sergey Sund]

Are they really so desperate for material they're gonna snap up Capt. Planet?
Sound like one of those epic "sounded good on paper - was a disaster on celluloid"-kind of deals.
Yes, it's a kid's show à la Transformers.
Yes, he´s technicaly a superhero.
Yes, both of those things are really selling well as of late.
BUT Capt. Planet is one of thuse ultra-PC, goody-two-shoes, liberal, green, etc. shows that .... don't really hit the tone of the newer, grittier series and superhero adaptions of today.
Like, Optimus Prime gets freaking knifed, OK? Batman has some super-crazy villains, right?
I .... just can't see Capt. Planet being played that way.
And to make it a movie for 6-year-olds is nonsense, since these kids aren't old enough to go to the movies for the nostalgia they are obviously milking this for.
It's ...... a bad, bad idea.

 

[Valkyrie1981]

And it was an Epic failed because no one likes a kiss ass... And rubbing you face in the President's ass and creating a circle jerk film for every thick headed liberal socialist nut will not make you popular... It makes you an ass-hat. It is why this movie failed... No one likes a kiss ass no matter which side of the political field you camp in....

 

[Windcaler]

Well I took my fiancé to see this movie tonight (she really likes buddy cop style movies of yesteryear) and I was expecting a neat action movie. If you just want an action movie and nothing more, yeah its ok. If you want something with more substance (which bob said this had) I...well I would be lying if I just said that I cant recommend it. The reality is, I genuinely felt somewhat offended by it and we walked out to get a refund

I think what really got to me the most was the portrayal of these ex-military personel because I myself am a veteran. I took the oath of service and gave the US 6 years of my life and its something that I was proud to do, something that Im still proud of having done. However the portrayal of soldiers in this movie was just offensive to me. We are not gun waving master manipulators which is what the movie made the antagonists feel like. Soldiers are just like any of you, normal people with a variety of interests except were trained in a selection of skills. One of them being to kill people who threaten us, our country, the citizen's that were sworn to protect, and the ideals our country was founded on.

I mean one of the main ideas of the movie is that some of these "disgruntled soldiers" are pissed off because of military funding getting diverted to anti-poverty measures. Im certainly not disgruntled but even Im against the reduction of military funding because I know what its like to not have the tools you need to do a highly stressful and dangerous job and I would never want future generations to have to fight battles where theyre poorly equipped or just completely outgunned as was the case in a few of the fire fights I was in. The people who make a choice to serve this country deserve better then that.

To go a step further anti-poverty measures could have been as easy as a recruiting campaign for the very military that theyre demonizing in the film. Look I took the oath straight out of high school and last I checked all you needed was a high school diploma or GED and a moderately healthy body to take that oath. Not only was I given job training, a roof over my head, three hot meals a day, and a paycheck I could live off of but I also got further education and job opportunities. Today I have a masters degree and experience in my field all because I made the choice to be a soldier. That's not a liberal, moderate, or conservative view, that's a factual view. That probably wouldn't have made as good of an action movie but it sure as hell would have been a more meaningful one

Then theres this whole left wing idealology that's as potent as a skunk. Ive always felt that the differences we have in ideaology is one of our greatest strengths because it allows us to look at problems in different ways. However this kind of film doesn't even seek to acknowledge that there are different valid view points. It paints anyone who doesn't agree with its limited scope as traitors to their country. IMO the whole thing reeks of ham handed propaganda and looking back I am quite offended by it. Perhaps that was the purpose though? Art often forces the viewer to question what they are being shown and while some people might see wish fulfillment, I see propaganda and the demonization of several subcultures of people as well as professional organizations

 

[Jegsimmons]

snip

My issue is not that it's dumb (hell, the original "Red Dawn" was pretty dumb), I just believe that if Emmerich had made the exact same movie but had basically reversed the roles (ie. Republican President fighting against a left-wing Paramilitary group) Bob would have torn it to shreds.

And you're probably right. That one of my biggest issues with movie bob is that he's got a clear bias on the political spectrum. And his youtube series "American bob" doesn't help quell that thought either.
Especially since part of that series had him tell people to vote for Obama because he didn't want a republican appointing a republican judge, despite that it totally backfired and Obama has been more 'republican' (as in, what retards THINK a republican is)more than actual republicans.

Which makes me wonder why he thinks this movie is a love letter to Obama, when what he described is the exact opposite of what Obama has been doing. i mean not even close. Hell President Bush has done more for peace and humanitarianism with his work in Africa to prevent aids. but no one mentions that.

And its funny you bring up Red Dawn because Red Dawn was panned when it first came out, but Audiences love it and consider it a classic (original, not remake) And it wasn't because of its politics, but its because it showed what was an extremely scary possibility at the time and showed how the common man could make a difference.
And thats sort fo why Red Dawn is so awesome.

 

[Riff Moonraker]

Seeing as its a "love letter to the left", then I think I will take a hard right and avoid the movie altogether. I am also 100% sure that if you switched the left and the right in this movie, and kept it otherwise EXACTLY the same, MovieBob would have hated it.

Yep, this goes in my never watch box.

 

[Darth_Payn]

I'm gonna skip this one, because the political message is not only there, but being hammered in your face, and Roland Emmerich just does what Michael bay does more of. I like Bay better because he doesn't even try to dress up his 'splosion-fests as anything with a message. It's just pure lowest-common-denominator & I love it that way.
As for a Captain Planet movie, I have a theory on how the cartoon came to be, so gather round children, it's storytime:
One day in 1990, ted Turner was reading Green Lantern comic books in his office instead of doing any real work. All of a sudden, Jane Fonda (dun dun DUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!) burst in with another one of her crusades in mind. Before Ted could ask "Is it Tuesday already?", jane saw what he was doing and came up with the idea to use turner's broadcasting empire to spread her heavy-handed message of environmentalism, with a splash of Western-World guilt. Ted then asked "And what if I don't?", to which Jane responded "Then no more sex, ever!" Ted, to his horror, realized for the sake of his probably almost-dead sex life, he'd have to follow through with his wife's demands.
In summation: ted Turner green lit Captain Planet for the threat of never getting laid again.

 

[TheSchaef]

Villains with no logical motivation or rational actions

Maybe so, but if Bob's list is accurate, this is exactly who the American Left (tm) believes is plotting to undermine essentially all of Western Democracy (tm), and an armed insurrection is exactly the type of dire prediction they present to an MSNBC host who nods gravely back at them as though it wasn't the kind of overblown scheme that belongs in... well, a Roland Emmerich movie.

I get a little baffled at times about what kind of blowy-uppy action movie Bob will or won't like. He nerd-rages against movies like Transformers, which have great action set-pieces subverted by human characters we don't care about desperately trying to make themselves relevant through machismo or bloated comic relief, and then we have Roland Emmerich movies in which all characterization feels paint-by-numbers, even in the good ones like Stargate, ID4, or The Patriot.

I think what really got to me the most was the portrayal of these ex-military personel because I myself am a veteran. I took the oath of service and gave the US 6 years of my life and its something that I was proud to do, something that Im still proud of having done. However the portrayal of soldiers in this movie was just offensive to me. We are not gun waving master manipulators which is what the movie made the antagonists feel like. Soldiers are just like any of you, normal people with a variety of interests except were trained in a selection of skills. One of them being to kill people who threaten us, our country, the citizen's that were sworn to protect, and the ideals our country was founded on.

Thank you for your service to our country.