From: dmf@aber.ac.uk (Darren Michael Forbes)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: Darkman - Crap (YES!)? (NO)
Date: 6 Apr 92 10:29:46 GMT
Organization: University College of Wales, Aberystwyth

In article <1992Apr6.001548.9693@nic.unh.edu> msr@kepler.unh.edu (Mathew S Reno) writes:
>In article <1992Apr5.035344.7383@athena.cs.uga.edu> jordan@castor.cs.uga.edu (CHARLES JORDAN) writes:
>>In article <1992Apr3.070512.54157@cc.usu.edu> fajack@cc.usu.edu writes:
>>>> I just saw Darkman last night, a film directed by Sam Raimi (Evil
>>>> Dead)
>>>> Am I the only one who thought it was crap or is this the generally
>>>> accepted opinion?
>>>> 
>>>	You are not alone.  The movie was a crap.  I was fooled by
>>>the ad they showed on TV.  It looks exciting.
>>
>>Well, I for one thought it was GREAT.  I think maybe you were expecting
>>too much from it -- it was completely unbelievable, melodramatic, and
>>generally cheesy, but that's the charm of it, in my opinion.  (I could
>>KIND of say the same for Evil Dead I or II)
>
>I never saw the add or any trailers and was expecting, maybe this was my 
>mistake, that this movie wouldan enjoyable, action-packed quasi sci-fi flick.
>I was terribly wrong. There is absolutely no charm to the movie.
>>
>>It was so silly it was almost parody.  I think as far as pure, stupid,
>>escapist entertainment goes, Darkman was great. 
>
>It so silly that it ruined the movie. I thought it was supposed to be a serious
>movie, and it was intended to be one, but it was just so stupid that it was
>horrible. Darkman wasn't great it was just a string of totally impossible
>events and horrible HORRIBLE edits that it turned me off right away.
>>
>>Favorite scene -- we see Darkman's girlfriend standing, watching in horror
>>at the laboratory where he was working explode, and the scene dissolves into
>>a perfect match-on-action (I think it's called) of the girlfriend standing
>>at his funeral.  Classic.
>
>This was probably the stupidest scene out of any movie I have ever seen.
>First of all the edit of him flying out of the exploding building was sooooo
>poor that I was almost sick, but the pause as you see her, whoever she was,
>standing in the parking lot with her white dress on fading black like some
>clicheic nightmare from hell. This was unexceptable. Also the scene where
>the camera pans up the side of the movie, did you see the edits. It's impossible
>to miss them. The camera zooms up, stutters (where the edit is) then starst to
>zoom up again. I can't remember how many edits were spiced in, but it was sick.
>

The editing of the film was supposed to look like comic book editing.  For
example the funeral scene fade.  Take a look a Watchmen #2; this entire
volume is a series of cuts like that, many even take place at a funeral.
   Rami is famous for wild camera work (watch the camera through the
house in Evil Dead II) and sometimes he tries to do things he just hasn't
got the money or equipment for.  I thought Darkman was OK and it had
some good scenes.  It didn't make any sense but then again does X-Men?

>>
>>Chuck
>
>That's enough with this topic, let's move on to the next one.

OK.  I just wanted a brief say $0.02

>
>---Matt

-- 
Darren Forbes  | "Wooden mice know what's nice;    |
dmf@uk.ac.aber |  sawdust cheese and maple spice." | 
dmf@aber.ac.uk |           - The Bones Of The Moon |