[TrashMan]

Big Lizards...but tehy cna't chew trough tanks armor...If they can, then bring in hte battleships.. surely they can't chew trough THAT!


But there's one sure way to fight big lizzards (or insects) - COLD! Fight them in Rusia nad let the russian wither kill them all...or in Canada or the northern EU countries.. Or just make freeze guns.

[IceFire]

Looks like it could be like Godzilla...where silly human military hardware suddenly functions in a stupid way and Apache gunships miss with every shot...meanwhile the creatures are so fast and smart. Not sure about this one.  Might be fun but hard to say.

[Bobboau]

saw the movie, it's probably the most awesome movie of all times... if you go in expecting an absurdest humor comedy.

"bet you wish YOU had arms! *****!!! HA!" -me during the big dragon fight at the end. I don't think it spoils anything cause it won't make any since till you see the scene.

seriusly there are so many OMGWTF huge plot holes you could drive a galactic super cluster through they HAD to have done it on purpose. and everyone of them your like "wait... what about ***, and now *** /*bursts into laughter*/"

[Stealth]

Hmm. The setting sounds interesting, with 'dem dragons 'n' all, but since it is obviously an American movie, they'll probably spoil most of it beforehand with trailers (such as this) and include as much action and explosions as is physically possible, then throw in some completely predictable plot twists, with a protagonist who at first is underrated but who eventually becomes the hero who saves everyone, concluding the story with a corny happy ending.
Maybe if some Asian crew had done this, it might be intriguing indeed. But, at its present state, I for one am so not going to go and see this.

shut the **** up.  people like you annoy the **** out of me.

it's not enough that you have to make fun of "****ty american cars", right?  cars that cost less than, and OUTPERFORM (yes. outperform.  find me a $50,000 european car that will outperform a C6 Z06... seriously.  and don't say an "evo", because an evo doesn't stand a chance).

now it's movies.

what would you prefer?  some terribad english accent?  perhaps a ****ty bollywood movie?

give me a break kid.  go back to school.

[Bobboau]

the funny part was it _is_ an Asian movie.

[Jeff Vader]

shut the **** up.  people like you annoy the **** out of me.

it's not enough that you have to make fun of "****ty american cars", right?  cars that cost less than, and OUTPERFORM (yes. outperform.  find me a $50,000 european car that will outperform a C6 Z06... seriously.  and don't say an "evo", because an evo doesn't stand a chance).

now it's movies.

what would you prefer?  some terribad english accent?  perhaps a ****ty bollywood movie?

give me a break kid.  go back to school.

Ooh, touchy, aren't we?

Well, if you want to go there, people like you annoy me. I presented my opinion which apparently differs from yous. Therefore you start assaulting me and pissing on my opinion, stating that in this and many other cases, your opinion is "the right one^TM.

I haven't personally driven American cars, but from what I've heard, the gasoline consumption is through the roof. Not that it would matter to me, since I in any case prefer either cycling or using public transports.

As for movies, I don't even watch them that much. But when I do, they're usually Asian. For example "Jing ke ci qin wang" (that's The Emperor and the Assassin in your official American language). From what I've seen them so far, completely Asian movies have a lot more depth and far less predictability than your standard Hollywood productions. They don't necessarily have the cliche "Happy Ending^TM" or plot twists you knew about before the opening titles had ended. But that's just my opinion. It's not the right one. It's not the wrong one. It's just one opinion. If you or anyone else likes Yankee films, fine. I don't mind. I won't try to convert you into watching Asian movies. Everyone can have their own opinions.

As for school. I have a day off today. I'll continue my university studies tomorrow. In the mean time, why don't you go home and grow up. Come back when you can have a civilized discussion.

the funny part was it _is_ an Asian movie.

Ahem. Dragon Wars is an Asian movie? Meaning that a movie is Asian if the writer/director is Asian? What about the actors? Or the soundtrack composers?

Starring
Jason Behr
Amanda Brooks
Robert Forster
Chris Mulkey
Elizabeth Pena
Cody Arens

Music by
Steve Jablonsky

Those people sound pretty American to me.

[Flipside]

Hollywood doesn't occasionally create crap movies because it's American, it's because it's somewhere that produces movies and that can be, on occasion, crap. So does Bollywood and many other movie centre, indeed, they probably produce more, it's just that Hollywood is more visible, we remember the 'Taxi' movies just as well as we remember 'Lord of The Rings'.

And I've yet to see a movie trailer that doesn't show just about every action shot in the movie

[Jeff Vader]

Again, it's a matter of opinion what you think is crap. Hollywood movies might not be crap but it's just that they all resemble each other and repeat the same pattern. Why? The same reason why most of the FPS and RTS games are similar. Once you've done something that sells, there's no reason to change it or create something new. Just do the same thing, with small detail changes. That way you can be sure that it sells again.

For Hollywood, there's just too big a risk involved in making a movie that is completely new and original. What if people are intimidated by some weird plotlines and don't want to go and see it? There wouldn't be enough profit and losing money is always a huge blow against investors.
Hollywood is just business. Forget about creativity if it stands between you and huge profit.

In addition to the points I've presented so far, I also hate the overpatriotism that some Hollywood movies have. Not all but some. It just gets irritating once you've seen the 50th movie where the rest of the world is weak and dumb and how the Americans are once again the ones who save the world and are celebrated heroes. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to promote Finnish movies either. Frankly I find them boring and too melancholic for my taste.

Then, about spoiling. I think the trailers usually show too much about what happens in the movie. Though the real reason might be that the trailers tell you the main parts of the plot, and when you go to see it, the story tries to create a 'thrilling' way to introduce for example the antagonists. And specifically trying to use the same 'thrilling' method that has been used for decades. Even though you already saw them do evil things in advertisements.

[Flipside]

As Terry Pratchett once described it 'People don't want News, they want Olds'.

The plotlines for most movies could probably be traced, in context, all the way back to ancient Myths from across the planet, I doubt there's really been much change in the way we tell stories to each other when it comes to context. We LIKE the bad guy to be bad, we want to know that our conceptions of reality are 'real' and movies confirm that because most people don't feel too good watching a movie that actually makes them stop and consider their own morality.

As for patriotism, well, kind of hard to say, yes, sometimes, there's too much 'This great country' stuff going on, but then, you might as well ask why the American Army are using desert camoflague in the middle of an Urban Battleground. It's all about sales, and playing up to the common denominator.

[Jeff Vader]

Good points. I agree that for most of the people movies are just entertainment that's either supposed to lift adrenaline levels or give good laughs. Also, it makes them feel good if they get a happy ending.

As for plotlines in general, everything follows th basic pattern, which includes a beginning, a happy ending and something sensible in between. It's just that most Hollywood movies are even more similar together. There's almost some mathematic formula you can use to pinpoint the exact second when it is revealed that one of the characters is a traitor/double agent or when the hero finds the solution.

If you like it that way, there's no problem. But I like to see something different. Something where the story is told in a different way and where there isn't necessarily a happy ending. If you've seen "The Emperor and the Assassin" or "Hero", you'll know what I mean. Hero in particular tells the story effectively from several people's point of view, giving you something to think about other than "Woo, another kick!". Also, in both movies, the ending isn't really happy, but it makes sense and, in the long run, turns out to be a 'good' ending, in a way.

As for the patriotism, I also said that sometimes there's too much of it, but not always. And you're right. It all connects to profit. When the target area for the movie is the US, sturdy and America-loving heroes really get the viewers coming in.

The reason for this excessive preaching was Stealth's quite immature post. I don't mind hearing other opinions but that kind of flaming directed only towards me shows that either he just hates me or he didn't bother to read the rest of the thread. Other people seemed to think that Dragon Wars isn't really that great.

But I'll shut up for now in this thread. I'm sure my opinion is clear by now. If someone wants to call me an America-hating idiot or equivalent, please, PM me.

On another topic, my recent posts in this thread are starting to get near the readings of dsmart's posts. Now I'm scared.

[Stealth]

yes,  you've made your opinion painfully clear.  painful... just like some of those cheesy, low-budget asian movies.

[Bobboau]

Ahem. Dragon Wars is an Asian movie? Meaning that a movie is Asian if the writer/director is Asian? What about the actors? Or the soundtrack composers?

Originally titled Dragon Wars (and still referred to by this title in publicity material), D-War has a long production history in South Korea. The film was announced in 2002 by director Shim Hyung-rae as his follow-up project to Yonggary. A show reel appeared in early 2003,[citation needed] showcasing the extensive amount of CGI the production would be using to create the various creatures. Despite heavy promotion via posters, press releases and videos, principal photography did not begin until October 2004, continuing through December.[citation needed] The budget was set at approximately $30 million,[5] or $33 million (30 billion won).[4]

As with Yonggary, Shim opted for a mostly American cast. Veteran actor Robert Forster landed a pivotal role and Jason Behr and Amanda Brooks were cast as the two young leads.

The next three years were spent creating the creature effects, all of which were done in house by Shim's Younggu-Art Movies company. The completed film premiered at the American Film Market in early 2007. The film was released in South Korea on August 1, 2007. In the U.S., the film was released on September 14, 2007.

On August 7, 2007, South Korea's MBC Morning Live TV Show broadcast the movie's ending scene on TV, causing a controversy. A few days later the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released a statement that the incident did not violate South Korean copyright laws.[6]

I like wikipedia too, you should read the relivent parts next time .

[NGTM-1R]

it's not enough that you have to make fun of "****ty american cars", right?  cars that cost less than, and OUTPERFORM

**** your performance sideways, you actually use that **** on the road every day? Maintainance costs and survivablity plz, I'll take a Volkswagon.

[Jeff Vader]

I like wikipedia too, you should read the relivent parts next time .

OK, fine. But the implementation of the film is so Yankee that, without reliable source information, I would have still guessed that this was yet another Hollywood moneymaker with no new elements. When in reality it's a movie written and directed by Koreans, in Korea, with the rest of the crew being American and the general appearance shouting "Hollywood!" at your face.

If I had the possibility, I'd rather go and see the original Godzilla movies or even some Soviet propaganda movie than D-War.

[Stealth]

**** your performance sideways, you actually use that **** on the road every day? Maintainance costs and survivablity plz, I'll take a Volkswagon.

"performance sideways", that's a first. never heard that one before.

i wouldn't.  originally i bought cars for gas mileage, but now i don't.