John Carpenter: a film-maker like no other. What's his best?

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Monday, June 27, 2005 21:57
VIEWED: 5062
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CHRISISALL

Thursday, June 23, 2005 8:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MacBaker:
I still get a special thrill watching that movie.

You got the special edition of Escape on dvd? The picture's so crystal clear, it looks like they made it yesterday.
Did you actually get to see them filmin' it?
(what am I thinkin'? You'd have to be close to MY age to have done that...)

Just got it myself Chrisisall

MACBAKER

Thursday, June 23, 2005 8:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by MacBaker:
I still get a special thrill watching that movie.

You got the special edition of Escape on dvd? The picture's so crystal clear, it looks like they made it yesterday.
Did you actually get to see them filmin' it?
(what am I thinkin'? You'd have to be close to MY age to have done that...)

Just got it myself Chrisisall

I was a senior in High School when "Escape" was being filmmed, but only saw the Fox scenes shot. The theater is right across from my Church (3rd Baptist), and someone at the church told us about it, so we watched it from the church office window. It was like having a front row seat!

I do have the Special Edition DVD, and yes, it does look great!

I'd given some thought to movin' off the edge -- not an ideal location -- thinkin' a place in the middle.

CHRISISALL

Thursday, June 23, 2005 8:43 PM

Mac, how would you compare Escape From New York with Escape From LA?

Call me Snake Chrisisall

MOOSE

Thursday, June 23, 2005 9:23 PM

ELVIS!!!!!!

Well, dang. I was going to immediately say The Thing, but now that I think about it Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from New York are up there too. Though, okay, it'll have to be The Thing. That was one of the first scary movies that I watched on the big screen. That damn head sprouting legs and eye stalks and walking away gave me nightmares for weeks...

The DVD commentaries by Kurt Russell and John Carpenter on those movies are the favorites of my collection. Those two know how to have fun. (Josh and Nathan's on the episode Serenity

is a very, very close second)

CHRISISALL

Thursday, June 23, 2005 9:49 PM

Moose, don't you think with all the digital technology around today they could do another Thing remake that would be better than Carpenter's? They could make the creature do even weirder stuff- he could be enormous- they could show it sucking brains through eye sockets and such!!!
(My take is no. Digital still can't give you that 'real' feeling of a living being [see Yoda in Attack of the Clones] interacting with an actual actor)

Danger! Danger! My circuits indicate a 60% probability that this thread will turn into Merrits vs. Limitations of CGI debate!

CGI's great for spaceships, though Chrisisall

SPIKEANDJEZEBEL

Thursday, June 23, 2005 11:06 PM

Agreed - CGI would ruin a movie like The Thing. There is a visceral quality to practical effects that CGI will never be able to replicate convincingly.

I would go so far as to say that there has NEVER been a CGI effect that has been scary - can anyone think of one? (Jar Jar Binks doesn't count - that's a different kind of scary!)

"I like smackin' 'em!" - Jayne Cobb

CHRISISALL

Thursday, June 23, 2005 11:53 PM

The scariest CGI that I ever saw was the shark coming out of the darkness in front of Lara in Tomb Raider 2, although it was more for the sudden-ness of it, the shark still looks phoney. So if you make the scariest scene in JC's The Thing a 10, that was about a .05!

I love that Question.

CGI's good for buildings, too Chrisisall

THESOMNAMBULIST

Friday, June 24, 2005 12:02 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Personally, I could not exist in this world without owning Big Trouble In Little China, so that would be it for me.
Although Vampires is a real close second.

What do y'all think?

Escaped from New York Chrisisall

Well I'd go with Big Trouble in Little China. I love The Thing but because it's from a remake which I also love; Big Trouble wins out on account of it being an original.

Carpenter films are perhaps the ones I re-watch the most. I've tried to figure out why and the best summation I've come up with is that he really captures the environments he sets his films in so brilliantly that I feel a part of His make-believe world.

I generally re-watch the The Fog because I feel like being by the coast - or I rewatch The Thing because I want to be cut-off from the rest of the world with no hope (yeah I get like that sometimes :) ). In this respect he's like Hitchcock - he really knows how to use his scenery to further his narrative. He's just ACE!

...and as I become older, I realise just how superbSTARMAN is. I really believe this is one of the great love stories of modern cinema. I'm rarley moved by love stories these days, on accounts of just being a bitter little cynic who's been kicked around more times than an old boot - but everytime I watch this film I can't help but feel like there's hope. It displays the very worst in people and yet the very best in a person, and that tugs the ol' heart strings. Karen Allen is just so convincing from beginning to end and Jeff Bridges well.... He's Jeff!!!! He's incredible....and that music when he walks out and brings that deer back to life is beyond anything I've experienced in a musical score before or since.... It's genius!

Have you listened to the commentary for BIg Trouble? It's hilarious!

suffering insomnia......
The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 24, 2005 12:18 AM

" Well, the beer was cold, and the ciggaretts weren't stale..."
Yeah, the commentary is a piece of entertainment all to itself. They get progressivly more sloshed and start off on tangents- it's totally hi-larious.
And you're right, Starman is the thinking man's ET. The deer scene in particular gets me too. Amazing what JC can do on 1/10 the budget of other films.

The shots of Nada and Frank walking around all bruised and s@*t after their fight in They Live is downright hysterical, too.

I owned the Mustang in Starman (same year and style, not the actual vehicle) Chrisisall

MACBAKER

Friday, June 24, 2005 3:32 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Mac, how would you compare Escape From New York with Escape From LA?

Call me Snake Chrisisall

Please tell me you're kidding!!! LOL

Even brief appearances by Bruce Campbel and Peter Fonda couldn't save that POS! Not Carpenters best work!

I'd given some thought to movin' off the edge -- not an ideal location -- thinkin' a place in the middle.

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