MYST #3: Army of Darkness

                                                

For those of you who don't know me very well, let me start off by telling you something about me. I LOVE history, and have since a kid. So don’t be surprised to see primarily movies that take place in history.

How I ended up watching this movie starts back on Halloween, and doesn't even start with this movie. Me and my friends were deciding on a "scary"(Neither of them were scary) movie to watch. We ended up watching Shutter Island and Evil Dead 2, the prequel to Army of Darkness. After seeing that, I thought it was hilarious and wanted to see the first and third. Not long ago, a friend bought all three and I finally was able to watch Army of Darkness.

 **Spoilers**

Ash (Bruce Campbell) finds himself stranded in the year 1300 AD with his car, his shotgun, and his chainsaw hand. Soon he is discovered and thought to be a spy for a rival kingdom and is taken prisoner. After proving his merit in The Pit (Which is full of monsters), he decides to help the kingdom retrieve the Necronomicon (which will also help him return to his own time), which they need to battle the supernatural forces in the land. Ash accidentally releases the Army of Darkness when retrieving the book, and a fight to the finish ensues.

The acting for this movie is nothing special, of all the cast members, Campbell is the most notable. His acting I enjoyed because of how ridiculous of a character Ash is. Ash is one of one of my favorite characters in movies now because of how hilarious, crafty, and bad ass he is. He has a chainsaw hand, how is that not hilariously bad ass.

Special effects were relied on heavily in this movie. The movie is over 20 years old, so it is easy to see some of the effects and how cheesy they are. I also think that it is purposefully bad due to how comedic the movie is. Blood was a special effect that was used heavily in this too. This surprised me for such a comedic movie. However it’s not the slow and dark blood that you usually see in movies, it’s more tinted, fast as waterfall and goes on for 5 minutes type of blood.

The dialogue, much like the sound effects is cheesy and generic. By this, I mean the

King kicks over his squire as he pulls his sword, monsters doing gymnastics, and Ash going Winchester 73' on a monster. All stupid, but very funny. Dialogue between most of the charters is very dry. In the scenes with both kings it seems generic that they hate each other. Ash's scenes with Shelia (his love interest) seem dry and uninteresting.

My favorite scene in the movie is when Ash first explains who he is and his circumstance. He yells "This is my boom stick". He establishes himself as a new king almost due to his knowledge and power.

This Is My Boomstick! - Army of Darkness (2/10) Movie CLIP ...

▶ 2:14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFriRcIwqNU





Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and give it 4 chainsaws out of 5

Formal Film Study: Dark Vietnam War Movies

                           

those of you who don't know me very well, let me start off by telling you something about me. I LOVE history, and have since a kid. So don’t be surprised to see primarily movies that take place in history. Be prepared for a history lesson too.

Over the past year or so, I have been interested in the Vietnam War. I have seen a fair share of movies that take place in or revolve around the war, like Forrest Gump, Platoon Leader, Good Morning Vietnam, and We Were Soldiers just to name a few. When I heard we had to do a formal film study, it finally gave me a reason to watch The Deer Hunter (1978), Apocalypse Now (1979), and Platoon (1986). When I wanted to talk about dark Vietnam War Movies, I didn't just mean the war as being dark. I meant things such as: character development, and setting, and cinematically how it looked.

L to R Nick, Michael, Steve →

The first thing I noticed between the three was the writing and how completely different are. The Deer Hunter is about a group of friends, three of which, Michael, Steve, and Nick, go off to Vietnam and shows their lives before and after hand. It also shows how Russian Roulette changes their lives. Apocalypse Now, is about Captain Willard who is sent on a mission into Cambodia to assassinate an army colonel named Kurtz. Platoon, is about a Chris Taylor's new platoon (15-30 soldiers) and the differences in the unit ( 25th Infantry Division) and how they pull the new recruits into each groups ideas. How each movies charters treat the Vietnamese is completely different too. In Deer hunter, there was little, Apocalypse had it only when Willard and PBR ( Patrol Boat River) street gang attack the village with the helicopters. While in Platoon, someone said "Gook" or "Charlie" every 3 minutes it seemed.

Now the lighting, as I said before, I wanted to watch dark movies setting wise and each movie had different depictions of darkness. In Hunter, The Dark scenes are the ones at the steel mill, the hunting lodge and Roulette House (Presuming that's what they're called). The steel mill is nothing important, just the boys working. The lodge and house are where the movies are at their darkest both plot and cinematically speaking. In Apocalypse, the majority of the movie is during the day, the dark parts are the last base at the Do Long bridge, and at Kurtz's compound. I believe Coppola used the darkness at the bridge to create even more chaos and to show how the men of Street Gang felt about the mission. Kurtz's Compound because it was supposed to match the darkness in him and the people around him. In Platoon I believe Stone used darkness to show how it created fear in the men during the war and to build and the disorder that usually followed.

The camera work was also something that interested me. All three used different types of shots. Hunter very heavily used far ranged shots. I also noticed that primarily they were primarily in the hunting scenes and shots of Michael's house. The rest of the shots were for the most part medium angle shots used in the Roulette House, Vietnam, and the hunters hut. Apocalypse used a full spectrum like small, medium in large shots. The ones that stood out to me most were the close of of Kurtz( Marlon Brando) and Willard (Martin Sheen). In M. Sheen's face you can see how the events around him leave him sometime unphased and by the end the sheer terror he is in. In Brando's face you can see how sinister and cold he is. Platoon like Apocalypse, used a range of small medium and large shots. The large was always used when the soldiers were walking in patrol or in battle. Medium shots were used in the end. The small shots were used almost entirely on Taylor ( Charlie Sheen). 

Of the characters/soldiers in the three movies, none were the same. Some were gung-ho, some reserved, some nervous, the whole spectrum. It was nice to see the variety that rather than the generic soldier who is one of those three. My favorite of the movies was Chris Taylor. When we first see him, he's new, scared and regrets his decision on coming to Vietnam. By the end, he's mad, running around like an animal, and shoots at everything that. I feel that I would personally be him if I was in Vietnam. I would not be this by choice, I think everyone would be him at the beginning but by the end, I know I would be mad after a terrible year of getting shot at I'd run around like crazy too.

The settings, Much like their stories, were completely different. While Hunter focused on events at home, the other two didn't. At the same time, In Platoon battling the Vietnamese at close quarter wasn't seen in the other movies. All the movies also were almost in all the same place which I thought was interesting. Hunter was Home, Vietnam, and Russian Roulette scenes. Apocalypse was almost completely, Saigon, the PBR, and Kurt's camp. Platoon was The camp, The battles, and nights. Each movie had other scenes, but those were short or unneeded.

When I watch movies, I like when they can create immersion. I want to feel like I'm hunting deer, or sitting in a boat in the Mekong Delta driving inland, or in a jungle 6,000 feet away from the Cambodian Border. I think all three do a great job doing it, but each movie has a different amount you can get into it. I personally think that Apocalypse and Platoon are the movies that created the most immersion,

The base of these movies, they all have the same common theme, A soldier trying to survive get home. In Deer Hunter, Michael, Steve and Nick all make a pact on trying to get home together. Apocalypse is about to get Kurtz home and the men of PBR Street gang  crave nothing more than home. In Platoon, Taylor and some of the other men doubt that they'll get out alive let alone in one piece. It didn't matter if you were a green beret, sent in on a secret mission or just a basic grunt, everyone wants to go home.  

Directer Oliver Stone In Vietnam→

Of the three movies, Platoon was my favorite of the three. The movie's plot moved quicker and was more action based which I enjoy more. The Movies Director, Oliver Stone, is also a Vietnam vet, who was with the 25th infantry (Ironic) then the 1st Calvary. He got a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. so I believe that Stone's rendition of it is a more accurate one than The Deer Hunter or Apocalypse Now.

MYST: #2 Platoon leader

                                  (If this doesn't scream generic 1980's movie nothing does)

For those of you who don't know me very well, let me start off by telling you something about me. I LOVE history, and have since a kid. So don’t be surprised to see primarily movies that take place in history. Be prepared for a history lesson too.

While scrolling on through on Netflix to see if any movies for my FFS was on, I saw this movie on so I figured "What the heck, maybe its a good movie and could work for one of the three movies".

Fresh West Point graduate Lieutenant Jeff Knight (Michael Dudikoff) is sent in as a replacement to take command of Sergeant Michael McNamara's tour veterans platoon (The men are in the 173rd Airborne division) at a Vietnamese trench camp. Lieutenant Knight is greeted by his men who mock, and doubt him due to his lack of combat. Unlike his predecessor, who hid till the end of his tour, Lieutenant Knight takes charge, experiences life outside the manuals, and gets wounded. He returns, fully respect by men and superiors. Besides the Vietcong, the platoon wrestles with protecting villagers, which the GIs fear as some collaborate with the Vietcong.

There were many things I liked and dislike about each. Ill start with the story itself, which was nothing special. While watching it, it seemed generic and I feel bad saying that because its actual based off of a true story. But hopefully like most books turned movies, the book is better.

Another thing I didn't enjoy was the acting. The cast is all nobody's other that Dudikoff, who was just in C grade movies before and after. The soldiers were also generic, The one incompetent leader, the full of himself tool, the nerdy radio operator, the one black guy, the helpful Sergeant... the list goes on and on.

**History Nerd Alert** I was not very big on how they depicted Vietnam, there was a shot of a Huey flying over, and there is a farm in the shot. Another thing that bothered me was the jungle shots. Now, I'm no expert on jungles, plants, or Vietnam, but it looks as if it was shot in Fullersburg Woods, not a jungle. However the one thing that surprised me was a Scene where Lieutenant Knight trips a trip wire. (it also didn't work the firs time but tugged at it) The average life expectancy for a Lieutenant in Vietnam was 16 minutes, ( Why I know that, I don't know) his injury happens on his first trip into the jungle, showing how accurate that was. 

Something I did enjoy was the cinematography, it had some generic stuff sure, but also things that aren't very common. My two favorite ones were point of view shots and large shots. In most war movies it shows a semi- point of view. Semi meaning it shows a little bit of the soldier in it. But in this, It used a point of view from the soldiers on the hunt for the Vietcong. The Large shots were interesting to because it showed things like the valley there base is in, the enemy or the platoon themselves. The only other movies like this I can think of with any large shots are Saving Private Ryan, and The Deer Hunter which uses it heavily.

One scene I remember was that one of the soldier overdoses on Heroin. This was by no means my favorite scene, but it intrigued me because I have never seen a scene like that even in a Vietnam movie. It also shows how that not everyone in war dies by a bullet.

My favorite scene however was one of the last in the movie where Lieutenant Knight talks to Sargent McNamara and asks about what his job besides protect the village. He says "our jobs is to get people to change their minds. How I see it... everyone's got a business, (lists of some different business) were in the argument business. We sell ideas. and if you can't sell  yours, (Picks up a bullet) you place one of these in their body." I liked this scene because it shows what war is at it simplest, and how it has been for centuries.

Overall, despite its generic story and bad cast, it was somewhat enjoyable . I give Platoon Leader 3 Huey's flying over the treeline out of 5.

Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnHbVCzuofc