No Respect: Thread of Underappreciation of the Media Variety

[Mr. Marshmallow]

Originally Posted by Medikor

Thanks for the suggestions, Mr.M! I do pick up any Godzilla flicks I find. I've see King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs the Sea-monster and Godzilla 2000. I really want to see any that star my fave monster, Anguirus.

Then I suggest the following Godzilla films, all which feature Angillas or Angurius in a pretty decent sized role:

Destroy All Monsters
Godzilla vs. Gigan
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla: Final Wars

Also back on topic, I feel the Super Mario Bros. live action movie gets no respect at all. While I admit it was a totally warped way to look at a game that was so simplistic in the first place, I have to say i really, really enjoyed this movie. There was top notch actors here and I LOVED Dennis Hopper as Koopa.

I don't think even Bowser in the games gave off as menacing and evil a prescence as Koopa did in this movie. I also liked this movie because it was an really original way to look at the games, and I give the creators credit for at least trying to bring the world of Mario bros. into theaters one way or another.

[Medikor]

I can understand that. While it definitely isn't my favorite movie, SMB was a fun romp, if only for a laugh at how movies were done in the 80's. (a time I really miss) Another good example is the Van Damm Street Fighter movie.
It's awful, but it's fun when you just want to laugh at something. And like you said, Mr.M, like Mario, it's another take on the source material. For those points alone these movies do deserve even a little respect.

[AerostarMonk]

I believe something must be said for Mars Attacks! Because nothing is ever said for Mars Attacks! It is neither ridiculed or applauded it seems. It seems to only pop up every so often in the media. The last time I heard anyone speak of this movie in the media was Chris Rock. Entertainment Weekly was reviewing him just before he hosted the Oscars a couple of years ago. He said his favorite movie that no one else likes is Mars Attacks! He always tries to talk to Burton about it but Burton always thinks he's being a wiseass and just ignores him.

Now, this movie is far from perfect, but it's just as far from horrible. There's quite a bit of charm to be seen in this film. For one thing, the fact that it was even made was a miracle. I don't know how many people have seen the grimly hilarious cards, but they really aren't easy source material to adapt. A true faithful adaptation in live-action would've been a hard R at best. But somehow Burton was able to capture the spirit of the whole idea and make it a mild PG-13. What's more is that many exact scenes from the bubblegum cards are still there. He planned to go on and adapt yet more bubblegum cards with the equally gruesome Dinosaurs Attacks! However due to the bad box-office returns with this film it never happened. I think this may have been due to the fact that the audience wasn't quite clear. It was obviously aimed at kids who would've loved the cards had they been released in the 90s rather than the 60s, but many of B-movie and sometimes Kubrickian overtones of the film seemed to be aimed at adults. I don't think those two things meshed too well with many who did see the film.

The all-star cast of the film was wonderful. Basically a who's who of has-beens, were-nows, and will-bes. From Pam Grier and Jim Brown to Natalie Portman and Jack Black, and everyone in between. The great thing about having a huge all-star cast is that you were actually surprised by how much screentime many of them actually had. I remembered thinking Michael J Fox would live through a great amount of the film only to be killed one-third into the story. Jack Nicholson pull double duty as the President and greedy land developer Art Land. Jack was ecstatic about working with Tim again and actually wanted to play every role.

One also must give credit to the Martians and their weapons. Actually straddling the fine line between comic and meancing, the Martians were a formidable adversary throughout the film. Trick robot hands, colorful lasers, shrink rays, giant mechs, and faulty translators made up their terrible arsenal. One of the funny things about the death rays colors is that they were only chosen because the movie was being released during Christmas season. Another equally funny thing is the Martian language was originally just a temp track, but because so many thought it was funny it was ultimately kept in the film. A very fine line was also walked with giving the entire outer space invasion a realistic feel mixed with the 50s Bs the movie was aiming for. If one pays attention they'll notice that the Martian saucers are actually updated versions of the same design used in Earth Vs Flying Saucers.

Overall, I could go on about this film all day. And over time I'll start to sound like an old man talking about the good old days. But that won't get you any closer to giving this movie another chance, because this movie gets no respect!

[Mr. Marshmallow]

I think there are more films that are more below respectable then Mars Attacks. I think the film itself wasn't really seen as a bad movie despite the box office amount, I think the problem with the movie (and that i have with it) is that it is really, really, REALLY weird. It's one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen.

Why you ask? Because of the down right confusing aspects of the film. Tim Burton has never done a film like this, if you told me someone else made this I'd totally believe you because this is far gone from his style. All of his movies use black and dark colors where as this is like the exact opposite.

The huge celebrity cast list was an interesting move, having so many big name stars in there and then killing them off was a very original idea. Natalie Portman and Jack Black however were not famous yet, back when this came out no one even heard of them. It's one of those super ass early movies people forget these celebs ever did.

Like Johnny Depp in the first Nightmare on Elm Street, or Kevin Bacon in the first Friday the 13th, very few people know those guys were in those movies. Back to Mars though, the thing I loved the most was easily the aliens. Their goofy costumes, weapons, but most importantly: their language. It was hysterical!

They sound like ducks hepped on helium and pep pills. The movie is very funny and I do respect my main man Burton for trying something different, but there's one thing that always makes me feel bad about watching this movie: the deaths. For someone who's seen so many violent, gore stuffed, big body count movies, this movie really makes me feel iffie about re-watching it.

The concept of death can easily become funny, Monty Python's Black knight showed us that. However, I think the fact Mars had SO much death and especially seeing the skeleton thing, it started to make me feel icky. A person can only take and see so much death and reactions to it that it starts to get to you.

I also cannot stand watching animals get hurt on film, like "pet" animals. Seeing that dog got killed makes me cringe and look away every time considering I was a pet owner and i loved my dog very dearly, so seeing something like that even if presented comically makes me feel crappy inside. There are even some movies I have trouble watching because certain people's deaths are so excruciating to think about.

Movies like the "Jurassic Park" films, "The Mummy", "Terminator 3: Rise of the machines (the bed scene with Claire Danes fiance') "The Blob" (remake). Call me a pansy if you like but some of those movies do have scenes that rub me the wrong way, regardless of rating, sounds, thoughts and stuff like that can all paint very nasty pictures in your mind.

Alot of people also ripped on Burton's "Planet of the Apes", I didn't like the film personally but I didn't hate it either, it was like okay for me. But, I think people really didn't respect the very authentic and accurate displays of the apes. Their hand shakes, their climbing, everything was VERY, very accurate stuff. I didn't love the movie but I think it's still a movie that had alot of good effort put into it.

Just didn't turn out right.

[AerostarMonk]

I guess I can understand that. I had a hard time watching horror movies as a kid because I could literally feel the pain the characters were feeling, although in a muted way of course. It took me a long time to become desensitized so to speak.

Mars Attacks! was a movie that walked a very fine line for me, because it actually is one of the few movies that I've seen that is both terrifying and funny at the same time. I would be laughing as the movie rolled on, but when I stopped to think about it later on it never really sat right. Still I really love this movie.

I can't believe I went the whole way without a single mention to Danny Elfman's score. A great throwback to the old Bs of the 50s. He spent many cues Mickey Mousing it but it really worked. Such as the cue The President's Speech which actually makes you feel the crawling robotic hand, or Message to Martians as a discordant saxophone gives way to a screaming string section that actually sends chills up your spine. Of course my favorite themes of the entire score are only named by superfans and of course are not the actual titles, those are Mars Triumphant and Martian War March. These two themes are the most used. The War March is of course first heard in the beginning credits, and Triumphant's best turn was at the end of the attack during the first landing. Though you don't grasp the true nature of the theme until it's used during The President's Speech when it's revealed the Martian sign of peace is actually a representation of their conquering flag. Like the movie the score succeeded in being both funny and horrifying at the same time. If anyone is interested I suggest downloading the extended edition seeing as it was never made available for purchase.

[Nathander]

The first movie I ever went to see by myself was when I was thirteen, and it was Mars Attacks! I loved that bloody movie, if just because I felt like seeing it was some kind of odd "Coming of Age" experience.

I'm going to switch gears from movies for a moment to talk about a soundtrack I don't think gets enough respect, that being the soundtrack for the original Hellsing anime. Now, while the anime itself gets more than enough respect (and, in all fairness, I feel too much respect especially when compared to the superior manga and OVA, which get nowhere near as much respect from the American audience), the soundtrack is, sadly, one of the features most passed over. This really kinda irks me, as I think the soundtrack is one of the best features of the series, and the only thing about the original that's superior to the OVA series.

The form of music itself is sort of hard to describe. There's a general style there, but each piece has it's own distinct form. The fact that I myself have a very limited knowledge of music and musical terminology doesn't help either. If I had to describe it, I would describe it as (primarily) being rock and roll with slight traces of ska, soul, and the occasional discordant piano thrown in, as well as slight traces of spiritual. Again, I'm sure there's someone on this forum who, if they heard it, could describe the form much better than I could.
Each track is utterly incredible for the most part, some of my favorites being Logos Naki World (COOL-World without Logos, the opening theme song), Musical Play Smiling Rebellious Flower, Certain Victory Lotus Sutra Tune, Mask of the Priest and the Bell of the Cathedral and When you Start the War, Fight with Arrows, Spears, and Swords. And these are only my favorite songs on the first OST of the series, Raid. There are even more favorites on the second one, Ruins, though I'll not put them here for sake of length.

The best thing about the soundtrack is, I think, this: while it perfectly sets the mood for the series and the scenes in which the tracks play, you can easily enjoy them without ever having seen the series. For the most part, I would say that anime soundtracks, a lot of the time, tend to be....dull on their own. Usually, for most of the anime I've seen, the soundtracks really just build up the atmosphere for the scene in the episode and have little value if just listened to on their own. Not the case here. You can easily enjoy it without watching the anime. Definantily something I would suggest getting on its own merits, fan of the anime (or anime in general) or no.

[Medikor]

I love Mars Attacks! It's just so wacky and zany what with all the celebrities and the cookie aliens.