reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (06/18/85)
Every so often, I notice particularly silly things in movie ads. The summer
has been ripe for this kind of thing. For instance, consider the trailer
for "Rambo". We see an extreme closeup of Stallone's right arm against a
dark background. The muscles ripple with the effort of the task being
performed, bulging and contracting, while the slight sheen of sweat reflects
the front lights lovingly focused on the arm. The camera slowly moves down
the arm as Stallone uses his incredibly trained muscles to perform some
obviously arduous feat of strength. Finally, the object of his massive
exertions is revealed. Sylvester was tying his boot.
On a different note, at the risk of reviving the dreaded net.movies.physics,
I have some grave doubts about the newspaper ad for "The Goonies". This one
displays the seven youngsters hanging on to a stalactite for dear life, each
one holding on to the feet of the next. Now, assuming an average of 80 lbs
apiece, a very conservative estimate when one considers their ages and throws
in the fat kid, that means the one at the top is holding up around five hundred
pounds, above and beyond his own body weight. Bad enough when it's the body
building eldest kid, but you want to tell me that Mikey could support that
much? (Subsequent versions of the ad will display each kid, in turn, at the
top of the chain.) (If you must comment on why this would be possible, send me
mail, as I'm sure the net would be ecstatic if there wasn't a single posting
following this up saying either "Yeah, that bothered me, too." (and nothing
else) or descriptions of why, under certain circumstances, this feat of strength
would be possible.) Normally, little advertising ploys like this don't bother
me, but this one rubbed the wrong way. Maybe because the movie did, too.
Also, three somethings (not cheers, but not exactly boos either) to "The
Goonies" for reviving the physically impossible stunt of stabbing a knife into
a sail and riding the knife down the sail, cutting it to slow your descent.
Don't try this at home on your yacht, kids.
And is there anyone else who, on the strength of her single line reading in
the trailer for "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome", dreads the dramatic debut of
Tina Turner? (Again, probably best to investigate the many mysteries of
network mail rather than hitting the f key.)
And finally, how about that Spielberg, plagiarizing bits from two of his
past successes for the trailers of "The Goonies" and "Explorers"? I thought
it a little tacky when the kids in "E.T." were shown loaded down with Star
Wars paraphenalia. This is more of the same, a somewhat hubristic glorying
in his own influence over modern children's lives. Not too serious, I guess,
but a bit more modesty would be becoming.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
soon to be reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reihersas@leadsv.UUCP (Scott Stewart) (06/24/85)
In article <6038@ucla-cs.ARPA>, reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP writes: > And finally, how about that Spielberg, plagiarizing bits from two of his > past successes for the trailers of "The Goonies" and "Explorers"? I thought > it a little tacky when the kids in "E.T." were shown loaded down with Star > Wars paraphenalia. This is more of the same, a somewhat hubristic glorying > in his own influence over modern children's lives. Not too serious, I guess, > but a bit more modesty would be becoming. > -- > Peter Reiher > reiher@ucla-cs.arpa > soon to be reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU > {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher First of all, Spielberg had nothing and never has had anything to do with any of the Star Wars movies, except being a friend of George Lucas, who was the Star Wars creator and soul. Secondly, the scenes with all the Star Wars paraphenelia is not even glorifying his friends influence. I'm not sure how many childrens rooms you've seen, but from what I've seen, (Cousins, Nephews, and freinds children) many have at least one item from Star Wars or other toys who are riding on the shirttails of the recent S/F market boom. I felt this added a sense of reality to the characters, and a sense that these children would be able to accept the E.T. Adding little touches like this are similar to an actor doing little actions that do not move the story but add realism to his character, (I.E. the way Christopher Reeve kept pushing his glasses back on his nose when he portrayed Clark Kent.) Today's kids have been influenced by Star Wars, and E.T. They play Dungeons and Dragons too. Transformers and Go-Bots would probably never have had the success if Star Wars hadn't come out and started the resurge in fantasy toys. Scott A. Stewart LMSC