Initial Reactions upon release
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slopodag — 13 years ago(July 13, 2012 07:04 AM)
@ thomas196x2000
Faith in the tooth fairy is on the same par as your faith in whatever you believe.
Please prove me wrong.
Religion has crept into my life without ever being invited by me - it pushed its way in would you tolerate an uninvited menace - I wouldn't either.
If you want the truth about religion please watch the documentary ZEITGEIST.
So far it explains it the best. It may open your eyes or not! Also watch parts 2 & 3 very informative.
@ dizzyBallerina
I stumbled onto Quest For Fire by chance. Loved it the first time I saw it (circa 2008) and still love it now.
It is one of the best movies of this type I have come across.
:)) -
kholmes1965 — 18 years ago(April 07, 2007 11:26 AM)
Yeah, with the sexual immaturity on the American scene (and yes, I am American; college grad and proud to have served as a member of the armed forces and as a municipal police officer. Even still.) it'd be hard to judge just how well-received this movie would be if it were released today vs. twenty-some years ago. It seems we (as a populous) always have some witch-hunt to be on; very sad. If all that collective energy were to be used, instead, towards, say, anything more important than to how tight our sphincters can be over trivial $hit, then maybe our culture would mature and we'd get to the point of paying attention to the more serious matters of the world.
Then again, in my opinion, the world as a whole is on it's way to hell on a greased rail with lightning sticking out of it's ass, so maybe I'm just too cynical.
Personally, I enjoyed this movie when it first came on the scene in the 80's. And I say that in spite of myself. I was in my teens and at that time would have never figured I'd ever get into a movie with no dialogue. But for some reason this movie just sort of grabbed me; I guess I was more mature, for my age. Now, many years later, I own a copy of it on DVD and have watched it a few times, enjoying it for it's drama and suspense. It's not every movie that can stand the test of time like this one. -
adventis — 18 years ago(August 18, 2007 03:03 AM)
"Actually, given all the religious fervor we're stuck with right now, I suspect they'd be more pissed at the evolution bit than the sex." - by FlyByNight.
I disagree.
Naoh is Adam in Neanderthal language, an Ika is Eve. -
Norse_Sage — 18 years ago(February 05, 2008 08:13 AM)
Don't pin that on just Americans. People are basically the same no matter what country they are from. I've heard these accusations of American's supposedly stunted perspective before, the accusation itself is a stereotype. All countries have population who prefer entertainment that stays within the safety net and other population who prefer their entertainment to be raw and not inhibited by conservative views.
Sure, every country has its share of both views. The difference is just how big each share is. In Europe, the extreme conservatives are a minority, if it is just small or ridiculously small depends from country to country. In the US on the other hand, this extereme conservative group appears to be the norm when seen from the outside.
Much of this perception has come in recent years, by many little things.
I disagree with you that movies are among them. But TV series, yes most definatly. Overtly mild and politically correct shows like "Friends", "Step by Step" and many others certainly have done a lot for this impression. But the one major incicent that stands out is the Janet Jackson Superbowl incident a few years back.
In Europe, this stunt would have been considered
mild
compared to other things that regurlarly happen at live family events. Had the Janet incident been in any other western country, it wouldn't have had any consequences what so ever, and a note on the last page of the tabloids would have been the most media coverage generated by it. Indeed the nip slip incident
itself
was barely mentioned in any news channels in the west apart from the US. Completely and harmless and unimportant. But the extreme overreaction displayed by the american public on the other hand, now that made headlines! Actual letters from angry parents sent to the channel airing Superbowl was used as entertainment in humourprograms in radio and TV for weeks, I kid you not. This cemented the impression of americans as moralistic fanatics in the eyes of the rest of the western world, I'm truely sorry to say. After that, people have been more sensitive to news about things that cause controvery in the states, like the Golden Compass and what have you not, which is considered perfectly harmless everywhere else.
Please note that I'm not saying that all americans are moralistic prudes, far from it. But there are indeed differences in how "prudent" various cultures are, and while many points of complaint may be sterotypical, there are undeniably some level of truth in them. This certainly goes for the things which often cause offense in the US. Surely no one can deny that.
Across the pond you have
-nudity on TV all the time. No, not just cable, but ordinary free for all TV. Things reserved for cable in the US are the norm. This safety net you speak of does not necessarily offer all that much "safety".
-Virtually all beaches are clothing optional.
-Religious faith is generally not considered a virtue. A vice would be closer to the truth. If a politican tries to use his strong religious views as a selling point, he'll likley loose the election.
-Anyone saying they believe in creationism and the young earth school of thougth would immediatly be considered insane or a dangerous fanatic, usually both.
I imagine all of the above would be pretty controversial in the US.
In those places where americans are sometimes considered conservative and moralistic, it is not.
Hold Brillan! -
Theo87 — 17 years ago(April 05, 2008 05:39 PM)
one of the best posts i've ever read on the imdb! as someone who lives in germany and has lived in the US for a while i wanted to tell the person above that she's wrong but you explained it perfectly. great examples and easy to understand for those that haven't been to both the US and europe.
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Clemencedane — 12 years ago(October 06, 2013 11:13 PM)
Extreme conservatives are not the norm here in the U.S. They're not even the norm in the Republican party. They are a very vocal and vociferous minority who get in the media all the time.
Most Americans thought the Janet Jackson overreaction was ridiculous.
There are over 300 million people here and only the most outrageous get publicity. There are tens of millions of non-Puritanical people here. You should come visit or live here to see what it's really like. -
activista — 12 years ago(January 24, 2014 12:55 AM)
For real-I'm American, and I really thought that whole controversy over Janet Jackson was ridiculous as hell, and sadly, it did hurt her career as she hasn't made an album since,which sucks.(Interesting how it never hurt Justin Timberlake's career at all, since he's the one who committed the actual action anyway, yet nobody jumped all over him about it as much as they did Janet.) And the whole thing was just an accident anywayyou'd think she'd done it on purpose,or that the sky fell, the way the media reacted to it. And people pointed out that there were commercials that were much racier than anything Janet Jackson showed for all of 5 seconds on national TV. Just like the recent dust-up about Miley Cyrus's dancing actions at that music award show, or complaints about the way Queen Bey (Beyonce) was dressed while performing at the halftime show, which was also equally ridiculous. From what I've seen in European movies and media,they're always seemed to have a much more mature attitude toward sex in general (which is why they probably laughed their behinds off at all the hype any of these so-called incidents got in the first place.
Yes, Americans raised in a conservative church like I was do have their hangups (and learn to grow out of themnot as much as we think we do,unfortunately,but we try) but all of us aren't like that,thank goodness. -
Caractacus23 — 13 years ago(July 21, 2012 01:42 AM)
"re-read ebert's review. He dug it and for obvious reasonsit's great."
Yes, I have a very vague recollection of seeing Siskel & Ebert review this film on the old "Sneak Previews" show, and as I recall they both liked it (Ebert perhaps even more than Siskel). -
ThanapaulisFilms — 17 years ago(May 05, 2008 04:04 PM)
But who cares what Ebert thinks?? I Agree with many of his views, sure he studied film etc, but in the end it's about entertainment and shame on those who have to be told "This is good" or "this is bad" for them to or not to enjoy a film.
It's all opinion and subjective
It was well madeif you stop and think and try to imagine what Neanderthals OR pre-human man/humanoids etc, whatever you wanna call it; were like thousands of years ago, than this is it, or pretty darn close. -
morganseer — 14 years ago(March 24, 2012 07:39 PM)
"But who cares what Ebert thinks?? I Agree with many of his views, sure he studied film etc, but in the end it's about entertainment and shame on those who have to be told "This is good" or "this is bad" for them to or not to enjoy a film.
It's all opinion and subjective"
Um, really? Do you have a better way to tell which movies are worth seeing than the opinion of an intelligent critic? I can't see every movie myself, nor do I want to. I read reviews so that I don't have to subject myself to moronic drivel. That doesn't mean that I see every movie that the critic recommends, but when he writes a nice synopsis, giving me an idea of what the movie is about, and gives some indication of the intelligence level put into the making of the film, I'd say I'm better off that reading the video jacket.