They are so used to these brooding comic book heroes that they can't come to terms with a man who is aggressive and, par
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XSIV4C — 13 years ago(February 13, 2013 10:36 PM)
I can't see what 3 of the posts said. They are on my ignore list. It must be over 1000 users now.
Setting aside what I said about the "pussification" of society, us old school men have to accept that the genre is done. Think about it. When i was 10 we had Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, even Sly then. When i hit my teens we had Arnold, etc. Before that there was John Wayne kicking ass but I grew up with the reruns on Saturday afternoon.
I am trying to wrap my mind around this. I can't even imagine a 10 year old today watching the sort of thing we did growing up. And teens today watch Twilight and think Hunger Games is cutting edge. We watched Death Race 2000 when we were 9, I believe, if the original was 1975. And Mad Max 1 and 2, not so much 3. At the drive in no less that our parents took us to.
I got off topic. What I meant by the genre being done is that, it doesn't matter "why" today's action flicks don't make money, it only matters that they don't. Stallone and Arnold, more so Arnold, are gonna have a tough time getting big budgets for coming films. They just aren't making their money back. It doesn't mean the movies are not good. Although The Last Stand was bad. But that was a casting problem for me. But again, irrelevant. Bullet and Last Stand did not make money. Case closed. I gave Bullet 7 out of 10 for what it was and Last Stand 5 out of 10 for what it was. -
crownklown — 12 years ago(August 21, 2013 01:35 AM)
Lol what?
Last stand while still a failure was nowhere near as big a failure as Bullet to the Head.
Last Stand grossed around 37 million versus a 45 million budget. Bullet couldn't even break 10 million and cost 55. I think stallone out of the two is in a worse position, if for no other reason Schwarzenegger can still fall back on a franchises like Terminator, that even when mediocre can bring in a decent haul. -
dakinariten — 12 years ago(October 07, 2013 02:03 PM)
Yes, Schwarzenegger can fall back on Terminator. Hmmm, what can Stallone fall back on, oh, I don't know:
Rocky
Rambo
Expendables
Stallone is far more bank-able than Arnie, though I'm not sure how/why Bullet to the Head did so badly. I really enjoyed it, and would put it in the same league as the 80's/90's action flicks - it's never going to be riveting entertainment however it does entertain, and I find very little fault with it. Contrast that with most modern films which are filled up the gills with fault after fault, and that is rather depressing. Then again, I'm a dinosaur
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jedi7 — 13 years ago(February 28, 2013 09:15 AM)
Totally agree.a great thread!!!!!
Not sure what's going on in today's societypussification as some of you put it. But I actually know some wackados that will not allow their children to watch the original Star Wars until they are 8-9 years old because it's too violent. Yes, I'm serious.too violent. My 5 and 3 years olds can quote the films. They have seen LOTR, Spiderman and Indiana Jones which they love. -
Linness_Yusof — 13 years ago(February 14, 2013 08:29 AM)
It's not that they don't want to see the film. They CAN'T watch it; its very title makes them piss their pants.
Perhaps if this film was called, I don't know, Bouqet to the Heart? Bonbons to the Hip? That doesn't even make sense. Sorry. -
psychoanalysis86 — 13 years ago(February 15, 2013 01:31 AM)
Tarantino isn't a hipster. If you're labeling anyone who is "hip" a hipster, then you're not allowing for the connotation that it has garnered in recent years. Hipsters these days have their own style(which everyone recognizes) and they usually don't go in for mainstream products that are not at least self-referential parody. And if you're a "big fan" of these guys, I don't know how you'd call those films horrible. They're easily in the mid-upper tier of their work. The Last Stand was easily as good as something like Red Heat. Bullet to the Head pretty much blows Stallone's recent work out of the water besides Rocky Balboa.
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XSIV4C — 13 years ago(February 15, 2013 06:58 AM)
Sorry to disagree psychoanalysis86, but I am a huge Arnold fan. I would say fanboy status to insult myself. S. I gave The Last Stand (in my mind anyways) an 8 out of 10 before I even say it. After actually seeing it I had to give it a 5. Oh yeah, also forgot to mention I am a HUGE fan of the director after having seen The Good, The Bad and The Weird and I Saw The Devil. Didn't matter. I felt like the director was tricked into this movie by the producers, who then chose his cast. I did not like anyone in this movie other than Arnold (fanboy remember).
But that takes us away from the point of the original post. These movies are not making money. that is all that matters. It doesn't matter psychoanalysis86 if you and me like them. If they don't make money there will not be many more. I loved Bullet To The Head. I am hoping for a sequel. There won't be one unless it makes it's money back. Maybe worldwide or DVD sales. -
XSIV4C — 13 years ago(February 15, 2013 02:04 PM)
I am not sure psychoanalysis. Maybe I misread your post. I thought you were implying that one must think The Last Stand was good just because one was an Arnold fan. I am a self professed Arnold fanboy who did not like The Last Stand. If that is not what you meant, then I guess we agree.
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psychoanalysis86 — 13 years ago(February 17, 2013 12:09 AM)
"Bad action films are just bad action films. Nothing to do with hipsters or pussification of society."
I suggest to you that action films that were "good" in the 80's wouldn't stand a chance today. If The Last Stand was released in the 80's with a younger Schwarzenegger, then it would be a hit. Hipsters, like I said, do have something to do with it.
I don't hate hipsters, by the way. This is just an observation. I didn't throw out the word "pussification either." -
Prismark10 — 13 years ago(February 17, 2013 04:32 AM)
I actually did watch action films in the 1980s. I think people suffer from the memory cheats syndromes.
Let me mention a few good action films that did poorly in the box office. Nighthawks and First Blood. Both found a renewed lease of life on VHS. Then there were other Stallone disappointments which again only seem to find an audience on video release such as Cobra, Over the top.
Charles Bronson, a character actor who became an action star from the mid 1970s onwards. His 80s output were basically short run film releases that would find a following on video. I know I used to watch his films on VHS.
Arnie and Chuck Norris began to do B action films that did well on VHS and migrated to better cinema films. This is especially true of Arnie with Predator, Total Recall and Terminator 2. In fact despite my dissing of Arnie in other threads on this board, Total Recall is one of the best action films I have ever seen with magnificent special effects.
Yet at the same time there were some really dumb actions films made throughout the 80s and 90s and that was the advent of straight to video.
Its that man again!! -
XSIV4C — 13 years ago(February 19, 2013 07:04 AM)
hey psychoanalysis86, after having seen the box office numbers for the new Die Hard movie, I wonder if my theory holds any water at all. 25 million opening in February is not bad at all. Those are the numbers that Arnold and Sly should have gotten. Any thoughts?
