Tom 'Samurai' Cruise

I think you're right!

I watched Aliens for the first time in about 10 years (watched it many times before) and while it is still great, it looks surprisingly dated in places. You see the Alien for too long and that expopes its unnatural and awkward movements.

I reckon there are a couple of reasons for this:

I think that audiences expect a much higer standard of figthing nowadays and that the kind of moves, commitment and safety measures make continuity difficult. I also think that quick cuts create a more rapid pace, as you mentioned, another trick to acheiving this is slowoing down the frame rate to create jerkiness, like i the fight scenes in Gladiator. Those who know what they're looking at will be much more impressed by the duel in The Princess Bride than the girl fight in The Mummy, but the general public just want to be thrilled, and speed and confusion are a big part of that.

I also think that they are happier to teach an actor to fight/dance than the other way round these days. With the kind of wire and camera tricks that we've come to accept since the Matrix. A big 'name' virtually guarantees box office success whereas a great fighter (or stage fighter) is a big gamble - just look at what happened to Jackie Chan the first couple of times he tried to break into the western market - he flopped even though he was one of the biggest stars in the world already! And Steven Seagull knows his stuff, yet his films are really dull. Even Jet Li is resorting to close shots, quick cuts and stunt doubles these days, and yet they can give us Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore doing flying, spinning, upsidedown, back screw kicks on demand, or Uma swinging a sword like a Hamilton Beach blender. Ha!

Having said that, I was very impressed with The Last Samurai (although it had one blatantly stupid bit) but I'll have to watch it again to see what I think about the swordplay.
 
Tom Cruise looked good as a fighter pilot, doesn't mean he could fly missions for the Navy. I gotta give him credit for putting in the work to look convincing. Most martial arts students don't get to train 40 hours a week for 3 months straight. But remember he wasn't training to win a swordfight, just to execute the choreographed movements required for the picture.

Reminds me of an old college joke.

A professor, a businessman and a college student was asked how long it takes to learn Japanese.

"10 years" said the professor.

"2 years" said the businessman.

"When's the final?" said the student.
 
contact in the movie, looked more like Kendo than anything.

Also thot the ninja would have waited for a more opportune time to attack (like AFTER the party dancing, when everyone was asleep).
 
I was actually most impressed with the performances of Hiroyuki Sanada (the Samurai who kept beating on Tom Cruise's character and who Cruise eventually 'equaled' in a match in the film) as well as the head Samurai (was his name Ken Watanabe?).

Sanada has worked in Japanese films since the late '70s (he was a member of Sonny Chiba's Japan Action Group). He has spent many years studying both traditional Japanese martial arts as well as "movie martial arts." He is also an award-winning stage actor who can act in Shakespearian plays among other types. His other recent films include Onmiyoji, and Ringu (the film that was remade into The Ring in the U.S.), and Twilight Samurai. Older films include The Royal Warriors (filmed in Hong Kong with Michelle Yeoh, 1986) and the sadly screwed-up Ninja in the Dragon's Den (a Hong Kong-Toei co-production, 1982).

Oops...way off-topic. :eek: :)
Jim
 
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