Things you're tired of seeing in movies

[Solo4114]

It worked in Trek because they could track the ships in warp since all of their sensors and comms all work faster than light so they could detect something they're chasing dropping out of warp and drop out of warp shortly after. Of course this doesn't mean that they won't overshoot their target but probably not by all that much.

Right, that was my point. You'd blow by them, but "blow right by" means, like, several hundred lightyears away, rather than just, say, several hundred feet.

This happens with all shows, even non-sci-fi shows, it's a matter of keeping the action on screen, it would be much less interesting, or at least it's felt, that it would be less interesting if all of the action happened at realistic distances. But if you want to see something like you describe then watch the first season and half or so of Andromeda, I don't know about later seasons but they did a good job of this in the early seasons. Combat was done at long distance and you never actually saw the enemy ship except as plot on their screens along with their weapons. It was sort of like sub warfare in old sub movies where you see the captain tracking torpedoes with a stopwatch, calculating how much time until impact, they did the same on Andromeda where you saw them track missiles and timing how long until the missiles reached their target.

Yeah, I think you could heighten the drama of situations like that, but it's not something that I would expect many execs to be interested in right now. It'd work better for, say, a lower budget affair. But for big-budget sci-fi, I mean, half the point is to show LASERBEAMS and SPACESHIPS and SPLOSIONS and such. The visual spectacle of these two ships duking it out is why you have an F/X budget. But not knowing where the enemy is? Relying on, I dunno, acting and competent writing to convey a sense of drama and tension in a scene?

How are you gonna sell $15 tickets for 3D showings of THAT to 12-24 year olds?


In seriousness, though, it strikes me as a wasted opportunity, and something that could still be made to look really, really cool (and warrant an F/X budget) if you wanted to do it that way...or you could adopt the "less is more" approach.

That's what the "navigational deflector" is for, to sweep debris out of the ships path.

Which, I assume, is powered by phlebotinum, yes?

In all seriousness, you can invent a device that explains this stuff away (e.g. "inertial dampeners" and "navigational deflectors" and such), but ultimately, you're right back where you started with fantastical devices that aren't actually scientific in nature.

WHICH IS FINE. There's NOTHING wrong with that for storytelling purposes. It's only when you take the stance of "All our science is real" that the phlebotinum-powered flux capacitor, which allows the ship to maintain structural integrity while flying, instead of having the warp nacelles themselves just tear off and fly away on their own, becomes a problem. And, for that matter, not even really a problem, per se, but just something that calls more attention to itself because you've spent so much effort trying to make everything else real.

I think what's more important for storytelling purposes is that you create a world that is internally consistent with whatever rules it's established. So, ok, you have a world with magic, but that magic has rules. Fine and dandy, but now you have to abide by those rules and/or break them only for the sake of drama, not for "deus ex machina" solutions.

 

[LrdSatyr8]

I love Steven Segal movies! Dont ask me why because I will not answer! However, I noticed in several of his later "3 word titled movies" that many directors are using a technique of moving the camera / zooming in and out WAY too much during car chases hoping to give the viewer the feeling of speed and peril.

Sadly, it doesn't work. Therefore, I must insist all car chases reach speeds of 80-120 MPH before filming.

Did you ever see "Time To Kill" and notice that they dubbed over his voice?

 

[SofaKing01]

Did you ever see "Time To Kill" and notice that they dubbed over his voice?

I think they've dubbed many of his later movies... and they didn't even try to match the voice. It was like getting Elmo to voice over Mr T!

 

[Solo4114]

I'd be surprised if they actually dubbed him with someone different. I expect it'd be more like bad ADR work where it clearly sounds like he's delivering lines in a studio, rather than on set.

 

[LrdSatyr8]

I think they've dubbed many of his later movies... and they didn't even try to match the voice. It was like getting Elmo to voice over Mr T!

I always liked Segal and picked up that movie to add to my collection only to sit and watch it and it sounded like they never even tried to match his voice at all, and I was like WTF!? You gotta be kidding me? Why did they even try to dub him... he speaks perfect English... I can understand why they dubbed Arnold in Hercules Goes Bananas, but Segal? Comon!

 

[p51]

Maybe I wrote it before, but I'm sick to death of bi-pedal robots and nobody being impressed by them.
the movie "Ex Machina" drove me nuts, in that the second guy was so impressed with AI but never even noticed the robots could walk on their own and even had flawless human appearances when the designer bothered to cover them.
I think we'll have AI long before robots on two legs that can walk on anything other than a perfectly flat floor. Some scientists have even argued (probably out of desperation) that we needn't try to make bi-pedal robots and just go with 4 or more legs instead.
Ask any engineer, they'll tell you one of the hardest things ever is to design a robot on 2 legs that can judge undulating terrain and be able to walk on it without falling over every few feet. Nobody's come even close to anything like that.

 

[Riceball]

I think that the number of legs future robots have will end up depending a lot on application, for things like acting as a mule for grunts a quadrapedal robot works just fine, if not better than a bipedal one. On the other hand, if the purpose of a robot is to be a domestic servant or to help with patients in a hospital, or to help fight shipboard fires like the Navy is looking into, then bipedal works better because they'll take up less space and a more humanoid shape is more comforting to people, esp. in a domestic or hospital setting.

 

[Solo4114]

I think that the number of legs future robots have will end up depending a lot on application, for things like acting as a mule for grunts a quadrapedal robot works just fine, if not better than a bipedal one. On the other hand, if the purpose of a robot is to be a domestic servant or to help with patients in a hospital, or to help fight shipboard fires like the Navy is looking into, then bipedal works better because they'll take up less space and a more humanoid shape is more comforting to people, esp. in a domestic or hospital setting.

I'd actually expect a treaded robot before a true bipedal one for those applications. Or wheeled, with gyroscopes inside it, like a segway.

 

[p51]

But the robot leg thing is so common in sci-fi, when we're nowhere near being able to build one that can walk over any terrain with two legs.
I know someone at NASA who does design work and worked on one of the Mars rovers. He recently said, "I doubt I'll see a reliable two-legged robot in my lifetime."

 

[Treadwell]

This probably only happened in the 70s, like $6MM fembots, but it always irked me that when an android's face plate was removed, there was just a bunch of circuits and a speaker. Where's the jaw? The teeth? The servos for lips and facial expressions?

 

[SofaKing01]

I'd be surprised if they actually dubbed him with someone different. I expect it'd be more like bad ADR work where it clearly sounds like he's delivering lines in a studio, rather than on set.

Terrible voice over... But gotta love the action!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NreuDuBFVM

 

[Solo4114]

Terrible voice over... But gotta love the action!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NreuDuBFVM

Yeah, it's basically awful ADR. Like, they didn't even bother micing the scene. They just shot it and then added all of the dialogue and sound f/x after the fact.

I wonder if that's actually cheaper?

Also, is it me, or does his fight work really just look like he's kind of slapping his arms on the guys and they go flying? Like, he's not actually hitting them, he's just kind of spaghetti-arming them.

Don't get me wrong. I know the guy ACTUALLY knows how to kick ass if need be. It just doesn't LOOK like it in those scenes.

 

[Riceball]

But the robot leg thing is so common in sci-fi, when we're nowhere near being able to build one that can walk over any terrain with two legs.
I know someone at NASA who does design work and worked on one of the Mars rovers. He recently said, "I doubt I'll see a reliable two-legged robot in my lifetime."

If you're going to use that argument then all forms of FTL are overused in sci-fi since we're nowhere close to any form of FTL, hell, we're not even certain it's even theoretically possible. While we're at it, most spaceships are overused since we're nowhere near to being able to build advanced spacecraft capable of generating its own O2, water, and gravity that can travel beyond our solar system with no more difficulty than a trans-Atlantic flight on a modern airliner or the comfort of a luxury cruiseliner. If you're tired of seeing things simply because they're way beyond our capability right now then you better stop watching any sci-fi from now on.

 

[p51]

If you're going to use that argument then all forms of FTL are overused in sci-fi since we're nowhere close to any form of FTL, hell, we're not even certain it's even theoretically possible. While we're at it, most spaceships are overused since we're nowhere near to being able to build advanced spacecraft capable of generating its own O2, water, and gravity that can travel beyond our solar system with no more difficulty than a trans-Atlantic flight on a modern airliner or the comfort of a luxury cruiseliner. If you're tired of seeing things simply because they're way beyond our capability right now then you better stop watching any sci-fi from now on.

You really should read stuff before you comment on it. I was talking about movies that take place in current time:

Maybe I wrote it before, but I'm sick to death of bi-pedal robots and nobody being impressed by them.
the movie "Ex Machina" drove me nuts, in that the second guy was so impressed with AI but never even noticed the robots could walk on their own and even had flawless human appearances when the designer bothered to cover them.
I think we'll have AI long before robots on two legs that can walk on anything other than a perfectly flat floor. Some scientists have even argued (probably out of desperation) that we needn't try to make bi-pedal robots and just go with 4 or more legs instead.
Ask any engineer, they'll tell you one of the hardest things ever is to design a robot on 2 legs that can judge undulating terrain and be able to walk on it without falling over every few feet. Nobody's come even close to anything like that.

Maybe you didn't see the movie and didn't know it takes place now. I sure hope that's the case.

 

[Solos blaster]

Yeah, it's basically awful ADR. Like, they didn't even bother micing the scene. They just shot it and then added all of the dialogue and sound f/x after the fact.

I wonder if that's actually cheaper?

Also, is it me, or does his fight work really just look like he's kind of slapping his arms on the guys and they go flying? Like, he's not actually hitting them, he's just kind of spaghetti-arming them.

Don't get me wrong. I know the guy ACTUALLY knows how to kick ass if need be. It just doesn't LOOK like it in those scenes.

With the action scenes, I think it's just because he's sooo much older now than in the movies we used to see him destroy his enemies from the late 80's and through the 90's. Yes, he's a black belt in Aikido, but he's also 63 years old(I checked IMDB). I remember in the early 2000's I noticed he was using a gun more frequently than his hands(Exit Wounds maybe?..).

 

[binkleywalker]

I was talking to a buddy at work years ago about Segal. I was making fun of him because when he runs in his movies, he runs funny. My buddy says it's because he's such a bad ass, he never has to run, so when he does run, he's not used to it and he looks awkward.

I've always loved that discussion.

Brian

 

[LrdSatyr8]

I was talking to a buddy at work years ago about Segal. I was making fun of him because when he runs in his movies, he runs funny. My buddy says it's because he's such a bad ass, he never has to run, so when he does run, he's not used to it and he looks awkward.

No... he runs like that because he got into a fight with Chuck Norris once, and Chuck literally removed his equilibrium with a single roundhouse kick!

 

[Solo4114]

To be fair, it could also be that aikido itself just doesn't "film" well. Like, the moves that you do in it are much more contained and about economy of movement and range, whereas more angular styles of martial arts -- especially those that emphasize long punches and kicks -- can be adapted to film more effectively to make them look flashy.

 

[p51]

That whole 'quick move" distraction thing actually works. I was trained in hand-to-hand by special forces from a couple of NATO nations and some of them made a big deal about that, moving so fast that nobody can react. The Russians also teach to punch as many times as you can, as fast as you can, to really throw them off their game.
Worked pretty well in an epic bar fight I was in once in Baltimore...

 

[SofaKing01]

Also, is it me, or does his fight work really just look like he's kind of slapping his arms on the guys and they go flying? Like, he's not actually hitting them, he's just kind of spaghetti-arming them.

Don't get me wrong. I know the guy ACTUALLY knows how to kick ass if need be. It just doesn't LOOK like it in those scenes.

I'm no expert in the arts of martial but I believe he's blocking his opponents punch and then counter punching (multiple times) at the same time. He's helped train several UFC fighters in the past. He is spooky fast!

Whether 32, 62 or 82... He'll always be a bad *****! I can't wait until he takes on the movie role of a Master in a future Tarantino film!

The title of this clip cracked me up! It's almost the start of a great joke "Steven Segal Goes to the Store...".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2717AbGPoMw