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Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

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Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#101

Post by nopelynopington »

kens wrote: post #76
leopoldj wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google search is weirdly hallucinating saying "Theodore Scott Glenn is an American actor and Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University". As far as I can tell the actor and professor are two different people. Am I wrong? Can't tell what is true/false anymore.

I ran into a similar issue when researching Bill Paxton, a computer scientist who worked on the Mother of All Demos. Google's AI told me that he was also known for his roles in Aliens and Titanic, but that's a different person. I told Bill Paxton (the computer scientist) about this and he found it amusing.

Search engines are getting less usable..I assume this is because they're leaning into LLMs

Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#102

Post by isx726552 »

Really curious to know what the test shots from Boss Films looked like!

Richard Edlund’s team’s work on various films of the 80s was impeccable (including Ghostbusters, Die Hard, Big Trouble in Little China, and more). They were the inheritor of the crown of high quality 65mm VFX after Douglas Trumbull quit the business (the pinnacle of his work being films like Blade Runner and Brainstorm).

I have to wonder what was wrong that caused the last minute switch to ILM!

Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#103

Post by nopelynopington »

sorokod wrote: post #86
psunavy03 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are records showing the shock that Soviet military experts had at the effectiveness of the western stealth and jamming equipment that was used in the 1991 Gulf War (that was waged right at the tail end of the USSR's existence). > There are mixed signals in the archives we have access to about how well (or more accurately reliable) a good chunk of the Warsaw Pact would have been if the cold war turned hot. Are…

You may be interested in operation Mole Cricket 19 about ten years earlier. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F33h9-oUfDU&t=2s&pp=2AECkAIB https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mole_Cricket_19

UAVs in 1982??

Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#104

Post by nopelynopington »

throw4847285 wrote: post #45
xxr wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trick they use to handle the transition from Russian to English dialogue is so cool.

It's so cool that John McTiernan did it again in The 13th Warrior. A worse movie (not as bad as people say), but I think that one scene is extraordinary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVVURiaVgG8

13th warrior is a fantastic film with an undeserved reputation. It's the best version of Beowulf on film and full of memorable lines.

That scene is one of my faves.

Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#106

Post by hinkley »

tptacek wrote: post #83
hinkley wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

13th Warrior usually makes the top list of any “movies that Rotten Tomatoes has done dirty”. It depends I think on whether the Big Trouble in Little China fans are still asleep.

Rotten Tomatoes scores Big Trouble in Little China favorably, as it obviously should.

Not sure if Mandela Effect or the score has been changing over time.

Edit: I think the box office was terrible

Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#107

Post by falcrist »

dylan604 wrote: post #92
mandevil wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. The thing that bugs me about Apollo 13 is that they played up the drama unnecessarily, because the ground crew was so large, well-trained, and in sync. Like the scene where they dump a box of stuff and say "You have to make this go into here using just this?"- the actual story is that one of the engineers on the ground realized basically as soon as he heard about the accident (and the LM lifeboat) that they wo…

> "Houston, check my math here" he is doing addition, which can't be done on a slide rule. I still love that scene where it cuts to everyone whipping out their slide rules. It just adds to the mystique of we put men on the moon with such antiquated tech compared to modern standards (even of those available in the 90s when the movie was made).

You've probably seen it, but you'd definitely love the movie "Hidden Figures".

They do seem to get the adding machines more or less correct.

Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#108

Post by rootbear »

xxr wrote: post #44
tptacek wrote: post #37

Just a quick note that this film really holds up, like weirdly well given its subject and vintage. If you haven't watched it in a long time, add it to your list.

The trick they use to handle the transition from Russian to English dialogue is so cool.

Agreed. As for the Russian spoken by American actors, my friend, a Russian linguist, said Alec Baldwin’s Russian was fine, but Sean Connery’s was terrible.

Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#109

Post by rootbear »

mandevil wrote: post #55
falcrist wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the interesting things about the movie was how well they conveyed the mood and atmosphere on subs. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but the sub force just has a different temperament than the surface fleet. Of course, all of that went out the window when people in the movie started yelling at each other. From that point on it's a fictional scenario contrived to create a dramatic story. Same with Apollo…

Right. The thing that bugs me about Apollo 13 is that they played up the drama unnecessarily, because the ground crew was so large, well-trained, and in sync. Like the scene where they dump a box of stuff and say "You have to make this go into here using just this?"- the actual story is that one of the engineers on the ground realized basically as soon as he heard about the accident (and the LM lifeboat) that they wo…

It’s a reality of cinema that when they do a biopic or a film about a real event, they often have to make changes that enhance the drama. Some of these are reasonable, some not so. In Apollo 13, they upped the drama by significantly shortening the time required to get the LEM up and running as a lifeboat. I’m okay with that. Inserting drama where there was none is less justifiable, as it speaks to the character of the persons involved.

That said, as a retired NASA contractor, I can say that Apollo 13 is highly respected at NASA. Hidden Figures has a lot of fans there, too. In spite of the horrible physics, Gravity also has its fans - some astronauts said it really captured the feeling of being in space.

Re: Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)

#110

Post by jltsiren »

thot_experiment wrote: post #100
MarcelOlsz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now watch the uncut version of Das Boot undubbed (5hr8m long).

wow lol, the normal version is already 2 and a half hours and kind of a slog for something the author of the source book described as a "cheap, shallow American action flick" and a "contemporary German propaganda newsreel from World War II" you must be blessed with a very high level of masochism to want to read subtitles for 5 hours

A 5-hour movie is long, but not that long for people used to binge-watching TV shows. And I'd argue that watching modern productions without subtitles is a clearer indication of masochism. Too many actors just mumble their lines. If you care about the dialogue, you either have to use subtitles or concentrate and remain alert all the time.
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