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Post by jim woolley on Apr 15, 2009 15:16:48 GMT
Just to be contrary, this film displays ample proof that Hollywood has gone all Miley Cyrus and will pump out any old shit at half the price as long as it is deemed 'cool'...
I'd buy that for a dollar!
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Post by Dave on Apr 15, 2009 17:09:48 GMT
Just to be contrary, this film displays ample proof that Hollywood has gone all Miley Cyrus and will pump out any old shit at half the price as long as it is deemed 'cool'... I'd buy that for a dollar! Everywhere I turn... opinions! Tut tut! ;D I'm fully expecting to see one of the films of the year tomorrow.... not ironically either. Only people with whom Crank has 'clicked' will understand! haha I feel I need to reiterate, that I hate almost all other seemingly similar action films. Crank is different. Not everyone can see the difference, which makes it all the more enjoyable for those of us who click with it.
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Post by jim woolley on Apr 16, 2009 21:03:21 GMT
Like I said, I was just being contrary. It's only a film after all, its not designed to change the world is it?
You're describing it in more romantic terms Dave, re. clicking with it. I'll have to investigate because of your intriguing descriptions.
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Post by Dave on Apr 16, 2009 22:12:03 GMT
Like I said, I was just being contrary. It's only a film after all, its not designed to change the world is it? You're describing it in more romantic terms Dave, re. clicking with it. I'll have to investigate because of your intriguing descriptions. Hang on! Have you not even seen it?!?! Very contrary indeed! haha I've just seen CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE! KERPOW!! Once again, that was great madhouse fun. First up, the downside was that it in no way lived up to all the talk about it being like Crank 1 x1000. Not at all. They were over-selling it big-time there. It was more like Crank 1 x 1.5. It was very much like Crank, plus a little bit more. But for me that still equals a huge dose of crazed action and film-making ingenuity. The film-making felt even more rough and ready than the first film. It's a great stylistic choice which makes the action feel more visceral and gritty. About 90% of the film must have been shot with a fish-eye lense! Brilliant stuff: There were some great call-backs to the previous film. Hearing Chev's free-fall phonecall on the answer phone is great! 9 Seconds Later caption as self-consciously cheap edit excuse. Full Body Tourettes Power station fight Corey Haim is great... not in it much though. His flashback shows him without the stubble.... he still really has that young looking face from the Lost Boys days! haha Geri Halliwell is in it! Only for about 2 minutes.. thankfully. She's not awful, but how much of her can anyone take? Not that I would know, but I think there are some genuine porn stars in it. ;D Well, I recognised the name Ron Jeremy on the credits. Only one scene felt a bit crow-barred in and over played, with its only purpose being to out-do a scene in the previous film. All in all, a worthy sequel that fans will enjoy. Not as good as my sky high expectations were hoping for, but then that was never going to happen. I'm not sure what newcomers to Crank would make of it. I think it will have the same 'love it or loathe it' effect that the first one did. It is no way a more audience friendly experience. I think Chev Chelios maybe slightly less of a bastard in this one, but not by much. Crank: High Voltage is basically like action-film concentrate. It goes where most action films fear to tread. Unapologetically dishing out action, gore, swearing, sex and violence without any pretensions to be anything other than a ride. Most action films are afraid to do this, they feel the need to dilute it all with crappy half-arsed politics, morals, and a point! More often than not, it just leads to boring old tat which thinks it has something to say, when in fact all it has is some action set-pieces linked together by 30 minute periods of waffle. Not all action films fail with this formula obviously, but more do than don't. I've read that there are talks about making a third.... which is quite an amusing prospect now that I've seen how this one ends!
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Post by Gary on Apr 20, 2009 12:01:45 GMT
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Post by Dave on Apr 20, 2009 15:06:38 GMT
That is a great article. Especially as it also compares Statham's film antics to Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton.... and even mentions the 'hanging from a clock face' stunt... just like I did! haha See, I knew I wasn't insane! ;D (Although I think I got it wrong... it was Lloyd who hung from the clock wasn't it? Not Keaton). After watching Crank: High Voltage, I've been finding some great video interviews about it, and also some behind the scenes videos too. All very interesting. The interviews: www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2009/04/crank_high_voltage_interviews.htmlIncludes the directors, Statham and many more. Some interesting stuff in there.... There is also much interesting stuff in these behind the scenes vids too! I've always loved the film-making in the Crank films, and had read about one of the directors filming the action on rollerblades for much of the shoot... but it's still very cool to see it for the first time in these videos. Seeing the filming makes me respect these films even more. It is a mainstream action film which purposefully filmed as though it is a low-budget amateur film. Using low-cost techniques and tricks. Check out the last video with the camera on a radio controlled car! Great stuff! Amazing to see the 'pro-sumer' cams they used too. All of the cams used are mid-range cameras that fall between pro level and consumer level cams. They even use numerous very small HD Canon handycams to get the camera in interesting places.... like the back of a radio controlled car, or a curved bar which has eight of the things attached for crazy edit options (you'll see this arc of cameras in the vids). B Roll 1 www.traileraddict.com/trailer/crank-high-voltage/b-rollB Roll 2 www.traileraddict.com/trailer/crank-high-voltage/b-roll-iiB Roll 3 www.traileraddict.com/trailer/crank-high-voltage/b-roll-iiiB Roll 4 www.traileraddict.com/trailer/crank-high-voltage/b-roll-ivWhatever you think of the Crank films, I think this behind the scenes stuff is interesting. Couple of good physical stunts in there too. The films never contain CGI where a physical effect will do!
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Post by Gary on Apr 20, 2009 16:37:21 GMT
Will check those links out later Dave. Have you seen the classic Jackie Chan clock tower scene in Project A? A big nod to the silent films.
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Post by Gareth on Apr 20, 2009 16:49:06 GMT
just saw a feature about crank 2 on 35mm and checked out that B Roll footage, defiantly gonna have to check out these films, I shot my first short film on rollerblades!
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Post by Gary on Apr 20, 2009 17:41:23 GMT
Watched the first two B roll's, fricking awsome!
What was the result of the curved rig with multiple camera's on?
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Post by Gareth on Apr 20, 2009 21:17:41 GMT
Watched the first two B roll's, fricking awsome! What was the result of the curved rig with multiple camera's on? bullet time effects!!!
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Post by Dave on Apr 20, 2009 21:21:18 GMT
Watched the first two B roll's, fricking awsome! What was the result of the curved rig with multiple camera's on? There were a couple of shots I think I recall which must have been done using that rig of 8 cameras. It was kind of like a really very choppy version of bullet time! The really choppy nature of the edits between cameras really amped up the chaotic action. I'm guessing the choppy nature of it was an edit and film-making choice because I see no reason why they couldn't pull off smoother moves then they included in the film. Here's another interesting article about the cameras used. The article ends with a mini interview with one of the directors. It's very interesting to read that they like to do the look of the film in-camera and they don't like to do the look of the film in post. www.collider.com/entertainment/news/article.asp/aid/7771/tcid/1Fast digital shutter and negative 3 gain. I don't know what that means really. ;D
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Post by RydCook on Apr 22, 2009 12:49:59 GMT
Like I said, I was just being contrary. It's only a film after all, its not designed to change the world is it? You're describing it in more romantic terms Dave, re. clicking with it. I'll have to investigate because of your intriguing descriptions. Hang on! Have you not even seen it?!?! Very contrary indeed! haha I've just seen CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE! KERPOW!! Once again, that was great madhouse fun. First up, the downside was that it in no way lived up to all the talk about it being like Crank 1 x1000. Not at all. They were over-selling it big-time there. It was more like Crank 1 x 1.5. It was very much like Crank, plus a little bit more. But for me that still equals a huge dose of crazed action and film-making ingenuity. The film-making felt even more rough and ready than the first film. It's a great stylistic choice which makes the action feel more visceral and gritty. About 90% of the film must have been shot with a fish-eye lense! Brilliant stuff: There were some great call-backs to the previous film. Hearing Chev's free-fall phonecall on the answer phone is great! 9 Seconds Later caption as self-consciously cheap edit excuse. Full Body Tourettes Power station fight Corey Haim is great... not in it much though. His flashback shows him without the stubble.... he still really has that young looking face from the Lost Boys days! haha Geri Halliwell is in it! Only for about 2 minutes.. thankfully. She's not awful, but how much of her can anyone take? Not that I would know, but I think there are some genuine porn stars in it. ;D Well, I recognised the name Ron Jeremy on the credits. Only one scene felt a bit crow-barred in and over played, with its only purpose being to out-do a scene in the previous film. All in all, a worthy sequel that fans will enjoy. Not as good as my sky high expectations were hoping for, but then that was never going to happen. I'm not sure what newcomers to Crank would make of it. I think it will have the same 'love it or loathe it' effect that the first one did. It is no way a more audience friendly experience. I think Chev Chelios maybe slightly less of a bastard in this one, but not by much. Crank: High Voltage is basically like action-film concentrate. It goes where most action films fear to tread. Unapologetically dishing out action, gore, swearing, sex and violence without any pretensions to be anything other than a ride. Most action films are afraid to do this, they feel the need to dilute it all with crappy half-arsed politics, morals, and a point! More often than not, it just leads to boring old tat which thinks it has something to say, when in fact all it has is some action set-pieces linked together by 30 minute periods of waffle. Not all action films fail with this formula obviously, but more do than don't. I've read that there are talks about making a third.... which is quite an amusing prospect now that I've seen how this one ends! Saw the film last night! Agree with most of your points here. Some bits I liked: The random-but-awesome flashback to Chev as a child, introduced by some wonderful FUCK YOU CHEV CHELI-FUCKING-OS! titles. Although the kid seemed to be an american kid doing a good impression of him. Still, great scene. Power Station monster fight... fantastic! The guy who caught Eve's knickers. The video game thing I felt was more clear in this film. It really is like watching a Video Game. Video games are all about pure fun (or at least should be) and little snippets of story. This is exactly what the film is, a simple story to keep it flowing but the rest of the time its pure fun. Him finding inventive ways to charge himself.. how video gamey is that.. essentially finding health. At the end the ultimate source of Voltage, to get the ultimate power to finish off the boss. Just like the end of Zelda Majoras Mask (for those who don't know, and don't care if it get spoiled... Link turns into an uber-version of himself, to defeat the final boss) I could imagine doing all of the film in a game, the story bits just cutscenes. I loved all the references back to the first film too. Especially matey who is in shock after having a gun to his head. Fantastic scene! Enjoyed this much more than the first, probably cos I knew what I was in for. I think it could have gone further, like you say Dave Crank X 1000. I was expecting a little more. But I suppose if they're making a third one they need to have somewhere to progress to! Awesome. ;D
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Post by Gary on Apr 22, 2009 14:00:39 GMT
In terms of a 3rd, I don't think its done too great at the US box office, although I should think the budget was pretty low so it's relative I guess.
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Post by Dave on Apr 22, 2009 22:28:55 GMT
In terms of a 3rd, I don't think its done too great at the US box office, although I should think the budget was pretty low so it's relative I guess. Yeah, I'm not sure what the budget for this film was. I think I recall a figure 12 million! Or maybe that was the first film! Ridiculously small for a mainstream action film. The first one got the cult following on DVD. Seems like these lazy sods can't be arsed with the cinema.... I think this 2nd one will do really well on DVD too Ryd, you watched any of those B Roll clips I linked to above? I think you will find it interesting. Glad you liked it! It's amazing how it looked great on 35mm, but came from semi-pro high-end consumer cameras! Especially the mini handycam sized Canon HF10 (I think). The video game aspect was definitely made more obvious. Especially the cool opening with the old-school 16bit style video game rendition of the end of the first film (the same style they used for the post credits bit on the first film! The Mike Patton score is brilliant. Some great music in there. Still can't hold of the soundtrack CD though. **SPOILERS**The bloke catching Eve's knickers is brilliant.... but the sex scene in this second one is pretty much the only bit I felt was only there to outdo the first films scene. It was ridiculous indeed, and it make me laugh when he catches the cowboy hat! haha But otherwise it felt a bit laboured. The flashback to him as a kid was great. I kind of wanted some more flashbacks within the flashback of the kid going mental... but there was some good ones in there. Loved the answer machine message which was mostly just the wind rushing noise! The Godzilla bit was the bit I saw stills of on the internet a while ago, so I knew it was coming... which ruined the surprise for me! When Chev is getting electrocuted just before it, I thought, the effects are going insane.... it was almost as if the film was about to shift into being something different like he was an electrically charged superhero or something! haha Then it spins into the Godzilla bit, and I thought... "ah-ha! That's where this bit comes in!". The ending! hahahahaha! The only bit where pretty blatant CGI was employed, but I definitely forgive them that because it was pure insanity! Especially the final shot before the credits! You can tell it was designed to be burned into the memories of the audience. I won't be forgetting that last shot in a hurry! haha I don't think you will finding many people comparing the ending of Crank: High Voltage with the ending of 400 Blows (as they did with This Is England), but I will be one of those people doing just that! I say it's a legitimate comparison! ;D Let the film snobs suck on that! The ending also leads on to thinking about Crank3.... which amused me greatly. What the hell will happen. It'll be like Crank starring Freddy Krueger!??!? Brilliant! However, I did also envisage another depressing outcome for Crank 3..... the end of Crank 2 leaves the possibility that Chev could have facial surgery... and alas... that could mean an excuse for another actor taking the role! Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (the writers and directors) have mentioned in interviews wanting to do a third film in 3D! It may have been a joke, but that would be another brilliant twist on what they can push to the limits!
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Post by Gary on Apr 23, 2009 7:28:11 GMT
Crank had a budget of $12 million and had a worldwide gross of just under $45 million.
Crank 2 has currently taken just over $8 million in it's first 5 days.
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