Anyone remember the movie Falling Down

Robert Duvall's character in that film is the man.

"They lie to the fish..."
A lot of quotable lines in it but on repeat viewing it's a bit of a right wing fantasy. Some funny scenes in it though

Also, it's hard to sympathise with him as an antihero complaining about alimony etc when he terrorised his wife.

Great film, that and Point Break were two that I loved from around that time.

The King of Moo wrote: »

It's ridiculous isn't it?

If I want to see anything gritty in my local cinema today that shines a light on the dark side of the American Dream and features a great deal of gun-based violence, my only options are Hell or High Water, The Magnificent Seven, or War on Everyone.

It's almost as though Falling Down's skillful blend of satire, violence, comedy, and pathos which isn't indicative of 90s cinema at all, is at the very least mildly difficult to replicate!

And unbelievably, if I want to see and old-fashioned action film starring Mel Gibson shooting lots of people, the only film currently showing that meets that description is Blood Father!!

Outrageous!!

The only thing worse is the obscene number of films featuring characters who are outraged and offended by seemingly modern trends and imagined nostalgia for recent times that there's no actual basis for!!

Point taken. You are right on pretty much all the above but I think what a lot of people were alluding to was that you would be very hard pressed to find anything in the cinema these days where scenes like the convenience shop scene and the army surplus scene would be played out without being heavily sanitised. Also, it is an incredibly sexist film. All the female characters are vulernable and completely helpless in the absence of male assistance (watch also how the officer-ette is treated in her workplace) and as such it makes the film something of a museum piece. I wouldn't simply dismiss this as an unconscious reflection of the time it was made in. Don't forget that Alien 3 came out the same year.

A big criticism of the film is for its uneven tone and somewhat wayward moral compass. Is D-fens supposed to be the underdog, a national hero or an abusive nutcase? I think in the latter case the ambiguity is very much conscious but I would certainly agree with the criticism of the uneven tone - it does jump about a bit to readily between dark humour, seriousness and farce. That said, I do think the hot, sticky, and claustrophobic ambience that Joel Schumacher creates is the biggest triumph of the film. It's a classic - flawed in parts - but well worth a watch.

andekwarhola wrote:

I kinda fancied his wife in it

Disclaimer: it was a long time ago and I can't even remember what she looked like now.

Your memory is not playing tricks on you. She was a hottie

This was one of my favourite films as a kid, i have no idea why a little girl was watching it but i guess my folks werent really too strict on the aul censorship. Anyways i loved it, must watch it again soon....bring back the childhood memories :-D

j.s. pill II wrote: »

Your memory is not playing tricks on you. She was a hottie

100% Agree


You should Definitely watch

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082334/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_62

ScumLord wrote: »

Well going on a violent rampage kind of proves her point.

Ah she drove him to it.:D

Ah no this one of my favourites.

"and now you are going to die wearing that stupid little hat ..."

Love this film, it's in my top 10.
I too also think of this film, the twice a year I'm in McDonald's in the morning.

Just wait til they go and do a remake, with Channing Tatum, and the Rock.

I don't buy this idea that the film wouldn't be made nowadays.

Off the top of my head, Harry Brown and Gran Torino both feature "old white guy can't stand young ethnic thugs taking over the streets that used to be safe, and sets off on a violent journey of revenge" narrative.
Even if Clint learns about racism being bad, he's still pretty racist, and the gangs he has to deal with are all minorities.

There's also Ils, the French horror film (remade as The Strangers) in which (maybe a slight spoiler) terrorise a nice middle-class white couple.
Eden Lake is a bit similar (middle-class couple aribtrarily terrorised by lumpenproletariat kids), though without a racial element.

Now it might be true that a film dealing with such themes and plots in as simplistic a way as Falling Down might not be made anymore. But isn't that a good thing? If you rewatch the film, while it might be entertaining, its commentary about the petty nuisances of modern life are, by now, pretty clichéd and lacking any kind of subtletly. Though like Network, I think the film is meant as a black comedy wherein we agree with the protagonist's view to a large extent (man, aren't roadworks annoying!? And what's the deal with airline food, am I right!?), but their actions are obviously over the top.

Also, Generation Snowflake doesn't exist, so stop referring to it.
There are far, far more posts in After Hours complaining about it, than there are exemplifying it.