EXPLOSIONS in Movies: More Than Just Spectacle
Вставка
- Опубліковано 20 лип 2023
- From Die Hard to Oppenheimer, what's the allure of explosions on the silver screen? In this video essay, lets dive into the paradox of movie kabooms: their thrill, symbolism, and narrative power.
Barefoot Gen full Atomic Bomb scene: • Barefoot Gen Atomic Bo...
Twitter: / jacknugent27
Patreon: / nowyouseeit
#oppenheimer #explosions #movies
*-Michael Bay, sinisterly casually cackling in the background-*
The video’s characterization of “Flight of the Valkyrie” is incorrect. In the opera, Die Walkure, the Valkyrie, Brunhild, had disobeyed her father, Wotan, and, fearing his anger, she sought protection amongst her sisters. The Valkyries were not riding into battle, as was claimed, but in fact were fleeing in fear. I believe Francis Ford Coppola used this music with intentional irony in Apocalypse Now.
I disagree about apocalypse now. The beauty of that film is that it gives you that glorifying feeling and then makes you feel awful for it. It's much easier to watch an anti-war film with a clear, agreeable thesis the whole way through than it is to watch a film that forces you to realise that you are part of the problem.
Kinda like Spec Ops: The Line
As a little kid of about 9 years old, I accidentally watched Barefoot Gen when it aired late at night on public television. It is indeed extremely graphic and it traumatized me for YEARS. I knew it was a true story which made it even worse. However I didn’t remember the name of the film until just now watching your video. Thank you for profiling this important film and reconnecting me with a key moment from my childhood ❤
Please go watch HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR, it's on Criterion, one of the greatest films ever made.
Yeah, I've never heard of this movie. And now this channel bringing it to my light is the new reason I can't sleep properly for the past few days. I've seen live action iterations of the bombing and even they were less detailed than this. Thanks @NowYouSeeIt. I can now call up Santa Cruz Medicinals and tell em a few more worse ways to start a morning.
Long ago, I asked a coworker what made a good movie to him, thinking things that ranked as a good movie to me was good character development, acting, directing, and editing. The guy said, "explosions". I was flabbergasted that an explosion would actually be in the top 10 reasons why anyone would consider a movie great, let alone the number 1 reason. I then went to another coworker to tell him what the other guy said but first asked him what makes a good movie to him. He said, "explosions." I was done.
He must be a Michael Bay fan.
I wonder, possible follow up questions I would've asked would be what movie had the best explosion, what was his favorite movie, and if that's also what he considers to be the best movie.
I wonder if they were trolling or being sincere
Some people watch movies for the visual spectacle and not much else. It's important to understand this when you consider what films do well at the box office for having "mass appeal".
You should come to Europe
I don’t know how you could see Apocalypse Now and think it glorifies war? Very clearly a movie about how awful it was not only for the Vietnamese but also the American soldiers.
It’s a “cool” scene obviously but the point is to show how we view our soldier’s actions and then the actual reality. Soldiers see themselves as Valkyries.
Jarhead shows them watching it as awesome specifically to illustrate how desensitized marines are and how they desensitize themselves from the actual violence they’re inflicting.
I 100% agree with you as far as how I saw both movies, but from what Ive heard the intended thematic message of Apocalypse Now was not exactly that. The movie was mainly written by John Millius, an open fascist (in a kind of edgy 4chan way), and then co-written by the more left leaning Copola, who got the final say on creative choices. Even then, Copola, when frustrated that the US military wouldnt provide him with Huey helicopters (because they only fund propoganda films like top gun), said that the movie wasnt anti war.
Great video, especially loved the shoutout to How to Blow up a Pipeline.
My favorite explosion is when Ahnold runs away from the exploding Predator at the end of the movie Predator (1987)
Thank you for mentioning Barefoot Gen, the movie is definitely in my watch list now.
Once you see it, you can't unsee it
and prolly only a watch once, the parts he didn't show are pretty harrowing, i don't think i could ever watch that movie again.
Don't let the first 20 min fool you, it starts with the harmless story of a kid living his life, but when the bomb blows up its depiction spares no details, it's ultra violent
Appreciate the analysis! Am I misremembering or do the terrorists in Die Hard just use their anti capitalism as a cover when in actuality they’ve taken over the plaza to break into the corporate safe? I feel like that adds an interesting angle to how capitalistic structures maintain themselves
Nice! Explosions are actually a subject in movies that for whatever reason started to interest me a lot, and made me curious what their importance and use could be and what stories used them the best. After seeing Oppenheimer yesterday, i'd certainly say it's up there as one of the best uses of them in movies.
In Die Hard, they didn’t want to blow up the entire building. They wanted to just blow up the roof so they could get away without a trace.
Sitting in the front row and center for Oppenheimer. Wish me luck. 🤯
I'm literally seeing it in 8 minutes 😍
Look for a handy fridge to hide in.
@@NowYouSeeIt
I'm going to watch it in 70mm at my theater in a few days and I'm glad that my brother is moving to a place which is really near 1 of the IMAX 70mm theaters there is. I'm hoping we'll do our rewatch of Oppenheimer in the best way possible. Oh I'm so hyped.
I got so many good movie recommendations from this. Great topic and video essay!
probably should've mention the ending of fight club, I remember watching all the building explode at the end and thinking chaos won, then it's like, wait no, one building survived, I guess everything is going back to normal
Very interesting videos , can tell alot of effort is put in , keep up the good work ❤
What a great perspective on explosions! This video made me pick up on the difference between explosions with debris vs. obnoxious mini mushrooms, as well.. Dope work
Very nice, especially appreciate the use of deep-cut arthouse film and not just mainstream titles. There is something to be explored about explosions as a masculine signifier of finality in male dominated industry, as opposed to other signifiers, like the mic-drop, the car door slam, the drop of something on a desk, even a smooth exit.
Perhaps you could argue that the lack of damage in die hard instead of dampening it’s critique is actually showing the futility in fighting the capitalist machine. Much like in real life every small victory achieved in reality has little to no effect on the greater structure?
You depend on your mother.
@@canadianmale7610 hahaha I don’t get it but it made me laugh
WOW! This one is deep! Love it! Thank you ♥♥♥
Since this topic is on explosions, let me recommend the Danish/German movie This Land of Mine. It is a movie about the real cleaning of Danish beaches after the second world war. The beaches were littered with landmines and Denmark used young German POW to find and get rid of them.
In the movie the possibility of an explosion is always imminent and at all times present, thus building tension throughout the movie. In a way it is the same as the movie Hurt Locker. We know an explosion can come at any moment and are anxiously awaiting its arrival.
Excellent insights!
great video…. but I was mostly wondering why you mentioned mark wahlberg was wearing a hat 😂
David Lynch used the Trinity test explosion to great effect in Twin Peaks. That scene is scary, when he takes us deep into the explosion
"I do not understand why everything in this script must inevitably explode."
Huh. The Biblical parallel of Lot's wife never occurred to me!
4:40 a double feature of Oppenheimer and Barefoot Gen would be something
Both sides of the coin.
So happy you mentioned How To Blow Up a Pipeline in this
Pipelines provide energy to people that depend on it.
@@canadianmale7610While risking the health of countless communities in the way of putting that material on boats and shipping it halfway around the world.
It's worth knowing that the movie "How to Blow Up A Pipeline" is much more deeply conflicted about it's subject than it appears.
This is a movie that promotes keeping an FBI informant in the group and alters the bomb making process not just so that anyone following it would fail to make a bomb (something I wouldn't object to), but altering it in ways likely to kill anyone attempting to do it.
[Or at least that's what I saw in another video on UA-cam where someone interviewed an old man who built explosives for the IRA. That video didn't explain how ti make a working bomb, but it did point out several unnecessarily dangerous choices in the process.]
love the video!! i do enjoy a nice explosion myself
The explosion in Oppenheimer was the best cinematic experience of my entire life.
You clearly didn't see much
liked, commented, and subscribed
I just saw the movie today it changed my perspective forever on what around uncertain future is. Oppenheimer opposed the use and development of nuclear weapons like the H bomb I cannot imagine how horrible he felt for him creating one of the first and only things that could actually destroy mankind once you watch the movie and think deep about its gonna change your perspective on nuclear weapons forever. At the end of the movie, when he was speaking to Albert Einstein, he said something that would forever hunt me. "I believe we already destroyed the world," as he said that it showed the uses and destruction of ICBMs that he didn't wanna be see or developed, but it happened. It sent a chill down my spin. I can not express how much that movie changed me. Because once you watch it and think you deeply about everything behind it or what it represents. You'll be hunted or changed, but if you ignore it, you will be without even knowing, and that's the most terrifying part.
"Mein fuhrer, i can walk"
Still the best explosions in the history of explosions
A good reason not to look at a bomb going off: shrapnel meet eye
Barefoot Gen traumatised me for life.
Explosion go boom
I feel like that in die hard it’s more about we aren’t or can’t do anything against the big corporate capitalist.
Thank you for your work !! Jokes about Micheal bay aside, explosions can't be dismissed as a vulgare tool but can be embraced as a powerful visual storytelling
We were very underwhelmed by the explosion
Thank you for mentioning that Mark Wahlberg was wearing a hat
Those were not "random" changes in color palette.
Ironically in Oppenheimer they do look at the explosion
I would hope the burning the Mona Lisa has some change to some system, even if it is just the lending practices of museums.
Find biblical analogies usually a hindrance, it's not everybody's religion, more importantly we could say instead of punishment, shame is the stronger emotion when it comes to explosions. Explosions are rarely good, there are practical and joyous appliances, but in movies we could always ask: Does a character feel shame about the explosion they bring about, or should we? Can we revel in it, or is it an unnecessary escalation?
The G in Barefoot Gen is a hard G as in Guitar, not a soft G as in gel
Look at Quentin tarantino's comments on there will be blood he wanted big set pieces.
But later he realizes there is one. Burning oil rig
An interesting delve into the topic, but I feel that you've looked rather too deeply into some of your examples.
As other commenters have pointed out, Die Hard's villains are only performing anti-capitalism as a smokescreen while they steal a ton of money, and even if it had been real, that would put John Maclane on the side of the capitalists, not against them as he tried to save the office workers. I love that movie, but there really isn't that much depth of societal critique in it.
All critics delve too deep into the analysis, that's basically all they do. Not to hate on NYSI, I do enjoy the videos.
OMG are you spying on me. I literally just said "I need to have an explosion" in the first episode of this show I'm developing *AND* I'm currently re-watching Shooter (the series) which I finished for the first time last week, after which I watched the movie Shooter for the first time. It's like you made this video for me. 😂😂😂 what is going on?
RA, is that you??
Only with your vids do I hit like before I get to the one minute mark!
I feel it's a tired trope and kind of laugh it off now. I think it originally served a good purpose but when it's done so many times, it's predictable.
Die Hard stars Bruce Willis, not John McClane
I feel you should take into consideration 2 movies for the "cool guys don't look at explosions" trope:
The Other Guys and Django Unchained, quite cleverly subversing the cliche.
The nuke in Oppenheimer was hella disappointing.
Great video, but I do not get your point in why The Menu's and Glass Onion's explosions fall short.
SPOILERS
Those island mansions are the movies' stand-ins for the capitalist system they want to critisize. They are similar to Nakatomi Plaza where you said it would be sufficient to blow the place up to get across the message. Like what do you want more? Blowing up random financial districts at the end of the movies wouldn't make much sense to me at least. And yes, I think you can critizise the terrible system of capitalism and still show how it, for some reasons, still persists leeching of the greed that will always be there in some human beings.
Great analysis of "Barefoot Gen", but I disagree with both of the other examples. Shooting down innocent village folk with helicopters is NOT a fun and cool set piece intended by the film, just because the death comes with spectacle. Some stupid soldiers might misuse it for that in real life, it happens. I was in the army for 2 years and the first half of "Full Metal Jacket" is considered a fun comedy by most people there, sure... That doesn't influence the intended tone of the movie though. "Apocalypse Now" was and never will be a fun spectacle. As for "Die Hard", I think the ending is even more bleak if you leave the building intact. It doesn't mean the movie is therefore on the side of capitalism. It's the opposite: even our hero can't beat the real enemy. He might have won this single battle, but he can't win the war against the system. The movie is not on the side of capitalism.
3:23 Is that Barefoot Gen??
lol I should've just kept watching the video.
No, Barefoot Jen
They're very similar though
Coppola's anti-war film quote is so misguided though, its entirely up to personal interpretations of what is glorifying or not. Automatically assuming your own interpretation as an intentional choice by the creator is just so puerile.
girl, what’re you talking about the bible for
Looking back means they dont want to give up back their sinful lifestyle. So her sin was not looking at the destruction but the desire of keeping that life and not accepting the new one God is offering.
First 😍
And according to UA-cam, you've been subscribed for like 7 years!! 🥲 happy to see you've stuck around :)
@@NowYouSeeIt only because your videos are so insightful and well made
I would not compare the citizens of Hiroshima to those of Sodom at 06:05
Oof. I was so busy disagreeing with that whole bit - that I didn't even notice that clanger.
Yeah he really dropped a brick there :/ I don't think he meant it like that
Raising Arizona
Miller's Crossing
The Hudsucker Proxy
O Brother Where Art Thou
The Ladykillers
No Country For Old Men
Lot's wife wasn't punish for doubting God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but bc she showed a love for the evil of these cities instead of repentance and love for God alone. She showed regret to leave sin for holiness. Just like Jesus says inLuke 9:62, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." To follow God means to fully give up on one's former life of sin; trusting him fully that we need nothing else than him.
Your theory about Lot and Sodom is nonsense. Lot’s wife was not punished because she doubted the certainty of God’s will.
It has long been acknowledged that so-called anti war films are also often spectacular.
Colonel Dax demonstrates his lack of fear in front of the men about to go over the top. Similar to Kilgore. Also it shows that you can get used to death and destruction.
This is the motivation for almost all those shots like in Shooter. The hero is just not that impressed with explosions. It’s the movie having it’s cake and eating it. “Our movie is not all about explosions and to prove it ,here’s an explosion that the main character doesn’t give a damn about (suckers)”
Sadly, the movie Oppenheimer doesn't explore much, and it doesn't look at the explosion from innocent victims' POV either. It rather shows Americans walking away from the explosion never to look back, but only at themselves and to who of them was the cooler American patriot. It is basically propaganda for the USA's war crime committed against the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.