I didn't understand the ending to Hardcore (1979).
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"Ice Station Zebra" was really a lousy movie by the book, but for the stars, at the time, it worked out rather well.
All that really matters is that people buy the ticket, they come out of the movie house in a new bright light, and they tell their friends to go see it.
Like they say in Dr. Who "The Leisure Hive" (which, interestingly enough, does have some relevance here), "Who cares if an alien doctor lives or dies?"
Who cares if a low life involved in snuff films (a big issue at the time) dies in an illegal way?
But that's just it though. If the filmmakers decide to have a forced, tacked on, squeaky clean ending, viewers will more likely tell their friends, that it had a forced ending, that they felt didn't work with the rest of the movie.
But that's just it though. If the filmmakers decide to have a forced, tacked on, squeaky clean ending, viewers will more likely tell their friends, that it had a forced ending, that they felt didn't work with the rest of the movie.
So doesn't that risk hurting the movie?
Well one has to remember that a movie is escapism. It is like comparing the 007 franchise to the Harry Palmer franchise. Harry is a lowly paid MI5 (he should be MI6 but that is another story) agent and while those flicks tend to be more realistic.....................where's the fun?
We may wonder what happened to Charles Bronson's character in "10 to Midnight" after he blew away the serial killer, but do we wonder for long? Further for Charles Bronson himself, rather falls all into place. I mean, who could blow away all the crime families in "Death Wish (4?)" without a cost after the movie ends?
FURTHER, consider the visual world we are in. Where we are shown soap operas, nighttime soaps, and whatever "Desperate Housewives" classifies as where people do all sorts of bad things and are never brought to the carpet to pay for it.
This is not Ancient Greek Theatre!
EDIT:
There is something else as well about US legal reality. The prosecution has got the liberty of deciding what cases they will go after. Perhaps for the ending of "Hardcore", that DA just decided not to indict.
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 12-23-2017 at 10:32 AM..
"It is like comparing the 007 franchise to the Harry Palmer franchise."
Read that first as "Harry Potter franchise!"
IIRC, such a case would go to a grand jury that would (with significant guidance) determine if charges would be brought. In a subsequent jury trial, the guy who shot the baddies would likely either get a hung jury or minimal sentence (although any P.I. license would get revoked.) A prosecutor might also option a plea deal with a similar outcome.
Okay thanks, I understand that. I just thought that the cops would at least hold the P.I. for questions. I'm not sure how the U.S. works, but where I live (Canada), if a P.I. called the cops to a scene, and the cops showed up, and the P.I. blew the suspect away, without any proof whatsoever, other than the man was running, the police would assume the P.I. likely killed possibly an innocent bystander, and would at least hold the P.I. for 24 hours, while ascertaining what the prosecutor wants to do.
But the police didn't even do that.
And I know what you mean about where is the escapist fun, however this movie is set in a world where it doesn't want to be escapist fun. Then it decides it wants to be in the last 10 minutes. So I felt it switched genres, instead of being consistent. 007 and Harry Palmer are consistent, and do not switch to escapism in the last 10 minutes, instead of being escapist throughout, and that's where I felt the difference lied.
Okay thanks, I understand that. I just thought that the cops would at least hold the P.I. for questions. I'm not sure how the U.S. works, but where I live (Canada), if a P.I. called the cops to a scene, and the cops showed up, and the P.I. blew the suspect away, without any proof whatsoever, other than the man was running, the police would assume the P.I. likely killed possibly an innocent bystander, and would at least hold the P.I. for 24 hours, while ascertaining what the prosecutor wants to do.
But the police didn't even do that.
And I know what you mean about where is the escapist fun, however this movie is set in a world where it doesn't want to be escapist fun. Then it decides it wants to be in the last 10 minutes. So I felt it switched genres, instead of being consistent. 007 and Harry Palmer are consistent, and do not switch to escapism in the last 10 minutes, instead of being escapist throughout, and that's where I felt the difference lied.
Well, for all we know, the cops wanted to be rid of the porn man but had nothing to use on him. When the PI blew him away, it was a convenient answer to a problem, and they let it drop there.
It could have been like "The Cheyenne Social Club":
John O'Hanlan: I suppose you've come to see me about that little thing last night. Marshal Anderson: That wasn't any little thing you did, O'Hanlan. That was a Bannister you shot. I've been wanting to do it for years.
Or perhaps "Babylon 5", "Acts of Sacrifice" where .....
"Sheridan and Garibaldi discuss the situation of the murdered Centauri with Londo, asking if the trial can be delayed to prevent an explosive situation. Londo decides to help them out by not making a public fuss, but merely insisting that the Narn be deported after having all his belongings seized and auctioned (with the proceeds going to the Centauri war fund). Sheridan and Garibaldi are surprised, but grateful"
(from the Babylon 5 wiki)
When it comes to movies, I see these things, that are under discussion, as interesting items of alternate plot line to ponder, to dream about but not to get so tied up about.
Further, as they are one person's interpretation, I don't try to correct it. Ever see Star Trek: TOS "The Paradise Syndrome"? There are those on imdb who point out that at warp 8 or 9, the ship should have gotten there in seconds since the asteroid was 2 sub light months away. The ship should not have had to push its engines to the breaking point.
To me, I accept the story that such is what they had to do for reasons that were not explained. We know from the story that the deflection point was not in the path of the asteroid so maybe the ship had to go to a different point that required such pushing. Maybe the ship had to shed some kind of force it had built up so not to effect its deflector beam when it used it.
Maybe this, maybe that...........just enjoy the story and how it is played out, especially if it is entertaining.
EDIT: When I was doing military police work, we had a government theft case. The prosecutor had informed us that if we did not have an eye witness, he wasn't going to take the case. With that notification, we could do NOTHING. We could not arrest him, we could not hold him, we could do nothing. That's one of those reality things and so for movies where it seems something should be done, I know of situations where nothing can be done.
Okay thanks, it's just here, there is no reason to for the police to think that the prosecutor would share their sense of views. Like if the prosecutor says "where's the man that shot him?" and the police answer "we figured you didn't want to bother with the case, and just not want to know". The prosecutor could think this was hugely unprofessional of them to do that, and perhaps it could look really bad, if the police just let a shooting suspect go, just cause they felt the victim deserved it.
It would embarrass the police to the court. I guess I felt this movie was so dark, you might as well just ride the injustice all the way, instead of trying to have justice in the end. Or if you are going to have justice in the end, just rewrite it a little differently.
I mean I know it's a movie ,but there is no way the P.I. knew that was the guy? He just sees a guy running and assumes it's him, so it feels so desperate and out of character for the P.I.
If George C. Scott's character yelled out "That's him! That's Ratan!", then it just would have been more believable for me. And instead of the P.I. risking his life, shooting an unarmed man, if Ratan happened to pull a gun out, and then the P.I. shot him, it would be for a more self defense reason. The ending would then be the same with Ratan getting killed, but it's a smarter ending.
I know a movie doesn't have to be realistic, but I feel that the character's actions have to be believable, if that makes sense. However, this doesn't mean I don't still like the movie. It just goes from being a potentially great movie, to just a good movie though.
Well one has to remember that a movie is escapism. It is like comparing the 007 franchise to the Harry Palmer franchise. Harry is a lowly paid MI5 (he should be MI6 but that is another story) agent and while those flicks tend to be more realistic.....................where's the fun?
I love "The Ipress File", and "Funeral in Berlin", much more than the Bond films, except for the first few. More intrigue, great dialogue, and action only when necessary.
I love "The Ipress File", and "Funeral in Berlin", much more than the Bond films, except for the first few. More intrigue, great dialogue, and action only when necessary.
I like them, too!
Nevertheless, which is the more successful franchise?
Now with millions of hours of porn viewing with a smattering of Craigslist hookups I wanna see how this movie plays out now.
Not on Netflix or at the library unfortunately.
It is on Amazon, however (fine tune that selection for there seems to be a movie from this century that is confounding the selections).
Prices for "hot little hand" have gone up but as I noted the other month, that is probably because the surplus market is over. "Rental" prices, though, look about the same.
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