So...how is Torque?
01-19-04, 11:38 PM
#2
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I saw it Friday. It's mindless and doesn't make much real life sense, but I had fun. If stuff like the Fast & the Furious movies or Bad Boys 2 make you retch, you really should avoid this at all costs. If you enjoy those movies, you might like one. It's nothing you haven't seen before, and the story isn't very deep, but the action is fun and the villains are interesting. Ice Cube kicks ass, and Jaime Pressly is hot as a pierced tattooed biker chick.
01-20-04, 01:26 AM
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See this thread:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=341687
This is what I said:
Just got back from seeing Torque. I was thoroughly entertained. It's basically all action, hot girls, and fast motorcycles. If you enjoyed movies like Fast and the Furious, etc, you will enjoy this one.
There are of course always haters who think they're too cool for movies like these, so I'll say this: If you didn't like the trailer, you probably weren't going to like this movie anyways.
Visually flashy, little substance, and it doesn't take itself seriously. It knows it has little plot, but who cares? If you went to a movie called "Torque" I seriously doubt you were going to for the acting and the plot. Which is why critics wil trash this movie but I think people who want to be entertained will get their money's worth.
I thought first time film director Joseph Kahn did an excellent job, but then again I love flashy style. He's a veteran of hundreds of music videos (U2, Eminem, Britney Spears), and it obviously shows. The movie is visual overload to the max, perhaps too much. It looks, feels, and plays like a long music video. Sometmes even like a video game. (It ends up I just read that was his intention; here's an interesting interview on Torque's hyperrealistic style)
http://actionadventure.about.com/cs.../a/aa011404.htm
You take techniques that are good for a 3 minute video and fully develop them into an 82 minute feature and the effects could backfire, as I think they did towards the end. Everything is overkill, and I thought the critics said it best when they said the finale made the Matrix Revolutions finale seem "documentary like in realism." That's how over the top this film is. When motorcycles zip down the street, glass shatters and explodes. People were saying, "WTF?"
"It's not realistic, but hey, who cares cause it looks cool." That's the mindset you have to adopt when you watch this film. Every shot is a "money shot," so to speak. If you can deal with that, then you'll have a good time.
I just read a critic's review which I think summed it well:
"The first three minutes convince us we're are looking at a commercial before the feature begins. Then we realize the whole movie will look like this. It's flashy, skillful work, as much CGI as real, but that's the name of the game"
I should also add if you enjoyed the film, you should also go to mtv.com to see Britney Spears's new video "Toxic," which Kahn also directed, and which also features motorcycles and Torque star Martin Henderson.
I knew what the movie was going to be like, and so for me it delivered. I'm curious to what you guys (and girls) thought.
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=341687
This is what I said:
Just got back from seeing Torque. I was thoroughly entertained. It's basically all action, hot girls, and fast motorcycles. If you enjoyed movies like Fast and the Furious, etc, you will enjoy this one.
There are of course always haters who think they're too cool for movies like these, so I'll say this: If you didn't like the trailer, you probably weren't going to like this movie anyways.
Visually flashy, little substance, and it doesn't take itself seriously. It knows it has little plot, but who cares? If you went to a movie called "Torque" I seriously doubt you were going to for the acting and the plot. Which is why critics wil trash this movie but I think people who want to be entertained will get their money's worth.
I thought first time film director Joseph Kahn did an excellent job, but then again I love flashy style. He's a veteran of hundreds of music videos (U2, Eminem, Britney Spears), and it obviously shows. The movie is visual overload to the max, perhaps too much. It looks, feels, and plays like a long music video. Sometmes even like a video game. (It ends up I just read that was his intention; here's an interesting interview on Torque's hyperrealistic style)
http://actionadventure.about.com/cs.../a/aa011404.htm
You take techniques that are good for a 3 minute video and fully develop them into an 82 minute feature and the effects could backfire, as I think they did towards the end. Everything is overkill, and I thought the critics said it best when they said the finale made the Matrix Revolutions finale seem "documentary like in realism." That's how over the top this film is. When motorcycles zip down the street, glass shatters and explodes. People were saying, "WTF?"
"It's not realistic, but hey, who cares cause it looks cool." That's the mindset you have to adopt when you watch this film. Every shot is a "money shot," so to speak. If you can deal with that, then you'll have a good time.
I just read a critic's review which I think summed it well:
"The first three minutes convince us we're are looking at a commercial before the feature begins. Then we realize the whole movie will look like this. It's flashy, skillful work, as much CGI as real, but that's the name of the game"
I should also add if you enjoyed the film, you should also go to mtv.com to see Britney Spears's new video "Toxic," which Kahn also directed, and which also features motorcycles and Torque star Martin Henderson.
I knew what the movie was going to be like, and so for me it delivered. I'm curious to what you guys (and girls) thought.
01-20-04, 01:32 AM
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[email protected]@ks like Ice Cube sold out 
Damn Cube, what happened to j00 man? Go do another gangsta movie to retain j00're credibility
Damn Cube, what happened to j00 man? Go do another gangsta movie to retain j00're credibility
01-20-04, 11:10 AM
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I hated Torque... it was essentially a 90 minute music video without music. It was frantic, and all over the map and mostly incoherent. the finale is the most ridiculous use of CG in a movie in recent memory, in fact, I thought I was watching a videogame cinematic for a while... and the biker chicks bike fight is so laugh out loud bad, I can't believe it. I was hoping to be entertained, but instead was insulted.
MATT
MATT
01-20-04, 11:19 AM
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Originally posted by isamu
[email protected]@ks like Ice Cube sold out Damn Cube, what happened to j00 man? Go do another gangsta movie to retain j00're credibility
[email protected]@ks like Ice Cube sold out
Damn Cube, what happened to j00 man? Go do another gangsta movie to retain j00're credibility
01-20-04, 02:38 PM
#8
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Originally posted by TopHatCat64
It's nice to see him branching out from gangster to motorcycle gang leader.
It's nice to see him branching out from gangster to motorcycle gang leader.
01-20-04, 03:22 PM
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Originally posted by mdc3000
it was essentially a 90 minute music video without music
it was essentially a 90 minute music video without music
Fincher is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. Bay? Fuqua? West?
01-20-04, 05:33 PM
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Originally posted by devilshalo
Makes sense since Joseph Kahn is the director. Has there been a good, solid director that has come from the music video world?
Fincher is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. Bay? Fuqua? West?
Makes sense since Joseph Kahn is the director. Has there been a good, solid director that has come from the music video world?
Fincher is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. Bay? Fuqua? West?
I would say Spike Jonez fits that bill.
01-20-04, 11:05 PM
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Originally posted by TopHatCat64
It's nice to see him branching out from gangster to motorcycle gang leader.
It's nice to see him branching out from gangster to motorcycle gang leader.
++++++++++++
Ice Cube's Death Certificate is even harder and angrier than AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, which is both a good and a bad thing, depending on your politics. If you're inclined to see Ice Cube as a spokesman and social commentator, Death Certificate will support your claims — it continues the sharp insights and unflinching looks at contemporary urban lifestyles that his solo debut only hinted at; in short, its hardcore without any gangsta posturing. If you're inclined to see Ice Cube as a bigoted, misogynistic rabble-rouser, Death Certificate will also support your claims — "No Vaseline" contains explicit anti-semetic taunts directed at his former manager, there are homophobic slurs scattered throughout the album and women are frequently are either b*tches or w*ores. However, if you look beyond the surface — no matter what political viewpoint you happen to have — you will find that Cube's rhymes do promote self-awareness and education. In short, they are some of the most incisive raps about life as a young black man since the advent of Public Enemy. Considering this, it's not surprising that Death Certificate bears the mark of Public Enemy's dense, abrasive soundscapes — it's a funkier, noisier and more musically effective album than AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. Ice Cube had never before created a statement of purpose as coherent and incendiary as Death Certificate and, sadly, he never did again.
— Leo Stanley------
TRACKS INCLUDE: (1. The Funeral (Sir Jinx) - 1:37 ----(2. The Wrong ***** to ***** Wit (Ice Cube) - 2:48 ----(3. My Summer Vacation (Ice Cube) - 3:56 ----(4. Steady Mobbin' (Ice Cube) - 4:09 ----( 5. Robin Lench (Boogie Men/Sir Jinx) - 1:13 ----( 6. Givin' up the Nappy Dug Out (Ice Cube) - 4:14 ----(7. Look Who's Burnin' (Ice Cube) - 3:53 ----(8. A Bird in the Hand (Ice Cube) - 2:17 ----(9. Man's Best Friend (Ice Cube) - 2:06 ----(10. Alive on Arrival (Ice Cube) - 3:11 ----(11. Death (Muhammad) - 1:03 ----(12. The Birth (Muhammad) - 1:21 ----(13. I Wanna Kill Sam (Ice Cube) - 3:22 ----(14. Horny Lil' Devil (Ice Cube) - 3:42 ----(15. Black Korea (Ice Cube) - :46 ----(16. True to the Game (Ice Cube) - 4:10 ----( 17. Colorblind (Deadly Threat/Dee/Ice Cube/Kam/King Tee/Maad Circle) - 4:29 ----(18. Doing Dumb .... (Ice Cube) - 3:45 ----(19. Us (Ice Cube) - 3:43 ----(20. No Vaseline (Ice Cube) - 5:13
++++++++++++
01-21-04, 10:57 AM
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Originally posted by isamu
Wow he directed music vids before? Which ones?
Wow he directed music vids before? Which ones?
Directed Nike's "alpha project" commercials.
"I Touch Myself" by the Divinyls
"Falling in Love is Hard on the Knees" for Aerosmith
Directed 2 car commercials for Isuzu "Toystore" & "Rock" and 1 for Saturn, "Police Chief"
Directed commercials for Mercedes "Timeless/SL Class", "Sanctuary/M-Class" and "Crash Test/G-Class".
Directed Got Milk commercials "Aaron Burr", "Vending Machine" and "Baby and Cat"
Directed Levi's commercials "Elevator Fantasy", "Invisible", "Frayed" and "Painter"
Directed various music videos including Meat Loaf's "Rock n Roll Dreams", Tina Turner's "Love Thing", Chicago's "Chasin' the Wind", Colin James' "Keep on Lovin' Me Baby", Lionel Ritchie's "Do it to Me", Donnie Osmond's "Sacred Emotion", Richard Marx's "Angelia", Dana King's "Shy Guy" and Great White's "Call it Rock n Roll".
I love that "Elevator Fantasy" ad...
01-21-04, 12:38 PM
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From the latest issue of Spin. I highlighted some interesting parts. The comments are mine.
When director Joseph Kahn was making his stunt-heavy motorcycle movie Torque, he was careful to avoid duplicating the look of a certain other vehicular-action franchise whose title shall remain nameless. Ah, screw it: "I hate those movies like the Fast And the Furious," says the 31-year-old visionary who has directed videos for both Eminem ["Without Me"] and Moby ["We Are All Made Of Stars"] - and lived! "They look like shit. They have crappy lighting and cheesy dialogue." [as opposed to Torque? 
]] Khan says his film, which stars the Ring's Martin Henderson as a biker who is framed for killing the brother of a fearsome gang leader [Ice Cube], succeeds because it ignores the pesky limitations of reality. "In the Fast And the Furious, you're supposed to believe in that culture and that when those guys call each other 'bra,' it's, like, the coolest thing you've ever heard. I've made a movie that's more 'There's no way they can do that on bikes!' It's hyperreal." Of course, not everyone on the Torque set shared his enthusiasm for hyperreality. "The producers wanted to do everything 'real,' rather than pay a little bit extra for fake and save people's lives," [yeah, and take a stunt guy's job...] Kahn says. "That's not a ****ing cool thing to put on a director. **** Torque 2." [Well, at least there's something to be thankful for...]
]] Khan says his film, which stars the Ring's Martin Henderson as a biker who is framed for killing the brother of a fearsome gang leader [Ice Cube], succeeds because it ignores the pesky limitations of reality. "In the Fast And the Furious, you're supposed to believe in that culture and that when those guys call each other 'bra,' it's, like, the coolest thing you've ever heard. I've made a movie that's more 'There's no way they can do that on bikes!' It's hyperreal." Of course, not everyone on the Torque set shared his enthusiasm for hyperreality. "The producers wanted to do everything 'real,' rather than pay a little bit extra for fake and save people's lives," [yeah, and take a stunt guy's job...] Kahn says. "That's not a ****ing cool thing to put on a director. **** Torque 2." [Well, at least there's something to be thankful for...]
01-21-04, 06:19 PM
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You have to say though, if they made it more "real," it would have been just all like all the other films out there. It was nice to see a different interpretation, and above all, it made it more entertaining.
