Comment

Comment by B.Bally on February 4, 2013 at 10:20am

@Davril, that's cool

Comment by Davril Chorster on February 4, 2013 at 1:54am

@B.Bally, I have no problem with you disagreeing with my opinion because it's only an opinion, not a fact.  That's perfectly fine.

@Vyce Victus, at what point in my previous comment had I mentioned that I'd disliked the film because it's a martial arts film?  All that I said was that it had some shooting in the beginning and then over an hour of boring, repetitive martial arts sequences.  The statement refers to the fact that nothing of any value happens for throughout most of the film, which is close to two hours in length, aside form fighting and trying to leave a building alive.  There was no real reason for anything to have actually happened, even in terms of a martial arts universe.  Either the hero dies or does not.  That's it.  And that's not a story, that's nothing.  I didn't need to watch a 100 minute film to know that its hero's going to survive, anyway.

And yes, I'm aware that they were sent there as a set up.  It was a lats second effort to add a plot detail into the screenplay so that it's not entirely pointless.  The screenwriter (if the film really did have one) decided that something actually had to have happened throughout the previous 90 minutes of screaming and repetitive punching and kicking, so he added that little "they were 'set up'" ditty.  It's still bullshit.

I'm a big fan of martial arts films and have practiced martial arts since I was 8 years old.  What I know what I see in films are two totally different things.  But that's movies for yah.

Choose any random sequence from a martial arts film and note that it doesn't last more than 15 minutes.  Then, count how much time passes until another fight sequence kicks in.  Martial arts films need need structure and pacing.  The Raid had none.  It started the Ferrari on the sixth gear and hadn't slowed down for 100 minutes.  Look at Taken (2008): it has, at most, a combined 20 minutes of martial arts in it and it's 90 minutes on the dot (including end credits).  Look at Dredd (2012): its action sequenes are short but interspersed and paced properly so that audiences don't grow bored by watching the same thing happen for 90 minutes; and Dredd is 95 minutes (including end credits).


I hate The Raid because there's essentially no real reason for anything to have happened in it.  If it was a film that had a story and portrayed characters that the audience could give a shit about the shootouts would be short but effective and the martial arts sequences would be sweet, but the script needs to keep them far away from one another so that the audience's anticipation of the next fights kicks in.


I mentioned ADD, right?  Most people can't sit through dialogue driven sequences.  my father, for example, loves CSI because each episode is relatively short and tells a short story.  He'd be damned is he had to watch a shows like The Shield or The Wire where you had to watch every episode sequentially in order to grown with the characters and watch them develop alongside the long, detailed story.

The Raid is too fucking long, too fucking repetitive (I was dying of boredom during the final 15 minute fight sequence in which the same combos were being used), and too fucking pointless to have entertained me and I hate it.  As a studied cinephile I find that it's a shit film, and as an average Joe going to the movies to have some fun I was bored.

Heck, I still prefer black and white and I'm only 31! lol

Well, whatever.  The lesson of the day is that opinions make trolls out of those with low IQs.  Why attack people that have a difference of opinion when one can save their brain cells by simply going to another website?  I don't even know why I bothered typing all of this drivel.  I don't have to justify myself to anyone, I didn't make the fucking film.

Opinions are like assholes: no wait... Opinions are like Joshua: everybody knows at least one.  :O)

Comment by B.Bally on February 3, 2013 at 7:50pm

@Davril Chorster

I've studied films for over a decade, graduated film school a while back.

I've studied film and graduated in that field too and I disagree with your opinions about The Raid but again an opinion is an opinion

Comment by Vyce Victus on February 3, 2013 at 7:39pm

@Davril, It is revealed at the end that the Raid itself was set up under false pretenses by the Older Detective guy. It was not simply "cops go in and bust perps". He was there to move in on the operation, not just shut it down. I also find it strange you hate the movie for being a martial arts movie because you wanted it to be a shootemup. As far as narrative logic goes, it makes perfect sense for them to resort to unarmed combat because they run out of bullets. So if the action scenes are too long, how is it for ADD Kids. Make up your mind. And as far as long fight scenes are concerned, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, a Donnie Yen, and all the great martial arts contemporaries have been making long fight scenes for DECADES, this is nothing new.
Not liking the movie is one thing, but you should stop spouting bullshit that can be patently proven false with a few examples.

Comment by Davril Chorster on February 3, 2013 at 6:53pm

@jack burton, Dredd cost between $45 and $50 million and made back $36 million, so it's not a huge flop.  And it underachieved simply because it wasn't marketed well and because the general audience still remembers the awful 1995 Stallone film and wanted nothing to do with this version.  Their loss.

And people and talking about Dredd here because its story is remarkably similar to that of The Raid.  Now, that would be the case is The Raid had a story.

In The Raid, cops break into a building to nab a drug dealer/killer.  They are ambushed and the surviving cops try to escape with their lives intact.  The protagonist (if he is even that) also find out that the drugs that hit the streets are manufactured in the building, which adds nothing to the film's "story".

Now, the main reason for why I hate The Raid is because it has no story.  Cops ambush a building, they are ambushed.  Some survive...  the end.  No characters, no story, and boring choreography after 30 minutes.  Then the film goes on for another hour and fifteen minutes, in which our "protagonist" punches and kicks countless bad guys that spring out of nowhere, like in a video game.

First rule of screenwriting: characters create actions. In Dredd, the Judges had a reason to be in Peach trees and they were doing their jobs.  They were on their way out with a perp but his boss wanted him dead because he could blab about the fact that Peach Trees is the main manufacturer of the drug known as Slo-Mo.  She took it upon herself to kill her employee and the Judges.  See?  Characters create actions within the confines of the story.  Plus, Peach Trees houses 20,000 tenants (96% of which are unemployed), which explains why the Judges had to kill so many of them on their way out.

I will watch Berandal only if critics claims it's not like The Raid.  But I find that hard to believe because Berandal, supposedly, takes place exactly where The Raid had ended: with our "protagonist" walking down the street outside of that crappy building.

Comment by Bang It Out on February 3, 2013 at 6:26pm

AW YISS.

Comment by jack burton on February 3, 2013 at 10:52am

What's with all the Dredd talk; This is about The Raid. The film was made for one million and made a huge profit. A sequel's a no no-brainer. Dredd (doesn't matter how good it is) was made for over fifty million and had disappointing box office numbers.

Comment by Ali Parrot on February 3, 2013 at 10:19am

thank god this is getting a sequel rather than dredd

Comment by Davril Chorster on February 3, 2013 at 4:01am

@TAGibby4, thank you.  And he's not an asshole, he's a fucking moron.

@Joshua, Davril Chorster is a made up name that I began to use before you were born (obviously an assumption).  Also, I was bored throughout the film because it consisted of fifteen minutes of shooting and then ninety minutes of random punching, kicking, and screaming.  An action sequence should not last more than ten minutes, so an action sequence that lasts an hour and fourty-five minutes is pretty awful and painful to endure.  But with you kids these days and ADD, I can see why you enjoyed it.  Today'a youth doesn't like stories and coherently made films. *sigh*

I've studied films for over a decade, graduated film school a while back, and am working on one or two scripts.  So excuse me for liking characters that are developed and who create the actions that appear in their films; films that are story centered (and this one doesn't even have a story); and hating cliches.

And like everyone else had mentioned , this movie isn't what Dredd is: damn awesome and well made.  I was ready to stop watching The Raid after twenty minutes because I was bored.

And guess what else?  Boredom is a state of mind and that's why films can't be boring. So it all comes back to personal taste and opinions, doesn't it?

Comment by exit-man on February 2, 2013 at 10:10pm

i thought the raid was just ok. i agree i would rather see a dredd sequel hopefully will get one too.
but the raid did manage to capture how filthy Indonesia is I went there with my dad for three weeks when i was 16 and i remember hating seeing all the destitute people there covered in grime and their government corrupt as fuck. made me sad but also made me think how great my own country is. people knock the US but there is no country I'd rather be born to

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