Why American directors can't do action

[unanun]

Thinking back to LotR, many action scenes really were awful.

Typo in title lol!

 

[Windsong]

What direction are we going..?

Are we supposed to go kick up or punch down?!

Pile driver east and drop kick west!?

You misspelled the title, bro.

American directors want big and flashy cause that's what people want. Pretty sure there was discussion of random thugs being beaten up in a laughable manner in action flicks.

 

[Brovo]

'Murica.

In all seriousness though? Different cultures, different ideas, different styles. Directors of all shapes and sizes come from cultures all over the world. If big box office explosions in American theaters don't suit your tastes, there's plenty of other styles. I mean, one could argue from a western perspective that the Japanese obsession with robots wielding goddamn swords is pretty dumb--yet I understand the cultural connotations of it.

Though, in my opinion, big box office fights battles can be done well and poorly, like anything else. I tend to like one on one fights more though. Arnold, anyone?

 

[Asuras]

While I do find fight scenes like those Jacki directs visually pleasing and easy to follow, I think that his and American-directed fight scenes are trying to achieve different things. Like the video said, Jackie is oftentimes trying to fuse aspects of comedy with the fights, and he does it well. Comedy tends to be easy to see and understand, lacking in significant franticness and desperation. Additionally, he is a true martial artist. He's trying to convey a sense of amazing talent in his fights.

Few American movies lately (as far as I can recall) try to claim martial arts mastery, or really any sort of truly notable skill. The actors who portray fighters in those scenes tend to be just actors, not martial artists. They don't have the sheer aptitude to pull off what Jackie does.
In any case, American action movies generally aren't comedies. They try to be edgy and brutal. Camera shake does serve a purpose of insinuating desperation; like the fight is truly to the death. In very rare cases is one going to encounter a skilled martial artist during a fight scene, so there isn't much room for flashiness or kookie moves. These people are literally trying to kill each other, which (in the real world) generally means they are pretty much struggling on one another.

I think Jackie's fight scenes do well in conveying a sense of experience; you're watching a martial artist do what he has trained his life to do.
American action scenes do well to convey desperation; you're watching individuals try to kill one another as fast as they can, which tends not to be pretty.

 

[unanun]

The only true desperation scene is when the german puts the knife into Mellish's heart, and that didn't require any camera shaking.

 

[SlamifiedBuddafied]

Comparing Jackie Chan to general American action is like comparing cherries to pineapples. It doesn't work that way.

 

[Brovo]

The only true desperation scene is when the german puts the knife into Mellish's heart, and that didn't require any camera shaking.

A lot of American fight scenes are also large scale battles. In a large scale battle it's hard to keep track of what's going on, who is winning in which areas, and so on. Ergo camera shake: Simulates that feeling adequately. Just like slow-mo though, it's abused, and just like slow-mo, it'll come and go with people's tastes.

 

[Minibit]

Different people find different kinds of scenes appealing; I wouldn't' go so far as an entire country "getting it wrong" just because a large group dislikes the most common style from that country O.o

 

[Dervish]

Filthy gaijin does not fold his film 1000 times before recording, shamefru dispray. It makes his action scenes weak and fat like filthy pigu. He directs like peasant, not Samurai. Disgusting. He brings shame to his family. If only he was as half as brilliant as Japanese director, he would not stumble like infant down stairs.

 

[Dervish]

Different people find different kinds of scenes appealing; I wouldn't' go so far as an entire country "getting it wrong" just because a large group dislikes the most common style from that country O.o

I feel like face palming so hard it cracks my skull whenever anyone just blindly dismisses another country because their style isn't to their tastes. I particularly notice this with hardcore weebs who only consume Japanese media and treat everything else like it's a forth grader's finger painting.

 

[unanun]

o_o

When did japan enter into this? This is hong kong cinema, mate. Are you mixing the two together?

 

[Dervish]

o_o

When did japan enter into this? This is hong kong cinema, mate. Are you mixing the two together?

No, I was mainly being goofy, mainly because Brovo mentioned Japanese mecha robots with giant swords and then the goofy Zero with Katana wings gif popped in my head and then my fingers started dancing.

 

[unanun]

If you limit the comparisons strictly to those in the video, it's quite clear that american actors who try to do action comedy, or action, don't really know what they're doing.

 

[Asuras]

If you limit the comparisons strictly to those in the video, it's quite clear that american actors who try to do action comedy, or action, don't really know what they're doing.

I'm pretty sure they know exactly what they're doing. People are watching these movies after all. A lot.

But of course, only people who don't appreciate true cinematography actually watch those movies.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

You will never kick as much ass as Donnie Yen.

 

[unanun]

Oh rly?

 

[unanun]

Or real Donnie:

 

[Goldmarble]

Die Hard.

 

[Hellis]

What kind of stuff are you on? Americans can do action scenes. Just theirs tend to be less standoffish one vs one, drawn out duels and instead opts for more rampart, messy fights. Tend to anyhow. There are always exeptions.

If you wanna know what the biggest failing aside from the shaky cam is? Explosions and cgi. The large scale, big badass battles tend to be more about how much stuff is wrecked, acompanied by massive explosions and set pieces being destroyed. A actual fighters tend to be lost in the resulting carnage.


Hell, sometimes even young adult oriented superhero shows deliver exellent stuff;

 

[Peter Feels]

Or real Donnie:

I would have thought real Donnie Yen would focus on styles he actually knows extensively, not a style he learned primarily for a movie. Well, that's not entirely true, if I recall he has had Wing Chun training before, just not to the degree he used in the movie.

That being said, still a fucking badass scene. Loved the part at the end with the one guy too nervous to fight.