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Just Saw It For the First Time And... (Some Spoilers)

posted 12 years ago by thomas1412-739-282403
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I enjoyed it quite a bit. There's a definite impact and sense of brutality to this film which is lacking in a lot of films of this type. However, there was one thing which seriously took me out of the movie a little bit- the editing. I just found the way the movie is put together to be kind of distracting. Aside from the actual edits in the movie- which nine times out of ten were crossfades, odd enough in and of itself- the plot moves around so quickly that it almost has me doing double takes any time a new scene begins. A great example of what I'm talking about is the setup to Eastland becoming the Exterminator. So, Michael is attacked and crippled. We immediately cut from that to Eastland comforting Michael's wife for about a minute. Then we immediately cut to Eastland interrogating one of the punks with a flamethrower. HUH?! Nothing about how he found the guy or managed to tie him up or where he got the flamethrower from in the first place; it's just all suddenly there.

Sometimes, this method of editing helps the movie's pace, but a lot of things feel like they're given little to no time to develop. Has anybody else noticed this when watching this movie, or is it just me?

[–] chas77 12 years ago

There are a number of strange edits in this movie. Another example would be the lighter fluid on the "chicken hawk" dude. Not sure if this really counts as a "spoiler" but here's a plot detail in case you haven't seen the film. Don't want any potential fanboys to cry. They cut from Eastland kneeing him in the balls to a straight cut (no cross fade or other indication of time lapse) to him being chained to the floor and Eastland pouring fluid on the guy then throwing the matchbook! Anyway, that was a real crazy edit.

But part of the charm of this movie is that it's a sleazy b-movie. This ain't high art. Even though Ginty was in another Vietnam Vet movie -- "Coming Home" --this ain't in the same ballpark. Gotta just enjoy the grindhouse fare for what it is...

[–] thomas1412-739-282403 12 years ago

I'll admit it may not have bothered me as much as I let on, I just noticed it in hindsight and thought I'd mention it. In fact, I actually really got a good laugh out of that first edit I mentioned.

The movie's really almost sort of the anti-"Death Wish" Where in that movie, Paul Kersey never found the people who raped his wife and daughter, here it takes Eastland what must've been about a day to find and kill these guys.

When that scene came up, I actually said to myself, "Well, geez, he's a lot better at this than Charles Bronson was..."