Rebelt Undressed

Im posting this as a response to HULK SMASH... some clown that felt the need to rip apart everyones analysis of this film. So enjoy me rippig apart your analysis and remember... we all see different things when we watch a movie... thats what makes us unique.


HULK SMASH:
Bring 'em on. I'll start with the most common (clearly stupid) ones:

1) It was all a plot to make Mike earn the Redbelt

Stop being stupid. You can not have damn near 100 people orchestrate the same fantasy without paying them all. In THE GAME, which was kinda stupid really, everyone was getting paid. No one had a financial interest in tricking Mike Terry into "earning" the redbelt.

MY RESPONSE TO HULK SMASH:

First of all let’s respond to this by saying that your night school diploma doesn’t earn you a degree in literary or for that matter film criticism. Let’s start by saying that “cannot” is one word. Next, anyone who is watching the film knows that everyone isn’t in on the plan. Wiess is an opportunist and so are his collaborators.

HULK SMASH:
2) People would not go so far to get Mike to fight.

No one cared if Mike fought on the undercard or not. They just offered it to him to shut him up. The con had nothing to do with Mike fighting. Wake up. They were just trying to buy him off so he'd shut up.

MY RESPONSE TO HULK SMASH:
Um.., based on your Swiss cheese logic, if they were trying to get him to shut up, they’d have paid him off in the arbitration meeting. He only decides to fight on the undercard after visiting Joe’s widow.

HULK TRASH:

3) Fight fans would not enjoy such an unfair arrangement (black/white stone).

No *beep* The promoters were complaining that there are not enough fight fans. They wanted to use this GIMMICK to get poeple who don't care about fighting to watch... This was clear in Jerry Weiss's early comment "we could make it like a reality show"... who watches reality shows? Not sports fans - the masses! They wanted to appeal to the masses, not the fans of the sport. They don't give a *beep* about the fans - more than part of Mike Terry's beef with the whole arrangement.

MY RESPONSE TO HULK SMASH:
The entire reason that the last scene makes sense is because people are watching. Couture’s character realizes this. He’s the one who asks for the camera man to change his position. They know what’s going on. Why would someone fight so hard to get to the ring if everyone was wise to the scenario? He went to enlighten them.

HULK SMASH:
4) The bullet.

No *beep* way they could have the bullet shell. It was a bluff. The lawyer realised this, so she said "we'll go straight to court." She would not be stupid enough to try a bluff if she didn't know she was being bluffed. Too bad for the bluffers, except that the cop wasn't in on the bluff, fell for it, and offed himself... oops... now Mike is pissed... "gonna blow it wide open."

MY RESPONSE TO HULK SMASH:
Wrong again hot shot. The movie is about fighting and the battles are fought where? There’s no situation you can’t escape. That’s the lesson. In the beginning Joe’s hands are tied. Terry says, “take it to court”, so anyone watching can easily discern that when the lawyer gets cornered and her hands are tied she says, “I’d like to proceed directly to court”. The bullet is soooo small scale in the grand scheme. He killed himself because honor meant more to him than anything else. Samurais in ancient times would rather fall on their own swords than dishonor their tradition. This is why the Japanese fighter in the interview says this way is “a way of life”

HULK SMASH:
5) The Emperor's Belt/Red Belt

G'damn. These are the best fighters in the world. You're all MMA/jiujitsu fans, but you can't recognise the difference between a fight over money/a girl and a fight over the honor of the sport? Well, guess what, the best of the best of course can. They knew, in a heartbeat, what Mike Terry was fighting for, after seeing him fighting one of the word's best fighters after having his name taken off the undercard. These are true martial artists, FFS... they know it when they see a real fight, opposed to competition ("competition weakens the fighter").

MY RESPONSE TO HULK SMASH:
This part of your post is the only thing you semi stay on course about. The Emperor’s belt was given to Mike in recognition of the fight the Japanese could not win; the fight to retain honor. Had Silva lost, his opponent would have been disgraced for falling for the farce. It was a natural transition. The Red Belt was given to Mike as a way of saying you are now ready to teach. Remember Mike gives the belt to Joe and says, “the belt is just symbolic" meaning the respect of the belt being given, the respect of your teacher is what matters. This is why Mike reverses the move in the final sequence. He sees the teacher looking at him. The Professor cries on Mikes shoulder at the end because he recognizes the respect given.

HULK SMASH:
6) The con was too elaborate

It wasn't elaborate. You are mistaking happenstance for planned events. Jerry Weiss was just WISE enough to use those events to his advantage when the situation arose. He didn't plan for Mike to know he'd given him a stolen watch. He didn't plan for the lawyer to stupidly let off a gun in the jiu jitsu school. He just took advantage of these facts to steal Mike's black/white stone idea. he convinced you dumbasses that he planned it all from the beginning of the movie because his name is Mr. WISE and yours is Mr. STUPID.

Anything else?

MY RESPONSE TO HULK SMASH:
Okay so you’re the wise one because you think you figured out a plot sequence. Stop making yourself more important than you are by discounting the thought processes of others. Calling someone stupid only shows how ignorant you are. Ever seen a Mamet play? Ever stopped to wonder why there’s a hint of misdirection and abstraction in the plots? Because it makes people think. Twenty different people are going to see twenty different things in A Clockwork Orange and that’s just what the writer wants you to do. Sitting here calling people stupid just because they didn’t see the movie from your point of view is not only asinine is borderline narcissistic. Kindly disagree, try to logically sway their decision, but don’t antagonize them in a post.

I'd be more than happy to field any other questions about the movie or share in intellectual conversation but if i see anyone being attacked on this board or any board for their "opinions" I'm gonna unleash a Mike Terry-like fury.