I've read a lot of reviews complaining that this movie is racist or whatever, even though throughout the rest of review they're saying how intense it is. To anyone who's seen this movie yet, is this really that "racist," or are those critics just trying to get offended?
shareIt is very intense (I was shaking after it was over) However I don't think it was racist at all.
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What was the name of the main badguy?
share[deleted]
can you stop with that stereotype 'all asians look the same' *beep* do you really actually think that ALL asians look the same? anyone in the movie look like jackie chan? or jet li? or ken jeong? do thailand people look like japanese, or korean? your sight must be so *beep* you think they all look the same .
shareIt was a joke silly.
Nothing in this movie makes sense. said the narcoleptic.
Hey AkanoShinigami24,
About 1978, we spent three years when we had a Vietnamese girl and then two Vietnamese brothers live with us while they went to our local high school. All three of these kids were very adept at being able to tell the difference between many different Asian peoples including Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Cambodian, Philippines, and Indonesians. They really were very good at discerning the different appearances of these various Asian peoples.
My wife and I were about 40 years of age at the time and had spent most our lives in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Jersey. It is not that our homeland had no Asian people living there, but they tended to be viewed as other Americans rather than Japanese, Koreans, or whatever. To say that they "all looked alike" to our eyes may have been a cliché, but it was in fact true.
In your post above, you stated: "can you stop with that stereotype 'all asians look the same' *beep* do you really actually think that ALL asians look the same? anyone in the movie look like jackie chan? or jet li? or ken jeong? do thailand people look like japanese, or korean? your sight must be so *beep* you think they all look the same ."
In response to same, no, I do not think all Asians look alike. However, in our limited cultural experience, we simply never had the opportunity to develop the same ability to discern such differences as our Vietnamese had obviously done. That does not make them any better than we nor does it make us any better than they. It is about cultural differences.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile
anyone in the movie look like jackie chan?
All idiotic racists look the same to me.
shareIt's not racist. There's just a bunch of over-sensitive people that try to turn everything into racism.
shareTake your jokes back to the 1960's where they belong, its the same when men make jokes about women and think its funny in 2015...well it aint! White male entitlement
It's just a film!! Chilllllllllll
HAHAHAHAHA
"When men make jokes about women" HAHAHAHAHAHA holy crap wow!
More like when women make jokes about men and oh it must be funny but not the opposite right?... what an hypocrite egocentric selfish bitch you are, power trip female entitlement much, get the *beep* out.
@jeffdenis
Did you ever notice how guys, especially husbands, are always portrayed as idiots and overgrown children in TV commercials?
Just once I'd like to see a tampon or maxipad commercial where a woman is in full bitch mode. You know, the truth.
lol you roasted her.
shareReally? Portraying asians as blood thirsty animals is not racist? I am sorry but I am southeast asian and I am HIGHLY offended by this trash!
shareHow are asians portrayed as blood thirsty animals? Did you watch the same movie? I saw a civil war. People got killed, as happens in civil wars. No generalising statements about asians were made.
You being offended is totally irrelevant to this discussion.
Excuse me? I have every right to be offended! It is perfectly relevant as this is the region I was born in, so don't tell me otherwise. Maybe if you were southeast asian you would understand more.
There is no civil wat going on in my country. Get your facts straight! How would you like it if they made a movie where a foreigner went into America and the americans started murdering them and trying to overthrow the government. Wouldn't that offend you? Because it never really happened right?
Bottom line, you got some *beep* nerve telling me, a southeast asian not to be offended by this. As I said, me being offended is NOT irrelevant. You asked how this is racist, and I am telling you how. Your bigotry and unconstructive post on the other hand is!
I don't know what country you're from, but is not the one depicted in the movie. This is a fictional country. So whether or not there is a civil war going on in your country is irrelevant.
shareActually it is relevant considering the film allegedly takes place in a fictional country between cambodia and laos. I am cambodian. Cambodia banned this film. I don't like being portrayed in a negative light. And I doubt your country would either. So my question for you is, why are you defending thus unrealistic pile of garbage? Do you have crappy taste in movies?
shareApparently you're not clear on the definition of the term "fictional".
Yeah. Apparently, ugly truth through art equals racism now. So that makes me wonder. What the fck are we able to make movies about that doesn't offend the delicate sensibilities of those pansy-ass yuppie critics??
shareWhat the fck are we able to make movies about that doesn't offend the delicate sensibilities of those pansy-ass yuppie critics??
I guess we'll never see a cinematic masterpiece about Nanking... unless of course, it's written and directed by a Japanese filmmaker.
shareFor sure in the mindlessly wrong PC world of today, there won't be anymore genocide movies without being labeled racist, unless there's a native director/writer involved.
_______
When logic and science aren't on your side, you always lose.
Flowers of War was pretty good man, you should see it.
shareWho said this film was racist? Most critics are saying this film is very xenophobic (big difference), and they're correct. Yes, this is an intense film and there are some unnerving scenes, but the political aspect of the film is poorly handled. We're basically only given a line or two explaining why the people are rebelling the way they are and the way one of the characters explains it comes off as rather mean-spirited. Acting like these people are pieces of sh!t because they won't let us control their country. It doesn't help that the rebels are also really underdeveloped, making them seem like uncivilized brutes, and that the regular citizens are treated like they're beneath the main family.
shareExcellent reply! However I fear that most people on this board will either ignore this post or criticise you for being "overtly sensitive".
Anyway I too was disappointed with lack of development given to the Rebels. Hotel Rwanda is a great counter example where both the family and the rebels were well developed. It made for a better film. Sadly this is not the case here.
They probably will, but I won't back down from my point. I'm glad someone understands my point of view. I completely forgot about Hotel Rwanda, but yea I agree 100% with you. The lack of development towards the rebels is what prevented from fully enjoying this movie. I mean, seriously? We only get 4 lines of dialogue explaining their motive when there's obviously so much more to it. And now that you've mentioned Hotel Rwanda, when comparing to the way the rebels are portrayed in that film compared to here, it makes No Escape seem even worse. Ah well.
Hotel Rwanda is a wonderful movie, but it's a very different kind of movie ... really in a completely different genre from No Escape.
No Escape isn't about politics & isn't about the rebels or the government. Spending time in the script on either one wouldn't support the central story at all. That story is about this wonderful family caught in the middle of a terrifying train of events and trying to survive and get away.
Whether that makes this movie better or worse than Hotel Rwanda, I don't know: I think comparing them is an "apples & oranges" kind of thing. Me I tend to like apples and oranges; and I like both movies.
But we all have our different tastes ... nothing wrong with that ... :-) ...
I agree 100% C_Lee_2; this movie was about the family and taking the focus off of them would have created a completely different type of movie.
As for the main topic, I didn't find the movie to be racist at all. This wasn't presented as a story that wanted to look at all aspects of the coup that was going on, again it was just about this family's journey. On top of that, all the people weren't presented in the same hostel way, they were helped multiple times along the way.
Agreed ... and actually I saw the movie again and the second time really appreciated how they handled the whole "politics/big picture versus personal/micro picture" thing. At the very beginning, we have this scene at the presidential palace that really grabs attention and tells us a couple of things: (a) something really really horrific is happening with the government (big picture); (b) it can be immediately fatal at the personal picture (govt security guy kills himself in a situation when it's obvious he'll be killed anyway). That govt official is an interesting character to me ... he's the "taste-tester" and clearly has a govt function, but he's also very human, has varying facial expressions and looks that get captured on film throughout. We get to see a guy who's really very likeable. Like the family a bit later on. Back to that first scene at the palace, the whole sequence at the from taste-testing out to the front of the palace back into the palace is focused on this one, individual person and this one individual person's reactions to horror taking place around him.
Then we're off to see the American family ... and know that this is the kind of situation they're walking into. From then on we have that horrible govt crisis in the background but it's strictly background: the focus is always, always, always on the personal, the family.
That opening scene really is a great microcosm for the whole movie with the enormous difference that the official ended up dead, and the family ends up alive. But subconsciously at least I'm always fearing that what happened to the official might happen to the family. Very personal, very unpolitical.
My 2 bits anyway ... you got me thinking about this again ... what a great movie ... :) ...
No Escape isn't about politics & isn't about the rebels or the government. Spending time in the script on either one wouldn't support the central story at all. That story is about this wonderful family caught in the middle of a terrifying train of events and trying to survive and get away.
Saw it last night. It was intense (thanks to Dowdle's history with the horror genre). And maybe the film could've been fleshed out a little but a good movie.
I've never seen Hotel Rwanda and I know I need to. My watchlist is very long.
Hotel Rwanda was based on real events. This movie isn't. It's not going to develop the rebels when it's trying to keep their origin as ambiguous as possible. The criticisms of this movie are so damn stupid! It's not trying to make a point about rebellions, or embassy security. It's a damn thriller following a family put in a very dangerous situation with little chance of escape. That's what the movie was going for and it accomplished it. They threw in some small generic details to appease idiots who need to question everything, and kept the pace going by creating some extraordinary events, like rebels getting their hands on a tank, helicopter and taking out the internet, phones, and an American embassy. None of it is supposed to matter. The only thing that counts is IF and HOW they escape it.
shareThis movie is based on a real event. Or a real scenario to be exact. The filmmakers just didn't say it because it is a sensitive thing and would piss of Cambodia I suppose lol.
It was based on the Khmer Rouge. They did killed all foreigners and their own people for no good reason.
I've seen people say it's both racist and xenophobic.
shareI've now seen some of the reviews you were talking about (Alonso Duralde's review comes to mind), so I apologize. Although based on all the reviews I've read on rottontomatoes, it seems that more people are saying it's xenophobic than racist. I personally don't think this film is racist, but I do believe it's very xenophobic and agree with that critics in that regard.
I guess it is pretty xenophobic, but it's just a movie. Is it that big of a deal? It doesn't seem like it's trying to offend anyone or cast anyone in a negative light. It just looks like a dumb thriller movie.
shareI guess in a sense it doesn't really matter, the movie is out there now, so what's done is done. It's more just the wasted potential, this could have been a really great thriller had it taken the time to flesh out both side properly, but whatever. The only harm I can see coming from this movie is now stupid people might think this is how all Asian countries are, thus it might create some false stereotypes.
shareMany countries, not just Asian, ARE xenophobic.. including the USA.
shareThanks for your post. It took me five pages to find a well thought out response.
This movie is both xenophobic and racist, and here's Why?: They take an entire race of people and turn them into two-dimensional monsters.
Ask yourself, if this would have been zombies instead of rebels, would the story be much different?
"No Escape" proves, 100 years after "Birth of A Nation", they still can make them like they use to.
Xenophobic?
Given that it took place in a foreign country, I don't see how.
See, Salvador. Written by Oliver Stone, who won an Oscar and starring James Woods and Jim Belushi. It's too bad that Americans cannot wrap their head around the fact that other countries are not the United States.
This family arrived at the beginning of a coup. It was pure chaos. These people were intent on making a statement about foreign presence in their country and the best way to do that was killing them. That will make people think twice. It's ugly, but they see themselves as soldiers protecting their country and rights.
American corporations routinely go to countries to do business and they completely disregard the people in favor of profit and they feel they have the right to do that. Look at the lead character. He's on his heels and he nonchalantly brings his family over instead of going over first to set things up for them. He had no idea about the political climate, the services available, whether or not his family would be comfortable or safe.
In today's world, that's unconscionable. Way too much animosity all over towards our country to be that mindless when travelling or moving abroad. It's arrogance and stupidity to think your being American is going to save you in a situation like that. Notice what happened to the Embassy. There's a reason they have Marines on site, but in a coup, with mobs of rebels, it would not be enough especially if it happens suddenly.
What bothered me is that they played it like an action/adventure movie with the family like heroes who triumph in the end. There was little to no political context. It was all about this family escaping hair-raising situations, like a family Diehard movie. By trivializing it that way, it becomes xenophobic.
His company behaved in an irresponsible way, by not bringing him over first and then having him send for his family.
I likewise cannot understand what it is about this movie that was racist. The kind of exploitation that creates revolutions happens far more often in third world countries than in "our" world, and third world countries are more often populated by people of colour. NOTHING was made of that in the movie; not a single reference to character or culture, and the story would be simply ludicrous if set in any country I can think of that's inhabited mainly by Caucasians.
Clearly, I'm not disagreeing with you - just making the case, so to speak.
Owen Wilson was in another movie with a similar feel, although a quite different plot. In Behind Enemy Lines, he was fleeing for his life in Bosnia, and, also similarly, nothing was made of the religious\cultural divide that drove the conflict. Not important to the thread, but interesting, at least to me.
Also interesting to me, although there was a different dynamic, is that something similar to the underlying story in No Escape happened in Bolivia. I know! Those damned bloodthirsty Andeans, am I right? Anyway, it was also about foreign ownership of water rights and the sometimes absurd lengths to which the Bechtel corporation went to enforce their rights. Suing a farmer for collecting rainwater, for example.
On the third day of the (much less violent) uprising, I believe it was, the Bolivian militia refused to leave their barracks to kill or maim their countrymen to benefit the proprietary interests of a foreign corporation. I'd love to ask the writer(s) if that was the inspiration for No Escape.
You are totally on point! Nuff said.
sharexenophobia is one step above racism sure its not the same thing but the messages they send tend to overlap, also if handled properly in a movie it can bring about healthy discussion something this movie does not, the simple colour coding makes this movie just typical hollywood typecasting.
sharealso if handled properly in a movie it can bring about healthy discussion something this movie does not
Its laughable that the uber liberal critics cannot hide their politics when they begin the little piss and moan rant fests, that they call reviews for this movie.
shareIts laughable that the uber liberal critics cannot hide their politics when they begin the little piss and moan rant fests, that they call reviews for this movie.
Revenge is the most important meal of the day.share
I haven't seen the movie but I'll comment on this:
1. Who cares? A little xenophobia is a healthy thing. Bad stuff happens to Westerners in developing countries all the time, particularly when they're caught up in anti-Western political turmoil. This movie, plot holes and all, uses that fact to frame a fairly effective thriller. If you want to see "sensitive" movies that celebrate the delights of impoverished, non-Western countries, No Escape is not for you.
And anti-Western political turmoils do not happen without good reason.
Why don't you see the movie and then comment? Otherwise, you are complaining about something you haven't seen and therefore can't evaluate effectively. Otherwise, it looks like you are just going around looking for things to be offended by.
NE is a fairly short movie with a tight focus on one family. The tension level is high and sustained; digression into political backstory would have detracted from that. There is a brief explanation of the reason for the turmoil, and the blame is placed squarely on the US and the UK, so you should be satisfied with that.
EXACTLY!
This is not an "important" movie. It's not trying to make a statement, expose some evil regime, or enlighten the audience about some horror going on in the world.
No Escape is entertainment. It's a thriller which does an excellent job of creating and maintaining a very high level of suspense throughout the entire running time. It uses a slightly different method for building said suspense - other movies have used psychotic killers, zombies, natural disasters, etc to do the same thing.
See it for what it is. Not every movie has to be some major intellectual exercise. There's nothing wrong with going to the theater for good ole entertainment.
Right on!
shareIf you haven't seen the movie, you have no clout. The way the director told the story through the husband and wife's point of view was very effective.
See? Billy Idol gets it!
So, all of the crazy sh!t in Apocalypse Now and in the end of The Deer Hunter needed to be explained in layman's terms.
share....and I say this as someone who actually lives in a Southeast Asian country and who has been Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, they're wonderful places to visit and the people are friendly and hospitable.
shareI didn't think it was racist.
Dis wuz a very intense edge of seat thriller. Not any time wuz I wonderin da motive of these rebelz.
So da movie depix asianz as brutez and warlordz, big effin deal. Even be4 movie I thought of all asianz like dis, does dat make me racist? J/k. Da fact is there need 2 be an antagonist 2 make movie excitin and I'm glad they didn't delve on da why. Who carez. If I want 2 watch a doc, I stay home and watch netflix.
Critix scare dis is offensive 2 asianz but guess wat. If it really is, it'll hurt movie bec China movie grosses have a huge impact on Hollywood. Da asianz r big boyz and can handle it unlike da blk ppl...oopz I did not say dat.
I'm so tired of ur racist or I'm racist. U know wat, I am racist. There. Now wat?
Werd 2 ur mudda, bruddafckka
Every movie is racist to a leftist. Every thing is racist to a leftist.
I dropped my toothbrush in the toilet this morning....racism!
The left plays the race card because they know no one wants to be called a racist and it essentially shuts down debate. Leftists are terrified of serious debate.
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