Studio executives summary / pitch
|
| Hollywood
schmollywood - misdirection mayhem
|
Short plot
summary |
|
Race
to get $9.5bn by who? Patriotic American or terrorist? You decide. |
What our
panel of critics thought |
"Brilliant
special effect involving an exploding woman near the beginning. Was this taken
from a TV ad for C4 explosives?""512
bit encryption has always been a mystery to me, 1024 bit doubly so.""The
first scene, in which Travolta addresses the audience, had me hooked. Unfortunately
that is the highlight of the movie, the rest has some good moments but this movie
is popcorn, it is not a classic.""A
truly new paradigm in computer geekdom. Body built, street savvy, great car, you
could take him (Stanley) anywhere... So clean too - anybody else running through
that dirt-dust would have ended up looking like they have just had a fight in
a flour mill, not our hero though, who looked showered and as fresh as a crisp
pancake.""A
truly scary premonition of 11th September. You couldn't do a film like that today.""A
semi intelligent movie best viewed with copious amounts of alcohol.""A
hostage getaway in a plane? Try pitching that idea today. Luckily this movie was
released three months before 11th September.""Nice
bit when Stanley talks to his daughter in car. Tears came as easily to my eyes
as if my finger had been poked into an electricity switch during my thrice daily
shower!""Misdirection
this, bitch.""Nice
ending involving a bus dangling from a helicopter flying between LA skyscrapers....
""A
glorious melee of wonderful fally bits, in which Stanley runs, no, strike that,
collides, with that bitch sand and dust, in his endeavor to run away from the
authorities. Thankfully, as he gets to the bottom, he has been dry-cleaned and
is as fresh as the proverbial daisy. Thank goodness this movie didn't attempt
realism. Call me old fashioned, but I actually like a nicely buffed hero, not
one who gets ruffled and scuffled in a fight. A triumph of squeeky-clean explo-tertainment!""The
computer stuff doesn't make much sense, but has been wonderfully animated.""I
love the heavy who watches Stanley and says 'verified' in a really deep voice.
What did he verify exactly, that the pretty pictures worked properly?""The
benchmark for Hollywood geeks with buffed cheeks (at both ends)." |
Please
tell me the ending or whole plot if necessary |
| John
Travolta plays Gabriel, an alleged government agent who is charged with fighting
anti-American terrorism. Stanley
(Jackman), the body building street fighting computer non-geeky geek, has a talent
for breaking codes. He is used by Gabriel to get $9.5bn, which is profit made
by DEA in their covert drug running operations. (Stanley
does it to save his daughter who has been held hostage by Gabriel.) Gabriel
takes bank employees hostage (as the bank allows access to the computer network
that Stanley needs to break the network) and then demands a bus to take them to
the airport. This is misdirection as the plan is actually to get a helicopter
to lift the bus to get away... Ginger
is apparently killed (she had told Stanley she was DEA but this was a lie.) The
ending sees Ginger and Gabriel collecting the $9.5 bn and getting onto a yacht,
which is then blown up. Stanley
and his daughter go off together into the sunset in trailer. |
Quotable
quotes (real) |
| "You
know the problem with Hollywood? They make shit. Unbelievable, unremarkable shit.
Now I'm not some grungey wannabe filmmaker searching for existentialism through
a haze of bong smoke or something. No, it's easy to pick apart bad acting, shortsighted
directing and a purely moronic stringing-together of words that many of the studios
term as prose. No, I'm talking about the lack of realism. Realism. Not a pervasive
element in today's modern American cinematic vision." |
If
a character from this film were to be asked on to Jerry Springer what would the
heading of the show be? |
|
My
wife won't let me see my daughter and has a court order against me seeing her
as I was once America's most wanted computer hacker, but her new husband is a
porn movie baron. Shit bitch, yous taste in men is mingin! Bring it on! |
Is there
enough licky love in this film? |
|
No
sex, one girl-topless moment, one blow job during a 60 second hacking job (both
to be modified for TV version). |
Would the
scary bits make your cat jump out of your lap causing scratch marks? Would your
dog like it? Other pets? |
|
Cats
would prefer to lick themselves all over rather than watch this movie. When finished
doing this they might even consider licking the dog. Dog's
would initially object to the cat licking it all over like that, but, after the
first half an hour, would submit to it. Grasshoppers
will click their hind legs violently when watching Ginger (Halle Berry) topless.
|
Does the
film attempt technobabble? If so does this succeed? |
| Yes. This
movie is TECHNOBABBLE CITY. The
upper caps, above, only hint at the extent of technobbable in this movie. That
a guy can crack codes with 128 bit encryption is unbelievable, to do it apparently
in 60 seconds whilst enjoying a blow job, is impossible. |
Other comments
|
| Pure
unadulterated popcorn. The plot doesn't really make much sense, but the movie
is pretty to watch and passes a couple of hours entertainingly. Beware
of anyone who puts this movie in their top ten of all time. |