I didn't expect anything good from the film, because... I was worried about the director, Ernie Barbarash, who cannot be called an expert in filming action (even within the framework of DTV films). I was afraid that something like “Killer Games” would come out - boring, where the drama does not reach the required level, and there is so little action that it is unclear why the main roles were given to such people as Scott Adkins and Jean-Claude Van Damme (in the case of this film - Michael Jai White, Latif Crowder and Larnell Stovall as fight choreographer). However, it's nice to know that I was wrong.
Let's start with the pros:
Plot
Simple and largely banal, but adequate, does not bother you with stupidity, as sometimes happens.
Cast
Michael played his role well, his character turned out to be quite charismatic, but I must admit that at times he overacted, and by the end his character turned into a typical action hero. It's a pity, I hoped that his mental problems would not be limited to the opening scene and checking cars for explosives under the body. McDonough is standard, Masashi Odate played a typical yakuza leader with a samurai sword. But Jimmy Navarro was pleased, he turned out to be a decent dirty cop. + Oh God!!! Latif was given a big role, he was not killed in the first scene and was even allowed to talk on camera (albeit in Portuguese). Many thanks to the creators for this. :D
Fights
Larnell did a good job. Yes, the camera work sometimes spoiled his work, but, in general, there are not too many complaints about the operator. Michael looks convincing as a hero who confidently throws everyone left and right (Segal-style) with the help of his karate (in the literal sense of the word ;), and in the end his character was given a little sweat in a fight where he fights against 3 opponents simultaneously . I liked the “katana vs tonfa” fight. Again, thank you very much for allowing Latif to have a good run, and even allowing him to win in one fight. Although I liked the fights in Undisputed 3 and Universal Soldier 4 more.
Locations
Brazil was filmed ALMOST in Brazil! No Bulgaria and Eastern Europe, which are particularly tired of their constant flashing in DTV products (and not only in them), regardless of where the film takes place. HOORAY!!!
Now let's move on to the cons:
Shooting
She looks bad here. The sound is “cheap”, the staging of these scenes itself is dry and uninteresting, only in the last scene they added hand-to-hand combat to the shooting, and this action became a little more lively. And because There are quite a few scenes with shooting in the film, this makes the film more boring (they are too inferior in quality to the battles, even the dialogues are more interesting to watch).
Color rendition
And here my fears about Barbara the director were confirmed. His “trademark tricks” in color correction once again ruined the picture, which is why the film looks cheap and completely uninteresting (although it would seem... the beach, the tropics, the sun, bright colors should have greatly helped in this matter). By the way, because of this, Michael looked like a swollen man after a binge at the end. :D
Final fight
Yes, despite the above about Larnell's work, the last fight managed to include two things at once that I cannot stand:
- The scene is a dark warehouse. All sorts of warehouses, basements, factories and other utility rooms that are used for the final action scene were so boring back in the films of the 90s that seeing them now, in the 21st century, is just... tram-tam-tam!
- The cinematography is the worst in the entire film. She couldn't kill the whole scene, but she frankly ruined some moments.
- Although I talked about two miscalculations in the final battle, I’ll add one more - this is Michael’s physical form. He looks amazing and is an excellent crowd-pleaser, but when it comes to one-on-one combat against an opponent of equal strength, his age and excess muscle mass make themselves felt. Compared to Latif, he looked clumsy and slow, which is why the Brazilian had to slow down, and the fight lost a lot from this. At some moments the fight became so schematic and readable that it felt like you were watching a kung fu action movie from the pre-Bryusov era. Moreover, Michael had the same problem when filming the series “Metal Hurlant Chronicles”, where his opponents in the persons of Matt Mullins and Scott Adkins had to strongly restrain themselves (although they will never admit this). In general, Michael needs to solve this problem (i.e. lose excess weight), otherwise this situation will only get worse over time.
In summary:
“Rise of the Falcon” is not able to amaze with anything, much less bring something new to the genre, but it managed to become a worthy and strong “class B” action movie, and nothing more was required of it. A must watch for fans of Michael and fighting games, for everyone else... if you don't shy away from watching "class B" films, Welcome. :) In my list, Rise of the Falcon takes a respectable second place in this year's fighting games, behind only Once Upon a Time in Shanghai and The Raid 2, which share the first place.
Author: Pavel Belba
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Tags: Falcon Rising, Larnell Stovall, Lateef Crowder, Michael Jai White, Ernie Barbarash
Tags: Falcon Rising, Larnell Stovall, Lateef Crowder, Michael Jai White, Ernie Barbarash
I watched the film. I didn’t expect anything from him - it’s fine, it’ll work, but I won’t review it. ) The staging is not very good, the fights are so-so - you don’t feel the strength, you can’t see the dynamics... In general, it could have been better, Michael. Yes, the fight with Latif could have been the highlight of this film, but... It didn’t work out somewhere. :)
PS I won’t even get involved in the general “verbal chaos” in this thread. ;)
Regarding Lungren, yes, of course. But regarding fresh stars or Hollywood stars... I doubt it.
It sells well where it is filmed, that is, in Eastern Europe, and where it evokes nostalgic feelings (in Russia, for example). In short, it only sells well in certain regions. Is this why he creates his own company? I think so as not to get involved with rental companies who don’t really need it.
And now everyone is being forced to act in trash films, because in our world there are at least enough directors and screenwriters. well..sing there, sorry.
That is, every first or second film.
And 90% of his doubles have long been in every film, no matter whether it’s trash or not...
DTV with JCVD in the main roles are sold very and very well... that’s why he is inundated with stacks of offers to star in this or that trash film))
only, unlike the same Lundgren (who takes on everything that is not offered), ZhKVD does not tolerate trash, even with a steep fee, and now acts in them at most once a year... even if he takes on such dregs that are sick of him (wouldn’t he know, what DTV is like now and what kind of “pleasure” it will be to film there), then only on the condition that there is a minimum of work, 90% of the action will be assigned to doubles, and a fellow director will pat him on the head and never strain him (just like that Barbarash)
he would prefer to receive the same amount on the set of high-quality advertising and trips to his almost native Russia and Ukraine or to other parts of the world... where, moreover, with a smile on his face, he will give his trademark kick and receive well-deserved in return and beloved applause
That's what we're talking about. You can save money on Barabash. And Van Damme is no longer a star of the first magnitude. In the end, if the film burns, then you don’t mind the losses so much. And who will spend money on Van Damme today?
The most hackneyed, cheap pseudo-trick of all directors trying to hide the cheapness and shoddyness and make the picture stylish. Nowadays, the current sepia tone is that the news on Channel 1 is not yet being filmed.
The movie was going to be made by the author of the most worthy action films with JCVD (Maximum Risk, In Hell, Replicant) Ringo Lamb, but the producers did not comply with his requests... in the end they hired Barbara with a salary that was several times lower and the trick was to shove sepia (green tone, destroying all quality, but saving money for filmmakers)
“Normal” people won’t take it. Not very profitable.
Rising of the Falcon is a very weak film, one disappointment, but I was so looking forward to it after watching the trailer. Barbara is a complete mediocrity, the level of action production is almost zero. It looks like “Pound of Flesh” can already be given up; Was it really impossible to find a normal director for such a film!
Well, Blanks is actually a tai-bo guru))
Well, in general, everyone can be understood. Although it seems to me that it is much more pleasant when such people subsequently create their own martial arts schools, rather than fitness. Although it happens that it’s not even fitness. Brian Jeanness, I think, is a realtor.
The most interesting thing is that there is not much on the Internet about the action director in the film. He has only 6 works listed on imdb.
Well, something like that. He has a karate school for children, plus he develops fitness programs, or rather cardio-kickboxing, plus, as far as I know, he has self-defense courses for aunties.
True, this was a long time ago, maybe something has already changed.
Some of the US “old guard” have really taken up fitness. The same Blanks, for example. And, judging by various interviews, those who are older have generally changed BI for fitness (or another business), but they can be understood.
Bruce once said that if he had to choose between school and cinema, he would choose school. The movie is an excellent advertisement for his own school and good financial opportunities. Again for the development of the same school.
It’s funny to watch how producers and directors talk about action cinema without really knowing how to present it correctly. And all because Hollywood’s personal ambitions go through the roof. Excellent acting, but ultimately an average movie. The choreography is mediocre, the cameraman is a freeloader, and the editor probably slept in heaps of film.
This is me about "China O Brian".
Actually, MK 1-2 came out after THIS film. I think the reason here is different - he simply doesn’t need cinema. Maybe he opened his own BI schools and has no time for show business.
Like Jeff Speakman, for example. I was filming so that the world would know about the Kenpo style. And he invested the proceeds from his films into business. And now he is "Founder and Director of the American Kenpo Karate System, an international organization with over 50 schools."
I continue to go wildly offtopic, but since we started talking about Keith Cook, Norton and mentioned “China O’Brien”:
The Making Of:
youtube.com/watch?v=qrh4Yin_eIk
Of the underrated movie stars, I would single out Keith Cook. Although in secondary roles, Kickboxer, China O'Brien and MK have the most spectacular fights with his participation. In my opinion, his career was ruined by a joint film with Gary Daniels in 1995, after that I haven’t seen his sensible films
Yes, but not only that. He has several more films, half of which are with Dale "Apollo" Cook, who, by the way, is also a log. But, unfortunately, Hall was mostly always in the background.
Ron Hall is the guy from Bloodsport 2, isn't he? Yes, a really interesting fighter, he was impressive. It’s still impossible not to say about Garry - Van Damme is even more monotonous and it’s not just a matter of technique, the manner of fighting in general is completely the same, the “engine” itself during the fight. Dacascos and Gruner still pleased with their variety of techniques in different films, Olivier came to MMA in recent years, Garry didn’t succeed...
Well, about the Dragon, I have already said more than once that this is a misunderstanding of misunderstandings. Of course, I very harshly called Gary a slowpoke, in no way did I want to be cynical, I don’t have any dislike or antipathy, just as a movie actor, IMHO he is boring, ordinary and replaceable. That is, here is also a showreel from Celpaso, it consists of a very limited set of blows from Gary. Bernhard's showreel is approximately the same, even a little more varied, but Bernhard looks much more impressive on screen than Daniels.
And there, by the way, in the episode Daniels fools his black comrade, Ron Hall. That's an interesting guy, Ron Hall.
Speaking of Gary, if he's stupid:
youtube.com/watch?v=hIzRh8FWHag&list=UUQHMIC-JOISHmO6lgfdZsrA
So what do you call the Dragon?
youtube.com/watch?v=urW9bYZfqTA&list=UUQHMIC-JOISHmO6lgfdZsrA
Yeah, there is such a thing. Sometimes, when I see good movie fights, my body begins to move to the beat of the fight. =D
Believe it or not: you undoubtedly believe in Tony’s low kicks, but sometimes he also sins. For example, Tom-Yum-Gung, where the crunch of bones came from the slightest movement of Tony. "I do not believe!" =)
In addition, it was the Thais, in pursuit of unrealistic blows, who reached the point that these blows, even if hit at full force, would cause no more harm than a slap in the face, but in the film they fly away. Looks like crap. Examples - Phoenix and Janine. And the same Guyver kick, where the zone in which the blow has power is extremely small, unlike the Helicopter kick, 540, etc.
And I'm wrong. I got hooked on films of the genre after Ong-Bak. And here is one characteristic gesture. After Tony’s blows, I truly and undeniably believed that all his opponent’s bones were broken and he was lying all dead, because I saw with my own eyes how hard he suffered in the battle.
And then there's the episode from "Blood and Bone." White jumps on four dudes standing neatly in a line and kicks all four of them in midair. And everyone suddenly falls and leaves the battle at once. Not a single one stood up. Although the blow did not look strong. Frankly, it looked like a circus act. And I couldn’t leave the feeling that these four were really in pain. Well, what prevented them from simply not forming in this neat line? In short, the “I DON’T BELIEVE!!!” factor is at work. That's why I didn't like the film; in terms of fighting, it's all the same.
Since we're talking about Dacascos. I watched an interview with him, where he talks about the filming of “Drive”, about how he was hit in the face with a wooden baton by a stuntman (wooden, not fake) in the scene in the kitchen, where his character puts boots on his hands, defending himself from the crowd. Mark's face was cut open and stitches were put in, and for part of the filming they twisted around and filmed his shots on one side of his face. Here's an example of why the film ended up using Mark's stunt doubles in many scenes. Because you don’t feel sorry for the stuntmen, but the main character cannot be replaced.
Somewhere my comment about Dacascos got eaten...)
He is better than Van Damme in terms of technique, but inferior to him in terms of presentation. This loss is due both to him and to the camera directors.
Plus, Gary loses to almost all the movie stars with whom he starred: the same Shahlavi, Ginessa, Cook, Jackie.
Daniels moves as if he has weights on all his limbs.
Watch movies with him or something, because... to me he always seemed like an improved version of Jean as a movie fighter. Stretching is better + he has some acrobatics + knows how to work with his hands + knows how to work in dynamic scenes.
There was not enough luck, persistent management, skillful adaptation to the market situation. Mark also has too good an upbringing, he is still a rather modest and intelligent person, lacking self-confidence, and perhaps even self-confidence.
Why is Arnold a star? Stallone? Van Damme? Because ambition. Mark had fewer of them.
Rebel is perhaps his best film. But in Blood Moon, I consider the presence of Shahlavi to be the main advantage. He was great. And Daniels’ dark-skinned partner will be faster.
In the case of Dacascas, I don’t understand at all... how did it happen that such a phenomenal fighter failed in category “A”? At the dawn of the 2000s, it rarely produced anything worthwhile. From 2002 to today, you can only remember Nomad and From Cradle to Grave.
as an actor, not really, to be honest, but as a fighter, Florentai got everything he could out of him.
And then, he saved him there as best he could. The takes are almost all short.
Well, let's face it: Daniels is still a slow guy. He was never competitive. He didn’t reach the top level, he didn’t have on-screen charisma, he didn’t have enchanting technique or speed, he had minus one acting ability, he only started to show some intelligible emotions now, after many years of retirement. I don’t want to seem like an arrogant armchair expert, but apart from good muscle definition and excellent stretching, he had nothing to show. He was pale, like moth gray. Even in the role of stupid Europeans in Hong Kong, he looked rotten.
There were many more on-screen fighters who were head and shoulders above him in one quality or another (acting, charisma, appearance, technique) Blanks and Gruner are much more interesting than him, although Gruner is also quite limited in screen capabilities, but was much more dynamic and active and more varied on screen than Daniels, as much as possible under his conditions.
Blanks was a very technical and fast guy.
But there are characters that I feel much more “sorry for”... Dacascos, Richard Norton, Michael Bernardo, Shahlavi, Brian Jeanness, Keith Hirobayashi Cook... the same Lauren Avedon, by the way, was very interesting in the right hands. Even Bernhard, who was persistently made into a clone of Van Damme, was potentially very good. IMHO, of course.
"...I'm watching Gary Daniels' films now and I don't understand the reason...either he came across bad directors, or he himself doesn't live up to the bar of a movie star."
- It's the directors! And the entire technical team.
I wouldn’t say that there was anything supernatural in CITY HUNTER, but he looked cool there. And Florentine also looked decent in REBEL. as an actor and as a fighter! Everything else is debatable. BLOOD MOON is average. Because there are too many understudies.
I'm sorry that people like Blanks, Yeung, Gruner....were not able to really show their full potential in fights on the screen. Although not everyone can be a movie fighter. A person may be a great fighter in real life, but he doesn’t look good on screen. I’m watching Gary Daniels’ films now and I don’t understand the reason... either he came across bad directors, or he himself doesn’t live up to the bar of a movie star.
In John Wick, by the way, Chad Stahalski is announced as the second director.
I think he will double for Reeves)
Experiments and interesting ideas - one, money - two, young fresh blood - three.
It was simply never relevant. No matter what he lived and no matter how he lived, he never progressed in his genre, never went beyond his cemented idea of how to do it. There was one decent film with him - “Cop 2000”, and that’s because there was all the color there: Yeung, Blanks, Hughes.
By the way, about John Wick
Offtopic trailer for it
"...let's take, for example, the films of Jalal Merhi. The dude really lives for this, but he films entirely UG. Is it really all about the lack of experiments? And he is not the only one."
- I agree with the above, BUT... Another point is at work here. For example, directing material, choreography of fights, filming and editing. I noticed this thing - in American films of the 90s, fighters hit very sharply, but it didn’t look good. And in Hong Kong at this time, slower blows were thrown, but with minimal pauses and what do you think... it LOOKED! + of course angles, angles and more angles!!! In American films, half of them are often not visible at all. No arms, no legs, much less emotional faces. What to look for? No matter what. It's like a photograph. We don't click just anywhere. And we ask you to stand there and take aim to get the desired picture. It's the same in the movies.
And rightly so. There are many people like Jalal. And much has been said about the reasons for bad films. That's why Jackie and Sammo had great movies in the 80s! In every way! Because they not only loved cinema, but also knew it like the back of their hand. In addition, they had a good command of audience psychology. And this is very important.
Jaidev consoled))
Agree. But here’s what happens, let’s take the films of Jalal Merhi. The dude really lives for this, but he films entirely UG. Is it really all about the lack of experiments? And he's not the only one.
Everything in due time. This requires a well-established “industry”. Industry in a good sense, you need experience + continuity of experience + desire to experiment + demand + fuel for this, money (well, they are needed, they are needed). Complex. Much must be done in spite of. Despite the loss of invested funds, despite the same demand for the genre.
It’s like in any field, for example, in sound engineering or producing. The situation is similar down to the details.
"...“Bloody Fist 2050″…rare shit.”
And it will get worse. Until creators appear who are crazy (in a good way) about real fighting games and want to learn.
Indignant offtopic: at the mention of “Blood and Bone” associations arose with Mullins, I remembered that I recently watched “Bloody Fist 2050” with him... the rarest shit.
I agree, there are few fighting games coming out, so choosing the best one is quite easy. But this year was not limited to Shanghai, Sokol and Raid. There was Tekken 2, a remake of the 13th district, Bloody Revenge, Street Fighter, Wrath of the Vajra, Ice Comet (it came out in the West only this year), Police Story 2013 (it also seemed like it just came out this year here), it’s also planned a film with Gary Daniels...from films with elements of BI it is worth noting - 47 Ronin, Turtles, The Expendables 3, Captain America 2, John Wick is Coming.
If you were not impressed by the combat of Unisol 2, Blood and Bone, Never Give Up 2, Black Dynamite, then Falcon will definitely not impress you.
"John Wick" will be released soon with Keanu, ours, Reeves! I really hope for high-quality mochilovo! Everyone will take revenge for the dog! :)
After the second Raid and "once upon a time in Shanghai" speak. Well, there were no others =(
I've been waiting all year for at least an average film, and where is it? Name at least one, besides those already mentioned above. Well, let's at least take a look at the Falcon of your design, I hope it will work. And then White’s past films were not impressive at all with the action.
=( [fell into depression]
After the praiseworthy words about Once Upon a Time in Shanghai, I would like to ask Comrade Belba, but I’d rather do it in another topic than offtopic. Because thanks to him, I watched this “masterpiece.”
Darling, you're delusional...
I advise you to read Adams in the original.
Barbara's best film is Waiting 2007, unfortunately not an action movie, but a strong thriller on an Asian theme
The creators should look at them before riveting their pass-throughs... maybe the quality would improve at least a gram
By the way... here Pyun, who is recovering, is planning a new project with ZhKVD in the role (this is not a joke) of Napoleon
filming plans to start in November
proof - his Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Albert-Pyun-Movies/172106871258
Negotiations actually took place... both confirmed it) Proud Jackie was not satisfied with the small role, Eastwood did not give up on this skit...
But the SS could not help but take the chance and not promote them until the end of the negotiations) The guys didn’t give the go-ahead - so it turned out to be a failure with the supposed announcement
Well, this is the film’s page on the studio’s website. Details of the cast are unknown, the poster with the synopsis is also unknown... there is only Sly as the main character and director. Here is a pacifier with only him and you see))
The coolest thing could be a press release from the same studio or the words of SS himself)
Who once every six months posts fakes on Twitter, hinting at the participation of Clinton, Jackie...
According to the subject, Barbarash’s sepia (cheap green color) is really annoying. I thought at least she wouldn’t be here.
Now a Pound of Flesh with JCVD, as I understand it, is not worth waiting for... And such were the hopes - Asia, it seems like good fights...
one way or another... they’re unlikely to stick anything on the studio’s website
Anything is better than believing all sorts of dependent insiders)
I only saw a “dummy” on the link, with a mention of SS.
I'm talking about this:
CAST:
Sylvester Stallone
DIRECTED BY:
Sylvester Stallone
Kinopoisk and comingsoon referred to this data
Who would doubt it... But if it turns out to be at level 4, then we'll take a look. If only they didn’t tie the hands of the stuntmen and the hands of the cameraman with the same fishing line, otherwise it would get boring.
I read it on Kinopoisk.
yeah, here's confirmation from the studio: http://www.millenniumfilms.com/Details.aspx?id=30c9eb7f-ccb7-472f-80b3-9c2b011586c3
It would be a stretch to call this a confirmation.
Offtopic to the question of retro: citizen Stallone is preparing the fifth part of “Rambo”, which he himself will direct.
Pavel "Palba" Belba, as always, is ahead of the rest)))
42. One more time. (2 ice_3)
Yes, and I would be glad to have fun too, and even, perhaps, I spoke too harshly about “Falcon”, but for a long time now we have been producing so much slag that a kind of fatigue has appeared, and “Falcon” has merged with all this flow , turning out to be just a one-time project. We're tired of movies at one time. This film is, of course, completely retro and it would not be scary that it is class B, but its on-screen action is one walking cliché, I have already seen all this many, many times. And I think you too. Therefore, I accepted it with fatigue and without much interest.
And yet, Ravenside and Jaidev did not scare me away from the ability to enjoy watching a simple and ordinary movie. =D
PS After Falcon I watched Double Impact, Magnificent and Mister Cool.... I shouldn't have done that.