This Month's Column - Daredevil Vs. Ghost Rider Options

[Gordon_D]

OK, here's where you can provide feedback - am I totally off base?

Have I slagged Daredevil unfairly?

Am I giving Ghost Rider too much credit?

Feel free to post on this - and other - issues.

(You're also more than welcome to make recommendations for future columns)

[Ron Fortier]

Gordon, I loved your column and pretty much agree with most of what you say. But when review such films, you should stick to what
the fans saw at the theaters and not the extended cuts. In some cases extended cuts will alter the film drastically, one way or another.
Now I personally liked GHOST RIDER at the theaters. I'm told the extended cut adds even more to it. Don't know. Just couldn't afford
buying two of them at the time. I'm happy with the regular version. And like you, think Cage sells the film.
Whereas DAREDEVIL at the theaters was way-way too heavy handed and doomed itself right out of the gate with too much emphasis on Electra and not enough on Matt Murdoch. So it deserves a mild thumbs up only.
Now, having been a bit disappointed with this one, I did finally buy the director's cut and holy smokes, that's a good movie. Too bad he couldn't keep the studio heads out of the cutting room. Personally I've always felt cutting should be left strictly to directors. If studios want to cut a film, then they (collectively) should direct. End of debate.
Anywho, will we ever see another DAREDEVIL flick. Don't know but I doubt.
So what did you think of the two PUNISHER flicks? The direct to video with Dolph Lundgren is one of my all time guilty pleasures. And I think the big (ahem..) budget with Thomas Jane and John Travolta is just plain terrific. Now I'm hearing a second is on the way, without Jane in role. Huh? What the hell is that all about?
What do you think?
Ron

[Gordon_D]

Gordon, I loved your column and pretty much agree with most of what you say. But when review such films, you should stick to what the fans saw at the theaters and not the extended cuts. In some cases extended cuts will alter the film drastically, one way or another.

Fair enough - the reason I used the extended cuts on DVD (rather than the theatrical cuts) was for several reasons:

1. I wanted to give both films a fair shake, and not rely solely on memory
2. It would be more likely that newer fans would view them through DVD than in the theater
3. They were the only copies I had available to view

It seemed somewhat more fair for me to view them and have newer insights, than to review them based on memory. I concede your point - in the future, I will try to compare theatrical cuts.

As far as The Punisher, in all honesty - I never saw the Thomas Jane version. I loved the Dolph Lundgren version, especially since Lundgren always struck me as the kind of actor who knew that he was an action star, but took it seriously enough to not seem either pretentious or silly.

[Ron Fortier]

Yup. When given good material, Dolph would usually rise to the occasion. I love the film he did with Brandon Lee. I believe it was
called TROUBLE IN LITTLE TOKYO.
And you know Gordon, I really wasn't so much complaining about your reviewing extended cut DVDs, as simply suggesting you
compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. I.e. do reviews of the theater versions comparing both films against each other.
Then do a separate review of the extended cuts. That's all. As I said in my earlier comments, the extended cut DAREDEVIL does work
and I wish they'd kept this one for the theaters. They might have had a winner if they had.
Finally, do pick up the Thomas Jane PUNISHER. If you enjoyed those others, this one will blow you away. Both the theater and extended
versions.

[Glen Davis]

It's Showdown in Little Tokyo.

Personally, I blame the failure of Daredevil more on the cast. Ben Affleck just isn't a good leading man for whatever reason, and Jennifer Garner just doesn't have the electricity that Elektra should. At the tme I thought it was too much like like Spider-Man, but now I think in many ways it isn't enough like Spider-Man. Bullseye should be a lot more threatening than he was.

I used to agree with Ron about keeping the studio bigwigs out of the cutting room, but after viewing a number of director's cuts that were a great deal worse than the theatrical version, I am forced to reluctantly concede that, yes, sometimes the studio is right.

As to the Punisher movies, I really like Dolph's cheapie, for some reason, even though it is terribly cliched. The trouble with the Jane movie, is that it largely misses the point. He acts like a detective instead of a remorseless killing machine.