Rutger Hauer was wonderful in that movie - and I wholeheartedly agree on the sympathy element.
My favorite scene in Casablanca is Paul Henreid leading the cafe in "La Marseillaise". I don't want to hijack the thread on the myriad of reasons however I will say this scene "makes real" the dilemma Bergman faces. It puts Henreid on the same level as Hollywood icon Bogart. And while Casablanca would be a solid picture without the scene - "La Marsillaise" makes the film (for me) brilliant. Similarly I think Hauer's "Tears in the Rain" sequence in Blade Runner elevates what was an entertaining picture to something truly heartbreaking. I'd also add Rutger Hauer's performance in "The Hitcher" to the great villans list. ________________________________ From: Phillip W. Ayling <[email protected]> To: MICHAEL ARCHIBALD <[email protected]>; [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 10:53:40 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] I re-watched Die Hard the other day (for the first time since 1988) Interesting topic Bruce I would also add Rutger Hauer to that list. His role of Roy Batty in Blade Runner combined villain and victim in a most amazing way that evoked fear and sympathy. I can watch that role over and over and still be amazed. BTW I watched Lethal Weapon the other day for the first time in years the other day. It still held up well as an action film. What struck me most was Mel Gibson's acting in the context of what we know about him now. He plays a quasi homicidal/suicidal self-destructive cop. He is constantly screaming, yelling and having temper tantrums. He does a manic Curly Howard impression, appears to have no sense of personal boundary, and spins out of control at the slightest misplaced word on the part of another. It was scary to watch and I realized that Mel didn't really have to dig inside himself very deeply to appear so crazy. The real acting came during the 10 minutes in the film where Mel Gibson's character seems to be calm and empathetic with others. I remember back to working on the film and how awkward and uncomfortable it was to be around Mel during post-production and it all made sense upon seeing the film again. Michael Kamen, who died way to young, did an amazing score for Lethal Weapon and used Eric Clapton and David Sanborn as soloists and co-creators, which was really unheard of at the time. Michael then did the Die Hard score the following year and his work on that film was also brilliant. Lethal Weapon's success was actually the impetus for rushing Die Hard into production. It had been laying around for a long time. Fox had offered the part to many people before offering it to Bruce Willis who was still shooting the TV series Moonlighting. They offered it to Mel Gibson and technically Fox had to offer the part to Frank Sinatra first, because he owned the rights to the character by virtue of owning sequel rights to the film The Detective from 1968. The original idea for Die Hard came from a Robert Thorpe book (Nothing Lasts Forever) that was part of the "Detective" series. I imagine if Sinatra had decided to exercise his rights, the film would have languished and not been produced at that time. ----- Original Message ----- >From: MICHAEL ARCHIBALD >To: [email protected] >Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 5:10 AM >Subject: Re: [MOPO] I re-watched Die Hard the other day (for the first time >since 1988) > > >I couldn't agree more Bruce. A movie is so much more compelling with a great >villan... > >Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II >Henry Fonda in "Once Upon A Time In The West" >Heath Ledger in Dark Knight >Klaus Kinski in The Great Silence > >...if the villan isn't strictly a one dimensional character but has some >redeeming qualities - inelligence, humor, etc - it generally makes for a good >movie experience. > > >Mike > >From: Bruce Hershenson <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 7:02:57 AM >Subject: [MOPO] I re-watched Die Hard the other day (for the first time since >1988) > > >I re-watched Die Hard the other day (for the first time since 1988) and I was >reminded of just how excellent a movie it was. It has a great script and >great performances by Bruce Willis and Bonnie Bedelia, but what really makes >it "work" so well is the remarkable performance by Alan Rickman as the >villain (and amazingly he had never been in a movie before!). > >The producers of the James Bond and Mission Impossible type movies should ALWAYS hire a really first-rate actor (Ben Kingsley, Geoffrey Rush, F. Murray Abraham, Bob Hoskins, etc) to play the villain, because it adds SO MUCH to the movie (and of course it also makes sense to find the most beautiful women in the world, whether or not they can act at all)! > >Bruce > >-- >Bruce Hershenson and the other 26 members of the eMoviePoster.com team >P.O. Box 874 >West Plains, MO 65775 >Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we take lunch) >our site >our auctions > > > >Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com >___________________________________________________________________ >How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List >Send a message addressed to: [email protected] >In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L >The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > >Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com >___________________________________________________________________ >How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List >Send a message addressed to: [email protected] >In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L >The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. 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