P.S. My grade would be 3 stars out of 4, or a B+, or a thumbs up, or a seven out of 10, or whatever (nm)

[ Reply ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Tiga from ts001d41.las-nv.concentric.net on January 02, 2000 at 06:04:05:

In Reply to: A few notes on constructive criticism posted by Ultraman Tiga on January 02, 2000 at 05:59:55:

: I'm not particularly disagreeing with your viewpoints this time around, but there are some things that just shouldn't be done in a review...

:
: : Watched the Young Indy video "Daredevils of the Desert" this weekend and here's my review.
: : This one has Indy on a secret mission with Catherine Zeta Jones to Beersheba to disarm some landmines at the wells in preparation for a surprise attack by British and Australian troops. Indy befriends some of the Australians who are upset that the British keep holding them in reserve instead of letting them get into the battle and Indy is visited by his friend Lawrence of Arabia.

: This is the best plot summary you have done. You have stuck to the basics without giving away too much. There is no need to go into detailed plot descriptions - if people are intrigued by your review,, they'll watch it and see it all for themselves. Some of them might decide not to watch at all since they know everything that happens when they read something like that.

: : This is another episode penned by Frank Darabont so the script is well-written but the plot is not as intelligent as chaps. 10 & 11. First, Remmy is missing from this one and his absence is keenly felt. But even worse is the criminal underuse of Catherine Zeta Jones. She doesn't make an appearance during the first half hour and most of the time when we do see her, her face is covered by a veil. CZJ is perhaps the most beautiful woman alive and they cover her face. This seems to serve no purpose except to give Indy a chance to comment on how ugly she must be under that veil. This makes Indy look foolish since even just judging by her eyes it is obvious how stunning she is.

: That's an oxymoron. If her eyes reveal how beautiful she is, why do you have a problem with her in veil? One cancels out the other. The point is that Indy knew she good looking, but he didn't know she was THAT good looking. It was best not to muddle the plot by having him get attracted to her too early.

: : Other than that "Daredevils" is a solid attempt but nothing special.

: I disagree. It's not the best episode, but the stunt work all through the second half is immensely impressive. Remember, this was television series whose sitffest competition was the likes of "Home Improvement" and "Family Matters". The action your getting in 'DotD' is even more tops than most feature films. Apart from the epics of early Hollywood, where else can you watch that many horsement conducting such a well choreographed, well executed raid on a fortress like that? Sure, James Bond movies do that sort of thing, but then those are multi-million dollar pictures and YIJC was actually a low-budget show! And 'Daredevils' is just as good as, if not better than, "Living Daylights" (the particular Bond movie I was thinking of). In that sense, "Daredevil" is pretty special.

: : The actions scenes are too similar to the battle scenes in other episodes and the middle portion of the show has almost no action at all.
: : I liked the interaction between Indy and the Australians but I could've done without the visit from Lawrence of Arabia.

: The latter is a very well written, well formed sentance. Some of your best!

: : The plot took a bad turn toward the end and I felt it cheated the audience. It turns out that CZJ is a double agent and the script makes it appear that Indy knew this all along but the audience is kept in the dark. Also the knife that Indy is given turns out to be a trick knife with a retractable blade and the ability to drip fake blood. We don't find this out until near the end either even though we see the knife several times and are present when it is first given to Indy.
: : This is a cheat on the part of the writers. It goes against the fair play rule. The "Fair Play Rule" goes like this; under no circumstances can the protagonist (Indy) be given evidence that isn't also presented at the same time to the audience. Therefore if the knife had special abilities we were entitled to know about them as soon as Indy knows and the same goes for the possibility that CZJ is a double agent.

: : The plot trickery detracts considerably from the enjoyment of this episode even though Indy's interaction with the Australians is well-played enough to counterbalance.
: : My only other complaints (and they're really minor) had to do with two scenes. The first one involved a soldier waking Indy up by poring water in his face. These guys are in the desert! No soldier would waste water like that.
: : The second had to do with the sound effects during the fistfight between Indy and the German agent in the office at the end. Every punch landed by either man is as loud as a gunshot. I've never heard a fistfight sound so loud outside a chop-socky movie.
: : All in all I can only give "Daredevils of the Desert" a grade of C.

: That's a fair enough grade, but your criticism above is really the mess I was thinking of that prompted me to respond. Again, you've gone into too much detail. There's no need to put a spoiler warning on your posts, or tell your readers EXACTLY how the movie ends (yet you are the one who feals cheated? Another oxymoron!)

: You should have written it in more vague, much more abstract terms, obviously. Something like "the climax was a letdown in that it sprung some left-field information on us that was not previously available in the film." Ebert does that kind of thing all the time, and it leaves people who haven't seen it a chance to go and watch for themselves to find out what you are talking about and wether or not they agree with you.

: As for the complaint in itself, if you feel that way it's okay. Sure, it all happens in the end, but it's still amounting to nothing more than plot-twists, perfectly fair. Would you have been more satisfied knowing exactly what Indy knew and how it would turn out? That merely would have added up to anti-climax.

: I was pretty suprised that CZJ (not nearly the most beautiful woman in the world) turned out to be a double-agent (again, something you should not have revealed). I thought the entire story was going to be the usual straightforward adventure tale, with few suprises. So that Indy had tricks up his sleeve means that he was being a damn good spy. He didn't know that she'd betray him, but he needed a puncture-proof plan just in case. How do you keep a plan puncture proof? By not telling anyone about it. Spies have lived by that advice.

: NE way, more food for thought. Hope it's influential in your next review, and I'll look forward to reading that one as soon as you buy more tapes! Maybe try some of the more frivolous stuff next time (Hollywood Follies I'm sure you'll despise with every fiber of your being, but it's kinda fun at the same time. Mystery of the Blues has an excellent first half, so-so second half, but hey, it's got HF in the bookends! Scandal of 1920 is the one that I can't wait to see again).

: Cheerio!

: TIGA




Follow Ups:



Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

Optional:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL:  


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]