Braveheart...and Collateral

The last time I watched Braveheart all the way through was a few years ago...until yesterday. I finally dusted it off my DVD rack. Strange since it was one of my favorite films of all time. Watching it again reminded me of why I love the movie so much in the first place. As Robert the Bruce's father says in one scene- "Uncompromising men are easy to admire." For all you Braveheart lovers out there, just a quick note that while it is based on a true story, many characters, events, and details where fictionalized or altered to fit the movie story better. Despite that, it's still obviously a great movie.

The action scenes are still exciting, from the first revenge battle sequence to the Battle of Stirling. The dramatic scenes still work amazingly well, particularly the ones with no words and filled with stares and looks. I was just reading through all the goofs on imdb and was surprised to see so many. I don't care though. It's still a great film. I'd probably watch it more often if it wasn't 3 hours long.

The last time I watched it in its entirety was really late at night with some friends during a visit to Iowa a few years ago. There's a girl I know there named Jaime who absolutely loves the film, even more than I do. She can pretty much quote the whole thing. I miss those Iowa friends. I haven't seem a lot of them in awhile, especially Jaime.

Another movie of note is Collateral. It's probably my favorite movie with Tom Cruise because his assassin character is so well developed and he sheds a lot of the personality that you see in most of his other films. It's also directed by Michael Mann, which almost automatically means that it's good.

an idea whose time has come

I recently purchased Glory Road on DVD. It's in the middle of a line of inspirational, based-on-a-real-story movies put out by Disney, that seems to be a trend now. That's fine because I like them quite a bit. This particular one is about how a coach named Don Haskins took a little known school called Texas Western (now UTEP) to win the NCAA championship and legitimized black basketball players in the NCAA, who up until that point had been discriminated against in this area.

Because of this discrimination, Coach Haskins plays only his black players in the championship game against Coach Rupp's University of Kentucky. This game was one of the greatest upsets in NCAA history and one of the most important games in the history of basketball. An interview with Pat Riley (one of the Kentucky players) showed how the true importance of that game wasn't seen until later on when history started talking about it. Of course blacks were/are competent enough physically and mentally to play in the NCAA.

All of this to introduce the topic. You cannot stop an idea whose time has come. "God chose an interesting venue to take care of this problem," said Pat Riley in the same interview. It wasn't until later that they realized the game was about more than just a college championship. You can say the same thing about several things in America's history. One is the automobile roughly 100 years ago. And now there is the internet, and how much that has become and will be a part of our lives.

Are you a visionary? Can you see the trends? Can you see what is right (as in the case of blacks playing in the NCAA)? Or are you like one of those people 100 years ago who said, "An automobile?! Nobody is going to want that!" Let's all learn and grow together.

The Karate Kid

The best films are the ones that continue to entertain you and make you feel over multiple years. All the while adding more layers of depth and meaning to when you originally saw it. The Karate Kid is one of those films for me. There are so many good things about this film itself that I could go on for quite awhile. I'll try to be succinct though.

My brother, Lance, and I grew up watching this film. In fact, it probably defined our childhood in terms of films. Sure, we watched the Star Wars movies and The Princess Bride a lot, too, but The Karate Kid topped them all. We would act out a few scenes from the movie, especially the one where Mr. Miyagi shows Daniel that he is actually learning karate from all the work he is making him do. Each of us always wanted to be Mr. Miyagi so we could slap the other guy for lowering his eyes when he bowed.

There are so many factors in this movie. It's a coming of age/unlikely friendship/martial arts film. There are issues regarding moving and starting in a new school, dating across social classes, the right and wrong way of teaching martial arts, being a single parent with a teenager, and overcoming odds to earn respect and find balance (in multiple areas of life).

The acting and filmmaking is also quality. Not that I know everything now, but there are a few things I've noticed since I first saw the film. There is one scene they did in one shot! No cuts at all. This is when Daniel wakes up under the care of Mr. Miyagi after the Cobra Kais give him quite a beating. The dialogue is quite lengthy yet still, there are no cuts or other angles. Also, the shot when Daniel first enters the tournament floor with Mr. Miyagi and Ali is quite remarkable. It starts with them entering, follows them as the Cobra Kai pass them, and then sweeps up along the bleachers to give you a panoramic view of the tournament. Quite a shot since it follows the leads, shows you a few karate matches, and has hundreds of extras either as audience members or tournament workers in the shot.

That first scene I mentioned with the dialogue was successful only because of the chemistry onscreen with Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. Pat Morita was a stand-up comic. His voice is not really like that. He completely created that persona with the voice. Ralph Macchio related to his Daniel character, not being very muscular. Although in his words, he "wasn't as defiant" and his onscreen character. Martin Kove, who plays Kreese, also did a great job of being the menacing teacher who instilled the wrong values of martial arts into his students.

Which brings us into that dichotomy of teaching martial arts. The philosophy of martial arts in the film is authentic. The writer, Robert Mark Kamen, studied and practiced the martial arts for a long time. Kreese and Mr. Miyagi were the exact opposites. Kreese was all about the physical sport. You know- "strike first! strike hard! no mercy sir!" Mr. Miyagi was all about the mental toughness. Karate was used only to defend yourself as a last resort. Because the best martial artist is actually the best peacemaker. Even if someone is looking to start a fight with you, the better martial artist will resolve the encounter peacefully without throwing his/her fists.

Well, so much for being succinct! There's even more I could write about but I will stop here. Perhaps I will expand on some issues and add more another time.

blessings

Fearless

"Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself makes you fearless."
-Lao Tzu

This quote was used in the trailers for Jet Li's Fearless. It describes his character, Huo Yuanjia (a real person), very well. Based on a real life person in Chinese history, Master Huo became an incredibly gifted martial artist for the wrong reasons- to beat up challengers and be the best fighter in Tianjin. Ashamed, he retreats for several years out in the country and completely changes his attitude around. After returning to Tianjin, he faces international opponents and starts up his new school, the Jingwu Sports Federation, where he emphasized the continual improvement of body, mind, and spirit. Two contrasting scenes that show this transformation: Before he went away, he demanded Master Chin to sign a death waiver before fighting him. After returning, he fought Herculoes O'Brien (the big fighter, Boagrias, at the beginning of Troy). When asked to sign a death waiver before the match, he politely refused, and ended up saving O'Brien's life, howing respect to his opponent.

I just watched a documentary called Emmanuel's Gift. In Ghana, 10% of the population is disabled. Emmnauel was born with his right leg twisted and unusable. In Ghana, most of the disabled population resorts to begging on the streets and are mostly ignored and considered worthless. Emmanuel doesn't see things as most other people do. He wrote a letter to a foundation in the U.S. asking for a bike, so he can ride it across Ghana and prove the stereotype about disabled people wrong. Since his ride across Ghana, he has gone on to touch countless people around the world and help the disabled population in Ghana. Mastering yourself makes you fearless.

So how do we learn from these incredible men? Obviously, there's way more in each film, and I hope you see the whole movies if you have not already. Find out what you are good at, and pursue it with as much passion as humanly possible.