Renny Harlin: Man, Myth, and Auteur

[Matt]

One of the masters of ACTION TRASH. None of his movies are GREAT, but most of them are completely watchable garbage. He has a few outright clunkers in there ('Driven' comes to mind), but not many.

From what I understand, he had a solid rep as a director for doing 2 things:
- Delivering the film on time or ahead of schedule
- Delivering a film on budget (with the notable exception of 'Cutthroat Island).

His films look good, have generally coherent action, and blow shit up nicely. Indeed, the ship explosion at the end of 'Cutthroat Island' is a true show-stopper. I can only imagine how cool that was to see in the movie theater.

ACTION TRASH.

[Captain Russ]

That ship sequence was worth the price of admission.

Three times.

Which is what I fucking did on my summer vacation. That and realized I'd never be tall enough to climb Geena Davis.

[Matt]

Coppola bankrupted Zoetrope with 'One from the Heart'.
Cimino bankrupted UA with 'Heaven's Gate'
Harlin bankrupted Carolco with 'Cutthroat Island'

He's in good company.

[Matt]

Supposedly, Michael Bay is going to move on from the 'Transformers' franchise now. If that's indeed the case, I can totally see Renny Harlin taking over. Give him enough of a budget and I have little doubt that he could duplicate the Bay 'aesthetic'.

Start your campaign now.

[Ed Hocken]

I could have sworn Harlin used Jan De Bont as his Cinematographer.

[Matt]

Paul Verhoeven used De Bont. Not sure on Harlin.

[Ed Hocken]

I'm wrong, De Bont was the cinematographer on Die Hard and Hunt for Red October.

[B_Metal]

I know Harlin's used Vittorio Storaro because Google said so.

[Bobby Bear]

Long Kiss, all the way, baby!

Coppola bankrupted Zoetrope with 'One from the Heart'.
Cimino bankrupted UA with 'Heaven's Gate'
Harlin bankrupted Carolco with 'Cutthroat Island'

He's in good company.

Shame Carolco went the way of the Dodo. I loved their logo, especially at the start of Terminator 2. Does anyone know who - or what - took Orion out of the equation? Theirs was an absolute beast as well. It let you know right away you were in for some fun if you saw that celestial title at the top of a movie.

Supposedly, Michael Bay is going to move on from the 'Transformers' franchise now. If that's indeed the case, I can totally see Renny Harlin taking over. Give him enough of a budget and I have little doubt that he could duplicate the Bay 'aesthetic'.

Start your campaign now.

THIS I could get behind, particularly if it involves a nefarious Craig Bierko once again getting an explosive comeuppance... perhaps for trying to harness the awesome power of sentient alien robotic organisms.

[Ed Hocken]

I tired watching Craig Bierko in The Thirteenth Floor.

Emphasis on tried.

And as for bankrupt studios, there was only one:

[Captain Russ]

I'm onboard the Harlin-Autobot Express.

Hell, we might even be able to tell who the fuck is fighting who!

[Ed Hocken]

Heaven forbid, that happens!

[B_Metal]

I only want another TF movie if they will totally redesign all the bots. That busy looking shit is just too much to look at.

[Bobby Bear]

I actually let out a satisfied little "awwwwww" when I saw that, Ed. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

E.T.A. B's on the money. Balls to all this 1,000,000 moving parts per second malarkey. Just give me a halfway house between that and a smart update of the original Generation One designs. This franchise needs some colour put back in its cheeks. And some distinction between the Transformers. Preferably, personalities too.

[Captain Russ]

They also have X-Men Syndrome as far as the Decepti-creeps designs go; just uninspired and drab shades of gray everywhere doing nothing to help discern one from the other. Get some colors on those expensive pieces of cannon fodder. Flames optional.

At least the Stormtroopers got cool shit to die in.