When movies become too violent

[littlenemo]

I know some of you will disagree with me, but there are some movies i've come accross that i will never watch again because the violence level is too extreme...I'm not refering to movies like "The Toxic Avenger" for example, you know, movies that lack in the acting and writing department so they make the violence and gore the main attraction. These kind of movies can be graphically violent every 15 minutes, but it is so over the top that it just looks silly and sometimes funny....The flying balls (get your minds out of the gutter kids) in "Phantasm" that jab into foreheads and spew 10 gallons of blood come to mind.
But when a movie tries to take itself too seriously, movies like "Natural Born Killers" or (gulp..here comes the hate mail) "The Fight Club" how much violence is necessary for the director to make his point that "see! these guys are crazy and evil, but they're still heroes among their peers!"
Am I making any sense here, or should i just crawl back into my coffin?

[Susan]

There was a point to the excessive violence in "natural born killers", particularly in it's method of making the audience laugh an then be at unease with their reaction if not desensitization of the violence. I never did understand why people didn't get it. Guess it was a tough movie to find an audience for. I don't think it was a great film, but one that held a mirror up to our societies face.

As for flying blades and blood spewing..the 80's made a name for itself in going over the top! Probably what killed the genre for many years - but hey, I like corny violence you can laugh at. Better than the pain and agony of having to endure "Glitter"

the horror! the horror!

[J.R.]

Natural Born Killers was a comedy. Anyone who thinks Fight Club is too violent is a lightweight. Honesly, a film has never been too violent or gory for me.

[No Nukes, The Satanic Pikachu]

Hoo boy. J.R........

You completely missed the point of "Fight Club" if you could just ease it off like that. It was basically a test of how much film audiences had become "numbed" to violence and to which levels they could take it. According to that system, you are.....*makes calculations* a solid 5-ton chunk of ice-cold granite. Have a nice day, rockboy, and try not to erode of the way out.

[Nathan Shumate]

The violence in Fight Club didn't disturb me as such because it served the purpose of the story so well -- there was no way to express the desperation of these men trying to find and outlet for their male aggression in a "sissyfied" society, without that level of violence.

The violence I dislike is the kind that doesn't seem to fit.  Like the "basketball smashing the old lady's head" scene in Deadly Friend; it didn't fit at all with how the rest of the story was told.

Nathan

[systemcr4sh]

Gore  does not = Violence

Fight Club was a very violent movie. In its brutal beatings and such.

The only movie that has been maybe too gory for me is Hellraiser.
I saw a clip from it and decided I didn't really wanna see it. hehe.
Everything else I've taken though. Maybe I'm wrong about wether
or not I should see hellraiser or not. I dunno.

[Neville]

I have nothing against violence on the screen as far as it serves a purpose. Believe me, there are many movies that use violence much worse than "Natural born killers" or "The fight club". Others have tried to explain the reasons because those movies used violence and I don't want to sound redundant.

What I really hate is when violence or profanity are used just because it is suppossed to be cool or to show the audience how supposedly "daring" and "mature" the filmakers are. Believe me when I say I am not a republican or a catholic freak when I say I hate every minute of "Deep Rising", because Stephen Sommers makes a constant overuse of swear worfds and gore just to make us feel we are in an "adult" movie when his pathetic flick couldn't be more childish.

Note: I live in a country with no censorship (I'm european) and I prefer it this way. People must have right to choose what they want to see.

[chris]

I love cinematic violence.  i will rent a movie soley based on the fact that it is gory.  "Slop it on", I say with a beaming smile.  The only time I turn my head away in disgust is those damn cannibal films where they kill real animals or any of those mondo films where they exploit real death.  Natural Born Killers and Fight Club were no problem to sit through and I don't think it matters if the violence is appropriate of not (however, violence is in both those cases).  My friends and I all read Fangoria growing up and only 3 of them became serial killers (just joshing).  I think, if a filmmaker's going to make violence disturbing it solely counts on the atmosphere.  Oliver Stone did it great with NBK, with it's hyped up editing that made us feel guilty about enjoying it while it's happening.  Whether it be sleazy or smart (Sleazy: Last House on the Left/ Smart: Henry) it all depends on the mood the director creates.  That's why a relatively bloodless movie like Frailty can shake people up more than the blood drenched Dead/Alive (both great films by the way).  I'd say that the only films that teetered on the edge of too much cinematic violence (for me anyway) were the German films Zombie 90' Extreme Pestilance and Violent @!#$, but once again it was the mood the director created, namely, no mood whatsoever.  It was obvious in these films that the director just liked shocking people and loved violence and torture itself.  I could picture him at home watching Banned In America and Faces of Death thinking it was "so cool".  But, being the trooper I am I rented both.

[Susan]

Overall most movies aren't that violent. I think there's excessive watered down violence in movies flicks but few are really over the top. Half the ones that are have a point..usually it's to show how as a society we've become disconnected with violence because of the desensitization to it. Other times it's often a horror movie. Other times it's Steven Seagals acting.

All I can say is don't take your 5 year old to the movie, it's fine for adults. Kids don't need to be spending all day on the tv and then all nite on the computer playing games. Don't they go outside to play anymore? I remember my mother having to drag me in after dark..but..i digress.  We've really become a sissy society when parents actually want to SUE because they're kid tried jumping off the kitchen counter to fly because they saw it on Harry potter. Kids will always do stupid things, they don't need tv. We used to read comic books and try jumping off the roof of our house. I think george carlin called it "natural selection"

To watch a violent movie that more often has an intelligent POINT to it..you have to pay attention to the storyline and not just the images. At least it's imaginary, for millions of years our ancestors watched the real thing. Gladiator fights, mans rights of passage (young boys impaled and strung up or knives carving into their heads or killing a bear to prove they're a man), virgin sacrifices, cannibalism, torture chambers, mass public executions...I think as a society we've actually come a long way..lol

As for profanity - isn't that how everyone talks...dammit? lol

[Flangepart]

Hummm......still......when does the image have the same effect as the physical reality it recreates? I often have to ask.....if training films and simulations are so usefull for prepareing soldiers for combat, could some people not be adversly affected? Lets not be too swift to say it has No effect. Just that the individual response is a tough thing to rate. Call it...oh..."One man's entertainment is another man's Instruction manual." Boy, the trigger pulling alone that i've seen..................

[chris]

For sure movies effect people.  Movies effected me my whole life.  I don't think movies are the culprits here however.  Violence has been around much longer than film, and I hate to break it to ya, but it's gonna be around forever.  As much as I love violent films I cannot comprehend how someone would want to kill period.  Forget the external trigger device (movies) and focus on the important part (the person).  It's an arguement that's brought up all the time and as long as people are looking to place the blame elsewhere the arguement will probably go on forever too.

[jmc]

What I think is bad are films that show violence without consequence.  I think those HOME ALONE movies are a lot worse in their portrayal of violence than most horror films.  

I just got the BEYOND THE DARKNESS DVD today.  Man, I forgot how gory that movie was!

[Neville]

Susan said: "As for profanity - isn't that how everyone talks...dammit? lol"

I guess you were talking about my post. Personally, I am a liberal and I am in favour of people using profanity as much as they feel like. And of course people speak like that - and so do I. It is just that now and then I feel some movies use it for no reason at all, and I found it annoying.

[Andrew]

Along those lines, I just noticed that the "bad word replace" function is turned on in this new version of Phorum.  That must be the default.  I will find it and turn it off, because we really do not have a problem with useless cursing around here.

[Susan]

>>That must be the default. I will find it and turn it off, because we really do not have a problem with useless cursing around here. <<

well now you went and opened pandora's box. ;-)