Honestly, I have not seen all of Pyun's movies. I've only seen Cyborg (not even JCVD can save this one, although he and the main villain are pretty cool in it) and Mean Guns, and I actually enjoyed Mean Guns, although it was completely bizarre at times (what was the point of having the little girl with sunglasses in the movie? And the salsa soundtrack was pretty out there too..). So needless to say, I'm far from being a Pyun expert or anything. But seriously, how does this guy manage to make as many movies as he has? I mean, even the most rabid b-movie fanatics won't even go near this guy once they've seen the stuff that he's done, for the most part. I figure that Pyun's either cool as hell to hang out with, or he's got a lot of blackmail on someone. Admittedly, Pyun seems to have some potential. Mean Guns is an example of this. But he always does something to screw that potential up. I'd love to see the look on actors' faces when they read Pyun's scripts, or if they do at all. They probably shrug their shoulders and say "Oh well, it's money, a job's a job".
It's one of life's great mysteries as to how so many actors work with Pyun. It ranks right up there with the show Wheel of Fortune. For example, when the puzzle is "Chr_stmas Day" and the people ALWAYS waste money buying a vowel. Why do they do it? What's the point behind it? Nobody knows.
I'm not trying to bash Pyun, although I know it probably seems like I am. Like I said, I think the guy has some talent and potential. I just think it's crazy how many decent actors he gets and how many movies he puts out, despite being reviled by many people in the b-movie world. What do you guys think? Any Pyun fans out there want to throw their .02 cents in?
Nick
Most of Pyun's movies have some small spark of talent, though those sparks are very small and die quickly. For instance, as horrendous as CAPTAIN AMERICA is, I actually like the way Pyun filmed the brawl between Cap and the Red Skull at the end of the film. The punches have a lot of comic-book "pow" to them, and I love the cutting of the sequence in which the Skull grabs a rifle, Cap backflips to his shield, and then the Skull opens fire while Cap rolls with the shield in front of him. It's fun to watch, and the fast cutting gives the whole fight a lot more intensity than it would otherwise have.
Of course, the fight ends with one of the absolute cheesiest lines in cinema history. Cap gives the President the thumbs-up and says, through one of the cheesiest smiles in cinema history:
"Mr. President! Thanks!"
I enjoyed "Dollman" and "The Sword And The Sorcerer" and even enjoyed, in a certain way, "Omege Doom" and "Nemesis" and don't feel too badly about "Arcade" or "Alien From L.A"
His movies aren't great, but they can be some fun if approached in the right frame of mind.
I've never accepted Albert Pyun movies with the exception of Mean Guns. Why? I think I've disliked his movies because of my own peculiar taste, which balks at gobs of style with little to no substance. I think he'd be better suited directing music videos than feature-length movies. And I think that's why something like Mean Guns works better for him than (again, per my own tastes) things like Cyborg, Radioactive Dreams, Alien from L.A., Sword and the Sorcerer, Captain America and Omega Doom, which have bored me to distraction.
Perhaps if Captain America had been one long fight, interspersed with character development, with a big-band soundtrack...
...perhaps not.
regards,
Apostic
Fearless Freep wrote:
>
> His movies aren't great, but they can be some fun if
> approached in the right frame of mind.
Agreed...as long as you know what you're in for you can have a good time. He seems to have a talent for shooting action scenes. S&TS has some great fights as does CYBORG. NEMESIS too.
I would guess that Pyun demands a fairly low salary and is capable of churning out low-budget action films quickly and within budget. That's why he gets to make so many movies.
As bad as his movies are, they generally aren't boring. They certainly aren't EXCITING either. But they're not boring.
For an evening of mindless action, Pyun is okay.
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By the way. If you unscramble A-L-B-E-R-T-P-Y-U-N you get:
"Blue Pantry"
According to the writings of Nostradamus, Dolph Lundgren will be killed while making a sandwich in a blue pantry.
Coincidence?
I think not.
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By the way, how exactly do you pronounce "Pyun"? Is the "P" silent? (Only if you're wearing a silencer on your most private of parts. Okay, bad joke.) I've always pronounced his name like this: PEE-YOON. But I'm sure that's wrong.
I sorta pronounce it the same , but blend the "P" and "y" together quickly and it'd be difficult to discern whether I was saying "yoon" or "yun"
It is pronounced Pyoon (if you have any kind of E sound in it, you're pronouncing it wrong). Believe it is Hawaiian or Japanese, which overlap.
That said.. I like some of Pyun's movies. I enjoyed Radioactive Dreams quite a bit, thought Mean Guns was mostly excellent (the guy who played Marcus floats that movie pretty well), the Sword and the Sorcerer was cool and had some awesome imagery, etc.. Nemesis is watchable with a few decent fight scenes. He definetly has talent for action sequences.. Even the godawful Adrenaline: Fear the Rush has a pretty cool scene where the mutant guy mops up a troop of army guys. That also has the most times a charcter has been shot and lived of any movie I know of, with the possible exception of Tragic Hero. Lambert must get hit 15 times in it.
Hong Kong 1941 is passable, but even that has some well directed action scenes. It's pretty sad in a way though, as his action is better then many Hollywood action films, which have 100x the budget. At least they've wised up and started hiring some Chinese guys for kung fu and looking to Hong Kong for a little help with gunfights..
My guess it that Albert can pilot a low-budget film to completion on time and on budget, and that the market he delivers to provides enough profit margin for him to get hired regularly.
And hey! I loved "Nemesis"! As you say, good action scenes and if only they'd developed some of the underlying themes more fully ...
I had the guy. Most of his stuff is not only apalling, but also incredibly boring. This and that he uses to embarass good actors (Rutger Hauer in "Blast", for instance) are the main reasons for my hate. Until now, I have hated most of his stuff, specially "Blast" and "Adrenalin".
But even I have to admit that he's got talent. Anybody seen "Postmorten"? It is a thriller starring Charlie Sheen that relies mostly in its atmosphere to work. And Pyun succeeds.
I've always pronounced it exactly as it's written: "PYOON." I can't remember if I heard it pronounced in a VideoZone segment or anything.
I can't remember if I heard it pronounced in a VideoZone segment or anything.
I think it is in the VideoZone for "Dollman"
BTW those who wish to dwell on the the talents of Mr Pyun must add to their consideration Nemesis II - IV, which to this day I cannot differentiate with any distinction
Fearless Freep wrote:
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> BTW those who wish to dwell on the the talents of Mr Pyun
> must add to their consideration Nemesis II - IV, which to
> this day I cannot differentiate with any distinction
>
They are indeed movies without distinction, in every sense.
>That also has the most times a charcter has been shot and lived of any movie I
>know of
You're forgetting (who can blame you) Highlander The Sickening. Lambert and Connery both get blasted with a few hundred rounds, and being immortals, live.