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exhausted cliches in films overused worn out ideas

#1 User is offline   princesskadee Icon

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Posted 20 May 2007 - 02:58 AM

I recently saw Spiderman 3, like a lot of other people have already, and I couldnt help but notice a full onslaught of overused cliches being used.

This is not to attack Spiderman 3, as it is a great film.

But many other films I notice also have employed similiar techniques as well.

In Spiderman 3, When Parker dons on his spidey-suit and has just wrapped up a battle with a foe, it never fails, Spidey always seems to have had his face masked ripped where it exposes one of his eyes,.and his mouth.

Hmmm....where have I seen this cliche before?

Oh, I know,..How about the Robocop films. When Murphy has taken on ED-209 in the first film in the stairwell of the Omni Office building after confronting Dick Jones. Yep, we see Robocop with one of his human eyes exposed.

Then of course, in other Robocop scenes, we see Robocop with his helmet off, showing more of the Murphy-side of him.

Where else have I seen this...Oh I know..How about the Terminator films. When Arnie has battled one of his foes, it never fails that his red robotic eye is always exposed alongside his "human" eye.

Lets talk about one of the top overused cliches ever used in action films...the damsel in distress.

Lois Lane,..Mary Jane Watson,..etc etc

Its pretty much the same story...damsel is kidnapped,..is put in dangerous situation,..falls 100 stories from a highrise, only to be swoop up in the arms of her hero.

Where is the psychiatric counseling for these women? Surely, any gal that has endured a trecherous descent from a skyscraper is gonna have some mental issues. We never see any of these chicks check into a clinic though. Its almost like they want to be with a superhero type of guy because they have a perverted sense of adventure.

At least Robocop was courteous enough to contact a rape crisis center for the blonde that had suffered an emotional shock in the first film.

Then there is the tiring scenario of a former best friend who later becomes an adversary of the main protagonist due to some sort of social conflict that has either humiliated or belittled the stature of them, causing them to turn evil to seek revenge.

Then in superhero films, especially the first film..its almost mandatory to go into an indepth scientific explanation of how so-and-so became who they are.

The film is averaging 2 hours, but up to 30 minutes is used to explain everything the director feels we should know about the character(s), as to set the stage for an obvious and eventual sequel, which will more than likely lack the extensive storyline the previous film had, and be chock full of nothing but special-effect shots of what our beloved hero and villian are actually capable of doing with the super powers we had to patiently learn about all within the course of the initial film in the series.

I know my focus has been solely on action hero genre films. I could have focused on other genres, but I would be here all night,.besides I would rather leave that input for you. but, I chose this genre simply to voice an example of overused cliches.

Trust me, exhausted cliches certainly are not limited to action films by any means..they can be found in every film. In some genres the cliches are more subtle and not so blatant.

This post has been edited by princesskadee: 20 May 2007 - 03:02 AM

Peter Brady was by far the ugliest Brady kid on the "Brady Bunch". I mean, they were all pretty ugly, and the fact that the Brady dad wanted to always take the boys out on overnight camping trips just a tad bit too often, gave me the creeps.
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#2 User is offline   Cobnat Icon

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Posted 20 May 2007 - 06:19 AM

I’ve never liked how in action flicks the good guy always says something (supposedly) witty before committing a massacre, for once I just want people to be massacre without words getting involved, is that to much to ask?

Also smoking in films suck because actors who do smoke on set don’t smoke in real life so they don’t know how to fake it.
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#3 User is offline   Lord Aquaman Icon

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Posted 20 May 2007 - 11:43 PM

Can we throw the not so mysterious prophecy cliche into the list?

How does everyone feel about heroes who suffer inhuman bodily damage yet they keep going anyway?

One cliche I hate: seeing men kicked in the groin for a cheap laugh.

This post has been edited by Lord Aquaman: 20 May 2007 - 11:47 PM

I am the Fisher King.

I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an obi-wan to go.
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#4 User is offline   Sailor Abbey Icon

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Posted 21 May 2007 - 09:07 AM

I tired cliché is always having the good guy win. I am never disappointed when I watch a movie where the bad guys win in the end. Zombie movies are great for that - although, that’s probably why I have horrifying nightmares about zombies all the time and wake up screaming and crying.

Good times, good times.
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#5 User is offline   i don't like sand Icon

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Posted 21 May 2007 - 10:38 AM

Spiderman's eyes/mouth being exposed, while done all the time, is necessary. Spiderman's mask covers his face completely. For a film, you have to have the eyes or mouth exposed at some point of the battle, to get the audience to connect to him better. The only options are to rip the mask or to take the mask off (even if it strectches credibility as to why Peter would take the mask off); there's no way around it.
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#6 User is offline   civilian_number_two Icon

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Posted 22 May 2007 - 02:44 AM

Spiderman spends the majority of the films as Peter Parker, so we have plenty of time to connect to him. The face mask was never an issue in 40 years of comic books; I don't think it's necessary to rip his mask off to humanise him. V in V FOR VENDETTA never removes his mask. But yeah; in three Spidey films now it's happened three times.

I would like to add to the list of idiotic removals of headgear the Stallone bad dream JUDGE DREDD. He wears his helmet for probably 20 minutes before removing it and never putting it on again.
"I had a lot of different ideas. At one point, Luke, Leia and Ben were all going to be little people, and we did screen tests to see if we could do that." -George Lucas, in STAR WARS: the Annotated Screenplays (p197).
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#7 User is offline   optimus_prime Icon

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Posted 22 May 2007 - 06:40 AM

QUOTE (i don't like sand @ May 21 2007, 10:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Spiderman's eyes/mouth being exposed, while done all the time, is necessary. Spiderman's mask covers his face completely. For a film, you have to have the eyes or mouth exposed at some point of the battle, to get the audience to connect to him better. The only options are to rip the mask or to take the mask off (even if it strectches credibility as to why Peter would take the mask off); there's no way around it.


by your logic, would this explain the silly revealing thats done with Venom's face as well, so that the audience can be reminded that he is/was in fact, Eddie Brock.

Oh damn...you know what,..Its a good thing Raimi decided to do that, because you see,..I actually missed the initial part of Spiderman 3 when Eddie actually became Venom the first time...I had to make a popcorn run for my girlfriend,.and if Raimi didnt keep showing the audience that Venom was Brock, I would have never figured it out for myself. (yeah, Im being sarcastic)

QUOTE (Sailor Abbey @ May 21 2007, 09:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I tired cliché is always having the good guy win. I am never disappointed when I watch a movie where the bad guys win in the end. Zombie movies are great for that - although, that’s probably why I have horrifying nightmares about zombies all the time and wake up screaming and crying.

Good times, good times.


Thats why I enjoy the film "The color of money", because the good guy didnt win.


QUOTE (Cobnat @ May 20 2007, 06:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I’ve never liked how in action flicks the good guy always says something (supposedly) witty before committing a massacre, for once I just want people to be massacre without words getting involved, is that to much to ask?

Also smoking in films suck because actors who do smoke on set don’t smoke in real life so they don’t know how to fake it.


for some odd reason, Bruce Willis saying "yippee yie-yea motherfucker" comes to mind....and so does arnie saying "hasta la vista, baby"
"freedom is the right of all sentient beings"
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#8 User is offline   Despondent Icon

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Posted 22 May 2007 - 10:05 AM

"Let's get outta here."
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#9 User is offline   Slade Icon

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Posted 22 May 2007 - 10:42 AM

You can't possibly comprehend how difficult it is to resist spewing forth a million horrible silly movie lines. Arnie has so many. tongue.gif
This space for rent. Inquire within.
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#10 User is offline   TruJade Icon

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Posted 22 May 2007 - 12:01 PM

I hate when the bad guy doesn't die at the end
or when the bad guy does die
for Spidey this works.

Especailly in the 3rd
i hope this makes sense.....

What in the world were they thinking
Sandman just floats away and Venom really?!?!?!??!
if you ask me the wrong guy was killed

oh and i hate how you think the
bad guy is dead but they just keep coming back
it's like finish the job or give up entirely

Duct tape is like the force....

There's a lightside, a darkside

and it holds everything together


There are too many people in the world...We need another plague -Dwight K. Shrute [The Office]
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#11 User is offline   optimus_prime Icon

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Posted 22 May 2007 - 01:59 PM

QUOTE (Despondent @ May 22 2007, 10:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
"Let's get outta here."


"This thing is gonna blow!"

"WE have NO time"

"It seemed like only yesterday when I met you"

"Gimme a call sometime..heres my number"

QUOTE (TruJade @ May 22 2007, 12:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
oh and i hate how you think the
bad guy is dead but they just keep coming back
it's like finish the job or give up entirely


But this was executed so perfectly and good in Terminator 2.
"freedom is the right of all sentient beings"
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#12 User is offline   TruJade Icon

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Posted 23 May 2007 - 04:07 PM

Sorry i've never seen any of
the terminator movies.

So i'll just have to take your word
for it whether your jokin or not

though i don't think you are....
anyway to add to the list of

unforgetable-forgetable love phrases

Don't ever let me go
and (crying) Why didn't she/he love me
yaaaawn

oh and i hate when phrases in movies
are used because they were made famous by other movies

example "I'll be back"
or "show me the money"

Duct tape is like the force....

There's a lightside, a darkside

and it holds everything together


There are too many people in the world...We need another plague -Dwight K. Shrute [The Office]
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#13 User is offline   Jordan Icon

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Posted 24 May 2007 - 11:29 AM

I don't like it when the film tries to justify evil with poor childhoods and I also hate moral messages.

Some of the best films ever were done in the 1970s. These films felt like slices of life rather than a life lesson.
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#14 User is offline   Despondent Icon

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Posted 24 May 2007 - 12:36 PM

How about the Michael Moore route where you just pick some American industry and trash it, to the glee of Cannes and the world press? Tired of that? I'm exhausted.
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#15 User is offline   civilian_number_two Icon

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Posted 24 May 2007 - 02:20 PM

That's not really a cliche ... that's a campaign.

But on topic, how about those psycho terrorists who kill out of support for our troops, or for lost American values? I think that business got started in earnest with THE ROCK, and I don't think there's been a white terrorist yet who wasn't just like Tim McVeigh.
"I had a lot of different ideas. At one point, Luke, Leia and Ben were all going to be little people, and we did screen tests to see if we could do that." -George Lucas, in STAR WARS: the Annotated Screenplays (p197).
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