Burn Hollywood Burn

[z7]

I was wondering what people thought about Hollywoods portrayal of us Brits and its blaring errors in Historical fact in films such as Titanic, U-751, The Patriot, etc...

For those of you that didin't realise;

James Cameron failed to include that whilst the Titanic was sinking there was an American ship 2 miles away with the crew saying "gee, why is that ship setting off fireworks?".
He also potrayed a British crew member shotting himself in fear/cowardice when the event didn't actually take place (he apolagised to the guys family later).

Mel Gibson’s The Patriot demonized British soldiers while depicting atrocities which never took place. (I haven't seen it to comment)

U-751 shows American sailors capturing the Enigma cipher machine in World War II when British sailors performed the feat first. (I refused to see it out of disgust)

And why were all the Imperial commanders in Starwars British? (and recently in Episode 1 - the baddies were Oriental!?)

Hollywood Producers claim artistic license in the name of entertainment but is this an attempt to change historical fact?

[Fluffykins]

What I did find mildy amusing though it didn't bother me... In the Mummy Returns, all London's largest landmarks (Parliament, Tower Bridge and Big Ben) where just sat side by side, when in reality they're pretty far away from eachother aren't they?

Ady

[mmj]

Yes. It is interesting that in the first two star wars movies, the voice of Denis Lawson (Wedge Antilles) was dubbed over later with an American accent because it was felt that his British accent didn't fit very well with the Rebellion, and that the good guys should all have American accents.

They also spelled his name wrong in the credits of the first two, which was also corrected in ROJ.

I am seeing some very high quality material (in terms of movies) coming out of England recently.

A lot of American movies over-emphasise the importance the US have in the great world wars or in ficticious wars, etc, but that is just a natural thing for any country's film industry to do. Films have been promoting their own countries' military or industry since before Hollywood came on the scene. As for the enigma and U571, I believe you are correct z7. I haven't seen the movie either, but not for that reason.

I think that the portrayal of Australia and Australians by the Americans (in some cases) is hilarious! Not only do they fail to realise that our country is at least as large in area as the USA, and a lot larger than all of central Europe combined, but they also do a very bad Australian accent Australia isn't all like far north queensland, you know. Or Uluru. It's like they show people driving away from Sydney to Uluru where in reality it would be a 3 day journey. I really don't mind though. At least they seem to like us, in a quirky way.

[Michel V]

Got propaganda ?

[z7]

Hey MMJ, that Denis Lawson - did you know he is Euan McGregor's (AKA Obi-Wan in EP1) uncle?

Yeah - its funny about Australian accents because some are almost like the 'traditional' British accent - I guess Hollywood has to over emphasis the Australian accent as other countries might not 'get it'?
Funny - my Girlfriends 7 year old cousin keeps saying to me - "are you sure you weren't born in Australia?" (yanks! hehe )

Yeah - our film industry is doing better of late, incedently does anyone know if the British war movies were biased or strayed from fact at all? like Zulu? or one of those classics like The Battle of Britain (was that the film that the original X-wing/Tie-fighter dogfights were based on??? - can't get enough of that StarWars trivia! )

I don't think the Yanks like us Brits at present (not helped by Hollywood) - but they sure helped us out of a fix with that Hitler dude! (as did you Aussi's! - ta!)

[TWTCommish]

Uh, has anything thought that perhaps the Star Wars saga was loosely based on the revolutionary war? After all, the Americans were the rebels, the English were the established power ruling over things, and America is obviously known for it's pioneering in diversity early on -- as you'll notice, almost all of the bad guys are the same, whereas the rebels consist of various humans, alien life forms, ages, sexes, etc.

Oh, and yes, The Patriot surely took some dramatic liberties (which I'm not necessarily approving of), but I don't believe it's far-fetched to assume that some of those horrid events did indeed take place somewhere -- just not in front of a fictional character.

Oh, and as I stated in another post: an accurate movie about the revolutionary war would still be unfavorable to the British army -- just in a different way.

[z7]

But it wouldn't mention your French buddies would it?

[TWTCommish]

Just replied to the other thread -- yeah, a French officer was among the main characters in the movie, and the French show up near the end to help out.

[Saz]

Originally posted by Fluffykins
What I did find mildy amusing though it didn't bother me... In the Mummy Returns, all London's largest landmarks (Parliament, Tower Bridge and Big Ben) where just sat side by side, when in reality they're pretty far away from eachother aren't they?

Ady

Close! Tower Bridge is quite a distance away from the other two, but yes, the Houses of Parliament and 'Big Ben' are right next to eachother.

[z7]

Sorry - haven't seen it - I am just playin'!

The French played a key role though wouldn't you say? (blockading NewYork habour to stop British reserves coming through?)

Rather than 'helping out'???

[TWTCommish]

Honestly? I'm not sure. I'd have to look into it more before passing judgement. The movie's general point, however, there seemed to be that we were gaining the upper hand at that point, despite being an army of rebels/militia. I can't speak for the filmmakers, but that seemed to be what they were saying -- the French helped, and maybe we needed them, maybe not, but the main point was that we were no longer fighting a war we were likely to lose. We were in the thick of things.

[z7]

Yeah - Good on yer! (would be a different world without the good ole' US of A!)
At least you left us with Canada!
And I don't mind about the French, as we whooped their asses when we took Quebec!

[Polymath]

Funny thing about the revolution:
Apparently (i.e. I read somewhere) that the last major battle took place after the war was over. This is because it took several months for news of the British capitulation to cross the Atlantic. The funnier thing about it was we won the battle quite convincingly, and it might have reversed the way things were going. We probably would have lost anyway, but it wasn't anywhere near as cut-and-dried as it seemed when the war was given up as a very bad idea.
I can just imagine the Brit C-in-C saying (in best John Cleese impersonation) "Sorry, we shouldn't have been fighting just now, we're at peace, don't you know? Bit of an old mix-up, what? Shame, I thought we did rather well. Right! Off to India then, might have a bit more luck."

[TWTCommish]

Haha, John Cleese. America and Monty Python: two fabulous things to come out of England.

[creole]

hmmmm...

I realize that some movies are portrayed as "fact" when the put that "based on a true story", but come on people.

It's just entertainment. It's a MOVIE, not real life.

Besides, everyone KNOWs what Aussies sound like. Didn't Paul Hogan prove that?

[mmj]

Hehe, that's right.

Unless it's a period film based on an actual event, such as the world wars, it really doesn't matter. Anyone is entitled to make up a fantasy about anyone

A lot of people said they hated like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" because it wasn't realistic. People can't really fly.

That kind of person shouldn't be allowed to watch movies

Movies are about fantasy.

BTW, Don't get me started on Paul Hogan!!!

[z7]

That's not a knife mate, THIS is a knife! (classic line!)

[mmj]

Originally posted by z7
That's not a knife mate, THIS is a knife! (classic line!)

You call that a knife? This is a knife!

hehe. I guess Mick Dundee was kinda cool...

[creole]

I WAS just kidding about the Paul Hogan remark. From what I understand, most Aussie's think he is pretty disreputable.

[mmj]

Originally posted by creole
I WAS just kidding about the Paul Hogan remark. From what I understand, most Aussie's think he is pretty disreputable.

Yeah I got you [don't get me started... etc]

I understand he does/did a lot of tourism ad campaigns for Australia, and that he has something to do with the fact that Americans are always saying "throw another shrimp on the barbie" to us. Is this correct?

[bman]

are you guys trying to say that movies misrepresent history, and other cultures... i find that hard to believe. Because personally i believe everything i see in movies. So obviously Australians all live out in big empty land, because i didnt see any cities in australia when i watched Crocadile Dundee, and i sure as heck didn't see any cities in Survivor The Australian Outback. So therefore, logic suggests there are no cities in Australia.
oh and of course you guys always say "g'day", and you only drink Fosters.
oh, and all Japanese people can fight, i have seen those Jackie Chan movies.
Oh and people living in the USA can afford a house and a nice car, even if they work somewhere where they make minimum wage.
And if you live in California, you have to say things like, "Whatever" and "uh.. As if"

I learned all this from watching movies and TV..

[TheOriginalH]

All of what you say is true wise one (except of course our Jackie is Chinese). Other than that, I vote you official Sitepoint historian.

(Guv'nor, in that authentic English "Dick Van Dyke" way)

[mmj]

And I learned this about America
- All phone numbers in America start with 555
- All Americans say "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less"
- All unemployed New Yorkers can afford inner city apartments.
- Steam comes from all manholes (well, this one might actually be true, is it?)
- All 16 year olds get a bmw convertible or jeep wrangler from their parents.
- America is the only country able to save the earth from alien invasion.
- The president of America is always a good looking young man, with two daughters.
- The Statue of Liberty is visible in any skyline in any New York office building.
- Americans call a pizza a "pie".
- Every american carries at least one handgun with them in their daily activities.

Hmm. can't think of others

Here's one for England: every scene in England begins with an establishing shot of Big Ben accompanied by "rule britannia"

[bman]

chinese, japanese? whats the difference... i probably learned that from movies too...


mmj.. i have been to newyork once.. i didnt see steam coming from manholes.. but i must be wrong if it was in a movie..

other things i learned from movies...
- all guns carry unlimited ammo
- if someone shoots at you, all you have to do is run and they will miss you, even if the continue to fire at you several times, because obviously human reflexes are faster than a bullet.
- if you put a computer disk into a computer, you can run a program from it, regardless of what kind of computer it is, what OS it has, or what software it has.
- If you jump off a building, i truck with something soft in the back will be driving on the road just below where you jumped from.
- everything always goes according to plans.
- if you are being chased by a crazed killer, run upstairs. If they follow you up, hide in a closet

[mmj]

Oh I just can't resist replying to this... ehehe

http://videouniversity.com/movhumor.htm
http://videouniversity.com/movhumo2.htm

Here are some excerpts:

When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your bedroom will still be clearly visible, just slightly bluish.

If you are blonde and pretty, it is possible to become a world expert on nuclear fission at the age of 22.

When paying for a taxi, don't look at your wallet as you take out a bill - just grab one at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.

Here's an idea I just had:

When a bomb is about to go off and the readout shows that there are 20 seconds left, it will not be necessary to defuse the bomb for at least another 40 seconds. You will have time.