I'm going to take the bold stance of saying: The Bourne Identity is a very good and entertaining movie. As always, with the sewers overflowing with the Hollwood's celluloid waste, I'm mystified why Mike, Kevin and Bill are Riffing a spy movie that's actually good.
My answer: Because it was on sale at Blockbuster when you buy '300'.
Submitted with love
;)
Because it's there.
Once they decided to riff Lord of the Rings, I knew there would be very little that was sacred. They riffed it, but they didn't hate it, they didn't point out how bad a movie it is. So......I hope that as long as they don't totally rip this movie to shreds, pointing out how terrible it is at every turn, I don't mind the riffing.
But the real reason I think...because The Bourne Ultimatum just came out, and they wanted the tie-in sales.
There is no consensous on what is a good movie. I don't think this one is good. It stars Matt Damon as an action hero. I realise that with three of these movies out now it seems like he's been an action hero the whole time but come on. I thought this was a ridiculous premise when it came out.
For me the movie is quite similar to Casino Royale, in that I'm very surprised that it has the reputation of being "good." It seems like both of them get lots of points for not being ridiculous, one liner spouting action movies, but the fact that the movies are not cheesy doesn't necessarily make them memorable or likable. To me, both movies end, and I sort of wonder what the point was. I'd much rather leave a theater talking about how awesome it was when Bruce Willis rode on the wing of the bomber that was just trying to explode the mack truck he was driving then marvel at the deliberate pacing of the Bourne Identity.
That said, the Bourne Identity isn't necessarily a "bad" movie either. It definitely IS however, one that I feel is vastly improved when Riffed.
The sample says it all for me. Guy awkwardly committing suicide out the window....Julia "Save the Last Dance" Stiles as a CIA agent. It is an OK flick but it was nothing stellar. The worst of all the Bourne movies is the spastic seizure inducing editing of the fight scenes that are so close up you can't tell what the hell is going on. Pull the camera back just a touch and maybe get a real fight choreographer in there...
Because I hate you!
They're riffing a good movie because you touch yourself at night!
Why? WHY!? I spit in the face of your WHY!
...I dunno, I can't remember anything about the movie anyway. Was it good? I know I saw it when it came out, but all I remember is an insane hour long car chase in a Mini Cooper. Maybe I'm thinking of The Itallian Job. :-",
I didn't realize it was so easy to jump out of windows until I saw the sample.
They are riffing it because it longed to be riffed.
Man I love philosophy. 8)
I always liked the Bourne movies, and I like Matt Damon. I think he's a very good and committed actor. Anyone want to argue otherwise, watch Courage Under Fire, then get back to me.
They did it just to piss you off. Yes, you.
This isn't my favorite but I think it's the most logical. I think it's because after several consecutive seasons of doing MST3K they just got sick and tired of having to watch very bad movies dozens of times over to come up with Riffs.
I think sometimes people equate visually entertaining and quality production values with a good film. Not always the case.
What would you rather watch, The Bourne Identity or The Creeping Terror? lol
Regardless, as Shakespeare said, "The Riff Is The Thing". Or something like that...
It has never been the case that a movie had to be unwatchably horrible to be riffed. Even back in the days of MST3K,
they made the decision to riff some movies that have generally been well-received, like Marooned and This Island Earth.
Sure, it's always harder with better movies, but it is never impossible.
I like when they do movies I like. Not only do you have the humor of the riffs, but you also have an enjoyable movie. The mst3ks I liked the least were the ones where the movie was unbearable. I don't care how funny you are, if you're watching a movie that doesn't have an ounce of entertainment value, it's not going to be good.
The thing about the movies that mst3k did is they were good-bad movies (with the exception of a few). They were the kind of movie I would have watched and chuckled over anyway, much like the Bourne Identity or Casino Royale. It's the same in a different way (if that isn't confusing). I think over the top production is just as funny as a low budget UFO, for example. Cheesy dialog is cheesy dialog, even if they movie is good overall. Like you didn't think up a joke about Frodo when you watched LOTR. Much the same way as some of the "badness" of mst3k movies was a result of the time the movies were made in, some of the "badness" of rifftrax movies is a result of movie consumers' tastes today. It's a different kind of badness, but still the same.
I guess I just don't get it.
I will answer with the very bold "It's not a good movie" argument. FIrst off, it's nothing special, It's a movie about a spy(Ohhh, so new and inventive!) who slowly gains parts of his memory back. Ohhhh, like that hasn't been done before. It's not even done well, it features your standard car chases, rooftop chases, conversations on the phone that roughly go like "Please turn yourself in", "No, not until i find out who I am". Matt Damon doesn't have the charm, wit or the smarminess of even the worst james bond(George Lazenby). Where's the villain btw? Where's the actors? Let's face it, Matt Damien isn't a very good actor, and there's not much of a story there either. There was a lot of effort put into this poorly-translated miscarriage of a film. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad movie, it's just mediocre.
I'm a bit interested to see what some of you guys think is a GOOD movie. I mean, Bourne isn't an oscar contender or anything but it's an interesting, entertaining two hours. I know that it's not as... um, good, as Lord of the Rings... but... wait...
Anyway, my answer is similar to the one on the FAQ: Because it is funny. If a film, good or not, lends itself to commentary and is funny, I'll be there. I actually like "Halloween" and "T3" (once again, not oscar worthy...) but I think the riffing on them is funny all the same. If you like a movie, I think you get to enjoy the riffs on a different level than if you'd never seen it or if you hate it.
Just think of all the different riffing styles we've seen on Rifftrax/MST; there's the "Invasion of the Neptune Men"/"Hobgoblins" OH-GOD-THIS-MOVIE-IS-SO-BAD-AND-PAINFUL, there's the "Space Mutiny"/"Star Wars" Where it hurts and they HATE it, there's the "Incredible Melting Man"/"300" goofy, good time, with lots of laughing among the guys, and all the others... I think it's a rare move that CAN'T be riffed.
Quote from: Principal_Skin-trade on August 08, 2007, 07:44:14 PM
I will answer with the very bold "It's not a good movie" argument. FIrst off, it's nothing special, It's a movie about a spy(Ohhh, so new and inventive!) who slowly gains parts of his memory back. Ohhhh, like that hasn't been done before. It's not even done well, it features your standard car chases, rooftop chases, conversations on the phone that roughly go like "Please turn yourself in", "No, not until i find out who I am". Matt Damon doesn't have the charm, wit or the smarminess of even the worst james bond(George Lazenby). Where's the villain btw? Where's the actors? Let's face it, Matt Damien isn't a very good actor, and there's not much of a story there either. There was a lot of effort put into this poorly-translated miscarriage of a film. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad movie, it's just mediocre.
I have to disagree here on a few things:
++Matt Damon is actually a good actor, he is very natural and doesn't put on any pretentious airs in front of a camera like many of his peers.
++The locales in this movie were fabulous - snowy urban Germany is lovely - and the car chases are very well done.
++Lazenby is very underrated, I think he's a great Bond.
I prefer spy stories that don't involve a lot of silly sexy women fluff scenes and smarmy dialogue. Julia Stiles was miscast, in my opinion, only because I don't think someone that young would be involved in such a secret operation.
Not that this makes much sense, but I liked the "European-ness" of this movie - people are lonely, cars are tiny, everyone wears black, and when you make a human connection it's very powerful.
I'm interested in the riff only because there are opportunities for jokes, not that it's a crappy film.
Just think of it as two movies: the
funny version and
the straight version, not the
bad version and the
"improved by riffing" version.
I Would Prefer a Good Movie be Riffed as to.. say.. "The Wicker Man" :gouge:
It just makes it 'That Much Better'!! :D
Combining The Best of Both Worlds: The MST3k World + a Movie You Like = 1 AWSOME FLIC!! :clap:
AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE, CAUSE RVR SAID SO!!! :D :D :D :D :D
I strongly disliked this movie when I first saw it. I'll admit that most of that was due to not liking Matt Damon...which stemmed from me watching "Good Will Hunting" in a theatre some years ago.
Furthermore, I can't believe they remade this movie at least once, possibly twice (I refuse to watch another installment so I don't know much about the third movie). I honestly feel like I can't differentiate between the first two films. Granted, it has been quite a while since watching each of them. But if you were to ask me the plot, I would tell you that people chase Matt Damon around a lot. Sometimes this happens on foot, sometimes this happens in cars. During the course of the second film, Matt Damon might have actually turned the tables and chased a few people himself.
Do people chase Matt Damon in the third movie? Do they do it in boats this time?
Thanks for giving this movie the good spanking that it deserves RiffTrax.
I just figure its like some subsection of rule 34, if it exists it can be riffed.