Seagal frustrates me

F

Funksonic7

New Member
Steven Seagal has the brains & the ability even at his age to be a solid actor. He seems to recognize the importance & value of exposing yourself to different challenges in his life except for 1 thing, his movie roles. He basically has played the same character within the same type of movie since day 1. Not only that, the only time there was an attempt to show depth in 1 of his characters was his role in Out for Justice where he actually not only spoke more than 10 sentences but also projected his voice naturally. As far as his martial arts choreography, why is he or his production people trying to jump on the "crouching tiger" / "matrix" bandwagon & going as far as to use body doubles now during these sequences. What happened to the realistcally street & the pure Aikido approach that was so impactful & unique (for example, the bar fight/pool table scene in Out for Justice) or the shopping store fight scene found in Marked for Death????
He really needs to get back to the basics of Aikido in his movies & atthe same time challenge himself to take on different types of roles like " the bad guy" or more drama based &/or comedy based movie roles. Also, start surrounding yourself with higher calibur actors even if it means not having the leading role. He has only done this once in his career as far as I'm concerned. That is, with Tommy Lee Jones & Gary Busey & maybe Kurt Russell. Take on projects that would at least start to change our 1 dimensional perceptions of him. Take notes from Deniro who refuses to do anymore mob-like movies just in time before he was to be typecasted into that role for the rest of his career. If Seagal is actually going to be the bad guy in Rush Hour 3, this would be a step in the right direction. But I have to see it to believe because so far no one has been able to confirm this.
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Funksonic7 said:
Steven Seagal has the brains & the ability even at his age to be a solid actor. He seems to recognize the importance & value of exposing yourself to different challenges in his life except for 1 thing, his movie roles. He basically has played the same character within the same type of movie since day 1. Not only that, the only time there was an attempt to show depth in 1 of his characters was his role in Out for Justice where he actually not only spoke more than 10 sentences but also projected his voice naturally. As far as his martial arts choreography, why is he or his production people trying to jump on the "crouching tiger" / "matrix" bandwagon & going as far as to use body doubles now during these sequences. What happened to the realistcally street & the pure Aikido approach that was so impactful & unique (for example, the bar fight/pool table scene in Out for Justice) or the shopping store fight scene found in Marked for Death????
He really needs to get back to the basics of Aikido in his movies & atthe same time challenge himself to take on different types of roles like " the bad guy" or more drama based &/or comedy based movie roles. Also, start surrounding yourself with higher calibur actors even if it means not having the leading role. He has only done this once in his career as far as I'm concerned. That is, with Tommy Lee Jones & Gary Busey & maybe Kurt Russell. Take on projects that would at least start to change our 1 dimensional perceptions of him. Take notes from Deniro who refuses to do anymore mob-like movies just in time before he was to be typecasted into that role for the rest of his career. If Seagal is actually going to be the bad guy in Rush Hour 3, this would be a step in the right direction. But I have to see it to believe because so far no one has been able to confirm this.
Click to expand...

Yes we all feel the same way that you do. But I believe Seagal is improving, in Into The Sun his fight scenes are back to using his master Aikido techniques, his weight and appearance is improving, just give him some time. Seagal will not let us down.
 
Jace

Jace

Incarnation complete
Did Seagal struggle with his fight scenes in EW particularly the tazer fight and sumo negros.It seemed as if the aikido philosophy wasn't happening and they made him lose the pony tail.
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Jace said:
Did Seagal struggle with his fight scenes in EW particularly the tazer fight and sumo negros.It seemed as if the aikido philosophy wasn't happening and they made him lose the pony tail.
Click to expand...


The shocking thing with Exit Wounds for me was, the movie was awesome! The plot rocked, but this was the first time I was dissapointed with SEAGAL'S fight scenes, which in my opinion marked the first period of Seagal's declince, yes Exit Wounds.

This was the first time Seagal did not coreograph his fight scenes and used wires, that was a downfall. Other than that if Seagal had those pure hard Aikido fight scenes, Exit Wounds would be on my Top 5 Seagal movie list.
 
F

Funksonic7

New Member
He should struggle in the realistic sense to a certain extent with his fight scenes. But I would have to say that his fight scene in EW showed a complete disregard for the true ways & essence of Aikido. Their was no flow. Seagal needs to reconnect with Moreihei Ueshiba.
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Funksonic7 said:
He should struggle in the realistic sense to a certain extent with his fight scenes. But I would have to say that his fight scene in EW showed a complete disregard for the true ways & essence of Aikido. Their was no flow. Seagal needs to reconnect with Moreihei Ueshiba.
Click to expand...


Yes I totally agree. Remember his Aikido fight scenes is what defined Seagal. While many of his fans were all wowing Exit Wounds, it was the first hint that Seagal was slipping when he didn't coreograph his fight scenes nonetheless even use Aikido in the movie.
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Funksonic7 said:
Fire Down Below was (to me) his last movie of any quality.
Click to expand...


I would have to agree, since than we have not scene any fight scenes that showcased Seagal's amazing Aikido ability.

But as a movie as a whole I thought Exit Wounds was fairley good.
 
Jace

Jace

Incarnation complete
Yes it is blatantly obvious aye dragon. Seagal just can't seem to break new ground he tries new stuff but he is master of his own game.Dare I say he is a tad gullible bowing to directors whims or why else would he do something late in his career that reeks of Hollywood.He knows his formula and he knows what works.God this thread is so appropriate.
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Jace said:
Yes it is blatantly obvious aye dragon. Seagal just can't seem to break new ground he tries new stuff but he is master of his own game.Dare I say he is a tad gullible bowing to directors whims or why else would he do something late in his career that reeks of Hollywood.He knows his formula and he knows what works.God this thread is so appropriate.
Click to expand...


Ye you are right, I guess it was for the money. No offense but Joel Silver has done more damage to Seagal's and Jet's carrer than he thinks. So Joel made Seagal and Jet a couple extra bucks in their pocket but the way he made Seagal and Jet using wires in their fights, that is so uncessary because both are Martial Art Masters that don't need to fly or wires.
 
F

Funksonic7

New Member
Another thing I forgot to mention. Some of the choreography in his more recent movies have also been poor in terms of lighting & camera angle. For example at the end of Ticker was horrible!!! why did they even bother with that fight scene.
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Funksonic7 said:
Another thing I forgot to mention. Some of the choreography in his more recent movies have also been poor in terms of lighting & camera angle. For example at the end of Ticker was horrible!!! why did they even bother with that fight scene.
Click to expand...


Yes you are right.

But did you see the latest Into The Sun fight scene?
 
F

Funksonic7

New Member
Why haven't we seen Jet Li & Seagal in a movie together? They both are true martial artists & the best at what they do.
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Funksonic7 said:
Why haven't we seen Jet Li & Seagal in a movie together? They both are true martial artists & the best at what they do.
Click to expand...

Same reason we don't see Prince and Michael Jackson do a song together.. :D
 
F

Funksonic7

New Member
That is not a good example. There is no comparison to Prince & Michael Jackson. MJ could never ever hold a candle to Prince. It's a travesty that people even dared to compare thhe 2. Seagal & JetLi on the other hand, they are different but both the best at what they do
 
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Littledragon

Littledragon

Above The Law
Funksonic7 said:
That is not a good example. There is no comparison to Prince & Michael Jackson. MJ could never ever hold a candle to Prince. It's a travesty that people even dared to compare thhe 2. Seagal & JetLi on the other hand, they are different but both the best at what they do
Click to expand...


You are right though, Prince is such a genious and is in another league than Michael Jackson's in terms of musical abilities. ;)

Michael Jackson is the one who wanted Prince to be in his BAD video but Prince declined saying, to MJ , "Now who is gon' be saying your butt is mine to whome? Cuz I sure aint saying that."-Prince

LOL
 
S

steve

New Member
Seagal

In reply to one of the original points, the last thing in the world I want to see is Seagal try a totally different genre. It never works (Arnie's and Sly's comedies are all totally horrific) and confuses the fans who have supported the star all these years. In the case of Stallone, when he really went all out to make a totally different film in the form of Copland, it seemed to destroy his career forever. Hollywood simply doesn't know what to do with Sly anymore which is a great shame as I love his action movies.

Seagal is a tremendously good ACTION star and has a brilliant ACTION movie presence. He's totally convincing as an action star, so if it ain't broke don't fix it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top