HIGHLA-L Digest - 23 Jan 2004 to 27 Jan 2004 (#2004-19)
Automatic digest processor (LISTSERV@lists.psu.edu)
Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:00:01 -0500
There are 2 messages totalling 126 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. The Breed
2. Season Two dvd Commentary: Revenge of the Sword
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 09:59:12 -0600
From: Karen Shadwick <karen@jade.zeal.net>
Subject: The Breed
While I was watching EFC this morning, I saw commercials that SciFi is
going to be showing The Breed (with AP) on Saturday night at 9pm ET.
Karen Shadwick
karen@jade.zeal.net
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Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 14:34:03 -0500
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Two dvd Commentary: Revenge of the Sword
COMMENTARY: "If it's a 6 day show, it must be Clay," says Bill Panzer, =
meaning Clay Borris, the director. Because this episode was about a =
movie being made, they decided it would be fun to have their own crew =
members, including Clay Borris, play "themselves" on screen. He said =
while ratings were growing at the time, they decided to stick with the =
"no bad immortal of the week" concept, and no quickenings. But because =
they still wanted sword fights and martial arts, they got Dustin Nguyen, =
who "could really do this stuff." Swordmaster Bob Anderson suggested =
that they have Duncan fight with two swords, it got everyone all =
excited, and it was great to find someone who could really do it =
(meaning martial arts) "almost as well as Adrian could do it."=20
OUTTAKES: The final scene of the episode is between the young martial =
artist/actor and DM, but we hear Gillian Horvath say as AP turns away, =
"Notice that square shape in Adrian's back? That's his wireless mike. It =
will take them two takes to notice." The funny thing about it to me, was =
when the sound person (a woman) rushes up as AP is squatting down to =
start his scene, and she reached down to try to adjust his sweater, I =
swear it looks like she gropes his butt, but that may be just me having =
a dirty mind.=20
EPISODE: The basic plot is that Charlie DeSalvo's former student and =
friend, Jimmy Sang, has become a budding martial arts film star, and =
they are filming a scene from his latest movie in DM's dojo. The =
conflict comes in when Jimmy becomes the object of assassination =
attempts, and it turns out that the story, which Jimmy wrote, is about =
the Tong. The story reveals a little too much and the local Tong boss =
(Robert Ito) is trying to stop the film.=20
Duncan ends up trying to protect the kid, and there are some scenes =
where they come into conflict, kind of a "who's the tough guy around =
here" thang, and of course the 400-year-old guy wins that battle in a =
sword fight where he uses two short swords in a very stylish fight =
scene. After a Buddhist monk who was counseling Jimmy gets shot during =
an attempt on Jimmy's life, Jimmy ends up going after the bad guy who =
uses a funeral home as a front for his gang headquarters. The bad guy =
captures him and sticks him in a coffin moving inexorably towards the =
crematorium oven. Our Intrepid Hero shows up and takes on several bad =
guys while Jimmy punches his way out of the coffin and joins the battle. =
Of course, the good guys win, and DM talks Jimmy into not killing the =
bad guy.=20
OPINIONS: This episode is very so-so, for me. There are some nice =
martial arts moments in it, specifically the sword fight where DM uses =
two blades. The rest is stock, rather tired plot devices, with a B kung =
fu movie played out in all its predictability. Robert Ito (the bad guy) =
also played Hideo Koto, and has a wonderful presence on screen, as did =
the monk who advises Duncan, and who gets killed. The guy who played =
Jimmy did the standard kung fu schtick, which I've always found a little =
silly. We do get to see two nicely done flashback scenes, one to that =
all-important moment when Duncan meets his father on the road for the =
first time since his banishment, and ends up screaming after him, "Where =
do I come from?!", and the other to a early-19th Century street scene.=20
There are lots of action sequences, and DM looks good, but as for plot =
and character development this one didn't have much substance.=20
AP COMMENTARY: This is the other episode that has a complete running =
commentary by AP, and I'm not going to try to get in everything, there =
was too much of it. Just hitting some of the highlights:=20
Since this was an episode with a lot of martial arts and action scenes, =
that was a running topic throughout. He mentions that Phil Akin did know =
some martial arts, but in a very different style, and that he really =
didn't much like it when "Duncan" threw him around. AP chuckled a little =
bit and said, "but it was kinda fun." AP mentioned the "aggressive" vs. =
"passive" position of the swords, and that he had always been very =
adamant about it having to be in the passive position even though it =
sometimes made the stage direction more complicated because a right =
handed swordsman would have to reach to the left to have to remove it.=20
"Did I lose any discussions?" he then rhetorically asked, and talked =
about the Scottish accent and how he believed Duncan would definitely =
have one in the flashbacks. This was said during a scene when DM was =
coming out of the bathroom, clearly after a shower, and had on loose =
pants and no shirt. DM answers a knock on the door and lets in the =
movie's director, who is a beautiful woman. AP said, in a voice that =
sounded a little irritated, that he didn't like to have his shirt off =
unless there was a reason in the scene to have his shirt off. Gave the =
impression that it may have been one "discussion" he lost more than =
once. Anyway, he ended that topic by saying it was "funny" what you =
ended up discussing (a euphemism for argument at that point). You don't =
talk about the story or the character, you talk about hair and make-up =
and ... "ergh" (or some such unhappy noise).=20
AP's personal martial arts teacher, Vernon Rieta (who also appeared as =
one of Kell's bad guys in the movie Endgame), played a henchman in this =
episode and coached him on the double sword technique. In a scene when =
DM was supposed to grab and subdue one of the bad guy's henchmen, AP =
laughed. It was his teacher he was supposedly defeating, and he said he =
wouldn't be able to do that in real life. The long fight scene in the =
crematorium was rehearsed several times, then they did it four times =
through without cuts. It was the first time AP had done a fight scene =
his own teacher, which was very intense. He said the reason it looks cut =
up was because they only had two cameras and sometimes they couldn't get =
the best angle and a lot of the filmed fight got cut. At the end DM is =
gasping and panting, trying to convince Jimmy not to kill the bad guy, =
and AP said it was because he was completely exhausted.=20
There was a lot more, but I'd be transcribing all night. <g>=20
MacGeorge=20
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 23 Jan 2004 to 27 Jan 2004 (#2004-19)
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