Reading over Wiki about the 1st movie and the director himself, remembering some of the Behind the scenes stuff too.. I mean, it's clear he has a passion. It's clear he wanted the Alien to be as less CGI as possible, the Queen herself was very akin to the original Aliens in terms of lack of CGI and full on in camera! And so forth.. I hate this director for most of his movies, including the Resident evil movies.. But it seems he's clearly a fan of the source material of whatever he films, but there seems to be always mis-casts, lack of budget or experience or lack of talented crew.
I don't agree simply because of what he did with the Resident Evil franchise. All he did there was show his disdain for the fanbase and used the license to do his own thing largely unrelated to the games as a guaranteed way to make money. All six films were utter travesties yet all barring the last one were a financial success. Without the RE name attached he would never have got anywhere near six films.
Also didn't like his take on the Predator. Too big, too bulky. Needlessly changing Pred vision and sound effects etc.
He is not the best director but he is not the worst either and he at least does have passion for some of his projects. Quite a few of his films have been fairly decent, at least with audiences if not critics such as Event Horizon, Mortal Kombat, Death Race.
And if I am honest, AVP could have been so much worse, at least there were ome interesting elements there, it certainly is a film that could be done better but its not the worst film I have seen nor the worst in the franchise.
Also checking wikipedia myself, there is this little tidbit "Anderson has repeatedly stated he considers himself a "populist filmmaker", who only cares about whether his movies entertain the audience and make it cheer in the cinema, rather than their reception by professional critics."
Don't like him. Don't like what he did to Resident Evil and AVP. Some of his ideas almost feel like they were done to piss off the fans on purpose.
Don't really care for him as a director. The resident evil movies were as far beyond awful as you can go. AVP could've been a lot worse than it was though. I'd rather he not come near the franchise again, but I won't say he made the absolute worst AVP film he could have. It was bad, but judging by his other movies, it could've been so much worse.
Passion only takes you so far. Most of his films are pretty superficial. While he can get the most out of low budgets, there's something about a lot of his movies that looks low budget. Not cheap as such, but also not expensive either. Despite this I still love Death Race and Event Horizon. And if I was a producer I would've hired him for an AvP flick based on EH.
The first half of EH sets him up as a pretty good contender for an AvP movie.
I love Resident Evil, it's a guilty pleasure and a film I can watch any time. It doesn't take itself seriously, moves quickly and has a sweet soundtrack. Again, I think I wouldn't have even minded if he'd done AvP with that sort of tone. Slick and stylish but still bloody and grungy looking. Not the ideal film, but more appropriate than what we got.
The thing I appreciate the most is that he's one of the few people who tried to give AvP some serious scope. I don't think the Von Daaniken stuff was the best thing to pin it on, but he came up with some great set pieces and a pretty unique setting. It's just a pity he wasn't a better writer or director to make something truly remarkable out of it.
EH was pretty good.
Quote from: SiL on Sep 02, 2018, 04:18:37 AM
The first half of EH sets him up as a pretty good contender for an AvP movie.
It's been ages since I saw EH but yeah, he'd be very easy to consider as someone to direct AvP or even Alien on the strength of Event Horizon. Shame it didn't pan out completely.
QuoteThe thing I appreciate the most is that he's one of the few people who tried to give AvP some serious scope. I don't think the Von Daaniken stuff was the best thing to pin it on, but he came up with some great set pieces and a pretty unique setting. It's just a pity he wasn't a better writer or director to make something truly remarkable out of it.
Indeed. There's a lot of good to be found in AvP - I especially like that shifting pyramid - but it just didn't all come together.
In regards to his other stuff I've honestly not seen much of it. I remember watching Resident Evil when he was announced as AvP's director and enjoying it well enough but I don't really care for RE or zombie stuff so I never bothered with any more. I don't think I ever saw Death Race either.
But I still enjoy Event Horizon.
I recommend watching Death Race, it is highly entertaining and while it is less colorful and camp than the original Death Race, it is more realistic and believable. I mean in DR2000 (the original) humanity has seriously dropped to a whole new low., during races the public do things to allow the drivers to gain points, one example is nurses from a nursing home wheel out old people into the road for the drivers to run over and gain points. If I remember correctly, even children are allowed to be run over I think.
The Death Race that Paul Directed is slightly more optimistic, yes, humanity has still fallen on hard times and jobs are running out and death sports are on the rise but only prisoners take part in death sports and no innocent people are killed or at least they are not supposed to anyway, wrongful imprisonment such as innocent folk being convicted probably still happened but Death Racing is voluntary, so prisoners are not forced to do it.
I remember watching some of the behind-the-scenes stuff on the DVD. He is indeed passionate but he's an example of what happens when you hand someone the keys to the car that's a little too keen and let them do whatever they want.
He thought he was writing Alien history so he went bananas with it.
Quote from: ChanceVance on Sep 03, 2018, 12:29:33 PM
I remember watching some of the behind-the-scenes stuff on the DVD. He is indeed passionate but he's an example of what happens when you hand someone the keys to the car that's a little too keen and let them do whatever they want.
He thought he was writing Alien history so he went bananas with it.
I love his work. I was reading above about his disdain for the Resident Evil fanbase, but from watching the special features, it seems the that CamCom (fact check - it was cap com, right!) were entirely supportive of his vision in that the Alice idea was an entry level concept... you don't have the baggage and history of all those games. I've never played Resident Evil, but I love the movies.
On ChanceVance's point - I'm not sure that AvP was the movie he wanted to make. I've always thought he had bigger ideas and, if you look at his pitch documents, I reckon the movie would have been quite different if he HAD been given free reign and a bigger budget.
As it was, he made a great looking movie in Prague warehouse for about 50p. And it did what it said on the tin... I get that we'd have preferred something based on the game or the comic, but as I say... I'm sure that he would have wanted to do something much wider in scope than what we got.
He IS a populist film-maker and I love that - I've not seen a film of his that I haven't enjoyed (funny enough, as big fan or Romans and gladiators and all that, I thought "Pompeii" was one of his weaker efforts).
The Resident Evil films make me physically ill, and I've never played a single entry.
It wasn't Capcom that liked his vision, it was screen gems and constantin film. Capcom were just advisors with Kobayashi as an executive producer, a title that means very little. Paul Anderson had complete creative control over the direction of the films. I just find it odd that his entire vision is built around a character that has never existed in the game lore.
Anderson and Jovovich have lobbied hard for Capcom to put Alice in the games and they have always resisted.
Jeremy Bolt and Jovovich have also suggested RE5 was only set in the desert because of RE Extinction, which was a lie. RE5 was in preproduction first and the reason for the African setting was a key plot point at the time that was first established in 1996.
That must have been it, I was trying to recall the special features.
As far as Alice goes, I'm pretty sure it was to provide an entry level character that could allow people with no idea about the games access to the movie. Which, if you think about it, doesn't hold much water as if the character was "Jill" or "Alice" - what difference does it make if you played the game or not.
But I seem to remember that being the rationale from the RE1 commentary.
Can you extrapolate on the desert point below, I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at (other than it was a lie?)
Event Horizon is one of my favourite movies. I think it's fantastic. Mortal Kombat is arguably the best video game adaptation. The first Resident Evil worked well at the time, and could have been a prequel to the video games, while the second is almost an adaptation of RE3 but with Alice shoehorned in.
The rest of the RE movies are schlocky crap. AVP is dumb, buy entertaining, and a lot better than it could have been, but a lot worse than it should have been.
Paul WS Anderson is a guy who has so much potential as a director, but needs producers to reign him in. He also needs to stop casting his wife in everything.
I`d give him a chance to make AvP3. Set it in the future, star it with Alien Queen being extracted from depths of southern Atlantic Ocean and take it off world into EH like setting.
Or better yet, a new AVP that is in no way connected to the previous films. :)
Indeed.
Quote from: Master on Sep 06, 2018, 12:37:28 PM
I`d give him a chance to make AvP3. Set it in the future, star it with Alien Queen being extracted from depths of southern Atlantic Ocean and take it off world into EH like setting.
Brilliant premise, I like it. I LIKE IT!
Quote from: Stitch on Sep 06, 2018, 11:44:21 AM
He also needs to stop casting his wife in everything.
But he makes movies that she's perfect for... maybe he does that on purpose!
Milla Jovovich deserves better, such as TFE.
Quote from: The Old One on Sep 06, 2018, 01:15:58 PM
Milla Jovovich deserves better, such as TFE.
Just give her the Multipass
Quote from: Samhain13 on Sep 01, 2018, 06:39:44 PM
Don't like him. Don't like what he did to Resident Evil and AVP. Some of his ideas almost feel like they were done to piss off the fans on purpose.
He just seems so focused on wow factor...
I consider Anderson the B-movie king. I've enjoyed almost everything he's ever done. Shopping was an interesting first film. Mortal kombat was awesome, event horizon is his best movie, resident evil is a great horror movie, resident evil game fanboys be damned. AVP is the most underrated film in both series. Three musketeers was just plain fun as was death race.
The only film of his I hate was Resident evil the final chapter. It's like he made that film to destroy his own series. So many contradictions and plot holes.
With that said, I'd love to see him make AVP3. It's not like this series deserves anyone better at this point.
I am highly frustrated with PAUL W S ANDERSON as he just keeps dropping the ball with his movies and that includes very serious incidents of a stunt man death and lack of on-set safety which I'll get to.
He is a mishmash of channelling Ridley Scott, James Cameron, George Miller......along with Michael Bay. Ideal for Aliens Vs Predator 3 if you ask me. In a way that is is why I like him so much and I think Paul WS Anderson has the potential to be a competent Director from a technical and entertaining standpoint, but his pacing and quality is so inconsistent and uneven within his movies.
His last attempt at a near $100 Million budget was "POMPEII" (2014) which only grossed $117 Million worldwide. Thematically it was a natural disaster, romance, action historical (inaccurate) theme mashup of Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" meets James Cameron "Titanic" keeping in-line with channeling his influences. You might recall he was previously put off spending more than $100 Million due to his disasterous "SOLIDER" movie in 1999 which went straight to video on a $60 Million budget (In 1999 no less) and only got back $16 Million.
Then there was the double whammy of a tragic stunman crushed to death by a humvee in December 2015 while filming on Resident Evil- The Final Chapter, followed by a maiming of a stuntwoman crippled by a camera rig. All done on Paul W S Anderson's watch.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3372951/Crew-member-Resident-Evil-crushed-death-Hummer-falls-days-stuntwoman-reveals-arm-amputated-following-accident-set.html
You have to remember Paul W S Anderson had Walter Hill and David Giller producing AVP (2004) and with practical effects from Tom Woodruff Jnr and minitures from those worked on ALIENS, yes AVP was still a creaky, uneven mess.
But you also have to look at the making of ALIEN-3 to see that while Paul W S Anderson is not perfect, won't ever be perfect he gets movies made on budget and on time and gets box office results* (*at least with Resident Evil).
He should have a fan forum where people pick out the best and worst parts of his movies (CGI shots, where the action worked, where it did not work, set-design) and go ahead and get greenlit for AVP3 providing it is rated R, set in the future, has written characters and a decent concept.
Quote from: Master on Sep 06, 2018, 12:37:28 PM
I`d give him a chance to make AvP3. Set it in the future, star it with Alien Queen being extracted from depths of southern Atlantic Ocean and take it off world into EH like setting.
Hahha. I actually had this same idea, where the Queen freed herself but got encased in ice preserving her. Some near future (but not quite far into future) Weyland explorers knowingly defrost her while chained up in some Atmosphere Processor in Antarctica (maybe to reverse Global warming and to hide her prescence).
All hell breaks loose and we have an AVP3 set in Antarctica or as you say have her extradited to space or an off-world ice moon.
Quote from: AVP-CAPCOM on Sep 22, 2018, 07:02:11 AM
his disasterous "SOLIDER" movie in 1999 which went straight to video on a $60 Million budget
Not true. I saw it in the cinema.
Quote from: Uncanny Antman on Sep 22, 2018, 07:23:53 AM
Quote from: AVP-CAPCOM on Sep 22, 2018, 07:02:11 AM
his disasterous "SOLIDER" movie in 1999 which went straight to video on a $60 Million budget
Not true. I saw it in the cinema.
I stand corrected. An online blogger once said the movie was a direct-to-video disaster.
Back inNovember 1998 I'd never heard of the movie and it wasn't until a full year later in 1999 it was in a "Choices- video store" film rentals magazine that I was surprised having supported Kurt Russell and Paul W S Anderson movies before.
He does some great cinematography. AvP has quite a lot of cool-looking shots in it. I think he should be behind the camera but not running the show.
Have a listen to the Event Horizon commentary when he complains about some of the shitty camera setups.
Quote from: SM on Sep 25, 2018, 02:27:09 AM
Have a listen to the Event Horizon commentary when he complains about some of the shitty camera setups.
Example?
One plus for him: he knows how to make low budget look like twice the budget.
I remember seeing the last Bond which is said to be around 250 milion. And I just asked myself where it all went.
I can't remember exactly an example - I think there was one when Starck and Peters are being bored on the bridge and the 'hell' video kicks in. Anderson complains to Bolt about the boring camera angle they used. I think it was due to time constraints while they were shooting, but he mentions it a couple of times.
As for making films look expensive - yes and no. I find a lot of his films have an unreal quality about them. Not necessarily cheap, but a bit fake. The Three Musketeers, Resident Evil, even AvP - they all looked a bit sterile.
I think that he is a director with a lot of potential if he does not write the script as Event Horizon demostrated, visually he does good stuff, i hope he makes a truly good movie one day.