Road House: A Critical Analysis

The KWMdB.

Moderators: sgt.null, dANdeLION

Post Reply
User avatar
finn
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 4349
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 5:03 am
Location: Maintaining an unsociable distance....

Post by finn »

I bought this some years ago because it was going cheap and I liked it, but would not have owned up to that to many I know!

I agree with a good deal of what you've said Cail, I think it could be seen as a template for the Western genre,with a whole lot of films with plots roughly similar to it. (One might even include the Seven Samurai less 6...........or 5 if you count the superb Sam Elliott).

If you wanted to make a movie, road House would serve as the basic template for the plot, for the characters necessary to roll out the the plot, the back stories etc are all there. Just find a scenario and flesh it out accordingly.

Despite all that tho', it is a piece of crap ( :lol: ) in so many ways, almost like you can see the skeleton coming through the flesh. The players are charicatured with more than just a bt of exageration and the escalation of the fued between Dalton and Wesley was OTT, but that said it never pretended to be anything more.


I assume Cail in your opening you mean the best film Swayze ever made?

Also on the fights, don't forget Heston/Peck in Big Country.
"Winston, if you were my husband I'd give you poison" ................ "Madam, if you were my wife I would drink it!"

"Terrorism is war by the poor, and war is terrorism by the rich"

"A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well."

"The opposite of pro-life isn't pro-death. Y'know?"

"What if the Hokey Cokey really is what its all about?"
Top
User avatar
AjK
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 1131
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:39 pm
Location: Standing in the dark. Watching you glow. Lifting a receiver ...

Post by AjK »

Guess what was on the CMT channel on cable last night? Of course I watched 10 minutes of it just on principle...

Bouncer Moron: "What if he calls my mother a whore?"
Dalton: "Is she?"
... nobody I know.
Top
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 25513
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 57 times

Post by Fist and Faith »

"Be nice."
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon

Image
Top
User avatar
finn
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 4349
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 5:03 am
Location: Maintaining an unsociable distance....

Post by finn »

"...until its time not to be nice".
"Winston, if you were my husband I'd give you poison" ................ "Madam, if you were my wife I would drink it!"

"Terrorism is war by the poor, and war is terrorism by the rich"

"A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well."

"The opposite of pro-life isn't pro-death. Y'know?"

"What if the Hokey Cokey really is what its all about?"
Top
User avatar
Zarathustra
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 19847
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:23 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by Zarathustra »

Wow, amazing review, Cail! Reading all that Cracked has honed your sense of humor. Great stuff.

But the movie . . . I've only seen it once. Decades ago. All I remember is Swayze pinning a blond against the wall in his loft, and another guy getting fired for bangin' his "Saturday night special."

Yeah, I was a horny teenager at the time. That's all that I took away from this movie.
Success will be my revenge -- DJT
Top
User avatar
AjK
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 1131
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:39 pm
Location: Standing in the dark. Watching you glow. Lifting a receiver ...

Post by AjK »

Malik23 wrote:All I remember is Swayze pinning a blond against the wall in his loft, and another guy getting fired for bangin' his "Saturday night special."
That second scene is quite cut/edited when it shows on regular TV. Our family had watched it so many times on TV that we had forgotten the scene that Swayze actually "walked in on". My stepdaughter was 14 at the time and immediately ran from the room yelling "My eyes! My eyes!"
... nobody I know.
Top
User avatar
AjK
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 1131
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:39 pm
Location: Standing in the dark. Watching you glow. Lifting a receiver ...

Post by AjK »

AjK wrote:Guess what was on the CMT channel on cable last night?
And again yesterday... :lol:

"Right boot."
... nobody I know.
Top
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 62038
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 25 times
Been thanked: 32 times
Contact:
Contact Avatar

Post by Avatar »

Wow, and all along I've thought I was the only person who liked that movie. (Although it's been years since I've seen it last, which was probably the early 90's.)

--A
Top
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 25513
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 57 times

Post by Fist and Faith »

Montresor wrote:And I'm surprised no-one has yet quoted the immortal line: "I used to fuck guys like you in prison".
Ah, yes! What a movie!
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon

Image
Top
User avatar
Prebe
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 7926
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:19 pm
Location: People's Republic of Denmark

Post by Prebe »

And to think that I was embarassed because Karate Kid is one of my favorites......

Honestly Cail, I've never read a review quite like that. I'm still chuckling. Your obvious love for the movie is mixed with just the right amount of subtle sarcasm to leave the reader still wondering once he finishes the review: Is this indeed a masterpiece of Zeitgeist, or is it the corniest piece of crap ever filmed?

I'll personally opt for the later, but that doesn't take one bit away from the awesome review.
"I would have gone to the thesaurus for a more erudite word."
-Hashi Lebwohl
Top
User avatar
Usivius
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 2767
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 8:09 pm

Post by Usivius »

Well, I don't know Cail well enough to assume that he has tongue firmly planted in cheek when using the term "best film ever" and "Road House" in the same sentence. But I will concede that despite it being red-neck, "walk-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick" bit of fluff, it is one of my guilty pleasures.
(my apologies for quite possibly using the term "red neck" in a negative way... meant more to be descriptive of the style of movie, not whether 'good' or 'bad'.)

"I thought you'de be bigger"
one of the classic quotable lines ever...
;)
~...with a floating smile and a light blue sponge...~
Top
User avatar
Prebe
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 7926
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:19 pm
Location: People's Republic of Denmark

Post by Prebe »

Usuvius: I certainly hope that my post is not taken as a negative criticism of either the review or Cail's general taste in movies. It was certainly meant as compliment. To both.

I think you nailed it fine with the term "Guilty little pleasure". We all have those movies that, despite bomb reviews and towering "utter crap factor" remain at the very top of our own top tens. I mentioned one of mine to disarm any budgeoning argument....
"I would have gone to the thesaurus for a more erudite word."
-Hashi Lebwohl
Top
User avatar
Cail
Lord
Posts: 38981
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2004 1:36 am
Location: Hell of the Upside Down Sinners

Post by Cail »

While there may be a little sarcasm in the original post, I gotta say that it's one of those movies that I'll watch any time it comes on. I'll stay up past my bedtime to watch it.

I think it's just too easy to brush the film off as corny tripe (which, inarguably, it is). There's stuff beneath the surface in this movie, but moreover it captures a certain moment in time. Not just in "real" time, but in film making.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
Top
User avatar
Mr. Broken
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 1308
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:49 pm
Location: The arm pit of hell, Titusville Pa.

Post by Mr. Broken »

" A Polar bear fell on me."
Wide Eyed Stupid
Top
User avatar
Usivius
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 2767
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 8:09 pm

Post by Usivius »

:lol:
~...with a floating smile and a light blue sponge...~
Top
lorin
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 3492
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:28 am
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by lorin »

lorin wrote: and her absolutley HUGE bug eye glasses.( but all doctors are required to wear huge glasses)
Image
The loudest truth I ever heard was the softest sound.
Top
Post Reply

Return to “Flicks”