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Old February 5 2013, 11:33 PM   #169
Rear Admiral
Location: In the bleachers
Re: I hope for more traditional space battles

Ovation wrote: View Post
The ST09 battles are part of a larger trend towards a kind of stylized realism (I know it sounds contradictory, but it is Hollywood). People complained about the fight scenes in Batman Begins, the Bourne movies and in a bunch of other films. It goes back as far as Saving Pvt. Ryan, where people complained they had trouble following the action during the landing at Normandy (unfavourably comparing it to The Longest Day).

The fact that such fights and battle scenes are difficult to follow is precisely the point. Real life conflict is chaotic and disorienting. It wasn't until the past two decades or so that filmmaking technology could convey that sense of chaos. Fights and battles were highly staged because that's what technology allowed for. And like all changes in aesthetic standards, there will always be resistance from some and admiration from others. Staged battles and fights were once a requirement. Now they are a stylistic choice. I expect they will return (some filmmakers never abandoned them) in greater numbers but the more frenetic style is here to stay.
It depends on what you're going for with the audience, too.

Tension: In TWOK, I'd say the emphasis was on ramping up the tension for the coming battle in the nebula as much as it was about the battle itself, which wasn't really that long.

Action: The "Star Wars" battles were all about providing the audience a lot of fast action and thrills. But in my opinion, they were comic-bookish, glossing over the massive loss of life one was witnessing. They were too clean. Hundreds or thousands of people just died in front of the audience, and the only real reaction or feeling would be, "Kewl battle."

Horror: The attack on the Kelvin was frenetic, but the scene was also humanized, reminding the audience time and again that this was ship full of people going through a horriffic event and meeting horrible ends. The shot of the woman being sucked out of the ship was one of the most poignant moments of the movie. You were meant to feel lucky to be alive after it was over, and sad for those who didn't make it.
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