{"id":12925,"date":"2016-01-07T15:05:57","date_gmt":"2016-01-07T20:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12925"},"modified":"2016-01-07T15:07:10","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T20:07:10","slug":"leaps-bounds-and-explosions-fast-furious-mad-max-on-a-mission-impossible-gone-rogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12925","title":{"rendered":"Leaps, Bounds, and Explosions: Fast & Furious Mad Max on a Mission Impossible Gone Rogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Furious7\"<\/a>During the Xmas holidays I chose to put editing on pause and catch up on some of the big loud boneheaded action films that graced the silver screen and migrated to home video in the fall. It was also a good excuse to test a modest Logitech 5.1 set-up and feel the love that comes from subwoofer bass booms and choreographed surround sound.<\/p>\n

The ideal environs to enjoy Dolby and DTS kaboom is still a fully detached house or a well insulated apartment, so the volume setting I chose wasn\u2019t insane, although it was very satisfying to hear that Die Hard<\/strong> still manages to impress in spite of being almost 30 years old. Call it a classic example of sonic craftsmanship.<\/p>\n

\"MadMax_FuryRoad\"<\/a>The other reason I wanted to be submerged in surround sound is to get a clear idea of what a good 5.1 mix sounds like, and more importantly, when to apply kabooms so they make a memorable impact instead of smother and ultimately bore.<\/p>\n

Yesterday was the last-Last-LAST Hot Docs deadline, and I submitted BSV 1172<\/strong><\/a> with a mostly complete stereo mix, and within the next 3 weeks the final mix (plus a few quick visual tweaks) will be done, and I can move on to other projects that have sat idling for a while. I also have to edit a new teaser trailer, since the last one<\/a> was posted in 2013, and while it still reflects the look and sound of the film, it\u2019s time for an update.<\/p>\n

\"MissionImpossible_RogueNation\"<\/a>In blowing through a trio of bloated action films \u2013 Universal\u2019s Furious 7<\/a><\/b>, Warner\u2019s Mad Max: Fury Road<\/a><\/b>, and Paramount\u2019s Mission: Impossible \u2013 Rogue Nation<\/a><\/b> – there were obvious differences in the level of fully-fleshed out narratives, coherent plotting, strong dialogue, impactful scores, and varying degrees of human stunts vs. CGI enhancements (or outright replacements, which I\u2019ll argue are crutches oft-used to avoid doing work that\u2019s more convincing and awe-inspiring that video game movements which more often than not distract and disappoint).<\/p>\n

None of the reviewed films are duds, but only one managed to really impress in most areas; another delivered the kaboom but lacked a badly needed script; and a third, being massively stupid, managed to work as eye candy.<\/p>\n

I bring up MichaelBay\u2019s Bad Boys 2<\/b> (2003) in one review because the third actioner owes a lot to Bay\u2019s own dopey sequel to a dopey original. Both film\u2019s are filled with excesses and a fourth (or is it fifth?) act that ultimately overwhelm any acting, writing, and directorial finesse, shifting into action autopilot, going fast in absurd directions until the end credits scroll with a compendium of songs you can buy on iTunes.<\/p>\n

I should have a fresh set of soundtrack reviews this weekend, plus Soviet era propaganda, and a film that helped kill a studio.<\/p>\n

Cheers,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviews of three top action franchises from 2015 – Furious 7 (Universal), Mad Mad: Fury Road (Warner), and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (Paramount) – plus an update on BSV 1172.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[2562,2563,4177,4172,3847],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/MissionImpossible_RogueNation_featured.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3mt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12925"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12925"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12943,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12925\/revisions\/12943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}