Posts Tagged ‘Mel Gibson’

With the recent release of the super patriotic Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which was no doubt strategically distributed just in time for the 4^th of July holiday, we thought it would be a good idea to try and figure out which American movie is the most patriotic. Such a question naturally leads into some healthy debating, and the more we thought about it the more difficult we found it to pinpoint which single film is more ardently loyal and proudly American than all the rest. However, with some careful thought we were able to compile the Top 5 most patriotic movies ever.

Before we list the privileged few we must first set up some conditions. For a movie to qualify for our list it had to meet three requirements: it had to portray the United States as a uniform protagonist (if only symbolically) and could not just be a story about one single American, the U.S. had to have been in opposition to some thing or other country in some way (not necessarily in terms of war, but it’s admittedly a running theme), and it had to at some point visually glorify a national symbol (with the most common example being the American flag). With these parameters now set let us get right to it! Read the rest of this entry »

The world may have gone to hell, but at least you'll have something in common with Mel Gibson

With Viggo Mortensen’s The Road being released, IGN.com recently posted a post-apocalypse survival guide based on various films that take place during this futuristic time period.  Though it could have been far more in-depth, what with how many movies that take place in one post-apocalyptic world or another, the guide bases itself on Doomsday, the Mad Max films, and the videogame Fallout 3.

The guide stresses the correct clothes will make surviving A) more possible, and B) far easier. And who’s to argue. The correct shoes and all-weather duds should be picked to suit your environment, and one should have no gripes about stealing such items (that fit) from discarded corpses. When it comes to such basic essentials, be prepared to do what you have to do.

Also, choose your weapon of choice carefully, and do so by knowing well who your enemies are and what they want. “The Zombie Survival Guide” claims that a crowbar is one of the best weapon choices because of its functionality, but when dealing with humans guns and blades are your best bet. If cars are functional in your world, guns are better, but if not then you’d better be ready for some hand-to-hand combat.

The guide also goes over things such as what you should (or should not) eat and the idea that there is no grand destination that exists for you to make a pilgrimage towards. Don’t believe the stories you may hear. So, wandering aimlessly in search for bare essentials seems to be your permanent future.

The concept of this guide is very intriguing, especially for those who enjoy post-apocalyptic movies, but again it could have been far more thorough. In its defense, however, a thorough guide could possibly extend across several books let alone a single feature article. It’s definitely an interesting read.

Quick Thought: I can’t help but be intrigued by one post-apocalyptic trend that the guide leaves out. More than a fair share of such movies (or particularly comics) give the main male character a canine companion, and I didn’t understand why until now. Being on your own is indeed the best option, as you don’t have to worry about other people being a burden or threat to your survival. But being alone can get very depressing after a while, so what better companion to have than one that isn’t likely to kill you, eats less than you, is self-sufficient, and can be trained to help you in fights? An excellent example of such a relationship is between Don Johnson and his dog Blood in the post-apocalyptic A Boy and His Dog.