We Don't Need Another Hero

2007-09-14 - 12:40 p.m.

Was up late and saw that TBS was running The Fifth Element. Or rather, they claimed to be running it. Whole chunks of the film were cut that made other scenes confusing.

Fer instance...

After the Mangalores are shown the ZF1 weapon (and only the "bullets" portion of that was shown - none of the other weapons) and are left with just one crate, there's an intercut scene where Zorg (Gary Oldman) talks to his assistant Right Arm about how the Mangalores never asked about the "little red button". At that moment, a Mangalore sees said button and presses - detonating the self-destruct. After the explosion, Zorg tells Right Arm to "bring me the priest".

Okay. That whole bit was cut, so we don't know WHY the Mangalores are out to revenge themselves on Zorg later in the movie, or why Right Arm suddenly shows up with some goons to grab up Cornelius (Ian Holm)!

Another cut: the police are looking for Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) because of a uranium smuggling scare. They wind up taking Korben's neighbor because Korben's nametag is on the neighbor's door...and the neighbor mouths off to the cops (Cop: "Could you put your hands in the yellow circles, please?" Neighbor [whilst flipping off the cop]: "SMOKE YOUUUUUUU!!" Korben [in his own apartment]: "Wrong answer."). The Mangalores kill the cops and take the neighbor. Later on, two of the shape-shifting Mangalores impersonate the neighbor (whom they think is Korben) to try to get on the flight to Fhlosten Paradise.

Fine and dandy. But they cut the attempt to get on the flight. So we wonder WHY the Mangalores killed the cops and snatched the neighbor!

Actually, now that I think on it - the Managlores are unsuccessful in their attempt to board, so they start a diversion by shooting up the airport. Maybe that's why that part was cut. But they left the scene of Zorg detonating a bomb in the airport by remote control!

The DVD is really inexpensive, folks. Go buy it. It makes more sense when you know what's going on.

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The restaurant industry sometimes is a cutthroat one. You'd think any kind of good publicity - especially if it's free - would be welcomed.

Check this out: a restaurant worker in Fort Lauderdale saves a woman from being carjacked by a guy with a knife. The rescuer's boss gets "belligerent" about the attention and fires him.

The rescuer had a prison record. He's trying to get back on the straight path. Here he does the right thing, and his boss doesn't like the attention? Come on - it's great advertising. "These are the kind of people who work for us."

Maybe carjackings are common in that area and the owner doesn't want to draw attention to it. Fine - he's now drawing attention to his own behavior...and you know what negative publicity can do.

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And now, today's global warming moment of Zen.

Those who preach at the Church Of Global Warming (I still need to get this shirt) continue to ignore scientific debunking.

The evidence is mounting up that global warming is a fraud. But somehow I think there will be those who simply refuse to believe that it's a lie.

After all, there are still those who deny the Holocaust and think the world is flat.

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Day off today. Early baseball game on TV.

And then the gig.

Be seeing you.

artgnome - 2007-09-14 16:45:49 - http://artgnome.diaryland.com
wow. I'm going to have to buy the DVD, as I have only seen The Fifth Element on television. thanks for the tip.

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