Why Don't I Find Thrillers Thrilling?

[Iam]

The first Bourne was entertaining enough.

Thrilling, though? No. Probably because I had no sympathies for the hero whatsoever, and couldn't have cared less if he'd met some untimely-but-unlikely sticky end. But it diverted me, and that's about as much as I expected.

The second one was dire, and I remember very little of it.

I find it very rare nowadays that I'm honestly gripped by something that's labelled as a thriller. The odd bits of joy from the modern films I see aren't often in that category, but I did see a film called "The Contract" recently, which I thought was quite well done.

I've just downloaded the third Bourne, but I don't have high hopes. If it's shit, I won't be disappointed, and if it's mildy diverting, I'll be satisfied enough.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Yup, once the formula has dawned on you it's hard to get excited by a film going down the well-trodden path. Some films do it better than others though - Heat, LA Confidential, Usual Suspects. Come to think of it, perhaps the general rule only applies to films with one central Hero archetype.

All films are variations on certain standard formulas, set in the format of a three act play. When I watch a movie with my children, we play a game of guessing when each act ends and begins. It's pretty easy to spot, but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy the film, if it's a good one.

 

[marty21]

must admit i like the bourne movies, but find scary movies very unscary and uninteresting

 

[Yossarian]

Leaves me cold. They always leave me cold. Just don't get them. Anyone else like this?

Does that apply to stuff like French Connection or Frantic too, or just the modern ones?

I don't mind stuff like Bourne in a 'DVDs to watch when hungover' kind of way, I thought the first one was fairly entertaining but there was nothing all that thrilling about it - like a Bond film or something, there was never much doubt about whether Bourne was going to get through everything OK...

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

All films are variations on certain standard formulas, set in the format of a three act play.

Aye you're mostly right, a bit like the rule-of-three for shit jokes. I blame the Ancient Greeks, personally.

 

[T & P]

I find the Bourne films fantastic and highly enjoyable but perhaps not the classic definition of a thriller.

Have you seen Aliens Dub? I know it's sci-fi but as a damn good thriller as there is.

Or if you prefer old school, North by Northwest is the dog's bollocks.

 

[Orang Utan]

I'm a bit confused now. I'm not entirely sure what a thriller is now. I think of one as anything Hitchcock has directed of course. But I don't see the Bourne films as thrillers, but Bond style action films. I guess Cape Fear, Fatal Attraction, Vanishing Point, The Warriors, Grosse Point Blank, U Turn, The Conversation, The Vanishing, Pi, Midnight Run, One False Move, Fargo, Blood Simple, The Killing, most of Mamet's films, all of Tarantino's films, even films like The Killing Fields and Biko - all these excellent films could be described as thrillers, but many of them bleed into other genres. Is the word thriller a valid term to use after all? You didn't like the Bourne films. That certainly doesn't mean you don't like thrillers.

 

[Reno]

^^^

He may not be right about all films involving Robot Cops being great, but he sure as fuck is right in this case. The thriller is a genre that can encompass anything from romantic comedy (involving crime) to horror (not involving the supernatural). To dismiss the genre means dismissing films from directors as varied as Hitchcock, Wells, Antonioni, Billy Wilder, anybody who really matters actually.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

^^^

He may not be right about all films involving Robot Cops being great, but he sure as fuck is right in this case. The thriller is a genre that can encompass anything from romantic comedy (involving crime) to horror (not involving the supernatural). To dismiss the genre means dismissing films from directors as varied as Hitchcock, Wells, Antonioni, Billy Wilder, anybody who really matters actually.

I think what he means, are often described as 'action movies'.

 

[Leica]

but that's not really what Hitchcock did, is it? Hitchcock's films let the audience know what's going to happen and then revel in the misfortune of the protagonist. It's not the same device that drives typical thrillers

Leaving aside what Hitchock did for a minute (because I disagree again but it's a whole different discussion) -- I was replying to post #16, trying to disprove your view that suspense and cliches are incompatible.

as a rule, no, but in a thriller - where there's supposed to be suspense - cliches detract from that suspense.

Anyway, I'm not sure I get what it is that you find annoying. You like suspense, but you don't think so-called thrillers are good at suspense?

 

[Orang Utan]

Point Blank Deliverance, Southern Comfort,Don Siegel's non-western films, Alan Pakula's films, all of these films are genuinely exciting and suspenseful thrillers.

 

[Santino]

What was that French film that came out a few months ago? It was about a man whose wife suddenly contacted him after being supposedly dead for 8 years.

Anyway, I found that 'thrilling' because I knew that since it was a French film some really bad shit could go down, or the film could end without any decent explanation. In other words, I was prepared for the worst and was genuinely not sure that the hero would survive.

 

[butchersapron]

Tell No One

 

[bluestreak]

i think you kind of mean "why don't i find so many of the mainstream hollywood action thriller type movies interesting". the answer is that you have a brain.

i'm going to download some of the recommendations on this thread and if they're shit, i'm coming after you.

 

[sam/phallocrat]

bunch of snobs

 

[Dubversion]

bunch of snobs

fuck off, sam, has nothing to do with snobbery.

 

[Dubversion]

II guess Cape Fear, Fatal Attraction, Vanishing Point, The Warriors, Grosse Point Blank, U Turn, The Conversation, The Vanishing, Pi, Midnight Run, One False Move, Fargo, Blood Simple, The Killing, most of Mamet's films, all of Tarantino's films, even films like The Killing Fields and Biko

i don't consider any of these film thrillers. not one.

 

[Dubversion]

No love for LA Confidential?

not a thriller, surely? a noir / genre crime movie.

 

[Santino]

Tell No One

That's the fella.

 

[sam/phallocrat]

fuck off, sam, has nothing to do with snobbery.

sorry, I thought you said it did in your first post

anyway, ronin is a great film

 

[Dubversion]

here's my second post, sam. my first doesn't mention snobbery at all

before anyone starts, it's not a prejudice - i was actually looking forward to this. It's not snobbery. They just don't connect with me somehow

 

[Pieface]

you just need to pick the ones with male nudity

 

[oddworld]

If you put barriers up before you start watching then I would of thought your not going to enjoy it.

Have you enjoyed any thrillers?

 

[Reno]

i don't consider any of these film thrillers. not one.

We've been there before. The thriller is a widereaching genre that encompasses many sub-genres. You may not consider these films thrillers, but everybody else does, so by redefining the term for yourself, you are not making yourself understood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thriller_films

 

[Dubversion]

We've been there before. The thriller is a widereaching genre that encompasses many sub-genres. You may not consider these films thrillers, but everybody else does, so by redefining the term for yourself, you are not making yourself understood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thriller_films

so you - and everybody else - considers The Killing Fields to be a thriller?

 

[Gromit]

pie face asked me to download all the Bourne movies, and I was quite looking forward to them, I'd heard they were kind of the pinnacle of that kind of high-octane, high budget chase / thriller movie.

Leaves me cold. They always leave me cold. Just don't get them. Anyone else like this?

Is it because the action on screen pales into insignificance against the lifestyle you live as an international double agent / snowboard champion?

 

[Dubversion]

Is it because the action on screen pales into insignificance against the lifestyle you live as an international double agent / snowboard champion?

that could be it, although i'm moving away from snowboarding into reiki now.

 

[Dubversion]

ok, in which case what category do the Bourne movies, Phone Booth, Da Vinci Code etc all fall into?

 

[Reno]

so you - and everybody else - considers The Killing Fields to be a thriller?

The Killing Fields is primarely a historical/drama/war film, but it does contain elements of the trhiller. There are a few films in the Wikipidia list I'd quibble over, but life is too short.

All I know that your definition is way too narrow and that nobody knows what you are on about. Unless of course you are the only one who is right and everybody else is wrong.

Why not define your dislike as action films or "action thrillers" ?

 

[Leica]

Thriller is just a useful term to describe a movie sometimes. Of course you don't have to like the Bourne movies, or anything else for that matter. I think that when you try to justify why you dislike certain films in terms of plots and devices it is easy to come up with contradictory statements.