John Carpenter - The Maestro Of Movies

[Whirlwind]

There's an Argento thread going...but why not one for the real Maestro -- Mr. John Carpenter.

Best? Worst? Hidden gems? Favorite/least favorite? Overrated/underrated? Wherever you want to go with this, please share your thoughts on the one and only true Maestro of film.

Me?

Best:

THE THING
Obviously Carpenter's best is THE THING. (Also can claim the title of best remake in film history.) I wish I can explain why this film draws me in over and over and over again. Surfing the cable channels, come across THE THING...I have to watch. It's my ICE STATION ZEBRA. I guess it is both the atmosphere Carpenter creates (including his capturing the Arctic setting better than any other film), and the actors' performances in this film (Windows delivery of the line, "But what if we're wrong" is the greatest delivery of any line in film history.) A superb film. Carpenter was never able to top it..but then, no other director ever topped it either.

STARMAN
A soda movie for me. Let me explain. There was a movie theater in my neighborhood that had the best soda on planet Earth. It was the mixture coming out of the fountain the cold temperature it was served..I have no idea why, but simply put it was the greatest Coca Cola on Earth. Now here's the thing, my friends and I would go see any movie playing in that theater JUST FOR THE SODA! True. We'd plunk down seven bucks just to get in that theater so we could buy a soda. I would tell people about it, no one would believe me, I'd take them there, buy them a soda and watch their face as they took a sip. "Holy shit! You're right. That's incredible!" Every time. Well, one movie I saw just for the soda was STARMAN. Well, STARMAN was actually better than the soda. A marvelous film. Far more than just "ET for adults."


BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
Another soda movie. Why, other than great soda, would I pay money to see such a hodgepodge mixture of film genres? I'll go for the soda. Well, BIG TROUBLE was better than the soda. By the way, for those who didn't see this in the theater, the biggest reaction/laugh from the audience was the elevator scene. Of all the wild and hilarious things in LITTLE CHINA it was that throwaway elevator scene that brought the house down.

THEY LIVE
Without that fight scene this would be a good film. With it, THEY LIVE becomes a classic film.

Disappointments:
ESCAPE FROM L.A. (Carpenter made the greatest remake (THE THING) and also one of the worst)
CHRISTINE

Horrible films:
Carpenter has some, INVISIBLE MAN is probably the worst of them all.

Worth Mentioning:
PRINCE OF DARKNESS - this film is truly creepy. That shaky, sketchy video always gives me the creeps.

Overrated:
HALLOWEEN - yes, it started an entire genre of films, but I always found it simplistic and manipulative. Nothing clever or interesting about it.

[Guillaume]

I am big fan of Mr Carpenter or rather "Big John"...he is in my Holy Trinity of living directors (the others two being Dario Argento and Michael Mann)...i can watch endlessly Carpenter's movies, i like his elegant, "simple" style, his beautiful use of Scope and music.
He also seems to be a rather laid back, down to earth guy.

MY FAVOURITE:

"Halloween" (first time i saw it on tv, in the mid 80's, it really scared me...timeless classic for me, Carpenter's direction at his best)

"Christine" (i tend to think this is an underrated movie in Carpenter's career...again Carpenter's direction at his best, it's beautifully shot, acted, scored and the FX are stunning even in 2018)

"Starman" ( "E.T." for grown ups? i think it's a moving movie, beautiful performance from Karen Allen and the ending scene/shot is quite heartbreaking...maybe Carpenter should have made more "sentimental" movies like this one)

"In the mouth of madness" (Carpenter's last major movie in my opinion...an unusual kind of storytelling for him and a brillant Sam Neill performance)

GOOD/VERY GOOD:

"Vampires" (i enjoy watching this one from time to time...it's not perfect but i like the Western locations, the characters, the soundtrack..)

"Escape from NY" (i remember liking it very much especially the urban, nightime atmosphere, the soundtrack, Kurt Russell's performance, that ending...but i haven't watched it in years)

"they live" (fun and bitter at the same time, smart...it's even more enjoyable when you are unemployed like the (anti)-hero) !  )

"Assault on precinct 13" (i'm slightly bored of it because i have seen it too many times but it's still a great piece of directing and atmosphere)

"the fog" (beautifully atmospheric, great visuals, cool soundtrack...a bit uneven though)

"someone's watching me" (a tv movie but really good, great little thriller, suspensful)

"the thing" (it's solid, very good but...i don't know, it doesn't totally click for me...i like the opening scene, soundtrack, bleak hopeless tone but my favourite moments are somewhat not the ones with The Thing...the special effects/make up are quite incredible but somewhat distract from the story...i mean "Halloween" was somewhat a greatest achievement because Carpenter had only a plastic knife, white mask no blood to build his direction and atmosphere...here he relies, in part, on the great special effects)

"Village of the damned" (beautifully shot, and i like Christopher Reeve's performance in it)

"Big trouble in Little china" (it's...fun! Carpenter doing his pop corn/soda flick nicely and maybe better than Spielberg on Indiana Jones)

"Prince of darkness" (it's beautifully shot and scored as usual but my overall opinion depend on the viewings...sometimes i think it's intriguing thematically haunting and creepy, others viewings i think it's slightly pretentious, a bit cheesy at times, not very well acted and written...i like the last shot, though)

AVERAGE:

"memoirs of an invisible man" (i have to watch it again, i remember it being rather nicely shot, funny and bitter, but still relatively generic for a Carpenter movie)

"escape from L..A" (it's fun at times but it suffers from some weak visuals, Carpenter's style is less elegant than usually...the ending is great though)


"the ward" (watchable but very generic predictable screenplay unfortunately and cheap scare effects...Amber Heard is a decent leading lady though)

"Dark star" (more a funny students movie than a real Carpenter movie)

"Ghosts of Mars" (i remember rather liking it on the big screen but after each new viewing on dvd then blu ray i like it less and less...it's a bit lazy, silly, noisy...an average B movie almost Z movie at times?) 

"Cigarette burns" and "Pro life" from the Masters of Horror tv series: both are mediocre but i haven"t watched them for ten years at least.

[Whirlwind]

"the thing" (it's solid, very good but...i don't know, it doesn't totally click for me...

.
How about the acting? That alone qualifies THE THING as an incredible film. Whoever was the casting director on this film should get The Irving G. Thalberg Award for achievement in film. Every role and every performance is spot on perfect. Obviously, Keith David's Childs is the standout performance, but all the actors bring such perfect human reactions to the events of the film. And how many of them went on to stellar careers after THE THING? Just Wilford Brimley, which means the casting director knew exactly what was right for this film.

Sometimes we can watch/enjoy films for the art of the filmmaking process. I have watched bad movies simply because I enjoyed an aspect of the filmmaking process (that Bruce Willis film MERCURY RISING is not very good but I watch it for John Barry's score). THE THING is a marvelous showcase of great ensemble acting. I'd say it is up there with THE GODFATHER. It's odd, Carpenter is obviously known for his scare techniques; but he really knew how to get top performances out of his actors. Karen Allen in STARMAN -- incredibly moving and real. Russell in LITTLE CHINA -- outrageously funny. Jeff Bridges' STARMAN was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar!

[Guillaume]

How about the acting? That alone qualifies THE THING as an incredible film. Whoever was the casting director on this film should get The Irving G. Thalberg Award for achievement in film. Every role and every performance is spot on perfect. Obviously, Keith David's Childs is the standout performance, but all the actors bring such perfect human reactions to the events of the film. It's odd, Carpenter is obviously known for his scare techniques; but he really knew how to get top performances out of his actors. Karen Allen in STARMAN -- incredibly moving and real. Russell in LITTLE CHINA -- outrageously funny. Jeff Bridges' STARMAN was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar!

I agree about the whole casting of THE THING and when you write that Carpenter is really good with actors/actresses...i remember a french interview in les Cahiers du Cinéma in 1998 (for "Vampires"s theatrical release) where the critic said to Carpenter that the acting in "Halloween" was low ley, sober, and Carpenter was a bit moved by the interviewer's opinion because not often people/critics talked about the fine performances in Carpenter's movies, unfairly.
Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance, Kurt Russell, Keith Gordon, Harry Dean Stanton, Karen Allen, Jeff Bridges, Sam Neill, Christopher Reeve, etc All of them gave very good performances in Carpenter"s movies.

Karen Allen in STARMAN -- incredibly moving and real. Russell in LITTLE CHINA -- outrageously funny. Jeff Bridges' STARMAN was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar!

Yes! Karen Allen was so good in "Starman", she should have been nominated like Bridges was, this year...think about her "define love" scene in the diner, so moving...also the last scene, of course.
And Russell...solid actor...he is great with three very different parts for Carpenter's movies...the "Escape" movies, "big trouble" and "the thing" (i haven't seen the "Elvis" tv movie though)

[Whirlwind]

..Yes! Karen Allen was so good in "Starman", she should have been nominated like Bridges was, this year...think about her "define love" scene in the diner, so moving...also the last scene, of course.
....(i haven't seen the "Elvis" tv movie though)

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I'll go further. Karen Allen's performance in STARMAN is one of thee great performances by any actress in any film in any year. Pick any scene and she conveys such pitch perfect human emotion. (My fave: When she is told she will have a baby the range of emotion she goes through is breathtaking -- sadness that she can't, stunned (almost frightened) silence as he tells, then overcome with love....)

It really is a fantastic film and a plumb role for an actress. Ever see Swayze and Demi Moore in GHOST? The emotional high point of that film is the final scene (spoiler: one final moment for the young widow to be with her husband again). Well, STARMAN is two hours of that! A young wife gets an opportunity to be with her beloved husband one final time...and she knows and we know it will end with them parting. There's a tragic sadness throughout the entire film. We all are on her side, pulling for her, happy that she is with her husband again...we want them to be together again, but they can't be. Fantastic film and Karen Allen's performance made it so.




As far as the Elvis film. That was HUGE here in the States when it aired. It was the first Elvis movie/book/anything really after his death. The film was shown on TV only a year and a half after Elvis died! Believe it, our country was fascinated by it. Only time I ever saw the film was back then. We were all impressed by Kurt Russell's Elvis and we liked the fact that the film didn't simply glorify The King. I wonder how the film is now. Back then it was more an event than a movie. It was touching on a subject that wasn't touched yet. Hell, now Elvis is everywhere. Carpenter's film was treading new ground. Full credit for having the balls to do it.

[Guillaume]

I'll go further. Karen Allen's performance in STARMAN is one of thee great performances by any actress in any film in any year. Pick any scene and she conveys such pitch perfect human emotion. (My fave: When she is told she will have a baby the range of emotion she goes through is breathtaking -- sadness that she can't, stunned (almost frightened) silence as he tells, then overcome with love....)

It really is a fantastic film and a plumb role for an actress. Ever see Swayze and Demi Moore in GHOST? The emotional high point of that film is the final scene (spoiler: one final moment for the young widow to be with her husband again). Well, STARMAN is two hours of that! A young wife gets an opportunity to be with her beloved husband one final time...and she knows and we know it will end with them parting. There's a tragic sadness throughout the entire film. We all are on her side, pulling for her, happy that she is with her husband again...we want them to be together again, but they can't be. Fantastic film and Karen Allen's performance made it so.

I totally agree, word for word, with what you're writing about Karen Allen's performance and STARMAN on the whole...the feeling of sadness, melancholy of Jenny's character watching her husband "dying" twice in the movie is overwhelming and heartbreaking...that's also where you see that Carpenter is a very different director than Spielberg, Spielberg would have been more "bombastic", also more soppy/mushy in his handling of the love story and parting...just think about the emotional climax of STARMAN...much shorter and low key than the Spielberg of E.T. and THIRD ENCOUNTERS...the emotional climax of STARMAN is this unforgettable but simple and subtle final close up of Jenny's face, looking at her husband leaving, again.

I wonder how the film is now

There is a dvd, i will get it, someday...Kurt Russell's performance in it is said to be quite incredible, again!
The best Elvis movie is probably "Bubba ho tep", though! 

What do you think of the others Carpenter's movies you didn't rank?
"Assault on precinct 13", "In the mouth of madness", "Vampires", "Ghosts of Mars", "the ward", "Village of the damned", his "Masters of Horror" episodes, etc.

[Whirlwind]

.
1)
...you see that Carpenter is a very different director than Spielberg, Spielberg would have been more "bombastic", also more soppy/mushy in his handling of the love story and parting...just think about the emotional climax of STARMAN...much shorter and low key than the Spielberg of E.T. and THIRD ENCOUNTERS...the emotional climax of STARMAN is this unforgettable but simple and subtle final close up of Jenny's face, looking at her husband leaving, again.

2)
What do you think of the others Carpenter's movies you didn't rank?
"Assault on precinct 13", "In the mouth of madness", "Vampires", "Ghosts of Mars", "the ward", "Village of the damned", his "Masters of Horror" episodes, etc.

.
1)
You nailed it. If STARMAN is "an ET for adults" as it was called upon its release, then bringing in Spielberg talk is apt. Yes, you are correct, the similar ET ending is bombastic. A great deal of that has to do with John William's over the top score for that final scene, but ultimately it is Speilberg's direction that made the parting so soppy and overblown. Thing about Spielberg though is he started out pretty grim. His first two films - SUGARLAND EXPRESS and JAWS - are the furthest thing from soppy. (Spoilers: in SUGARLAND we get a brutal killing to end our lovebirds-on-the-run story while in JAWS (and everybody seems to forget this about Spielberg) he shows an eight year old little boy getting killed!) I wish Spielberg hadn't become obsessed with pleasing the crowd for a long stretch of his career. He started off white hot.

2)
I've never seen THE WARD, the others I have seen (most of them in the theater). I thought MOUTH was too slick. I like the "amateurish" nature of many Carpenter films. When he goes Hollywood ("Christine," "Invisible Man," "MOUTH" I feel he isn't himself anymore and we are not seeing a John Carpenter film. However I did like MOUTH OF MADNESS. VAMPIRES, GHOSTS, and VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED are good films worth a watch. Nothing really much to talk about, though, other than to say the original VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED blows away Carpenter's remake. Oh, that older film is so creepy.

Ah, but ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 is a gem. I saw that film on cable about '76 before we knew who Carpenter was. This was before HALLOWEEN. I only watched the film because it starred Austin Stoker...hey, that's the guy in BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. I was an APES fan so I had to see this actor who really wasn't in many films. So I watched this silly movie called ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 because of Austin Stoker and was blown away. It was gripping, it was goofy at the same time! I loved it (and so did everybody who also caught the film on cable). When HALLOWEEN broke I made the connection to ASSAULT and realized we have a very talented guy on the scene now.

[Guillaume]

Thing about Spielberg though is he started out pretty grim. His first two films - SUGARLAND EXPRESS and JAWS - are the furthest thing from soppy. (Spoilers: in SUGARLAND we get a brutal killing to end our lovebirds-on-the-run story while in JAWS (and everybody seems to forget this about Spielberg) he shows an eight year old little boy getting killed!) I wish Spielberg hadn't become obsessed with pleasing the crowd for a long stretch of his career. He started off white hot.

I like very much JAWS, i've seen it many times, my favourite Spielberg movie by far...also his tv movie DUEL is very good. SUGARLAND EXPRESS...good memories of it. I remember Spielberg saying during the release of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS that JAWS "wasn't him", because the film was "violent", "nasty"...i'm very mixed about Spielberg's career overall and yes, i prefer by far Carpenter and STARMAN.

I thought MOUTH was too slick. I like the "amateurish" nature of many Carpenter films. When he goes Hollywood ("Christine," "Invisible Man," "MOUTH" I feel he isn't himself anymore and we are not seeing a John Carpenter film.

"The thing", "Starman" and "Big trouble" were also very Hollywood...they were all of them big budgets, produced by major companies, and Carpenter wasn't even the screenwriter on these films, like for "Invisible man', "Christine" and "Mouth". But it's probably true that Carpenter is at his most effective/inspired when he is working with very low budgets ("Halloween", "Assault...", "The fog", "they live", etc)