Kevin Crosby
November 16, 2012
Professor Gournelos
Original Research Method Two
Discourse Analysis of Hollywood War Films
For my second method, I will be performing a discourse analysis of
Hollywood War Films. I will be looking at the critical reviews of these films as well
as audience reception. As part of my audience reception research I will be looking
at what is known as the Cinemascore. I want to compare and contrast the different
reactions critics have from the everyday moviegoer when it comes to these films.
What is Cinemascore
CinemaScore measures movie appeal by polling moviegoer reactions to
major movie releases. CinemaScore grades are very simple to understand. If a movie
earns an A, it was a true hit with its target audience. A B grade signals general
satisfaction, if not wild enthusiasm. A C grade is bad news, the equivalent of a failing
grade. Opening-night audiences rarely give Ds and Fs. Opening-night moviegoers are
the people most eager to like a new film, so the grades tend to be on a curve, if the
biggest fans give a film a B-minus, it signals that the average moviegoer would like
the movie even less. In fact, a potent sign of the CinemaScore success story is how
quickly its grades have become a pivotal part of mainstream media box-office
reporting. The Los Angeles Times' Ben Fritz in 2007 predicted that Transformers
would do $319 million in ticket sales over it lifetime because it received an A
Cinemascore from audiences. In fact, ticket sales rose from its opening weekend
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from Friday to Saturday, a sign of good buzz that signals the movie would ultimately
gross well over its domestic life and it did grossing $319,246,193, well exceeding its
$150 million dollar production budget.
Act of Valor
Critics summed up Act of Valor by stating, it's undeniably reverent of the
real-life heroes in its cast, but Act of Valor lets them down with a clichéd script,
stilted acting, and a jingoistic attitude that ignores the complexities of war. Critic
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said, “reviewing the film is like reviewing a recruiting
poster” and Critic Richard Corliss says, “The Pentagon clearly hopes Act of Valor will
be an enticement for potential SEALs. Join the team and save the world, and maybe
be a movie star! But recruiting posters don’t often feature, as this film does, a soldier
who loses an eye to an enemy bullet, or who dies smothering a live grenade, or who
is killed just before his wife delivers her first baby. By our count, three of the core
SEALs are maimed or dead by the end. A new baby is left without her loving father.
The picture ends not with a parade but with a funeral. And that may be the toughest,
most lasting image in this cockamamie, Pentagon-approved war adventure.” Out of
the 132 reviews for the film, only thirty-two were positive and even the positive
reviews had only little positive things to say. For example, Entertainment Weekly
critic Chris Nashawaty states, the brutal chaos of battle is well choreographed by
directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, but during this combat flick/recruitment
video's quieter moments, it's stiff and sappy. Consider this mission only halfaccomplished.” In sum, the films action sequences were praised for their realism,
but this only led to the recruitment type feel of the film. What was most interesting
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about the critical reviews of the films was the fact that the success of the film
revolved around whether or not critics were ok with how much military influence
was onscreen. Even the critics who gave the film a positive review noted that at
times, the military influence was overwhelming.
In contrast to the critics, like both Top Gun and The Transformers Films,
audiences praised the film. For example, the film received an “A” Cinemascore from
exit pollsters, which in turn led to great word of mouth and a 24.7 million dollar
opening weekend for the film. That was not only true for men, who made up 71% of
the audiences, but for women too. "I think the biggest asset we have at this point is
word of mouth," said Relativity president of distribution Kyle Davies. "You can't buy
that and you can't create it. It has to happen organically." Going forward, Davies said
he's hopeful the buzz will help "Act of Valor" to expand beyond just action-loving
men. The film was sold from the beginning as an authentic war experience, thanks
to its unusual cast of characters and exchanges of real gunfire. In “Act of Valor,”
audiences are delighted when live ammo is shot at fake terrorists. Heads explode in
a pink mist, the mission is called up complete, and the world is saved. The training
exercise is a success.
Top Gun
The film Top Gun received forty reviews from critics. Of those forty, twenty
gave a positive review of the film while twenty did not. In all of the reviews there
were many themes running through them including amazing aerial dogfight
sequences and below average dialogue between wooden characters. What these
reviews do not include, unlike Act of Valor, is any mention of the military’s influence
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on the film. For example, critics from the Chicago Reader and New York Times note
that you can't always be sure exactly what's going on, but it's exciting anyhow.
*Note on the Transformers Series: So far I have just collected data from
reviewers and exit polls and have no broken it down.
The Transformers Series
Critic Breakdown
Cinemascore Transformers (2007)- A
In North America, the film had the highest per-screen and per-theater gross
in 2007. In its first day of general release it grossed $27.8 million, a record for
Tuesday box-office gross until broken by The Amazing Spider Man in 2012.
Transformers opened in over 4,050 theaters in North America, grossed $70.5 million
in its first weekend, amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the
record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel. The opening's gross in the
United States was 50 percent more than Paramount Pictures expected. One
executive attributed it to word of mouth that explained to parents that "it [was] OK
to take the kids". A Cinemascore poll indicated the film was most popular with
children and parents, including older women, and attracted many African American
and Latino viewers. Transformers ended its theatrical run in the United States and
Canada with a gross $319.2 million, making it the third highest-grossing film of
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2007 in these regions behind Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.
Transformers fans were initially divided over the film due to the radical
redesigns of many characters, although the casting of Peter Cullen, who voiced
Optimus Prime, was warmly received. Transformers comic book writer Simon
Furman and Beast Wars script consultant Benson Yee both warmly received it as
spectacular fun, but Furman argued there were too many human storylines. Yee felt
that being the first in a series, the film had to establish much of the fictional universe
and therefore did not have time to focus on the Decepticons. When filming the
sequel, Bay was told by soldiers the film helped their children understand what
their work was like, and that many had christened their Buffalos, the vehicle used
for Bonecrusher, after various Transformer characters.
The film received mixed to positive reviews from film critics. At the website
Metacritic the film has received a rating average of 61, based on 35 reviews,
indicating that it is generally a favorably reviewed film. Review aggregate website
Rotten Tomatoes reported that 57% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based
on 218 reviews. Critic Todd Gilchrist called it Michael Bay's best film, and "one of the
few instances where it's OK to enjoy something for being smart and dumb at the
same time, mostly because it's undeniably also a whole lot of fun". The Advertiser's
Sean Fewster found the visual effects so seamless that "you may come to believe the
studio somehow engineered artificial intelligence". The Denver Post's Lisa Kennedy
praised the depiction of the robots as having "a believably rendered scale and
intimacy", and ABC reporter Margaret Pomeranz was surprised "that a complete
newcomer to the Transformers phenomenon like myself became involved in the fate
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of these mega-machines". Author Peter David found it ludicrous fun, and said that
"[Bay] manages to hold on to his audience's suspension of disbelief long enough for
us to segue into some truly spectacular battle scenes".
Cinemascore Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)- B+
Director Michael Bay has never been a critics' favorite, but the thrashing he
received for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" was the worst of his eight-film
career. Reviewers ridiculed the new sequel about battling robots as "beyond bad"
(Rolling Stone), "bewildering" and "sloppy" (the Village Voice) and "a great grinding
garbage disposal of a movie" (the Detroit News). However, according to the LA
Times, he needn't have worried because rarely have critics been more disconnected
from what audiences want and love. This is because "Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen" sold more tickets in its first five days, an estimated $201.2 million, than any
other movie in Hollywood history except one, last year's "The Dark Knight.” By the
end of its first week, "Transformers" surpassed "Up" and "Star Trek" to become that
summer's most-attended release. "I think they reviewed the wrong movie. They just
don't understand the movie and its audience. It's silly fun," Bay said of the many
"Transformers" critical detractors. "I am convinced that they are born with the antifun gene. The reviews are just so vicious. A lot of them are more personal than
anything else." Audiences saw the movie quite differently. At the AMC Puente Hills
20 on its opening night, the majority of the film's showings were sold out, and some
"Transformers" fans waited two hours to get into an open screening. Fred Aldaco,
23, was visiting from Phoenix, and said Bay had respected the Transformers legacy,
which includes toys, comic books and an animated television series. "He did a good
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job with it," Aldaco said. "They took their time and knew how they were going to do
the story. You can hardly say that about any other comic book movie director.
Although La Puente's 27-year-old Diana Salazar didn't know that Bay had directed
the movie, she praised its execution. "It had a lot of action. It was really interesting
to see the good fight scenes," she said. "Either I like the plot or I don't. It makes
absolutely no difference who the director is."
Paramount's national exit polling revealed several notable facts. While the
first "Transformers" film, released in 2007, skewed 60-40 toward men over women,
the split in the new film was more even at 54% male, 46% female. More than 90% of
those surveyed said the new movie was as good as or better than the first film.
About 67% of moviegoers polled said the film was "excellent," an even better score
than that generated by Paramount's "Star Trek," one of the year's best-reviewed
movies. Ian Bryce, who has produced three Bay movies, including both
"Transformers" film, stated "Mike's got a unique talent in being able to capture
extremely commercial imagery”. In Cinemascore polls, however, users gave the film
a "B+", compared to the "A" that the original film had scored. Producer Lorenzo di
Bonaventura compared its reception to that of the original Transformers film.
“People also forget we got slammed on the first one,” he said. “It wasn’t quite as bad,
but it was basically a slamming. Critics have missed the boat on a very simple thing:
audiences love to be entertained.”
Cinemascore Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)- A
According to exit polling, 55% of the audience turning out to see Paramount's
Transformers: Dark of the Moon at the domestic box office was under the age of 25.
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It's was first time in months that a general-audience film hasn't appealed mostly to
the 25-plus crowd and helps to explain why the July 4th holiday tentpole was able to
gross an impressive $180.7 million in its six-day debut. Many speculated that
younger people are getting priced out of going to the movies, but agree that content
also is a major issue. Dark of the Moon received a glowing A CinemaScore, a better
grade than the B+ earned by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The biggest chunk
of the audience for Dark of the Moon, or 32%, was under the age of 18, according to
CinemaScore data. They were even more gung-ho than the rest, giving Dark of the
Moon an A+. Just 16% of the audience was between the ages of 35 and 49 and only
8% above 50, the 50-plus crowd was the only demo to give the film a B, in this case a
B+.
What the reviews and the exit polls do not touch upon directly is the
fact that the military had such a large hand in crafting the story and especially
the action sequences, which the audiences found most appealing.
*I will continue this method by looking at anti war films The Hurt Locker,
Green Zone, and Platoon.
Interesting Notes From Anti War Research
Cinemascore
Green Zone-B
Platoon-A
The Hurt Locker-N/A
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