redfiona99 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
redfiona99) wrote2015-08-08 06:00 pm
redfiona99) wrote2015-08-08 06:00 pm
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100 Great Scenes In Not So Great Films - 1 - The Ending of John Carpenter's Vampires
Obviously, spoilers follow.
The Statement For The Prosecution:
The script reads like it was written by Frank 'Whores, Whores, Whores' Miller. On one of his less good days. No, really, there are no female characters who are not prostitutes. There is random female nudity for no good reason. The vampires are violent rather than threatening (which was probably deliberate, these are non-Romantic vampires*). There's a few scenes where it's clear that they've been shooting day for night, and some very obvious pyrotechnics. What the bad guys do makes no sense if you think about it for more than 5 seconds.
In something I hope won't be an omen for the rest of this series of posts, I can't actually find a decent clip of the scene (a less than brilliant video of it, captured off tv, can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kunfLQORrU).
In short - Montoya (Daniel Baldwin), the last surviving member of Jack Crow's (James Woods) vampire hunting unit was bitten by a vampire and has been hiding it for three days, so that he could help Jack kill Valek, the bad guy.
Jack finds out.
Now, we've previously learnt that Jack killed his own father when he got bitten, and he decapitated the bodies of the rest of his crew just in case. He is not a man stopped by sentiment.
But he grants Montoya (and the female vampire) three days head start, for the three days Montoya gave him, because Montoya could have cut and run but didn't. He gives Montoya the keys to their van and lets him go, wishing him well with 'vaya con dios'.
Why the Scene is so Good:
At this point, Montoya is so weak he can barely stand, so Crow has to help him into the van. It's the only time in the entire film that Crow's given even an ounce of empathy or kindness. And it works, because it makes quite clear how truly, truly shitty Jack Crow's life is, and that he is going hunt down and kill his only friend (and let's be honest, given how horrible Jack is, one of two people left on the planet he's even on speaking terms with).
To make it worse/better, Montoya is on the edge of tears because he's sorry he's been turned into a vampire. It's not pleading for his life, he's trying to apologise for the position he's put Jack into and ...
that's the point where I start crying. Each and every damn time. Because that idea transcends the muck around it. 'I am sorry that you are going to have to kill me,' and Montoya means it, not that either of them would phrase it that way. Meanwhile Jack, although he really wouldn't put it this way, is going 'I'm sorry that this has happened to you,'. It moves me.
* These are also non-Romantic vampire slayers, Carpenter said he saw them as hired killers characterised them accordingly.
The Statement For The Prosecution:
The script reads like it was written by Frank 'Whores, Whores, Whores' Miller. On one of his less good days. No, really, there are no female characters who are not prostitutes. There is random female nudity for no good reason. The vampires are violent rather than threatening (which was probably deliberate, these are non-Romantic vampires*). There's a few scenes where it's clear that they've been shooting day for night, and some very obvious pyrotechnics. What the bad guys do makes no sense if you think about it for more than 5 seconds.
In something I hope won't be an omen for the rest of this series of posts, I can't actually find a decent clip of the scene (a less than brilliant video of it, captured off tv, can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kunfLQORrU).
In short - Montoya (Daniel Baldwin), the last surviving member of Jack Crow's (James Woods) vampire hunting unit was bitten by a vampire and has been hiding it for three days, so that he could help Jack kill Valek, the bad guy.
Jack finds out.
Now, we've previously learnt that Jack killed his own father when he got bitten, and he decapitated the bodies of the rest of his crew just in case. He is not a man stopped by sentiment.
But he grants Montoya (and the female vampire) three days head start, for the three days Montoya gave him, because Montoya could have cut and run but didn't. He gives Montoya the keys to their van and lets him go, wishing him well with 'vaya con dios'.
Why the Scene is so Good:
At this point, Montoya is so weak he can barely stand, so Crow has to help him into the van. It's the only time in the entire film that Crow's given even an ounce of empathy or kindness. And it works, because it makes quite clear how truly, truly shitty Jack Crow's life is, and that he is going hunt down and kill his only friend (and let's be honest, given how horrible Jack is, one of two people left on the planet he's even on speaking terms with).
To make it worse/better, Montoya is on the edge of tears because he's sorry he's been turned into a vampire. It's not pleading for his life, he's trying to apologise for the position he's put Jack into and ...
that's the point where I start crying. Each and every damn time. Because that idea transcends the muck around it. 'I am sorry that you are going to have to kill me,' and Montoya means it, not that either of them would phrase it that way. Meanwhile Jack, although he really wouldn't put it this way, is going 'I'm sorry that this has happened to you,'. It moves me.
* These are also non-Romantic vampire slayers, Carpenter said he saw them as hired killers characterised them accordingly.