Tony Scott and the Dying Macho Man
Really sad to hear about the death of Tony Scott. I didn’t know him and have nothing personal to say, but I was a genuine admirer of his films. They were macho — manly — and that in itself made them a cut above much of what comes out of Hollywood.
Many people in the West use the word “macho” as a pejorative. This is because they are self-deceiving knuckleheads. They are kept so safe by (mostly) macho men with guns in the military and our various police forces that they can feel free to pretend they are somehow better and more civilized, doncha know, than their protectors. But the fact is if good boys aren’t taught to fight and win for what’s right, bad boys — from street gangs and Iran and Russia and China — will teach them how to fight and lose. And no, generalizing and excepting the exceptions, girls can’t cut it.
So it behooves an artist to pay tribute to tough guys now and then. Not nice guys who talk tough but the hard bastards who understand that, in certain circumstances, violence is not only an act of love, but the act of love that makes all other acts of love possible.
Tony Scott did that in terrific action films like Top Gun, Crimson Tide, and Unstoppable. My personal favorite, however, is Man on Fire.
I loved that movie too. My wife didn’t get it, but I understood Denzel’s character in the last third of the movie as all the safeties and restraints in his mind were disengaged.
One of my very movies, and Denzel Washington’s best, I think. It may be violent but it is ultimately about love, redemption and sacrifice.
Thanks for reminding me about this film, which I found rather special when I saw it in the theatre. For what it’s worth, the book on which it is based, by A. J. Quinnell, was also outstanding.
I agree on the book and the movie. A.J. Quinell is somwhat of a mystery person though. My local library had only the Man on Fire book.
I also agree with the comment about the pinkso’s being into the sexploitation movies and denigrating a good olde action film with a plot, excellent dialogue and, and, a MORAL.
God Bless America, RICO all banksters and their ho politicians and IMPEACH the liar, Eric Holder.
Wikipedia has links to additional information about A. J. Quinnell. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Quinnell. The article itself is skimpy but the “References” and “External Links” contain quite a bit more. Have a look; I think you’ll find him an interesting individual. He passed away in 2005.
Oh, brother, more tough-guy blather from a guy who never found the time to put his own skin in the game when he had the opportunity.
Whatsamatta you, Buzzo? Hemorrhoids bothering you this morning?
There aint enough room on the field for everyone to have skin in the game….
If someone actually didnt play, I dont take offense
I’ll settle for guys that at least understand the score.
Better than the whiners, posers, shirkers and cowards that deny we ever even need to suit-up, and take the field
Sure there is, and most especially there was plenty of room when tough-guy Klavan was of age to enlist. He’s a chickenhawk, plain and simple.
Me, two tours in Afghanistan. Nuff said.
Thank you for your service.
Now notice that the article is about those who stand up in everyday life and do what is right. They protect the helpless, put themselves at risk. They are the ones who stand up when alone and no cop will be there soon enough, who will never get glory or credit and may be injured or lose their life. They are the individuals who do it because it is right.
In other words they get all John Wayne on the bad guys a$$e$.
Again thank you for your service but remember, as important as it is there is much more than military service involved. Courage in this country is what is in short supply and that is what is desperately needed. This is what I understood this article to be about.
I did four tours defending the spice colonies on Mars from rebel assault. And that’s just as verifiable as your service.
Yeah, I think I remember seeing you there. I was the guy piloting the blue Voltron with yellow flames on the lower legs and forearms. Remember?
Not sure why you are attacking the writer except for your own troll-tendencies. Loved the movie and the message. Why you curl up with a nice Jodie Foster movie and stay off this site?
“Me, two tours in Afghanistan. Nuff said.”
Actually no…that’s not enough said.
Lot’s of folks went to Afghanistan. A fraction of those went outside the wire (Spend a lot of time at TGI Fridays on the boardwalk at KAF, did ya?). “Two tours” doesn’t mean anything doesn’t entitle you to automatic respect or give you a pass to say any silly thing you want. I know because I’ve done time in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
You group yourself among the “REAL” men but lack a certain modesty commonly seen from such heroes.
“Nuff said.”
Unlike those pussies who only served a single tour.
‘Nuff said.
“Unstoppable” is one of his movies that I’ve watched several times and it also stars Denzel Washington. The action never lets up but the central point is a couple men doing the right thing in risking their lives in an attempt to save countless others. It tells the story without being preachy and does it very well.
I could never understand why MOF was not a bigger hit; I thought it was a terrific movie, and I watch it whenever it comes on. It’s good to know i was not the only one who liked it.
Crimson Tide is also an excellent movie. Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington performed well in this one. It offered a compelling story without a lot of gratuitous violence.
I agree we need more masculine movies. The recent Daniel Craig Bond movies are a turn in the right direction.
“They are kept so safe by (mostly) macho men with guns”
From what I’m seeing many people in the military are not macho. They do not take aggressive pride in their gender.
In fact from what I’m seeing macho is pretty useless.
Depends on how you define it. For purposes of this article substitute “Masculine”.
Don’t forget the rest of the quote: “. . . in the military and our various police forces that they can feel free to pretend they are somehow better and more civilized . . . .”
“Macho” is useless to those who live far from the boundaries of the bubble of civil society. Fortunately, the boundaries are spreading, and such skills are not necessary for grocery shopping, but the boundaries have not yet annexed and tamed every acre of evil.
You are free to (I won’t say “pretend”) feel that your life does not require such requisites, because it probably doesn’t, but it is foolish to feel the entire realm of civilized society has no need for such qualities. Without the “macho”, the boundaries will contract.
@Oak
I’m looking at the definition and as far as I can tell being proud of being male has no bearing on the skill one has with a rifle, handgun, or bare hands.
Great movie…my Dad ,a Merril’s Marauder, once said the exact quote from the movie years before I saw “Man on Fire”… “there is no such thing as tough…only trained and untrained, prepared and unprepared…
Macho – wrong word to use for characters like Denzel’s. Macho is NOT “Man on Fire.” Macho is “The Expendables” or “300.” Macho is a pose, a fake, a caricature. Muscles, tats, a big gun, and a tight t-shirt to show off your 6-pack. Real men don’t pose – they just do what needs to be done, whether it involves physical danger or not.
Well said. When we see macho guys, we stay as far away as possible, because they’re gonna be dead real soon. Fortunately, in the REAL tough-guy community, macho poseurs are few and far between.
I’d say this so-called, notional tough guy ‘community’ is where said poseurs are most likely to congregate. I’ll stick with Groucho in saying that any club that’d have me I wouldn’t join. (15+ years armored cav out of 20yrs active duty, so bite me). Just let someone convince me that they represent a threat to my 4yo granddaughter.
Sorry Mr. Klavan, but good “tough guy” movies ceased to exist after the death of Steve McQueen in 1980. The movies McQueen performed in didn’t rely on special effects & gratuitous violence, sex, & profanity to entertain the audience. With the exception of Ali McGraw’s swearing in “The Getaway” McQueen’s tough guy movies were clean & worlds better than what passes for “tough guy” movies today.
I’d say that Tough Guys, with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas as two old-time criminals making one last score tends to argue against your point that those movies ceased after 1980. Tough Guys was made in 1986.
It’s been ages since I saw it and I just don’t remember how much violence or harsh language there was but I do remember being struck by how these characters really seemed tough, much more so than the typical movie.
Lessee, here…
Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer, Sam Shepard, Samuel Jackson, Bruce Willis, Hugh Jackman (NOT as Wolverine!), Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Jon Voight, Sean Bean, Harrison Ford, Gerard Butler, Daniel Craig, Matthew Mcconaughey, Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney, Tim Allan (yes), and Alan Rickman…
Nope. No “manly” men performances from those girly-boys. I added Allan exactly because he does get a couple of serious scenes in Galaxy Quest which he handles quite well.
It would be fairly easy to expand that list. If nothing else, just add all the other men who played Bond over the years to start with. Note I except Peter Sellers in this case.
The Book of Eli comes to mind as a great movie demonstrating manliness and cool confidence.
Spy Game was great too.
Same here Andrew. I really liked his movies for the same reasons. They were tough, violent,realistic, and manly. By far my favorite is Man On Fire. I love that movie. It has everything, redemption, revenge, loyalty, and love. The violence was great the music was great, as he goes about his mission. But I can also admit that there are a couple of scenes between Denzel and Dakota that always bring a tear to my eye. Everything clicked in that one. Really sorry that Tony has left us, I was a real fan.
Want to see some REAL tough guys? Watch “The Great Escape” again. If you’ve never seen it, you owe it to yourself to do so. And yeah, it’s another Steve McQueen movie…
“Act of Valor” is the ultimate tough guy movie. They used real SEALS – who are the opposite of posers – they even look like office workers or school teachers. Most of the combat scenes were filmed with live ammo and choreographed by the SEALs.
All of the Acts of Valor were based on actual things Seals had done. If you watch the Director’s notes, they had to tone down one scene to make it believable (an actual SEAL entered a room and was shot 27 times – he still managed to kill everyone in the room despite having his rifle shot out of his hands and his thumb blown off).
As regards RottenTomatoes, see also Gods and Generals: 8% positive critics, 65% positive “human beings”. Then, actually go and see the movie Gods and Generals. It is superb, and I personally found it more interesting than Gettysburg in terms of it’s human interest aspect. Stephen Lang as Stonewall Jackson is, again, superb.
As a movie Gods and Generals was ponderous, disorganized and overwrought. Interesting subject. Poor execution.
Big fan of MOF here!
First time I watched it da wifey wasn’t too interested at first. Then when the girl was kidnapped she was a little distraught at the concept but was by that time drawn into the plot.
At the end she was crying….
Hate to agree with some others here, but I also think “macho” may be the wrong term to use.
“Manly” is probably a better word, and constitutes a male who does what has to be done whether he wants to or not, is afraid or not, or even feels he can succeed or not – and does so under dire circumstances to protect his loved ones.
Ain’t got nothing to do with bulging biceps or a big gun (I was never much of a fan of the Stallone movies either….).
But yeah, I understand what the article was intending to convey with “macho”.
Any great macho/manly movie would have to include MOF.
I wonder what a list of such movies would include? I’d suggest “Gran Torino”.
My favourite movie of all time, a lost soul, definitely has ptsd, alcohol probs, wonders what the hell life is about and if its worth living, no one gets him except his friend..and then he finds redemption…
I would hope its what all men would do when someone precious they love is taken from them… Its funny I never thought the movie odd or abnormal, I found what he did to be in least in my humble opinion quite normal and quite within my own capacities, to be honest I would have been more cruel in the search, less mercy with the druggies family…
For Buzz I too served, 2 tours in sandbox, 2 tours in douchebagistan, stop making this about Klavan, its about the movie, manup for fcuks sake and just admit its a damn good movie and although our understanding and civilians understanding of what Macho is and is different we get the point about being ‘Men’
Doc Out:
MOF was a very compelling movie and had good everything but I did take great issue with something said or implied between Denzil and his friend and former handler concerning their CIA work. It one conversation, sort of laying the ground work for his drinking and depression, was that they had done evil in their service. Yes it is possibly a minor “Beef” of mine but in this film it is the basis of how Denzil got there and implies that to secure this Nation and to defend the Free World evil must be and was done. In reality our counter intelligence got started about 25 years behind our opponents with the OSS then morphed into the CIA. Where I am sure every choice or action was the correct one I doubt we ever perpetuated true evil. As much as I have read on the subject we were almost the Keystone Kops on more than one occasion before finally settling into the immense intelligence gathering behemoth it is today.The Good Shepard was very similar in this sense. In short it implies to me that we were no better than our opposition.
I do remember noticing that in the movie when I first viewed it as well, but I don’t necessarily take the same conclusion as you do.
True story….
There was a guy who lived in the rural neighborhood I grew up in who had been in the Pacific during WWII.
There was an instance where he had to use his vehicle to bury alive Japanese soldiers who were hunkered down in a bunker and shooting at US forces but wouldn’t surrender. It was either a bulldozer or a bulldozer blade equipped tank that he was responsible for driving.
He could hear them screaming as his treads rolled over.
It scarred and haunted him for the rest of his days.
Was crushing and burying alive an enemy soldier an evil act?
Possibly.
But it was a necessary act that likely saved the lives of other Americans. It can be justified til Hell freezes over, but the fact remains that the man was horrified by his own actions no matter how necessary they had been at the time.
I’d put Denzel’s character into that same mold.
The character did brutal and vicious things to the designated bad guys, and even though they were enemies it doesn’t change the fact that deep down the character was still a decent human being and it had an effect on him.
Bugs spoke the truth. Real machos dont brag, they keep their mouths shut and do what needs to be done without remorse or sympathy. Real machos are generally timid. Dont like women too much but only enough. In fact, machos are not machos. They are normal. Quiet. Beiing a macho is not a very manly thing to do. Serenity is the trademark of a real man.
this is so funny. pc ladies are fuming. LOL
It’s important to distinguish between crotch grabbing morons, and traditionally manly men who do manly stuff that tends to benefit society. I don’t think traditional manliness is dead. It’s been put behind glass, as often happens. “Break Glass in Case of Emergency.” When the SHTF, we break the glass. Or at least some of us do. The Hollywood fantasy looms large in our collective mind; we tend to think of a hero as John Wayne, who was mostly a womanizing gasbag, though he played macho on screen pretty well. Jimmy Stewart was truly manly, serving a tour as a bomber pilot in the European theater and continuing his military service for years afterward. To the extent he played gunslingers they were quiet, competent and deadly – and although we’ve got some John Waynes out there in law enforcement, the military and other protective services, most of them are a lot more like Jimmy Stewart.
The real problem we have isn’t the loss of macho but the underappreciation of actually strong men, and the role they play in fighting off society’s wolves and other common enemies of mankind – terrorists, natural disaster, fire, etc. Our societal sheepdogs aren’t obsolete – they’ll always be needed, and as usual, we attempt to make them obsolete or ignore their existence and make life hostile to them at a cost that is later paid by ourselves, or our kids, and by the sheepdogs themselves.
When you support leftists don’t complain about what they do with the money and fame you give them.