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Gran Torino : A Review.

Blogs > arb
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arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17921 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-20 11:08:45
June 20 2010 10:24 GMT
#1
[image loading]
Honestly he's the biggest badass you'll ever meet.

What ill be grading on are these 4 things, Characters, Plot, Flow, Ending.

As for this we have i would say (myself personally) 4 or 5(depending on how you look at it) main characters.

Characters

[image loading]
Walt Kowalski: Yes Clint Eastwoods character in this amazing film, basically a completly racist asshole and a Korean war veteran, awesome! Don't let my remarks turn you away though, i absolutely love it, and in fact he is one of my idols in life(not kidding) he is an absolute over the top complete and total fucking badass, who isnt afraid to say what he is thinking. He makes this movie as good as it is, and even after taking our next character..

[image loading]
Thao Vang Lor: Our "dick smoking gook" as the italian barber calls him, starts off as a seeming useless typical asian kid, however by the end of the movie Walt has turned him into a real man. After trying to steal his car and being forced to work for him, he eventually becomes his friend and even helps advance himself in life with the things Walt teaches him, and finally stops being the little bitch to our next character..

[image loading]
Sue Lor: A very smart and "spunky" asian teenager and holy god is she fucking hot too, but anyway she is IMO atleast great comic value at times when Walt's trying to be hardass and she calls him stupid or something, and then when the African Americans are harassing her and she just talks shit the entire time yeah shes fucking awesome, which leads me to my next and least favorite main character..

[image loading]
Father Janovich: Yes he gets on my nerves alot and he probably gets on yours also, and while he doesnt have as big of a roll as the above 3 characters he is there and plays a semi important roll. Yes he basically bitches about how life and death and shit are fairly dumb and what have you, and Walt calls him a 27 year old virgin(lol) but whatever, and finally our last "Main Character"

[image loading]
Hmong Gang: While they play a very huge roll in how this movie ends aswell as some of the events in the movie im not going to say much about them, they are your typically wannabe "gangstas" who are also our primary antagonists in this film.

The Plot
The plot follows the life of disgruntaled war veteran Walt Kowalski, who like i said above is quite the asshole. However he lived a typical American life in the suburbs of well really i dont know i assume Detroid/Flint because of the Ford Plant.. When his wife Dorothy dies which you see her funeral and all at the very start of the movie. He also has 2 sons who as far as i can tell have a love/hate relationship with him, while they love him as a father he treats them like ass and, even though they try to be nice doesnt allow them to be at any time. And as soon as his wife dies we see the Lor family moving next door to him. Obviously still incredibly racist and angry at the korean war Walt obviously does not like this one god damn bit as he makes it very obvious during the entire movie, next the gang shows up convinces their little cousin Thao to steal Walts 1972 Gran Torino, who of course fails miserably. This not only pisses Walt off but the other Gang aswell which of course leads into the rest of the story
(yes its early and im not going to explain the entire thing, if you havent seen the movie by now then WTF go watch it..) But i think the plot was overall FANTASTIC in this movie, honestly Eastwoods best imo.

Flow
Personally i thought the movie flowed incredibly well from one thing to another, yeah there was some missing time but all in all this worked incredibly well.

Ending
The ending took me by surprise and honestly the first time i watched it, If my friends hadn't been there i would have cried it is actually VERY sad. I enjoyed the ending and it leaves you with something to think about, and if you dont know why he did what he did well.
+ Show Spoiler +
He did it to give the kids a better life for you slow ones out there, as he had made peace with himself and could now go on.

The ending is IMO one of the best parts of the movie, you don't see it coming well..sorta you do but i didnt know what was gonna happen at all the first time, all in all a great ending.

The Rating:
Characters : 10/10
You get emotionally connected with everyone of them by the very end of this movie.
Plot : 10/10
What can i say its Eastwood at his absolute finest.
Flow : 9/10
Like I said there is missing time in it and while it doesnt mess up the movie i would have enjoyed some more scenes
Ending : 10/10
Amazing.

Overall 9.75/10
GO WATCH THIS NOW.

Thank you for reading, and HAPPY FATHERS DAY!
Also, i will possibly be doing some more reviews on movies as time goes on depending on how people rate/talk about this haha, so give criticism etc.

ALSO, suggest movies to review, hint : i really like giant monster movies :D, but suggest away!

***
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
vlaric
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States412 Posts
June 20 2010 10:33 GMT
#2
I liked the movie a lot as well (definitely one of my favs), however I thought the acting on the Hmong kids (Thao and his sister) could have been a lot better. On the other hand, I remember reading that the actors were actually of Hmong descent, so perhaps the crew decided to go for authenticity in their roles instead of experience, which can be good or bad depending on how you view it.

Anyway, IMO the movie would have been a 5 had the support roles been filled with stronger actors. Overall, though, the film was great, and I would definitely agree with arb on this one: go watch this movie if you haven't seen it yet.
Wannabe zerg player
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17921 Posts
June 20 2010 10:42 GMT
#3
On June 20 2010 19:33 vlaric wrote:
I liked the movie a lot as well (definitely one of my favs), however I thought the acting on the Hmong kids (Thao and his sister) could have been a lot better. On the other hand, I remember reading that the actors were actually of Hmong descent, so perhaps the crew decided to go for authenticity in their roles instead of experience, which can be good or bad depending on how you view it.

Anyway, IMO the movie would have been a 5 had the support roles been filled with stronger actors. Overall, though, the film was great, and I would definitely agree with arb on this one: go watch this movie if you haven't seen it yet.

While ill agree it wasnt top notch acting, i still think it was pretty above average, from what i saw on imdb this is the only movie Sue/Thao had ever been in so i believe they may be true Hmong people.

i think it was most definantly good, they and most of the other actors worked well with their rolls(the hmong shaman etc) and as for these 2 i absoultely loved them, by the end of the movie.
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
Patriot.dlk
Profile Blog Joined October 2004
Sweden5462 Posts
June 20 2010 12:13 GMT
#4
Walt as a character spoke to me a lot. I instantly pressed "like" on him at facebook after I saw the movie.

So no fek
Profile Blog Joined June 2005
United States3001 Posts
June 20 2010 12:20 GMT
#5
Watching it now and loving it so far. Even though I enjoy most Clint Eastwood movies, and had heard great things about this one, I had previously stayed away from watching it for whatever reason. But I'm glad that your review has spurred me into action. Also, I agree entirely, the sister is fucking hot.
#1 Shuttle fan - TeamLiquid CJ Entusman #36 BW4lyfe
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17921 Posts
June 20 2010 12:26 GMT
#6
On June 20 2010 21:20 So no fek wrote:
Watching it now and loving it so far. Even though I enjoy most Clint Eastwood movies, and had heard great things about this one, I had previously stayed away from watching it for whatever reason. But I'm glad that your review has spurred me into action. Also, I agree entirely, the sister is fucking hot.

Haha good, everyone should watch this masterpiece, maybe you can spur me to watch another movie to review? :D
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
Pokebunny
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States10654 Posts
June 20 2010 13:00 GMT
#7
arb why do you like... halfway type in complete sentences

~_~
Semipro Terran player | Pokebunny#1710 | twitter.com/Pokebunny | twitch.tv/Pokebunny | facebook.com/PokebunnySC
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17921 Posts
June 20 2010 13:03 GMT
#8
On June 20 2010 22:00 Pokebunny wrote:
arb why do you like... halfway type in complete sentences

~_~

Mostly because grammar wasnt my strongpoint in school, and I'm quite lazy.

However, it's still fairly easy to read.
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
Pokebunny
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States10654 Posts
June 20 2010 13:05 GMT
#9
indeed but it bothers me

it's like you're trying to but then getting lazy halfway through the sentence
Semipro Terran player | Pokebunny#1710 | twitter.com/Pokebunny | twitch.tv/Pokebunny | facebook.com/PokebunnySC
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17921 Posts
June 20 2010 13:08 GMT
#10
On June 20 2010 22:05 Pokebunny wrote:
indeed but it bothers me

it's like you're trying to but then getting lazy halfway through the sentence

Thats exactly what I do, most of the time.
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
Neurotripsick
Profile Joined April 2010
United States34 Posts
June 20 2010 15:24 GMT
#11
I liked the movie, but the Asian actors were pretty bad lol.
Yeah, well, you know, thats just, like, your opinion, man.
Salv
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Canada3083 Posts
June 20 2010 15:46 GMT
#12
I liked the movie, but I found the actor who played Thao to be awful, awful, awful. Clint was good, and Hmong gangsters were acceptable, but every scene with Thao was brought down because of his presence. Overall, it had the making to be a great movie, but because of some of the bad acting, it's only good.
fredd
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
Estonia256 Posts
June 20 2010 16:07 GMT
#13
i was thinking of watching it, now i'm definately going to
sup
YoonHo
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
Canada1043 Posts
June 20 2010 16:34 GMT
#14
I loved this movie, but I have to agree, Thao's acting was shit lol. It's been a while since I saw this movie, but I remember this one scene where Thao's locked in by Walt (?). It was terrible.
IUFam Golf Wang~ NrGsteve
pikaaarrr :3
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States593 Posts
June 20 2010 17:18 GMT
#15
The movie was really good. I laughed really hard when Thao went into the barber's shop and addressed him with all the insults, haha
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17921 Posts
June 20 2010 21:39 GMT
#16
On June 21 2010 00:46 Salv wrote:
I liked the movie, but I found the actor who played Thao to be awful, awful, awful. Clint was good, and Hmong gangsters were acceptable, but every scene with Thao was brought down because of his presence. Overall, it had the making to be a great movie, but because of some of the bad acting, it's only good.

I thought Sue was quite acceptable myself, honestly the only part i thought Thao could have used work on was when Walt locked him in the basement, h sounded like a 5 year old screaming
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
Kuja900
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States3564 Posts
June 23 2010 13:17 GMT
#17
With it being Eastwood and all at the end you half expect him to pull some typical western 1v20 badassery but the movie surprises you, my favorite of Eastwood's directed movies.
OMG you nasty gurl
TheMute
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States458 Posts
June 23 2010 18:00 GMT
#18
I enjoyed this movie. I love Clint's voice. But I didn't like the scene where

+ Show Spoiler +
Thao was locked in Clint's basement. The way he was screaming and saying Let me Out was very weak imo. Ending was a nice surprise, didn't expect it.


Friends are simply people you can do/say vulgar things to.
Salv
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Canada3083 Posts
June 23 2010 20:09 GMT
#19
On June 21 2010 06:39 arb wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 21 2010 00:46 Salv wrote:
I liked the movie, but I found the actor who played Thao to be awful, awful, awful. Clint was good, and Hmong gangsters were acceptable, but every scene with Thao was brought down because of his presence. Overall, it had the making to be a great movie, but because of some of the bad acting, it's only good.

I thought Sue was quite acceptable myself, honestly the only part i thought Thao could have used work on was when Walt locked him in the basement, h sounded like a 5 year old screaming


The screaming in the basement was the worst by far. But also when he was talking to the Barber, or the Irish fellow that Walt helped him get a job with, it just felt like lousy acting. Considering the basement scene was supposed to be a very strong moment I'm sure, it sure was a shame.
Ducci
Profile Joined April 2009
United States588 Posts
June 23 2010 23:44 GMT
#20
This is definitely one of the best movies I have ever seen. Completely agree with the OP
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