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Stress in movies, what do you think?


radi6404

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I never understood why so many people want big stress in the moviews and series and the filmstudios creating the most stressful stories they can think of. They clearly use it to create movies and series commercially and ruin a lot of otherwise great series. So many Star Trek Voyager series are ruined by stress. Incredibly good charakters play their roles very well but you can stress almot to the last minute and it makes the series boring. If a movie has too much stress and the good people are in very bad positions I have a hard time enduring the movie and sometimes turn it away. I can`t stand extremly stressful movies, where it seems the good will loose til almost the last minute. Stress is by far not the only recipy to create a great movie or series and it ruins many good movies and series.

 

Look at all the criminal series from the last years. Criminal minds, CSI, Criminal intend, the authors of these sereis don`t generate a lot of stress and yet the series are very popular and succesful, without the good seeing to loose until the last minute. For me details in a movie are much more important as extreme stress. In a science fiction movie that could be explaining the technical items in detail and showing interesting parts of the charakters.

 

What do you think, is extreme stress good in movies or is moderate stress and a great story better?

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I really do not like gore and horror movies...or any movie that has graphically violent storylines, I personally find them incredibly stressful..

I do on the other hand love crime drama like the ones you mentioned..CSI NCIS etc etc...also..

Sons Of Anarchy, very violent yet very well done...i just avoided looking when the bad bits happened...

Hell on Wheels, another goody!

I prefer a decent sci fi series tho.. Fringe was flippin awesome and I was gutted when it finished...

 

movie wise... i am a fantasy/ sci fi person but actually rarely visit a cinema..I saw Star Trek at the IMAX in 3D ...it gave me a headache. no more 3D for me. THAT caused me discomfort.

 

It all depends on the person, and it would be a very boring world if we all liked the same stuff Radi... :)

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Stress is not the right word, it's called suspense. Suspense is what keeps many people watching because it appeals to very basic emotions. People also like interesting stories, where it's not entirely clear how the thing is going to end. If there's no suspense, most people won't even bother. I agree that in many cases it's too gimmicky and especially in most blockbusters it comes down to a lot of cheaply made suspense, but suspense pulled off the right way can be a formidable motivator to keep watching/reading/listening to something. Even in music, suspense plays a very important role in keeping you interested.

 

So basically, I don't really get what you are trying to say... These movies/series do not generate stress in people (or for some, they do but certainly not for everyone), they create suspense. Semantically these are two very different things. If you do not like suspense, I'd say don't watch suspenseful movies/series or do not read that kind of books or don't listen to that kind of music. However, I think you can learn to appreciate that kind of feeling for what it is.

 

For me I can only say that I enjoy good suspense, in the same way I enjoy an emotional melody, or a good lovestory. Not the entire time, because that would get boring, but as a part of a spectrum of emotions that tells me I am human. Variety is the key to a fulfilled and happy life I think, not only in what you do, but also in what you consume (I know 'consume' has a very bad ring to it, but in essence it's what we humans do, all the time).

 

As for your question: I do not think that extreme suspense and a good story are mutually exclusive. I will even go as far as to say that to me, the ultimate movie/series/novel/musical composition/telltale-story is one with formidable suspense and a great story.

 

There, I made an honest effort to provide constructive commentary :)

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for me it is not about voilence or not in a movie. I like action and horror movies, I appreciate them, but I have a hard time watching them, when til the last minutes the good people have extreme problems defeating the bad. Some movies should be less stressful in that aspect so that the bad don`t always seem to have a big advantange against the good, it should be balanced.

 

Great old movies with good balance are the Terminator movies. In my opinion there is some stress, but the good ones do not seem to stand no chance tilt the last minutes.

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you are right, I meant supsence and I find extreme suspence annoying, especially when the entire story is simple and only based on suspence than it is very bad. Movies and series need suspence and I love it in music, but the kind of suspence, where the good people stand no chance til the last minutes is bad in my opinion.

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you are right, I meant supsence and I find extreme suspence annoying, especially when the entire story is simple and only based on suspence than it is very bad. Movies and series need suspence and I love it in music, but the kind of suspence, where the good people stand no chance til the last minutes is bad in my opinion.

 

Well, it is in those kind of scenarios the infamous 'deus ex machina' often makes it's appearance, something I find irritating in most of the cases. Unless it's really well pulled off... Japanese shounen manga often suffer from this. In almost every (important) fight the good guy gets beaten pretty badly but then somehow transcends to a higher level and defeats the villain after all. It's really formulaic :)

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Well, it is in those kind of scenarios the infamous 'deus ex machina' often makes it's appearance, something I find irritating in most of the cases. Unless it's really well pulled off... Japanese shounen manga often suffer from this. In almost every (important) fight the good guy gets beaten pretty badly but then somehow transcends to a higher level and defeats the villain after all. It's really formulaic :)

Pssh, that ain't no problem. Plot armor is the best armor. Hahaha. But that's sort of one the characteristics of shounen. Not all do it, but it would be difficult to get rid of it. I usually find myself not being picky, so I don't really mind too much about it (unless it's complete bullcrap like able to destroy the whole universe/etc). One Punch Man is where it's at.

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I like a bit of drama but I find most movies have absolutely none at all.

It seems most Hollywood movies, there is no question as to whether the protagonist will win the day, and this makes the story fairly boring for me. I'd like movies to have an equal chance of having a happy or unhappy ending. Then I might feel a bit of suspense instead of sitting there knowing that he'll get out of this precarious situation or knowing that the couple will get back together.

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I don`t buy it people. How is it possible that most here want a lot of suspense in a movie or series, doesn`t the story mean anything to you? For me a very good story and great details are really important in a movie. For example a movie can be great even without violence and suspence all the time. It can show how people behave in the future, how the mashinery works, how people entertain themselfes and similar. A good movie or series can have little supsension and be great, just like some Star Trek episodes. How is it explainable that the crimila series like Criminal minds, CSI, Criminal Intend have almost no suspension and still have massive success? That contradicts with the wishes of many users in this thread. But in the end anyone has it´s opinion, however a balanced suspension, where the good ones aren´t suffering til the last minutes of the movie is in my opinion much better as pushing the suspension so high, that our nerves are torn apart.

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I don't mind if it's done well like Breaking Bad. Homeland for example was way to over the top & made just for uncomfortable viewing. It depends on horror, for example the older stuff like FReddy Krueger or Jason was done with a sense of humor so the stress/tension was just to add to the fun of being freaked. Gore stuff just bores me, life is depressing enough than having to watch such things played out on a screen.

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I don't know if You by 'stress' mean violence and gore or simply tension.

 

To me it's a no-brainer. Extreme stress as a plot device vs moderate stress + well crafted plot are both acceptable. It all depends what do I want to watch at the moment. For example, there are less than plenty martial arts movies with good plots, usualy it's some sort of revenge, training or quest/mission type of movies, so the viewer is counting on some good choreography and slick action which should generate stress to achieve its goal (of course not too inventive plot can be told in a great way aswell and it will be a bonus).

 

The best ones are those with great plot and plenty of stressful situations :).

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Pssh, that ain't no problem. Plot armor is the best armor. Hahaha. But that's sort of one the characteristics of shounen. Not all do it, but it would be difficult to get rid of it. I usually find myself not being picky, so I don't really mind too much about it (unless it's complete bullcrap like able to destroy the whole universe/etc). One Punch Man is where it's at.

 

That's what I was saying :P I wrote my bachelor paper about hero-figures in Shounen manga and anime ^^ I don't say it's a problem either, but that's kinda the most prevalent formula: the underdog hard worker who beats the all-powerful talented villain.

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You don't need violence of suspense.

A well crafted story will make you care about the characters so that you care what happens to them, then any time there is uncertainty in the story it creates suspense. It's the art of storytelling. Most people prefer a story with drama to just a dry telling of hat the life is like or how the machinery works.

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