WESTERN VERSUS ORiENTAL MOViES

Although majority of the world's movie industry is governed by the popular Hollywood insignia, and thus the reign of Western movies, my favorite film as of date is still 2002's Asian hit HERO by Zhang Yimou -- undefeated in my book for 9 years (and counting) of being a film enthusiast.

Let's try then to compare Western movies and Asian movies according to genre.  I pointed out the trademarks of a Western movie and an Asian movie in each category.  Read along and see if you would agree with me.

ACTION

Western.  One of the most irritating things to watch onscreen -- Hollywood action.  Although there are some movies that are already incorporating Asian-style action, majority of Hollywood films still use the old camera trick of moving hell way too much as the fight scene is going on to make the audience feel like they're part of something very active.  It only makes my head ache though, and the scenes go so fast you wouldn't even notice who punched who, or who fired at whom.  As long as the camera shakes wildly, and different angles are taken at rapid speed, they are fine with that.  Add the unnecessary explosions and other special effects that contribute to the mayhem and confusion.  There you have it - your ingredients for a Hollywood action movie.

Oriental.  Oriental action has a different touch -- the action scenes are uncut, continuous, and shot at only few angles.  Think of the movie The Matrix (It's a Western film, but the action scenes were directed by an Asian expert).  Think of Jackie Chan movies.  Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  Asian movies, as well as Asian-combat-inspired movies, make art out of fight scenes.  Minus the headache.

Watch both movie clips from Thor (Western) and Hero (Asian) and you'll get my point.

ROMANCE

Western.  The only two things that a Western romance film needs is a popular pair of actors and a nice song.  The story need not be very good, but the audience will still buy it.  They need that romantic song to set the mood, else if the actors are really bad at acting, the romantic scenes will turn into a documentary.

Oriental.  The main actors need not to be popular, as long as the story is good.  Though they don't focus that much in background music for mood purposes, the lack of it makes the actors work for their acting more if they want to impress the audience.  Without good actors, the story comes to waste, and there's rarely any good music to cover that up, unlike in Western romantic films.

COMEDY

Western.  The more racist and vulgar, the better.

Oriental.  Slapstick jokes are still a major hit.

DRAMA

Western.  Musical score still pawns a drama film.  A western drama lacks so much without one.  A musical drama score needs to be so good, it tells a story by itself.  There's sad music in almost every part of the story.

Oriental.  Musical score is optional.  Most Asian drama films I have watched don't incorporate music that much.  The very crucial dramatic parts don't have tearjerky songs, unlike their Western counterparts.  Most of the time, music sets in only at the beginning and/or at the end of the film.  The good thing is that the drama is still there, and music isn't that much needed props to catalyze things up.

SUSPENSE/HORROR

Western.  Blood.  Gore.  A lot of special effects.  Most have very bad storyline and weak actors [but damn good at screaming].

Oriental.  Ghosts. Blood.  Gore. More ghosts.  Little or no special effects.  Creepy feeling comes from the old way of cinematography.  Unique and interesting stories [that's why Hollywood always gets good ideas from Asian horror movies].

The Ring [Japanese version] may lack the dramatic touch that the Hollywood version had [and the special effects that make it scarier], this scene is still epic because of the unique story twist, you'd forget the cheap cinematography.

SCI-FI/FANTASY/ADVENTURE

Western.  Eye-popping special effects. CGI. 3D. OMG!  Great story.  Lame story.  Doesn't matter, as long as we are blinded by the special effects.

Oriental.  Mostly simple special effects.  Sometimes none at all.  Mostly epic stories, historical stories, mythological stories, and other Asian themes.  Costumes are always grand.  Great story.  Lame story.  They're still eyecandy in a non-special effects way.

Recent Western movies have already adapted the good features of their Oriental counterpart and vice versa, and that's a pretty nice indication of a promising improvement in the entertainment industry.  For example, Western movies are incorporating the Asian action touch to create more dramatic fight scenes, while Oriental movies are slowly adapting the latest in film technology and the use of special effects to glorify their movies to new entertainment heights.

Each of us have our own movie favorites and genres that we enjoy watching, and I respect that, so nagging you into liking HERO or Oriental movies would be the last thing I'd do.  Some of our picks might be a loser movie for another, and some that we consider flops might be another's personal blockbuster hit.

Western? Asian? It's all about personal choice anyway.

What say you?