Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1620 The plot is too complicated
"No wonder, Shirley (Lansing) told me that she asked Reza Bati, the director who directed the most episodes of The Last Thing back then, to go to your set for consultation, but he came back in one day. If he, the original director, saw your ending, he would definitely be unhappy."

Ronald sat in the Paramount preview screening room and watched the rough cut of "Mission Impossible". He said to Tom Cruise next to him.

"That was Brian (De Palma)'s request. I don't really care. It's a very good thing to have an expert from the original TV series on the crew for consultation, and it represents the support of the original filmmaker for this movie version..." Of course Tom Cruise did not admit it and put the blame on the film version's director Brian De Palma.

Ronald shook his head. He didn't expect the movie to end up like this.

Jon Voight plays Jim Phelps, the team leader in the original TV series The Last Jedi. At the beginning of each episode, Jim Phelps faces the camera, selects photos of various "talents" on the table, and then forms a team to complete the "impossible task".

However, in this movie version, he is portrayed as a villain who, after the end of the Cold War, was dissatisfied with the budget cuts of the IMF (Impossible Mission Intelligence) and the resulting drastic reduction in his pension. He turned against the IMF and not only killed other members of the team, but also sold the list of American NOC spies on the black market.

The British film star Emmanuelle Béart plays Jim Phelps' wife Claire, who completely subverts the plot of the TV series in this film.

Claire and Ethan, played by Tom Cruise, are having an extramarital affair. Claire knows Jim Phelps's plan to betray her, and she is obsessed with Ethan's beauty, wavering between the two men.

"Why, do you think this kind of plot is inappropriate? I did hear some complaints that fans of the TV series "Butterfield 8" will be dissatisfied with this..." Tom Cruise frowned.

He now has a strong control over film projects, and often he has the final say over the direction of the plot.

After hearing this concern, he didn't really take it seriously, but if Ronald thought so, he would have to think about it carefully.

"That's not a big problem..." Ronald was not worried about the protests from the fans of the TV series. How many die-hard fans of the TV series "The Last Thing" were there was still a question. Anyway, according to Ronald's experience, most of the audiences who watched "The Last Thing" had forgotten the name of the protagonist. I'm afraid they only remembered the various imaginative props and the human skin mask.

Besides, most moviegoers are no longer the generation that watched the TV series "A True Mob Story". Perhaps more of them go to the cinema just to see Tom Cruise.

"So, what other place is it that you think is problematic?" Tom Cruise looked at Ronald's frown and became even more worried.

Ronald is a magical person. He often does things that people at that time cannot understand, but he is the only one who insists on doing it. If there is a problem that no one else sees, maybe Ronald has miraculously discovered something important.

Ronald just intuitively felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell exactly what was wrong.

The film is very well made, and the final helicopter chase of the high-speed train shot on the 007 set is very exciting. The suspense of the members of the team being killed one by one in the beginning is also enough to make the audience fully engaged in ten minutes and start to worry about Ethan's fate.

The whole movie is also full of very professional details of the Cold War spy war. For example, if you are not a senior reader of spy novels, you will not understand why this type of spy list is so risky - once it is exposed, without the cover of diplomatic identity, their fate is often death.

As early as 1985, the CIA's NOC spy list was actually leaked. The KGB arrested and executed many spies, and the mole (a double agent serving in the intelligence agency) who betrayed the list has not been found until now.

In the first mission, Jim Phelps' team was suspected of having a mole, so they used a very professional method to find out who the mole was.

The IMF arranged a fake mission and sent the Phelps team to go. Then, at the same time, another team was arranged to monitor the Phelps team nearby. In this way, when the mole was carrying out the mission, it would inevitably reveal its true identity and be seen by the real mission team. In this way, it would be possible to find out who the real mole was.

Finally, when contacting the black market spy information broker, Phelps also used the Bible code. The code he used happened to be the chapter in the Bible that talked about the heroes being suspected. In the end, Ethan deciphered it and found out that Phelps was the murderer who killed his teammates.

Ronald only felt that the information density of this movie was very high. Compared with it, the original TV series was like a show for teenagers, with very simple good guys and bad guys.

If the audience is not an experienced reader of spy novels and movies, or particularly likes this kind of movie with high information density, they will probably be confused... and will not understand the meaning of many details.

Director Brian De Palma's editing is very crisp and clear, and these details are not explained. Unlike typical Hollywood movies, every brain-twisting puzzle must be explained by the characters.

The most typical case is that the villain dies because he talks too much. In Hollywood's view, this is a typical occasion where the villain needs to come out and explain his motives. If there is no such scene, the audience may not understand the plot.

This is the most typical "show and explain" movie in Hollywood, but De Palma didn't explain anything in this movie. It's just hardcore and left there. If you understand it, watch it. If you don't understand it... watch it twice more.

Of course, for veteran moviegoers, this is no problem. You can even sell two more tickets. But moviegoers are only a minority of the audience, and most of the audience is not obliged to understand the plot of your movie.

If it's too hard to understand, there will be a lot of negative reviews. The end result? Audiences will stop watching after hearing negative reviews from their friends.

"The plot seems a bit too complicated. Do you think the average audience can understand it?" Ronald thought it through and asked Cruise.

"No, isn't this very simple? I go to the CIA headquarters, use a rope to get down from the ceiling to get the CD. Before I go in, I explain why I have to go down from the ceiling. There are weight sensors on the floor of this room. If someone steps on it, it will alarm..." Tom Cruise was horrified. If he didn't understand the movie, he would be finished.

"I'm not talking about your part, I'm talking about the plot of the whole movie..." Ronald said what he was thinking, "Why don't you find some ordinary audiences to watch the preview and see their reactions..."

"Okay, I'll ask Shirley Lansing to help arrange it right away." After hearing Ronald's idea, Tom Cruise suddenly felt that the movie was too complicated. After listening to the recording of the entire script, he really didn't understand it, and asked Paula a lot of questions before he figured it out.

I am considered a very smart person in Hollywood, but I still have problems with comprehension. It is normal that the audience does not understand.

Fortunately, he asked someone who knew the situation. Cruise breathed a sigh of relief and then asked Ronald, "What should we do if the audience reaction to the preview is really not good?"

"The plot is too tight. The story of your movie can usually fill two movies..." Ronald shook his head as he spoke. This was definitely impossible. Movie sequels are usually considered only when the first movie is a big hit.

"I'm only suggesting a possibility, which may not be the best one. You can consider it..." Ronald closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then spoke, "You can consider deleting the love scene between Claire and Ethan. In this way, the audience's mental burden will be greatly reduced. Their attention will be focused on who is the villain who betrayed Ethan, and they will not be misled by the love triangle between Ethan, Phelps, and Claire to the revenge caused by the affair..."

Ronald's strategy was to delete a clue. De Palma's original idea was to use this clue to mislead the audience and hide the real main plot - Jim Phelps felt that the spy funding had been greatly reduced after the end of the Cold War. He felt betrayed by the American government, faked his death, and then sold a list to get himself a sufficient retirement fund...

"Hmm..." Tom Cruise thought this was a really good idea. As long as he and Emmanuelle Béart's scenes were deleted, the audience's mental burden would be greatly reduced, and the main plot of the movie would not be affected...

It’s a pity that such a good kissing scene between me and Emmanuelle Béart has to be deleted.

……

A few days later, the results of the preview came in, and as expected, most of the audience were confused. The film's pace was too fast, there was too much professional content, and there were no characters to explain it, so many people gave it low scores.

They also asked a lot of questions about why the characters did this or that, and of course, Tom Cruise's action scenes were highly praised.

After Shirley Lansing got the results, she called Ronald to express her gratitude and put pressure on director Brian De Palma to re-edit the film.

Brian De Palma wanted to walk away, these idiots didn't understand art at all... But because of the failure of the previous movie, he needed this movie to help him restore his reputation in Hollywood. So although he kept cursing Shirley Lansing and the anonymous famous director who made revision suggestions, he still went to the editing room obediently.

"A sneeze, a sneeze..."

Ronald didn't know that he had been cursed by DePalma several times, and thought he was allergic. He quickly made a cup of lemon water and drank it slowly.

"It was really unexpected that the Chicago Film Critics Awards gave the best film to Apollo 13..."

The Oscars prelude continues, and the critics awards from various places are gradually announced. However, in Chicago, where Roger Ebert is located, many unexpected awards have emerged. Not only is the Best Picture a film that has never been favored by the Film Critics Association Awards, but it also tells the story of the Apollo 13 explosion during the moon landing plan, and the crew's efforts to return to Earth safely.

Another unusual award, best director, went to Oliver Stone, director of the biopic "Nixon."

This biographical film focuses on the Watergate scandal.

Albert praised the film's skillful filming techniques. In the film, a female student asked the president face to face: "Why couldn't you stop the Vietnam War as president? Is it because of this system?" Nixon seemed to understand something, and he said to his subordinates: "She understands what I spent 25 years in politics to understand..."

However, the Best Director award went to Oliver Stone, which seems like a split of the pie. These are the kind of movies that Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel like best, that cater to the tastes of big city audiences and have mainstream values. So let's give each person an award.

Ronald didn't blame them for this, because the Chicago film critics were still generous enough to give Leaving Las Vegas the Best Actor and Actress awards.

Another important award, the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, also announced its list. New England also has its mainstream values.

Of the 13 states founded by the earliest immigrants in the United States, Massachusetts has the largest number of immigrants from England, and is the most appreciative of the period drama "Sense and Sensibility" that reflects rural England during the Regency era. There are still many places in Massachusetts with buildings and fields that look very much like those in England.

Ang Lee and Sense and Sensibility won Best Director and Best Picture respectively. Emma Thompson also won Best Screenplay.

Fortunately, Nicolas Cage still won the Best Actor award. It seems that film critics from all over the country are divided on other awards, but in the category of Best Actor, they all unanimously voted for Cage.

"It seems that Cage has a high chance of winning this award..." Michelle Cannold said. He is in charge of the distribution in Las Vegas. If Cage continues to win at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards, the box office of the movie will continue to rise.

"This doesn't prove anything, it only proves that film critics are all alcoholics, and they know best what a drunkard should look like. Cage showed them what they look like..."

Ronald answered half-jokingly. He was not sure that Cage would win the award. After all, the film critics were a minority in the Oscar votes, and the largest group was still the actors. The most indicative Oscar weathervane was the Screen Actors Guild Award, which was just established last year...

"So, should we increase our public relations for the Golden Globe Awards?" Cannold asked again.

"Okay, after all, it's a nationally broadcast award, so just think of it as free advertising." Ronald nodded, signed the document, and allocated another sum of public relations funds. The success of New United Arts depends on him.