Sequences Comparison Movie Review - Geostorm and Stagecoach

Jiaming Huo
ARTH1921W
2017.11.7
Sequences Comparison Movie Review- Geostorm and Stagecoach
The Geostorm is a sci-fi thriller directed by Dean Devlin focusing on satellites originally created to control global climate, but the weather-controlled system started attacking the earth, and the challenge is to save mankind from the Geostorm while assessing the damage from the storm. The sequence scene focuses on the interaction of Max, Sarah and the President inside the taxi trying to move away from the storm. In the Western film Stagecoach, passengers are traveling by stagecoach when a violent conflict between Indians and whites emerges in the western frontier instigated by the Indians who surround and begin attacking the coach. The framing highlights the urban settings in Geostorm and open space of the American West frontier in Stagecoach, and this contrasts the action as there are more activities in the city and an impending geostrom would be more devastating than in sparsely populated areas.
Like many classic western movies, Stagecoach explores the conflicts between the whites and Indians as well as conflict within white culture in the western frontier. When the Indians launch an attack, they first appear in a high ridge and the camera zooms to their location to highlight the close-up action, where their leader signals for the attack to begin. The long shots of the landscape are important as they focus on the horizon and mountains contrast with the closer shots of the men shooting at each other. As the Indians instigate the fighting they are shown to be the villains as they surround the stage coach and begin attacking regardless of who is inside, and the other men simply defend themselves, the two women in the stagecoach and an infant. The threat from outside the stagecoach necessitates all the passengers to be alert about the danger ahead, and it is when the action gets closer that the men shoot more intensely.
In Geostorm, Sarah, Max and the President move at a high speed away from the storm in the self-driving taxi. The surrounding is urban in contrast to Stagecoach, and the director uses close up shots to highlight the action, where Max and the President talk briefly about the supposed ‘president kidnap.’ Since the three characters are in the cab they are only shown up to the sitting position, yet this emphasizes the challenge of them to navigate the storm successfully since emphasis is on how they can deal with the impending weather disaster. The end of civilization does not happen after there is realization that the weather satellite had been sabotaged and this was rectified even as the futuristic elements emphasize the looming apocalypse. The source of threat in the film is the weather-based system unlike Stagecoach where the Indians attackers launched a surprise attack.
In the Indian attack scene of the classic Western film the camera follows the Indians launching attacks targeting the stage coach where they surround the people being driven. During the actual attack there is the use of low-angled shots, bringing the action closer to the audience. The slow and steady stagecoach accelerated when the Indians attacked, and this further highlighted the scenery. In the Western films the landscape plays an important role in the film’s plot, and the framed landscape is relevant to the story. The director compressed the movement in the frame allowing the viewers to look into the landscape. The open frontier landscape that is rugged is the settings where hostile elements come into contact and in the scene gun fights between the whites and Indians takes place in this backdrop. The landscape also fosters the theme of the terrain being hostile and represents the perception 19th century American West was not the place for the faint hearted, and even the mythic heroes are able to conquer the fearsome Indians.
In Stagecoach, there are hints that there will be violence when the Indians descend towards, the mountains region and the coach driver tries to hurry up. Just as there is violent conflict between the two communities so too is the tense relationship between the Indians and descendants of settlers. In Geostorm things may change at any time in the contemporary urban space is a place where the storm can destroy buildings and people in a matter of few seconds. The music further heightens the idea that there is likely to be unexpected disruptions to the lives of the people in the cities. There is tension between modernity and the impact of manmade inventions, which contradict the idea that advanced technology, transforms the society for the better.
Outside the Stagecoach is quiet, but tension builds up slowly throughout the stagecoach’s journey until the Indians attack the whites. Before there is information the angle shots are extended and this highlights the isolation and vulnerability of the coach and the passengers. While there was dialogue inside the coach, but this was minimal when there is more focus on the action surrounding the Indian attack. The pace quickened during the attack with more close up shots of the driver who panicked when he realized that they would be surrounded and attacked from different directions. In the end, the good guys win and the bad ones are defeated and punished as the attackers in Stage coach do not succeed despite laying an ambush and even in Geostorm humanity is saved when the satellites no longer affect the weather patterns.
The surroundings in Geostorm are more ...