# Shaky-cam in Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaky-cam-in-movies/463358 "2008-09-12T23:17:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 26
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaky-cam-in-movies/463358/26 "2008-09-14T14:09:28Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > There’s no connection between _Babylon AD_ and James Cameron. However, he was planning on making a film called _Battle Angel_ in _3D_. > > 🙂 Yeah, as I said I have no idea where the Babylon A.D. - James Cameron connection came from. Problem was I’d taken my dad along with me to see it, I don’t see him often and I know he’s a fan of science-fiction/action films but doesn’t often get a chance to watch them. Still he seemed to like it! Guess I’ll just have to pin my hopes on Avatar… 😉 > [@"Ms." or "Mrs." President?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-or-mrs-president/463451/43): > > It’s not just the “shaky cam” effect that’s ruining fight scenes these days–it’s the quick-cut, too. You can’t tell what the hell is going on because the scenes are so heavily edited. Seriously, it’s like a cut every quarter-second or less during the intense action. I first noticed this trend with Gladiator. I went in looking forward to some kick-ass gladiator fights and all I got were seizure-inducing quick-cuts followed by a long shot of Russel Crowe standing over his opponent. I hope Crowe didn’t waste any time doing any real training for those fight scenes, because none of it made it into the movie. Total cop-out and it ruined the movie for me. \*. 100% agreed, this and shaky-cam has ruined far too many otherwise entertaining action films. They also ruined the light-sabre fight scenes in the later two Star Wars prequels, in the last I had no frigging idea what was going on. Another problem I have with recent movies is as a result of the success of The Matrix. By that I mean film-makers including ludicrously over the top and physically impossible acts in the fight scenes. This worked fine in The Matrix because it was explicitly stated that physical rules in The Matrix can be bent or even broken, so it was acceptable to see the characters doing such impossible stunts. However film-makers seem to feel the need to outdo The Matrix and so include such stunts in what are supposed to be real-world stories where it does nothing but destroy suspension of disbelief. The first time this struck me was in a post-Matrix Chow Yun Fat film _(sorry, can’t recall the title)_ in one particular fight scene in this his character leaps about six feet vertically into the air from a standing position _then hangs motionless and turns 180 degrees left and right to kick his opponents before finally falling to the ground_…I turned the film off at this point… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaky-cam-in-movies/463358)._