This week Chris Deacy is joined in the studio by Harry Bowles to discuss the films; Shaun of the Dead, Jaws, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Film Club. I'm Chris DC and each week I'll be joined by a guest
00:19from Kent to dive deep into the impact certain films have had on their life. Each guest will
00:24reflect on the films which have meant the most to them over the years. And every week
00:28there will be a Kent Film Trivia where we quiz you at home about a film that has a connection
00:33to the county. And now let me introduce you to my guest for this week. He is one of the
00:38hosts of the film and gaming podcast Nerds Against Normality as well as a retro video
00:43games business owner. He is Harry Bowles. Great to have you on the programme Harry.
00:49Thank you for having me. And your first choice, do you know I actually saw this at the cinema
00:53for the first time just three weeks ago. The anniversary. Of course it's mad to think
00:58that it's 20 years of age. I had to put this in. It's pure British classic comedy. It's
01:07so quotable, it's lovable. Edgar Wright just does such a good job of it all. But when this
01:14come out, I was 18, I was working part time, I was very much, my friends were doing the
01:20same sort of thing. So we spent a lot of time around each other's houses. And this was the
01:23film of choice. We'd always, when we'd go to bed, it'd be like, we've got to watch a
01:27film and this would be the film. And I just think it's so British that the world is on
01:32fire and the answer, go to the pub. They think that's the stronghold. That's where we're
01:37going to hold out for the night and everything will just blow over. I also really get on
01:42board with the relationship that he has both with the girlfriend and his best friend. Because
01:46I think growing up, everyone's probably had that close friend that you've defended maybe
01:52too much and they've clung on to you. You're supporting them like a parent more than a
01:58friend. And that's very much the dynamic they have. Yeah, it's brilliant. I remember because
02:05it came out 2004. And what was funny watching it 20 years on was almost how analogue it
02:10was, you know, in an age where they're using answer machines, for example, to get messages.
02:14But almost like in the years before lockdown, you know, actually almost like being holed
02:17in the pub was okay. That was our refuge, our sanctuary. But it really got to the heart
02:22about, you know, it was almost like relocating those tropes, those apocalyptic films, but
02:28in, is it North London? And then almost then saying, this is what it would really play
02:33out as if the sort of things we see in those great American movies were to happen here.
02:38And it was just so impeccably performed, those comic masterpieces.
02:43Yeah. And the writing, because like you say, in the American films, when the zombie apocalypse
02:49comes, it's all macho, macho, and they go in and take them down. Over here, they're
02:54equipped with a shovel, a cricket bat, vinyl records. It's anything they can get their
02:59hands on. The first zombie they encounter, they're having a cup of tea whilst it's just
03:03milling about in the garden. I think it's just what average Joe would do. And I just
03:09associate it with it so well. It's, if anyone asked me for a comedy, a British comedy, I
03:17always argue the toss between this and Hot Fuzz. I think this one just edged it because
03:22of my, when it come out, my love for it, as Hot Fuzz was obviously a few years later.
03:29I'd say equally as good. And it also, I was very interested in the TV series Spaced, if
03:36you've ever watched Spaced. And that was Simon Pegg's first venture into TV with Nick Frost
03:42and a few of the cast are in there. And it was nice to see them evolve, not just a TV
03:49series that was like six episodes, but to see them on the big screen. And it's not just
03:53a funny film. I'd argue it's a decent horror. Like there's some really gory moments in it
03:58as well. And there's hard decision making. His mum gets bit and he has to make the decision
04:05to kill his mum. He obviously looks broken up. Apparently when he was recording that,
04:10he couldn't do the scene because every time he would bring it up, he would start actually
04:15crying and it would break him. But no, I think it's definitely, it's on the podium of best
04:23British comedies.
04:24Because there's something in there, isn't there, about, as you say, the way we would
04:26respond. Because there's a bit when all the news channels are saying, you know, effectively
04:31don't go outside, the world's at an end. And he's just like casually channel hopping, going,
04:36oh, this is boring, this is boring. And there's something in that about the way that, you
04:39know, like with the pandemic as well, you know, there may be this big thing going on
04:44that is affecting, you know, stopping all of us from carrying on in our lives. But also
04:47people's lives are carrying on in their own, in the minutiae of the things that matter
04:52to them. And the way this works, as you say, it's almost like, yeah, we just want to go
04:56down the pub and have a nice, maybe a roast and a beer. And then that is the thing that
05:00defines everything rather than the external peril.
05:03Yeah. I don't know what else to add to it, to be honest with you.
05:08I mean, when did you first see this? I mean, did you ever see this on the big screen?
05:11No, unfortunately. And I've wasted my opportunity to go and see it at the 20th anniversary.
05:18I first watched it back when Blockbuster was a thing. And they had their bargain bin, you
05:23know, it'd be like two pound a DVD and you'd go in there with a tenner and you'd come out
05:28with your five DVDs and some are hits and some are misses. But no, this this stuck the
05:35land in for me. I'd say I probably watch it once a year just to refresh myself. I think
05:40it's a credit to Edgar Wright that you still pick up on little things you didn't quite
05:46notice. Like a lot of his films, he does lots of foreshadowing. So within the first 20 minutes
05:53of the film, you kind of, if you know what you're looking for, you can map out how the
05:58film's going to go. And he's like, right, go rescue Liz, go to Mums, kill Philip, off
06:03to the pub, wait for this all to blow over. And that is how the film unfolds. It is excellent.
06:08OK, well, it's time now to move on to your second chosen film. And you've gone for Jaws.
06:15Yes. So I will have to admit that I've only ever seen this film twice. And I'm not that
06:22knowledgeable on it because I've only seen it once when I was a child, when I probably
06:26shouldn't have done bad parenting. And then I watched it again as an adult to see if it
06:31would still terrify me. All my friends know me. I am petrified of the ocean. My best friend
06:36lives in Australia. I went into the ocean, lasted five minutes before I absolutely pranged
06:42out and I just thought I was going to get eaten. And it's due to this film. It messed
06:46me up. I was, as a kid, I was adamant I couldn't go into a swimming pool because Jaws could
06:52be there. He could be there. Probably not, but he could. And if you can't celebrate a
06:57film that still to this day, 30 years later, still has that hold over me, I don't know
07:03what you can. Well, I have to say, because the first time I ever saw this, I wasn't quite,
07:08for whatever reason, it didn't quite have the sort of impact that most people like yourself
07:12had. But I've seen it in 3D at the cinema more than once. And some films are worth the
07:20transfer on 3D. This one really did it. But also the whole coastal community, the setting,
07:26it kind of felt that you were almost the slice of life. And the whole bit like Shaun of the
07:30Dead, what do we do? Do we carry on with our lives as normal or do we suddenly stop everything?
07:36Yeah, well, because obviously in the film, they've got the big event and they're like,
07:40we can't shut the beaches. Brodie, he's the new sheriff. And he's like, no, you have to.
07:45The shark, there's a killer out there. And they're like, don't worry about it. That chance
07:49is up. And obviously the rest of the population are naive to it. They don't even know. It's
07:54only a select few people that know about the shark that could be out there. And I think
07:57that's terrifying that they just let them go out there. And you've got kids playing.
08:02And first, is that the first time you see, actually see the shark? It's when it goes
08:06for the banana boat that time. Because that's also what I love about this film. The actual
08:10shark isn't what's scary. It's when you don't see the shark that's scary. When you see from
08:16its point of view and the music starts up, as soon as you hear that music, your adrenaline
08:23goes, the fear goes. You know something's about to happen. You know he's near. And the
08:29dread, I guess that's the best word I'd use for it. The dread that you're so vulnerable
08:35in the water. Because if it does go for you, you're done.
08:40I mean, that's the way a film like this is going to work. Because I saw Deep Blue Sea
08:44not too long ago. That was 25 years after it was made. And you know, you've always got
08:48those moments where you think, oh, the shark appears. It's terrible. But actually, what
08:51Spielberg did so well, I think, in Jaws was, of course, to ratchet up the tension. And
08:56it's you don't see the shark until, as I recall, until well into the almost sort of like after
09:01the halfway mark.
09:02Yeah. I would argue that Jaws was the first great shark film and has never been touched
09:09since. Like, no, I don't know why. They can't seem to capture what Jaws captured many, many
09:14years ago. Was it 75?
09:15Yes.
09:16It started off, it was the first ever blockbuster, amassing, was it $100 million? It's got a
09:21lot to answer for, like the cinema. And I just think it's brilliant, brilliant film
09:26work.
09:27And I think the thing that's so clever about it is that although the shark obviously is
09:31the titular character, you also have the debate between the police officer, you have the person
09:38who's in charge of, you know, thinking of the business and the impact of the business
09:41on the community, the mayor. So you've got the sort of the three characters who all find
09:45themselves on a boat. And effectively, they're all representing different positions of how
09:48they respond to that. And that's the bit that works because, you know, it would have been
09:52a mistake to make the shark the central character. It's the way that the shark is manifested
09:57through those different voices.
09:59Yeah, agreed. And the three characters, Brody, Quint and Hooper, all very different characters.
10:08You know, Quint's a bit rough around the edges. He's been here before. It's nothing new until
10:14he sees it and he's like, oh, that's a big shark. Brody is just, he's the titular character.
10:21He wants to fix everything. He wants to make the water safe again. And then you've got
10:25Hooper. He's a marine biologist and he's more intrigued than anything, isn't he? But, I
10:33mean, just what else can you say about it? It's just an absolute classic.
10:39When you said that you saw it when you were young, now, did you watch it many, many years
10:43later? Were you almost avoiding this for many years because it had that impact? Because
10:47you have seen it at least once.
10:48I have, yes. So I watched it when I must have been about eight. And back in the day of four
10:56TV channels, it would have been on and I would have snuck that on the TV and I probably shouldn't
11:02have watched it. And the trouble is when you're watching at 18, you can't exactly tell your
11:06parents that you're terrified of sharks because you've watched Jules. And then I re-watched
11:10it, I'm going to say about five years ago, but it still had that impact on me. I don't
11:15think it's somewhat dated. The shark looks a bit tacky now. I mean, you have to give
11:21it a little bit of credit. It was a long time ago. Everything else holds up. I think Spielberg
11:25just did a fantastic job of making it. It's passed the test of time.
11:29Brilliant. Well, that's about all the time we have for this first half of the show. However,
11:33before we go to the break, we have a Kent Film trivia question for you at home. Which
11:39Marvel blockbuster has scenes filmed on location at Dover Castle? Was it A. Captain America
11:45The First Avenger, B. Black Widow or C. Avengers Age of Ultron? We'll reveal the answer right
11:52after this break. Don't go away.
12:06Hello and welcome back to Kent Film Club. Just before that ad break, we asked you at
12:10home a Kent Film trivia question. Which Marvel blockbuster has scenes filmed on location
12:17at Dover Castle? Was it A. Captain America The First Avenger, B. Black Widow or C. Avengers
12:23Age of Ultron? And now I can reveal to you that the answer was in fact C. Avengers Age
12:29of Ultron. Dover Castle was used as part of the interior for the Hydra outpost in Savakia
12:34and you may also be able to spot the entrance to the wartime tunnels that is used as a secret
12:39entrance. Did you get the answer right? Well it is time now Harry to move on to your next
12:45chosen film and you've gone for Terminator 2 Judgment Day.
12:52Absolute blockbuster classic. I agree. In my opinion the best Terminator. Number one
12:59is also brilliant. As again, bad parenting. I watched this as a child. I saw this one
13:06before I saw the first one. And the reason why I have such an affiliation with this is
13:12because mine and my best friend, growing up, we loved the Terminator. So you'd be like
13:17Terminator video games, Terminator action figures. If a film magazine had any kind of
13:22news of a leak of Terminator 3, we'd have to get it because we'd need more Terminator.
13:28Less said about the sequels the better. Probably should have just stayed as a two. But it blew
13:34our little minds. So at that point a lot of the CGI was terrible and this film really
13:44set the bar. So the first time you see the T-1000 melt into the floor, rise up, go through bars.
13:52Honestly I never felt CGI would be topped. I thought this is the pinnacle,
13:57we'll never get any better than this. And it still holds up. It looks dated a little bit
14:02but I still think it holds up. I just love everything about it. Arnie, he encapsulates
14:09the Terminator. If you talk Sylvester Stallone you could talk maybe Rambo. Arnie is the Terminator.
14:17He was just born to play this role. He was the coolest character.
14:21There was something about this. I remember when it came out in 91 and the budget was a lot bigger
14:26than James Cameron had at his disposal in 84. But there is something in this. Obviously you've
14:31got all the lines, the Asta La Vista baby and so on. But there is also something here
14:36with the duality. You've got the whole question about saviour figures and you've got the young
14:42boy, John Connor from the future. There's everything in here with the time travel. That
14:47sort of notion of destiny, that notion of destroying and saving the human race and not
14:53knowing what's around the corner and the way that almost goes back to origin. It interrogates
14:57that question of how inadvertently the machines took over the world and can we go back in time
15:02and stop it. Looking back, they have kind of taken over a little bit. But I think it's
15:10John Connor's arc in particular is brilliant. When he starts he's a delinquent, isn't he?
15:15He's skipping school. He has that 90s bad kid attitude and then you know because of how the
15:22film plays out that eventually this guy is going to be our salvation. And I think his journey in
15:29particular is very nice to watch because you see him turning from delinquent who doesn't care to
15:34seeing how the world really is and his responsibilities, how he has to step up.
15:41He was done brilliantly. I think also how they did the flip on Arnie being the bad guy,
15:48which was never revealed. Because obviously he was the bad guy number one and then for number
15:53two he ends up being sent back as a good guy. And in the trailers they didn't reveal that in
15:58the film whatsoever. So that would have been a huge shock for everyone watching. I can't remember
16:04the T-1000's name, Patrick? Robert Patrick. That's it, yeah. He was excellent. I mean he's unnerving
16:11to look at. He's just dead-eyed. Kind of like a shark. Well no, thank you for finding a link
16:18between because there is one between your choices so far. But there is something, and you're right,
16:23I've seen Robert Patrick in other films, but he is so menacing in this. That is one of the most,
16:27I'd say the definitive almost screen baddie. But also at the end, okay I'm giving it away perhaps,
16:33but there's a bit at the end when effectively Arnie's character sacrifices himself. So you've
16:39got that sort of notion of, all the way through it, the way that there are these fluid boundaries
16:44between destruction and salvation and this notion of sacrifice and a machine sacrificing for the
16:50sake of humanity. I mean Cameron went on to do Titanic but these are really big tropes and I
16:58think that's what, the CGI is important but there's something else going on in that that
17:02really grounds this narrative. The family dynamic I think was brilliant because when you start,
17:07John Connor is in a foster care and Terminator has obviously just been warped and his mother,
17:13Sarah Connor, is in a mental institute and you have to make a big shout out to Sarah Connor.
17:20James Cameron had made big feminine roles with Ripley and then he did the same again here and
17:26you could argue that those two were the start of strong female leads. She's literally trained her
17:33body for this day. She knew it was coming and I think that was a great arc as well because when
17:37she first sees Arnie she's terrified. She thinks here we go again and then by the end of the film
17:43she actually, you can tell she has a bond and she can tell that John Connor has a bond, like a
17:47father-son relationship. She has the chance to kill him when she opens up his head which,
17:53talking about the special effects, that was amazing. Obviously practical but it looked,
17:58still to this day I think it stands out. I still think it looks brilliant.
18:01Brilliant. Well it is time now to move on to your final chosen film and okay you've gone for
18:08Dragon Ball, is it Z or Z, Battle of Gods. As you can tell I haven't seen it.
18:15So this is what I would argue the one that meant the most to me. It's a long-going anime series.
18:22It started in the 80s, it's still going today but I grew up in my teens, I would finish school,
18:30do any homework and then you'd log on to Toonami and you'd have two episodes of Dragon Ball Z
18:37and there are hundreds of episodes of this and when I first saw it I was blown away by the
18:42Japanese animation. At that point I'd only ever seen like Johanna Barbera, I'd only ever seen
18:48American cartoons which have their own style but the Japanese style was more fluid, it was faster,
18:54it just had more going for it. The story was great and it took over my life. I had to know
19:02more about it and as the years have gone by you'd slowly watch it and it unfortunately come to an
19:09end. The series finished and I think in the UK it finished in 2003 and it concludes, it very much is
19:16a definitive ending and I was like oh well that's that I guess, I guess I'll move on to something
19:22else and then they decided to make a live-action adaptation because you know it's a big IP,
19:31they thought they'd get some Hollywood money. It absolutely tanked, they ruined it, they didn't pay
19:36any attention to the lore, the fans were in uproar, so much so that Akira Toriyama, the original
19:44creator, come out of Dragon Ball retirement and he was like I can't leave my legacy here,
19:50I'm going to make a film so we can brush that under the carpet and this is how I want to leave
19:56Dragon Ball Z for the fans. So this came out in 2013 and when it got announced I just was like oh
20:04my god it's back, I need to watch it, I need to see it and it was a new animation, it had the mixture
20:10between the 2D drawn and the 3D animation and it also got a theatrical release which I was blown
20:17away by. That was going to be my question, where did you see it? So you did see it on the big screen?
20:21Yes, so I got to see it on the big screen which my inner child was elated. Me and a bunch of
20:28Dragon Ball Z nerds, we all went there, paid for the extra tickets to go up on the balcony
20:34and so when this came out it only got a couple of showings, you could only go there for like
20:39two weekends and if you missed it, you missed it, better luck on DVD. But as the series has
20:45progressed because this did really well, it spawned a new series, it spawned a new manga, it's like the
20:52video games have never been bigger, I'd argue that this is the starting point of like a resurgence
20:57and now the new films come out to worldwide cinema release and they do quite well I have to say
21:04but to the point where the main character Goku, he was the ambassador of the Japanese Olympics
21:11like it is huge out there, yeah it's massive and just on a personal note, it even infiltrated my
21:20wedding. So we did, the photographer asked us do you want to do any poses and we did some of the
21:26you know the geeky poses that are in there. We did, if anyone knows this, we did the fusion
21:31and then we did a Kamehameha which is like a Kai Blast and on each of our tables we had a
21:36Dragon Ball, there's seven Dragon Balls and our cake toppers were the characters, like it's
21:42it's defined my character, it's one of the biggest reasons that I'm into anime, I'm nerdy, I could
21:48honestly, I could talk about Dragon Ball Z forever. And does your other half, well maybe now, but
21:55share the same passion? I wouldn't, maybe bullying, I've bullied her into it but she
22:03to her credit has watched all of it, so there's Dragon Ball Z, GT, Super, the films,
22:10we went to Japan for our honeymoon because she's now invested in it and yeah we
22:16went into all the big manga shops and you've got all the pachinko machines, they're all Dragon Ball Z
22:22it's everywhere, they've got statues, like life-size statues of them, yeah it's my, it's literally,
22:30it's so close to my heart. How big is the fan base because obviously this is all new to me but
22:35you're speaking with such incredible passion and I kind of feel that you know maybe I'm
22:41walking through the streets in Kent and you know every fourth person is you know really into this
22:45but you know what sort of, how big is this, obviously in Japan but is there a big community
22:51in the UK as well? UK and the US, yeah absolutely huge, you'll find if I pointed out some of the
22:58merch you'd go, ah I see it, because a lot of it's like just subtle nods, like they have a certain
23:03emblem that their master gives them and you'll see people with orange hats and it'll have the
23:07emblem on it, that's a reference, or you've got jackets they'll have just, it's little small
23:11subtle references but no it's got bigger and bigger, like the fighting game that got released
23:17it's the biggest selling fighting game of the year, it's only gonna, it's growing and growing
23:21and growing and honestly I think it'll only get bigger. Brilliant, well I'm afraid that's all the
23:27time we have for today but before we go if you live in Kent and want the chance to share four
23:32films of your choice reach out to us at KMTV and you might be invited in to be my next guest
23:38but for now many thanks to Harry Bowles for joining us and being such a brilliant guest
23:42and many thanks to you all for tuning in, until then that's all from us, goodbye!