Lance Henriksen and Peter Weller: EnWorld Decides

Peter Weller? Lance Henriksen?

  • 1. Peter Weller is the poor man's Lance Henriksen.

    Votes: 23 54.8%
  • 2. Lance Henriksen is the poor man's Peter Weller.

    Votes: 19 45.2%

  • Poll closed .

Snarf Zagyg

Notorious Liquefactionist
I primarily know Weller from three things: Robocop, Dexter, and Buckaroo Banzai. And I don't really like Buckaroo Banzai.

You sure you want to admit that 'round these parts?

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Gradine

The Elephant in the Room (she/they)
Spicy take: Buckaroo Banzai gained cult classic status more due to "oh hey, I didn't realize he was in this" is 95% of its cast, moreso than any actual quality in filmmaking.
 




This is a really hard choice! Auto 9 or M41A Pulse Rifle to my head, I'm going with Peter Weller. I think Lance Henriksen has been in better movies (Aliens! Terminator! Pumpkinhead!), but Peter Weller has better performances. Buckaroo Banzai's "Don't be mean; we don't have to be mean, cuz, remember, no matter where you go, there you are." gets thrown around a lot, but Weller infuses it with compassion and meaning. His performance in Robocop sells every phase in his character's life cycle. All the more impressive considering for much of the film all he had to work with is his body language, mouth, and chin.

In Naked Lunch, he somehow both grounds and is transformed by the surreal world he inhabits. He acts as a fulcrum for the audience - he's the rhythm section in the fever dream jazz act of the film.
 


I tried re-watching John Carpenter's Vampires and I just couldn't do it. His character is such an abrasive over-macho character (with none of the likeability that classic 80s action heroes brought to their roles) that too much of who he is in real life was bleeding through for me. I'm afraid to return to my old favorite Videodrome for that same reason.

James Woods is the poor man's pile of trash
 



Ryujin

Legend
I tried re-watching John Carpenter's Vampires and I just couldn't do it. His character is such an abrasive over-macho character (with none of the likeability that classic 80s action heroes brought to their roles) that too much of who he is in real life was bleeding through for me. I'm afraid to return to my old favorite Videodrome for that same reason.
I think that Carpenter's involvement, and his need to own anything that he makes, is in a large part responsible for how that movie turned out. The book "Vampire$" was much better, overall.

EDIT - I liked the book so much that I made sure to see the movie in a theatre, when it came out.
 

MGibster

Legend
I tried re-watching John Carpenter's Vampires and I just couldn't do it. His character is such an abrasive over-macho character (with none of the likeability that classic 80s action heroes brought to their roles) that too much of who he is in real life was bleeding through for me. I'm afraid to return to my old favorite Videodrome for that same reason.
The book was okay, but I didn't care for the movie when it came out.
 


Lance Henriksen is the MAN! Stellar performances in Terminator, No Escape, Hard Target (where he played a charismatic psychopath), and Aliens. Let’s not forget Millennium, which, along with American Gothic (had an expose with Arnold Vosloo, his dragon in Hard Target), set a high standard for gothic television in the 90s. IIRC, Cameron actually wanted Lance to be the Terminator, due to how intense he can be when acting, but had to settle for making him one of the cops due to executive meddling. Dude is a great actor who deserves much more recognition.

Mrs. deganawida was insistent upon Peter Weller winning just because of Engineering an Empire. She maintains that the documentary series trumps all of the sci-fi and action movies both have been in.
 
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Art Waring

halozix.com
Hiya folks!

I can't resist a topic like this, despite my reluctance to choose one over the other, well, its a hard pick for Peter Weller.

Lance Henricksen has dome some great roles in small films (Near Dark particularly), and his energy and enthusiasm is very present. However, it is really hard to compare his work to Peter Weller's because both actors have a very different approach.

Peter Weller seems to have a much more laid back approach, his lines are delivered with a subtlety that many other actors in the sci fi scene often lacked in the 90's. His starring role in Screamers (1997), i think shows some solid acting, and some good lines that I still remember fondly...

"Slow down soldier, and live a little."
 


Yeah, the book is definitely better. It's a straight-up 80s horror-action movie on paper.

When the movie came out, I remember thinking that I was getting awfully tired of vampires that looked like some pretentious doofus I'd run into at a nightclub.

I think that Carpenter's involvement, and his need to own anything that he makes, is in a large part responsible for how that movie turned out. The book "Vampire$" was much better, overall.

EDIT - I liked the book so much that I made sure to see the movie in a theatre, when it came out.

The book was okay, but I didn't care for the movie when it came out.
 

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