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[dolari]

Okay, 2 5-hour viewings later, and AVI recompression, and I've got all of Iron Chef America saved to DVD.

I've taken a little flak for what I thought about Iron Chef America (http://www.livejournal.com/~katrus/291661.html). Like I said here before, I really like the show, and if it went to a series (I'm not sure if this is a pilot, or just a one-shot special) I would sooooo be there.

The show is THANKFULLY much more subtle than the overblown and exhausting special effects motion picture music super science ninja team extravaganza that was the Shatner "Iron Chef USA." That show, with all it's flashy effects and wrestling-type-audience, as well as what was obviously staged "surprises" (A chef getting a phone call in the middle of the battle), was just exhausting to watch.

Thankfully, this is Food Network and not UPN (We can crowbar sex into Enterprise, how can we crowbar it in Iron Chef?), and Food Network managed to do a good job sticking with the original, and trying to keep the cameras focused on the star of the show, the food. :)

So, knowing full well, I was about to watch five hours of Iron Chef (Which turned into 10 hours when my computer decided to overwrite my AVI Capture file for giggles), I went out and got a calamari salad and sushi (which I'm ALWAYS hungry for after IC).

I really enjoyed seeing Iron Chef, and a nice little "handing of the torch" by having Sakai and Morimoto as the opposing chefs. There were no little silly "Stunts" like the UPN version, and while Brown is no Hattori/Fukui, it was pretty entertaining (I'm surprised that the he didn't comment on the FIRST THING Sakai pulled out - the Circle Molds :) ) It took a little time for them to hit their stride, but by the Morimoto/Puck episode they hit their groove. The tag team episode was a neat concept, and I was actually rather surprised, then pleased, when they announced how they were going to mix in the Japanese Iron Chefs in with the American.

I wasn't pleased that Sakai lost his first match. He was SERIOUSLY robbed. I was also surprised that the team of Morimoto/Flay in the tag team won their match consider how much stuff Flay managed to burn. :)

At the end of the series, I wanted more. :)

There were a few rough spots, though. The Chairman is no Kaga (although, I have to admit, I think Shatner would have fit in here perfectly). And while that in itself isn't all that bad, the new chairman was a little TOO low key. I realize they were going more for a "Chairman of the Board of a Big Corporation" look than "Crazy old man who made the Gourmet Academy" but he seemed so quiet and almost superfluous (did he even eat with the judges?). He also kept saying these strange little honorifics that seemed very...80's Japanese Stereotype. Like the whole "You honor us with your performance in battle" and phrases like that. I'm sure those lines were scripted FOR him, but it really stood out in my mind as a Wrong Thing To Do.

The other thing that bugged me were the occasional winks and nudges to the Japanese series. It's nice enough to see Sakai and Morimoto in the show, but we don't REALLY need to be reminded that this is a remake. The mentions of Uncle Kaga (who, actually, in the Japanese Continuity is DEAD) was uneccesary in my view, but the opening credit shot of The Chairman looking at the pepper in one hand, then biting the apple in the other was just not good. It's like a "Hey, remember that other show? Huh? Huh? Good! ::CHOMP::" If you're a remake, you really shouldn't make references to the past show, because you set up the wrong expectations (especially if you do it in the opening credits).

My only other dissapointment is not seeing Sakai jump up on the cutting board and raise the roof, like he said he might in the Making of Special. :)

Comments

Iron Chef

[max-volume.livejournal.com]

I actually liked Alton Brown as the announcer, though he sounded a little too scripted to me... I hope if they continue along this line and make it into a series that they'll give him a little more freedom.

As for "The Chairman," there will never be another Kaga. They should have taken a completely different route with the character. Perhaps a woman, perhaps an American or European.... Would have been a perfect opportunity to take a different direction.

Production-wise, I was glad to see them return to Fuji's original objective of "show the food." More cameras on the kitchen than on the people. Lots of tight close-ups, lots of replays. Very clean production all-around. Me like.

And Sakai was robbed. :)

[serenity-rose7.livejournal.com]

If that food critic wasn't on the panel for the tag team match, I think Sakai/Batali would have got it, but I digress.

I want more too. I got my mother addicted to the original IC, and this lets me see more since she has control of the sole TV with a bit enough picture to enjoy

As for the new chairmain, I thought, in the first battle (Sakai/Flay) that he bowed to the yellow pepper, in respect and memory before he bit down on that silly apple.

Oooooo...I'm soooo addicted.

[jenndolari.livejournal.com]

Was it me, or was that critic really nasty?

I guess he was an homage to that cranky old food critid on the japanese one (Hasako Kishi?)