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Messup434 Profile
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


Oh yeah, I was moving around a lot while watching so I guess I must've missed it emoticon
2/Aug/18, 5:53 pm Link to this post    PM Messup434
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


Continuing my streak of positivity, I was a big fan of the Miami Finals. I'll start right in on the obstacle reviews to begin explaining my reasoning with:

The modifications: Were there any? I missed the intro again.

Archer Steps are still a nice change of pace and still enjoy that they're a bit more dynamic than the Floating Steps.

Cannonball Slider would've worn its welcome around this point had it not been one of the biggest Ninja Killers of the episode! It was incredible seeing how many people were perplexed by the SECOND OBSTACLE on A FINALS COURSE. I guess that is one of the biggest positives of rotating the obstacles in two different regions - you get some surprise fails earlier-on in the Finals course!

Salmon Ladder still got a couple of competitors, though not as great a number as usual.

Crazy Clocks was a really good obstacle. I liken the turning-motion of the arms to Crank it Up (in a sideways form), though I'm sure it's not as similar as that. The fact that most of the fails were on the middle-grip was a bit strange, but the lip looked really thin to me. I feel they could get away with putting in a third "clock" in the middle of the other two so that more people failed on the main function part of the obstacle. But I really loved it!

Stair Hopper is a bit of a weird obstacle to have again, but I suppose they needed three returning ninth obstacles and couldn't really use the Ninjago Roll again (which is fine with me!). I think the obstacle is requiring of a bit too much precision and was really slippery again, like the Philadelphia one from 2016. It did its job of keeping my eyes on the TV screen though.

Spider Trap is still too easy, though that seems less problematic when a smaller amount of competitors clear the course. I really think it'd do a better job as the final obstacle of a timed-Vegas course (but torn between placing it in Stages One, Two or Four!) as it definitely has scope to be really good.

I really found it interesting seeing all of the early falls on the course, and was even happier to see Matt and Akbar mentioning the surprise of those results. I always like when the commentary gives a bit more (mentioning unique weather conditions, pointing-out a change in an obstacle from previous years, mentioning that a concept came from Sasuke, etc.). There's something that happens on next week's episode that would be very exciting if shown and discussed, but I can almost garantee
that it won't be shown - because it's a mistake made by the show.

On the subject of commentary, I think the show would do well with subliminally referring to past things/events/gags when appropriate. This is something Wipeout really did well (mentioning old obstacles, referring to Jill's "bus-driver dance" years after that episode aired, stuff like that), especially in the early seasons. I love that stuff as catching the reference is like a small reward for being a loyal follower of the show. Also lightly joking around about a competitor's fail seems like it'd be alright - Matt used to be the ultimate of insults before the PC days of NBC.

Basically, Matt and Akbar's commentary is often way too mild, and I think it would be improved if NBC quit trying to appeal to the general audience - of course they'd be stupid in doing this. Still, I have the right to miss the G4 days emoticon

The last two runs both ending early, and both on the same obstacle, was a real surprise to me, especially knowing it was Drew and Jessie. But I'm not complaining because I love not knowing what to expect (well, at least with TV emoticon ). I was shocked at the end to see that only three cleared - I guess the first couple clears being earlier made the illusion that more people hit the buzzer than actually did.

I'm very happy with the competitors who did clear, and especially that Ryan and Brett are both doing so well this season. I do think the slower of the two should've had to shave their beard anyway, though emoticon
3/Aug/18, 4:36 am Link to this post    PM Messup434
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


I've been bored so decided to watch one of the ANW reruns I've been recording (Orlando Finals Part 2). I can't believe how much they hacked the ordering to bits!

I expected they might have to switch a run or two around to make the Finals into two equal, one-hour parts, but everything's changed, making it all look really sloppy.

For example, Adam Arnold clears Cannonball Alley, right after another guy makes it to Cannonball Alley and Matt says, "He could be the first to clear Cannonball Alley!" I'm sure there've been other bad edits where the opposite thing happened and it actually spoiled a later run. Aside from that, it has to be confusing to anyone who doesn't realize it's a reedit!
5/Aug/18, 3:42 pm Link to this post    PM Messup434
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


That's really sloppy. If I was producing or editing it I'd ask Matt to do a tiny voice over on top of that bit of commentary coz he does them anyway when he says 'while you were away...' so it would only take up about 10 seconds of his time.
5/Aug/18, 5:37 pm Link to this post    PM Takeshi1
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


Or better yet don't change the ordering unnecessarily at all!

I do agree with you though, that'd be an easy fix (and I once read that about 85% of the play-by-play Matt gives was recorded well after-the-fact anyway!), but I guess it's a smaller channel so they can't afford to/don't bother to change it emoticon
5/Aug/18, 5:56 pm Link to this post    PM Messup434
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


Onward to Indie (finally), and I actually thought the Finals were a lot better than Qualifying (seems to be a trend this year)!

The modifications: Once again missed the intro, but quite an obvious alteration is the stability of most of the holds on the Spin Hopper this time around. Some of them didn't spin at all, while others would just tilt a bit to one side (rather than completely spin out-of-control when someone was the tiniest bit off-center). It looked a bit silly with this change, but I'm perfectly fine with it as it probably allowed more people go through to the backhalf of the course. What I'm not fine with is Matt saying they made it HARDER by eliminating the one pipe at the top. Just be honest that it was a change to get some more people through it, and I'd have no complaints at all (and my family still thinks I'm crazy for saying they actually made it easier, thanks Matt emoticon ).

Archer Steps was so-so but, with all of the cut-runs, we didn't even see that much of it anyway!

Fly Wheels instead of Cannonball Slider was another change that didn't really matter, but the Wheels might've caused a bit more grip-fatigue than their counterpart - as it takes longer to do. Again though, we didn't see it very much anyway!

Salmon Ladder always takes out one or two, and this episode was no exception.

The Clacker seemed as if it might be a bit more difficult in eighth-position, but only one of many competitors to try it, failed it. Of course, there was one less pair of handles to flip this time, but most people dismounted before flipping the last two anyway (and this year they didn't allow that), so it seems like the obstacle would hardly be easier at all! Maybe it's just an easier obstacle in-general.

Cane Lane was an idea I thought was really cool (and I got front-row-seats to watch it emoticon ), especially because I like seeing the vertical-grip being incorporated! I have to say, when I saw the crazy jump the competitors would have to make, I expected no one to clear it at all! I would say that the obstacle could do with a bit of simplifying, as it looked a tiny bit messy, but that could easily be sorted by some simple changes, such as centering the dip in the first rail and making the two beams look identical. I'd definitely prefer for them to both be the squared beam next year*.

Spider Trap finally bit someone! It was also really exciting (well, when I was watching it there, for the first time!) watching Rigel struggle on his ascent - and a lot less scary as it's less likely for someone to get injured (seeing as the people are upright the whole time) when falling.

I thought this was a good, well-edited episode with an exciting new obstacle that helped make it memorable. Also, it was nice seeing people failing on different obstacles throughout the course, and three people is a good number to see clearing the course.

Speaking of fails in unpredictable places, I was really surprised seeing Isaac go down on Block Run. I know balance has never been his thing, but I figured that the obstacle was quick enough that he'd just be able to sprint across it and dive for the platform if necessary. The fact that he wasn't the last runner was probably a good indication that he was going to fall, for the people who hadn't already heard about it!

I find it kind of amusing that he fell there as just two years ago, the obstacle was seen as "filler," and now (with a couple of small changes), it's managed to take-out the only Grand Champion competing! Also a bit ironic is that the obstacle was introduced the season after he won - an obstacle that may have been created simply to show that changes were made after Isaac's Kanzenseiha, ended taking him out two years down the line. I never would've guessed that would be where he fell.

A small complaint I have with the editing (and a contradiction to my own statement earlier about how we saw lots of different types of fails) is that I've noticed the producers tend to digest people when they fail an obstacle that no one else did. This episode has two instances of that, both with The Clacker and Spider Trap fails, though there is a specific reason they didn't show Dan Polizzi's full run* (I know you're wondering what all of these asterisks are about emoticon). Still, it'd help diversify the runs we see a bit more. The same can be said for some other episodes where they don't show/fast-forward people who fail the first couple of obstacles.

*Polizzi was the second-to-last runner of the night, and (as you know) one of many to reach Cane Lane. After about five attempts, it was clear that the obstacle was losing strength fast, as the first beam was visibly moving whenever someone jumped the cane across it. By Polizzi's run, it was ready to crack. He started the obstacle, and as soon as he got to around the middle of the first beam, the bar just completely disconnected from one of the "sockets" and fell into the water with Polizzi (they're very lucky it didn't hit him squarely on the head!).

Production was then obviously stopped as they brought over a lift and a drill for someone to work on reconnecting the beam. Then there was them trying to figure out exactly what angle to put the bar and testing it, as I guess they don't want to get in trouble for running an unfair/unequal gameshow! Well in the end, it all remained unfair, because on his rerun, the newly-fixed beam was veeeeery gimmicky and he had to spend about half-a-minute on it as the second half of that beam seemed to be sloped towards the middle (so he just kept sliding backwards). He fought and made it through the obstacle, but then had less strength (and maybe even less confidence) and ended-up failing the Spider Trap. I'd bet a fair amount of money that his run was digested primarily because of how unfair his second attempt on Cane Lane was (even if he made it through that anyway!). Then they lucked-out (sort of) as Isaac fell well prior to the obstacle (I don't doubt that the beam wouldve been ready to fall for a second time once he got up there!). So the 45 minutes of waiting around to make it fair were a complete waste. But hey, I got some nice candies from one of the workers for sticking around through it!

Next year I'd suggest making the first beam rectangles (like the second one) as that one seemed far stronger. I definitely like the obstacle, think it looks insanely tough and want to see it return for the next couple of years, but it needs to see some small modifications first!
18/Aug/18, 9:50 pm Link to this post    PM Messup434
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


Yeah I heard about the bar falling so making the bar square next time would be a good idea I think. With Isaac I remember thinking he was going to fall coz he wasn't last runner and I predicted block run coz it was going to be that or cane lane and if it was cane lane they would have shown him last coz he would have qualified anyway. The 5th obstacle was clearly easier - I don't know what your family were thinking! None of the ones on the descent seemed to move much at all.

Edited by Takeshi1, 19/Aug/18, 10:04 am
19/Aug/18, 10:02 am Link to this post    PM Takeshi1
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


I don't think my family really keeps track of/remembers the obstacles very much. So I guess more casual (or in my family's case: veeeery casual emoticon) viewers like them are the ones that Matt is able to fool emoticon
19/Aug/18, 2:22 pm Link to this post    PM Messup434
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


I couldn't watch it live tonight, will do tomorrow. So expect my review to be seven days after, instead of just six emoticon have

On the brighter-side Will, the owner of the TwoTwentyTwo Productions YouTube channel, is back and making-up for lost time with his reviews emoticon
21/Aug/18, 5:36 am Link to this post    PM Messup434
 
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Re: American Ninja Warrior General Chat Topic


I loved the Philadelphia Qualifying round, but will the Finals measure-up as well?

The modifications: They didn't mention the rule-change allowing the competitors to dismount with one less move on the Lightning Bolts, but it was quite clear it was allowed between the two nights! It saved a risky jump, but also forced competitors to swing more for the dismount, which has to be dangerous in-and-of-itself as so much precision is required to keep the bar on the rails.

Archer Steps are still fine. It's a shame they took out an important competitor to the plot-line of the episode this time.

Seeing as the rain stopped them from swapping the Tuning Forks back into play (unfortunately...), we're already onto the reviews for the backhalf!:

The Salmon Ladder only caused one competitor to flop this week (though a decent one as he placed third in Qualifying!), but drained some of the competitors grip, which was certainly needed for the following obstacle.

The Captain's Wheel is the aforementioned obstacle, and one that I thought was really interesting. I really like seeing the show incorporate vertical-grip when they can (seeing as most of the big obstacles focus more on hanging from simple bars and ledges), and this idea gave a very original way of testing that skill. Like the entirety of Cane Lane, I was sure that the lache to the second wheel was going to be a lot harder than it actually was, but, even then, it was still a challenge for many. I just wish they would've painted the silver bar that competitors could grab to get to the smaller red segment, as it looked a bit like they were grabbing a part they weren't supposed to. That's just a small visual complaint though.

Spinball Wizard was an interesting obstacle, and I still think it's name is the only thing holding it back (it's a bit awkward). I really like all of the different movements incorporated within the obstacle. I would happily have the obstacle return a year, but would possibly suggest placing each "wishbone" at alternating heights to further challenge people. And maybe one day we'll see the final wishbone get used...

Spider Trap is still clearly no huge threat compared to its predecessors, but at least it's started taking one competitor out recently! I do think the concept might work better to end one of the stages in Vegas, but it's fine where it is for now, anyway.

I really enjoyed this episode and was yet again impressed with the new obstacle they made! It's too bad the Captain's Wheel had to take out all of the female competitors (stopping their ideal theme for this episode from happening), but it was a really interesting one to watch.

I think it's interesting how all five of the "swappable upperbody obstacles" have laches involved. Those obstacles definitely made the course an ideal setup for gymnasts like Najee.

I really liked the atmosphere of the episode. It just felt like a good time - complete with the trains going by in the background!

I was really happy to see Chris doing well another week. I can't imagine how much trauma he must've felt/still be feeling so I've really been pulling for him this year.

..I'm a sucker for some stories at least emoticon

Overall, it was a very enjoyable episode in my opinion!
27/Aug/18, 4:23 am Link to this post    PM Messup434
 


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