Benchmark Three

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Table of Contents

1. Scenario 1: Day of Destruction: Scenario 2: Miss America Succeeds in World Peace.

2. Domain Summery

3. Summery of The Postman

4. Analyzing The Postman

5. Life after The Postman

6. Prevention of The Postman

Scenario: 1

Day of Destruction part 2

Everything in the future is based on what occurs in the present. If the nations of the world continue with the creation of more destructive weapons of mass destruction, the future could be tragic for the generations to come.

            In the case that nonproliferation of nuclear weapons fails and the world does go into nuclear warfare then the environment, the economy, and politics will change for the worse. Not only would the American Government have to try to stabilize our economy, government, and the natural environment, they would have to try to calm the American people and access the situation at hand.

Scenario – A terrorist organization has acquired several nuclear bombs and has planted them in largely populated areas in the United States. Suddenly and without warning these atomic bombs detonate leaving the largest Cities in the U.S. leveled. The American Government is forced to take action, but how can the government take action if most of them are dead?

In This scenario there isn’t much to say the bombs go off we all die unless we get our own Postman.

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Scenario: 2

Miss America Succeeds in world peace

Once again everything in the future is based on what occurs in the present. If the nations of the world cease the creation of more destructive weapons of mass destruction, the future could be beautiful for the generations to come.

            In the case that nonproliferation of nuclear weapons succeed and the world doesn’t go into nuclear warfare then the environment, the economy, and politics will change for the better. Not only would the American Government have complete control over everything American but also the Worlds people will be at peace.

Scenario- All governments are mended and sitting down to an afternoon conference and one of our officials decides “nuke’s,” are overrated and its time to get rid of all dangers connected to these weapons. After the I’s are dotted and the T’s crosses our nuclear weapons are submerged to live with the beetles. The production ends leaving a cleaner friendlier environment.

What’s trying to be said here is : getting rid of our nuclear weapons would create a cleaner more people friendly environment rid of fear and setup for generations to come.

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Domain Summery

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Everything in the future is based on what occurs in the present. If the nations of the world continue with the creation of more destructive weapons of mass destruction, the future could be tragic for the generations to come.

            In the case that nonproliferation of nuclear weapons fails and the world does go into nuclear warfare then the environment, the economy, and politics will change for the worse.

Environmental Impact

            The environment is extremely fragile. Let’s say that a country completely devastates a landmass where certain species of plant grows and that plant is unique to that land mass and that land mass only. If it is completely destroyed by this nuclear holocaust then a link in the food chain is gone. If this link is wiped out, then the next link is without a food source, then it is wiped out, and so on and so forth. Plants and animals supply our oxygen and food, so if we are able to shelter ourselves from the nuclear holocaust, we could not survive long without our natural environment.

Economic Growth

            A nuclear conflict would also have a great impact on the global economy. In the event of a nuclear attack the global economy would go into a tailspin. The destruction of a major city could destroy entire industries. The loss of a big profile city such as New York or Tokyo would mean the loss of thousands of workers and necessary facilities required for an effective economy. The loss of the Twin Towers is an example of how a catastrophe like this could affect the economy. America was thrown into a recession and the stock market was heavily damaged. Hurricane Katrina and striking the southern cost is another example of a catastrophe damaging the economy. These events however, would be small scale when compared to a nuclear war. Nuclear fallout alone is enough to prevent any recovery efforts. In the event the wheat belt was to be struck in a nuclear explosion, or the Silicon Valley, these sectors of the American economy would be plunged down the drain. As it is known, this would simply create a domino effect on other sectors of the economy. Not only would this happen in the United States, but all over the world.

Political Stability

            Throughout the Cold War both sides were afraid the other side would “pull the trigger” first and the result would be nuclear war. In the event that a nuclear catastrophe took place, the countries, which were hardest hit, would suffer a serious political setback in the terms of anarchy. For example, if the United States were to be hit in the Northern, Western, Southern, and Eastern areas, there would be those trying to gain power and take advantage of the power vacuum created. Yes it would seem logical that any military would be put in charge if any world leaders were to be killed, yet it could be possible that these militaries would not loose their strongholds on a certain country’s government.  As history shows us, once a national disaster (such as the invading Mongols or other barbarians) took place, the resulting event was feuding warlords. As you could see in the current news, once Saddam Hussein was removed, the Shiites and Sunni religious groups began to fight for control of the government.

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Summary of the Postman

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In 2013 civilization is on the verge of destruction. A war decimated the government and just about all of the population in the United States (possibly the world) citizens struggle to remain alive fighting starvation and rogue groups of armed men. One scoundrel group called the Holnists. This group is the largest and their leader, General Bethlehem, has delusions of ruling the country. A drifter A.K.A: Kevin Costner, is captured by the Holnists and forced to join. He escapes at the very first chance and ends up in a mail jeep with an anonymous skeleton. The skeleton is wearing a postal uniform which of course he takes to keep warm, with this uniform comes a mailbag which of course contains old mail which our hero decides to con people with. The Postman realizes the amount of hope the people have and decides its time for his plans to change. Our hero has found his villain, The Holnists.

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Analyzing the Postman

There are two ways that you can look at Kevin Costner's The Postman (not to be confused with the former Oscar contender of the same name, starring Massimo Troisi). The first is that it's a muddled but occasionally-brilliant lampoon of epic motion pictures. The other is that it's a horribly written, badly acted miscalculation of Ishtar-like proportions. If you take The Postman at face value - that it's a straightforward, post- apocalyptic adventure tale, then it could seem like one of the worst movies of the year, if not of all time. However, since I laughed so hard during some scenes, I prefer to be a little kinder. Yes, it's a bad movie, but it's not one of the most unbearable theatrical experiences of the year. In fact, if you approach The Postman in the right mood, it's a highly watchable motion picture.

Admittedly, that's damning with faint praise, but I don't think The Postman is so gut- wrenchingly awful that it deserves or less. With all of its rampant jingoism, cliched melodrama, and shameless attempts at emotional manipulation, The Postman could easily be viewed as a clever satire of epic adventures. In fact, there are times when it goes so far overboard that I found it virtually impossible to believe that director Kevin Costner wasn't winking at us. Sadly, based in part on the film's overall tone and in part on some of the director's comments, this doesn't seem to be the case. Except in certain moments that are obviously intended to be humorous, The Postman is not supposed to be a joke. But intent isn't everything, as fans of campy classics will point out. Regardless of what Costner wanted from the movie, it's still possible to enjoy it on a completely different level.

Of course, the running length is the real drawback. It's difficult to thrill to the dissonant rhythms of an "entertainingly bad" movie that threatens to drag for three hours. At half that length, The Postman might have been worth a recommendation, but, past the two hour mark, all of the cheese and corn starts becoming painful. Plus, a rather unfortunate attempt to add a message about consequences brings the movie to a grinding halt. We want to see overblown acts of heroism to go along with James Newton Howard's grandiose score and Stephen Windon's sweeping camerawork. Instead, we get a little too much of Kevin Costner brooding.

This side of a TV commercial, never has the U.S. Mail Service been so lauded (I wonder if they paid a heavy product placement fee). On top of that, there's such a cloying dose of patriotism that it's a wonder that Warner Brothers has been able to sell the film overseas (of course, the foreign markets may view all of the half-baked, pro-American slogans as one big joke). From a marketing standpoint, the only thing The Postman has going for it is the star, and his already-dipping stock is likely to take a precipitous tumble after this movie hits screens across the world.

The film opens in 2013 on the Great Salt Flats of Utah. In the aftermath of a cataclysmic world war, the human race has been fragmented and scattered. The government of the United States has collapsed, and now anarchy reigns. Small communities across the remains of the country jealously protect what they have by offering tribute to the dictatorial General Bethlehem (Will Patton), whose army of bandits and murderers controls everything. Any settlement that defies Bethlehem is quickly razed.

One day, a solitary wanderer (Costner) enters a small town to present a one-man Shakespeare show as a means of earning a little food and shelter. General Bethlehem pays a surprise visit to this village and the nameless loner is conscripted into the Holnist army. He is a rebellious man, however, and it isn't long before he escapes. Fleeing from search parties, he hides out in an old, broken down mail carrier's truck. Taking the full letterbag and the coat off a skeleton, he becomes the Postman. And, as he travels from town-to-town, speaking words of hope about the "Reformed Congress of the United States" and giving out letters, his reputation spreads, and Bethlehem determines that he's a threat.

Costner has done everything possible to make this film a crowd-pleaser. There are snappy one- liners, a romantic subplot for those who crave a little sex, and several manipulative scenes that are designed to get audiences to applaud wildly. Unfortunately, we're too busy laughing at all of the bloated silliness to remember to clap. Take, for example, one of the film's most emotional moments: a slow-motion shot of the Postman on horseback snatching a letter out of the hand of an eager boy. The brief sequence is filmed with such solemnity that it's all-but-impossible not to be amused, however briefly.

Costner plays the Postman like a combination of John Dunbar from Dances with Wolves and the mariner from Waterworld. It's not a particularly energetic or interesting performance, and it's made even more tiresome by the hero's reluctance to act decisively (this wastes a good forty-five minutes). As the villain, Will Patton is generic. He's neither good nor bad, and doesn't bring much more to the part than we'd get from a Dennis Hopper or a Gary Busey. Larenz Tate's character, Ford Lincoln Mercury, is the stereotypical idealistic enthusiast, and Tate puts about as much energy into the role as it deserves. The only legitimate spark is generated by newcomer Olivia Williams, who plays Abby, the Postman's love interest. She's quite good, and manages to develop an independent female character who's not always in need of rescuing, but her above-average effort is wasted in this material.

It's hard to believe that the same man who directed a modern classic, Dances with Wolves, could be responsible for something this horribly mishandled. Where did it all go wrong? Probably at the very beginning. The Postman is a bad idea, poorly executed. The plot is dumb and riddled with gaping holes of logic, and the dialogue sounds like it was penned by a hack writer. (One classic line: Abby, addressing the Postman, says in a heartfelt voice, "You give out hope like it was candy in your pocket." Puhleeze! Give me a break!) When all is said and done, however, at least it can amuse us. And, even at an interminable three hours, it still offers more solid laughs than half of this year's so-called "comedies."

Review by: James Berardinelli, Provided By: http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/p/postman97.html

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Life After the Postman: the calm after the storm

After his heroic debut our postman decides the people of 2013 have lived in a harsh environment for far to long so he brings about the calm after the storm. He sends chain mail all throughout the world asking for people to save our planet. By the end of our sequel what started off as cleaning a tiny town turned into our small population cleaning the world. After all once you hit rock bottom the only place to go is up.

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Prevention of The Postman:

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Prevention of the postman isn’t a simple task so many different people with different opinions and views on the world and its societies so how can we prevent nuclear warfare and or plain ole’ war? We can’t, but we can do everything in our power to help persuade the radicals into submission. No matter what it takes people getting hurt or hurting those people our world is to beautiful to destroy, were on the verge of destruction. Today is the age of nuclear weapons not muskets, We have all see the pictures of mushroom clouds and the introduction of leukemia to many of the worlds children from radiation unfortunately now a country who cant even handle a government has access to weapons of mass destruction. It’s only a matter of time so, stand up for our world and future lives that have yet to come. Make a difference.

Works Cited Page

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Berardinell, james. 18 Apr. 2006 <http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/p/postman97.html>.

18 Apr. 2006 <http://images.google.com/images?q=single+popcorn+kernel&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=>.

18 Apr. 2006 <http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=movie+popcorn>.

18 Apr. 2006 <http://images.google.com/images?q=calm&hl=en>.

18 Apr. 2006 <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.opinions-unlimited.com/images/Your%2520Opinion%2520Counts.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.opinions-unlimited.com/questionnaire.html&h=256&w=257&sz=26&tbnid=BeLXu2ohZvjdgM:&tbnh=106&tbnw=107&hl=en&start>.