I called as soon as it appeared online as "in stock" on Sunday and they told me that their shipment was coming in the next day. When I hadn't heard from them on Tuesday, I called and they told me it could possibly be a few more weeks. After the same bullsh!t happened to me at the Roseville store, I asked the guy, "so you don't have ANY in store?" He said there was one reserved and that it hadn't been picked up yet. I asked how long until the reservation expired
Glad you got your copy! I was tired of dickin around with them so I ordered online and it should be here on Monday.
LOL I just realized I totally vented in the wrong place... a thread full of Criterion-hungry people
I picked mine up at the Natomas location on my way to sac today. I only went to Roseville for Revanche because all other locations were out of stock. I placed the in-store order for TTRL the day of my last Criterion binge which was only a week ago and whadya know they called me on Tuesday . For future reference, in-store orders are the way to go. Sorry you had so much trouble.
LOL I just realized I totally vented in the wrong place... a thread full of Criterion-hungry people
I picked mine up at the Natomas location on my way to sac today. I only went to Roseville for Revanche because all other locations were out of stock. I placed the in-store order for TTRL the day of my last Criterion binge which was only a week ago and whadya know they called me on Tuesday . For future reference, in-store orders are the way to go. Sorry you had so much trouble.
Haha no worries, I'm just glad I got it. I still have my copy reserved at Natomas so I'm curious as to if I'll actually get a call, and when. I'm glad I ordered online, because now I don't have to drive down there
Glad you got Revanche, I still have yet to see it on blu but it looked fantastic on Netflix in HD. I bought that one at the beginning of the sale and I'm looking forward to watching it again.
Who's ready for Diesel's super-duper catch up post?
Quote:
Originally Posted by two40
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
[...]
What the role of Balian required was a man. A strong charismatic leader who with mere presence inspires and whose booming voice can rally beaten men to rise and be counted as warriors. Instead, we have to watch a man boy with puppy eyes who easily elicits pity and has one expression to offer the camera, one of profound constipation. On the back of his Pirates of the Caribbean success, Bloom might have been a financially sound choice but in the long run his involvement delegates the film to the back of the shelf.
I feel the opposite on this. I don't think we needed a "man's man" for this role, we needed just what we got; a not exactly "rugged" man who wasn't the biggest, strongest, bravest man around. I love Russell Crowe, great actor, but I would not have liked to see him in this role. He's just not who the character is supposed to be. He's just an ordinary fellow pretty much who decided to take charge when it was asked of him and do what he must for the people. I thought Bloom handled the role very well. I'm not a fan of his really, but I do enjoy him in this film.
Quote:
To be fair, the dialogue is partly to blame. Speeches that are written to stand the hairs on the back of your neck instead make your butt clench in uncontrollable embarrassment. At the crucial moment, amid alien scenes of war when we most need to believe, a weak delivery pushes you further away from the world they're attempting to create. You suddenly feel deflated after you've invested 3 hours into this film and the pay off is a meek one. To walk away with that feeling is to walk away with the opinion that the film was very poor.
I like the speeches he gives. Are they the best quality? Not really, but that's why they work for me. Like I said before, this is just a regular guy who has had to take charge, he's not exactly an experienced speech maker or inspiring person and you can tell that from the ones he gives. He does the best he can in the moment and I think they are still good.
Quote:
But it's not. Despite some of its short comings it is a wonderful experience. Scott truly creates a violent yet breathtakingly beautiful middle age that's dark and alive with the tedium of daily life from peasant to king. The cinematography will take your breath away at times and should be familiar to those that have seen Gladiator or the recent Robin Hood in which the pair of Scott and cinematographer John Mathieson weave their illusions. Should that partnership have extended to Rusell Crowe, as it did in Gladiator and the less successful Robin Hood, Kingdom of Heaven would have at the least had a chance at lasting greatness with a more convincing leading man.
Agreed, its definitely a beautiful film
Quote:
The support cast are a bit hit and miss but it has to be said that Edward Norton puts in a stellar performance as the leprosy ridden King Baldwin. Covered from head to toe in white with a silver mask for a face, he is easily more regal than any man on screen. A beautiful and strong man in his early years, King Baldwin has been slowly forced into seclusion but maintains a strong persona for his people who expect nothing less. The pain he has carried since the disease started to consume his flesh, and his world, are fully realised by Edward Norton in the way he carries himself, in his muffled calculated speech and in his piercing eyes - the only part of him you can make out behind the somber silver mask that hides his disfigured face.
Agreed on Norton as the King, he does a great job in his rather small but important role. Norton brought to life the character, you really feel for the character and have a since of understanding for him and where he comes from and the things he does/believes. The first time I saw the film, I had no idea that Norton was behind the mask, which I think is a testament to how well he did.
Quote:
With many redeeming qualities, Kingdom of Heaven is worth seeing if only once in a lifetime for the confident direction by Ridley Scott, and once more for the strikingly picturesque cinematography by John Mathieson.
3/5
At least you found aspects in it that you did really enjoy even if the film didn't work in all aspects
Very good review
Quote:
Originally Posted by surfdude12
First off, fantastic review!! And I'll admit upfront that this is my favorite (currently) film between Gladiator, Braveheart, Last Samurai, and Troy (we recently ranked our favorites).
My #2 of the group
Quote:
I completely understand why you came to the above conclusion. THere definitely is a big turn in the plot when Balian arrives at Jerusalem. However, I don't see a disconnect here. As you said, Balian's knight oath (on his pilgrim journey) was based on swearing to defend the helpless. When Balian is with the King, you'll recall he tells him
[Show spoiler](in response to "were you once sure of your end?", that "I was to be buried 100 yards from where I was born...now I sit before a king". This seems to sum up your argument, but then the King reminds him of his duty to protect the helpless and that "all are welcome in Jerusalem". I never saw the King or Balian as involved in a religious political debate. They never defended any religious ideology, but only that of protecting the helpless. Sure, Balian may have worn Christian colors, but that wasn't his primary goal, or he would have joined the red-haired guy on command and killed helpless people.
.
So in so many words, that is why I don't see a disconnect there - Balian's mission never changed , from his pilgrim journey when his Dad knighted him to his actions in Jerusalem. Just my 2 cents.
Agreed here, his mission was consistent throughout in my opinion. It was just different stages of that mission.
Quote:
Surprisingly, this is one of the reasons I love KOH: the ratio of action-to-dialogue is much much less than Glaiator/Braveheart/etc. KOH doesn't lean on action/battle sequences as much as the other similar films do. Instead, it seemed to spend more time (and focus) on dialogue/character development. At least it seemed so from my standpoint?
Agreed again. That's one of its big strengths for me, the battles support the character and plot development, not the story being driven by action. It takes a back seat in this film more than, say, Gladiator. Which that's not to say I feel Gladiator is driven by the action, I don't think that one is either, but its a bigger component to the film than the action is in Kingdom of Heaven.
Quote:
Great points here -- my initial gut reaction was "BLoom sucks", but then I started to share your earlier view above: that we're talking about a lowly blacksmith here. If we were to use a Crowe or someone more "manly" , then would they be able to be as "lowly" in the beginning? Crowe probably could. He's incredible. But I think you see my point: Balian's range from lowly at the beginning to bada$$ mofo at the end can't be too big to be unbelievable/unrealistic.
See my above response to this portion of his review.
Quote:
I can 100% understand why you felt this way. Some of Bloom's speeches towards the end were dripping with cheese, but for whatever reason, they've grown on me. Perhaps its because the rest of the film resonates with me so much, from the King who I looove, to the scenery, score, etc. So perhaps I'm subconsciously overlooking bloom's dialogue at the end here (sweeping it under the rug)
See above.
Quote:
Absolutely agree! I recently watched Robin HOod and in the extras they said how they used most of the KOH armor in Robin HOod b/c the time periods were only about 70 years apart. For the cinematography, I also said how both films have that kind of "blu-ish hue" to them, where Scott tends to film these breathtaking outdoor scenes (particularly wooded areas) with a bluish tint to the lens, making it absolutely gorgeous!
That was one of the things I really enjoyed about Robin Hood even though I didn't enjoy the film itself overall. It was a VERY well made film. Visually it was fantastic
Quote:
King Baldwin = my favorite character in all of these epics. SOmething about him, I don't know. YOu describe it perfectly. The chess board scene was perfection: "the whole world is in chess -- move anywhere other than where you started, and you can't be sure of your end" <-- quotes like this, so short and sweet, but so deep! the kind of dialogue I just don't hear in these kind of epic films. But the delivery definitely made it even more impactful!
Look forward to more of your reviews!!
Great line
I agree, he's my favorite character from these films we've been comparing lately. After him would be Maximus, then Watanabe's Katsumoto.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jhiggy23
You DO use a lot of emoticons!
Quote:
Originally Posted by surfdude12
Yes! Perfectly stated! I can still vividly remember his dark circles under his eyes at the beginning (when he's just moping around his blacksmith area and sitting depressed by his wife's grave). Like I said, I admittedly may be giving Bloom a pass in the final act -- so your points there are very valid. And yes! Sheen was great. Such a slimy priest, who I guess was pretty conventional for the time, but looking back now, its shocking to see that what he did was the norm! That other priest dude said it perfectly: "I ask myself, would Christ do it thusly?"
Agreed with you guys that Sheen did a really good job in his small role
He really got the shaft in the theatrical edition.
Quote:
Another great sequence I loved was when Neeson comes to see Balian, walks over to an edge of the property and looks down to a house where Neeson once lived with Balian's mother. All of a sudden, the screen gets bright, the overcast becomes sunny, you see a young Neeson playing with Balian's mother who is laughing in the yard...and then...geniusly, Scott has the light go back to a dark, dreary, overcast European day, and the camera fixes on Neeson's face as it smile evaporates. He does a similar sequence in the same spot with Bloom, that works just as good (especially the facial transition at the end). Absolutely A+.
Dang it Two!! Its 11:37pm and you're going to make me put this film on now!! I"ll be up till 3am!!!
Great sequence
Quote:
Originally Posted by surfdude12
That's right! I forgot that you watched this only a few weeks ago, right?
Yep, but discussing it with you guys is making me want to see it again already
Quote:
50 words in the entire film? haha. yeah he doesn't have as many lines as you'd expect, but does have a fair amount. as Two points out, the beginning is easily his stronger half, and he does have very few lines there, as he is in the depressed mode. later on, he does talk to the
[Show spoiler]King, Jeremy Irons, the Casino Royale chick <- cooler name for her, as well as new recruits towards the end
. I'm definitely not the biggest Bloom fan -- hated him in Troy. But he's at least decent (For me) here and the other performances and aspects (direction, score, etc, all the stuff Two summed up very nicely) are what grab me.
Well he may have a few more than 50 But at least you got the point, he has relatively little dialog for a major character in such a long film.
He definitely handles "depressed mode" very well in this film. Love the name for Eva Green's character As I said higher in the post, I'll take that a step farther and say I thought he was more than decent and was actually pretty good.
Bloom in this one was SO much better than in Troy. As I said in my review for Troy, "He brought the suck"
The character wasn't exactly meant to be likable, so I guess you could say he succeeded, but for me it wasn't the case as with someone like Eli from There Will Be Blood. In that one I couldn't separate who I disliked, the character or the actor, so the guy did his job right. In this case, I disliked both.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iam1bearcat
Michael Clayton
[Show spoiler]year: 2007
director: tony gilroy
starring: george clooney, tilda swinton, tom wilkinson
wasn't really in the mood to watch something new, so i decided to grab a blu off my shelf that i haven't watched in awhile, Michael Clayton
a slow moving "burner" of a film that follows michael clayton (clooney in a great performance) a law firms "fixer" as he tries to fix a situation with a lawyer who's supposed to be protecting a company, but has a nervous break down and threatens to run wild with the knowledge that he has that knows the company is guilty.
i've always loved the film from the first time i saw it in 2007. i don't really know why. i read about the film, saw the trailer and thought "this looks really awesome" and it is, in every regard.
the performances, the score, the story, the writing, the awesome, "yeah! take that!" ending, the cinematography (), all of equals a great big bowl of success.
i know a lot of people don't feel that way. i know a lot of people find the film very slow, boring and goes nowhere, and to be honest, i can see that. while watching it i said to the gf "you find this boring don't you" and she said, "kinda" and i agreed that i understood what she meant, but it just doesn't have a 'boring' effect on me. i guess that's kind of weird, but i was hooked from the opening monologue by arthur (wilkinson, in a performance that should have won him the "best supporting actor" award, no doubt in my mind. i honestly don't understand how javier bardem was in this category he should have been in "best actor" because to me, he was the main character, not a supporting character. supporting character was tommy lee jones. but it was almost like they knew DDL was gonna win, and they needed NCFOM to win an award besides best picture (which also should have gone to TWBB imo) so they threw him in this category, robbing wilkinson of his award ) and then when
[Show spoiler]the car blows up
i was all sorts of "what's going on?" and never lost interest.
i think another thing that causes people to find the film "boring" is the color palette. it's nothing but greys, dark blues and blacks. clothes, buildings, cars, scenery, outdoor scenes are at night mostly... all of it fits very with the atmosphere and cinematography, but if you're not hooked by the film, then yes, it will come across boring.
i find it odd how most of my favorite films i wouldn't consider films i can watch with other people (or at least not a whole bunch at once). i like intimate, close-knit films and Michael Clayton is one of those films.
story of three people who are very much alone, but connected to the exact same things, but their lives are smothered in their work. i love it. they're great at what they do, but little else (evident only by clayton of course who has money problems and while good relationships with clients, bad relationships with family and friends outside of work. but i'd assume karen crowder (swinton) and arthur are the same way) and their work takes its toll on them each in their own ways: Michael
[Show spoiler]has no money, no personal life
, karen
[Show spoiler]loses her freedom to protect her company
, and arthur
[Show spoiler]loses his mind and ultimately his life for doing what was right, but not what he was "supposed" to do
.
i also love how, i believe, michael very much sees himself in arthur and karen. and that he could very easily be in both or either of their shoes.
and i love how the film ends:
[Show spoiler]with michael "victorious" againts karen and the company, but ultimately knowing that he's lost a friend in arthur, and that tomorrow is another day.
clooney's facial expressions sum it up perfectly.
i've seen michael clayton over 20+ times now i'm sure. and that proably surprises some as they could maybe not even sit through it once. it certainly isn't for everyone, and some will find the story maybe mundane or nothing that seems to interesting, but i do and very glad to own it on blu-ray
one of my top 10 favorite films from 2007, and in my personal "top 50 favorite films" list (actually inside the top 20 i believe).
highly recommended. but i wouldn't say it's a safe blind buy (if there is such a thing) by any stretch of the imagination. if you like slow moving films with a bit of a twist and some good tense scenes in the third act, definitely check it out otherwise, continue on passed it
PQ: 3.5/5 - nothing amazing, but the reviewer on here must have pretty high standards, because while it's not demo disc material (and probably should / could look better) it still looks great to me.
AQ: 3.5/5 - hard to judge a film that uses mainly dialogue, but it's crystal clear and i have no issues with it
5/5
I haven't seen this yet, its on my eventual list though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DjMethod
Fine I'll call it a schmiesel schmun and dun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl
Exactly!
P@t felt a tremor in the force when Avatar was being spoken of and had to come and comment
Quote:
Originally Posted by SquidPuppet
Painting with a pretty broad brush there.
I think DJMethod might hold the record for broadest spectrum of appreciation. And there are MANY here that like ALL types of films regardless of hype, budgets or box office receipts.
Bearcat has my vote still, I mean come on, Paul Walker AND Daniel Day Lewis fan. Can't beat that.
Quote:
I love a good popcorn flick. Emphasis on good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by killowertz
*cough* 10,000 B.C. *cough*
Quote:
Originally Posted by SquidPuppet
Quote:
Originally Posted by SquidPuppet
I agree. And I found numerous scenes very emotional.
Not Toy Story 3 level of emotional for me, but I definitely connected with the characters in many scenes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by surfdude12
a 1/5 guilty pleasure? don't you mean innocent torture?
Haha
Quote:
Originally Posted by SquidPuppet
This was your first review in this thread 10 months ago. I see how the evolution works now. You increase by one paragraph every month.
What the hell? 8/10 for Iron Man? What happened to 1 or 2 out of 5?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SquidPuppet
That would have been an 8 second duel.
You're giving him too much credit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iam1bearcat
every month i add a paragraph, and every month i drop the score of Iron Man
Well that explains it
Quote:
Originally Posted by iam1bearcat
looking through the first few pages, there were no long reviews. everyone kept it like, to 2 paragraphs max. i wonder when it started to change into the longer, more fleshed out reviews we have now? i like it better this way. i don't like short
"watched __________, and it was good. looks awesome" reviews.
but that shouldn't come as any surprise
Quote:
Originally Posted by SquidPuppet
I noticed that too. Odd. There was a "trend" or "style" that most everyone followed.
We're all sheep, we go with what's current
Quote:
Originally Posted by iam1bearcat
i don't know when i started up the longer reviews, but i'm kind of surprised i did, because well, you know, it's the internet and i figured "no one is gonna read all this" and that's maybe what everyone else thought to?
And yet, we do read them all...well most of the time
Quote:
Originally Posted by iam1bearcat
holy fudge! jhiggy and surf were once using the 10-point rating scale?!
i was too for awhile. but the 5-point scale is so much better
Haha no worries, I'm just glad I got it. I still have my copy reserved at Natomas so I'm curious as to if I'll actually get a call, and when. I'm glad I ordered online, because now I don't have to drive down there
Glad you got Revanche, I still have yet to see it on blu but it looked fantastic on Netflix in HD. I bought that one at the beginning of the sale and I'm looking forward to watching it again.
I Netflix streamed it too along with Everlasting Moments to see which I should keep. Ended up keeping Revanche and buying EM today . Although I think we were right about EM's low replay value, it's such an amazing film and I had to get my hands on it. Man, the exact same thing happened the last time I pitted two movies together: The White Ribbon vs. A Prophet. WR being the better film and A Prophet having mind-numbing realism I'm starved to watch again. I am not good at these decisions...
I sat there for about 15 or 20 minutes writing all that up
______
I was supposed to watch Bad Boys II today but when I DVR'd it apparently the WWE stuff before it ran long, so I was missing about 15 or 20 minutes of the movie so I couldn't watch it
So I had to watch something else.
The Incredible Hulk
I really, REALLY enjoy this movie; it's probably my most watched blu-ray. I've mentioned before that I once watched it 3 times in 4 days.
As far as the comic book based movies go, its my second favorite behind only The Dark Knight.
But this is one of the ones that goes above being a comic book based movie imo. It's a very good movie period.
Norton turns in a great performance as Banner. Is he 100% the Banner of the comics? No. Am I fine with that? Yes, because I love the Banner that he plays. (How many more times will I say Banner in this paragraph???) He does a great job of getting the character across, this guy has this gigantic power inside of him, but all he wants is to be rid of it and what it makes him do. He hates it, wants it gone. And Norton, to me, really makes you feel that, you feel for this guy, you want him to be successful in becoming happy again.
The supporting cast is mostly good. Liv Tyler isn't on par with the rest of the major supporting (what?) actors, but she isn't bad. Tim Roth does great as Blonsky and is second to only Norton in the film as far as performances go. He's really good at bringing this character to the screen and really, really making you hate him. Also, Tim Roth is just generally awesome.
The story of the film is handled very well. Some criticized this movie for being nothing more than action and no story, but I disagree. It's not even that heavy in the action. There is only 3 sequences with Hulk fighting. The rest of the time its all about Banner and his quest to rid himself of this curse and return to being a normal person again and then, near the end,
[Show spoiler]his attempt to utilize this thing for good and try to control it for the better instead of letting it just run rampant.
I think the movie was brushed aside because for some reason all people saw was the action and didn't look at it more closely and watch it for the character of Banner and instead saw
[Show spoiler]Hulk bringing down a helicopter or fighting another big "monster"
and said, "Oh, that's just a big, loud, dumb action movie..."
I couldn't disagree more with that; the action and the characters/story go hand in hand in this one.
year: 2009
director: justin jin
starring: paul walker, vin diesel
another film in the franchise, and another success
gotta write this fast because the gf and i have dinner reservations tonight
did i enjoy the hell out of this one? HELL YES
i found it odd and surprising how mature and slow it is. it's also MUCH more serious than the first two (haven't seen Tokyo Drift yet) but i kind of liked that. of course, the absurd opening racing / chasing scene doesn't fit with the mature tone the film takes, but oh well
i mean seriously - characters act super serious with a serious(er) plot than the first two, yet the car chases / races sequences are almost more over the top and laughably unrealistic as possible. the two kind of clash in a sense, but i really didn't mind.
Diesel was awesome again, and a toned down bad ass, but he still has scenes with a shotgun with are very much and Paul Walker gets powerbombed by Diesel, which looked fun and painful and the last death in the film is grotesquely bad ass. loved it!
the writing was pretty awful however. well, not "awful" but predictable. while we were watching the gf and i would try and guess the next line of dialogue, and we were right about 70% of the time but does it bother me? no. does it take away from the overall score? fudge no!
saw this on blu (first film in the series i've seen on blu) and i don't know if they all have laughably bad CGI in some scenes, or just this one, but there were numerous "wow that looks bad" scenes that blu-ray shows off much more than a dvd or netflix instant. but does that take away from enjoyment?
noooooooooooooooope.
will i be buying this? HELL YES. i think i like Fast & Furious a bit more than 2 Fast 2 Furious, but of course the first is still the best and most fun imo. and of course Diesel is much better in this franchise than Tyrese (which i found odd they didn't even mention) but each brings their own to the respective films.
there were also a lot less scenes focused on the racing/ cars, which was also surprising. but, even though overall there were less scenes, the scenes here were louder, fast, more tense, better put together, longer and had a lot more "close calls" (hitting people, crashes, absurdity) than the first two did.
i still think the first film is better directed, especially the racing sequences, but this one isn't too shabby either
and the story for Brian (walker) is almost the exact same as the first "do i turn in my friend? or do i not?" although it plays out with a twist and the ending is awesome (but of course absurd) and i look forward to seeing Fast Five ( ugh, what a name) to see if it picks up where this one leaves off, or if it picks up a year or so later.
also, to those who have seen this (like you Diesel ):
[Show spoiler]they mention how Dom left, and how Letty wanted to "ring him back" but the film picks up when they're together unless i missed something, did we figure out what was happening or what happened when he left / why he left? i'm guessing i missed that part
another fun film. and a great film to watch before a night out on the town
loved it
even though Fast & Furious gets a 4.5/5 and i gave the first a 4/5, i've been meaning to watch it again and bump it up to 4.5/5 because i really only dislike the last race segment that seemed a bit off. so the scores are the same and i still prefer the first then this one, then 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Although the first one is my fav, TD is a very very close second. It is the biggest spectacle (haha that sounds like testi...umm). Yeah, biggest spectacle of the lot. Love the Japanese culture.
I Netflix streamed it too along with Everlasting Moments to see which I should keep. Ended up keeping Revanche and buying EM today . Although I think we were right about EM's low replay value, it's such an amazing film and I had to get my hands on it. Man, the exact same thing happened the last time I pitted two movies together: The White Ribbon vs. A Prophet. WR being the better film and A Prophet having mind-numbing realism I'm starved to watch again. I am not good at these decisions...
year: 2009
director: justin jin
starring: paul walker, vin diesel
another film in the franchise, and another success
gotta write this fast because the gf and i have dinner reservations tonight
did i enjoy the hell out of this one? HELL YES
i found it odd and surprising how mature and slow it is. it's also MUCH more serious than the first two (haven't seen Tokyo Drift yet) but i kind of liked that. of course, the absurd opening racing / chasing scene doesn't fit with the mature tone the film takes, but oh well
i mean seriously - characters act super serious with a serious(er) plot than the first two, yet the car chases / races sequences are almost more over the top and laughably unrealistic as possible. the two kind of clash in a sense, but i really didn't mind.
Diesel was awesome again, and a toned down bad ass, but he still has scenes with a shotgun with are very much and Paul Walker gets powerbombed by Diesel, which looked fun and painful and the last death in the film is grotesquely bad ass. loved it!
the writing was pretty awful however. well, not "awful" but predictable. while we were watching the gf and i would try and guess the next line of dialogue, and we were right about 70% of the time but does it bother me? no. does it take away from the overall score? fudge no!
saw this on blu (first film in the series i've seen on blu) and i don't know if they all have laughably bad CGI in some scenes, or just this one, but there were numerous "wow that looks bad" scenes that blu-ray shows off much more than a dvd or netflix instant. but does that take away from enjoyment?
noooooooooooooooope.
will i be buying this? HELL YES. i think i like Fast & Furious a bit more than 2 Fast 2 Furious, but of course the first is still the best and most fun imo. and of course Diesel is much better in this franchise than Tyrese (which i found odd they didn't even mention) but each brings their own to the respective films.
there were also a lot less scenes focused on the racing/ cars, which was also surprising. but, even though overall there were less scenes, the scenes here were louder, fast, more tense, better put together, longer and had a lot more "close calls" (hitting people, crashes, absurdity) than the first two did.
i still think the first film is better directed, especially the racing sequences, but this one isn't too shabby either
and the story for Brian (walker) is almost the exact same as the first "do i turn in my friend? or do i not?" although it plays out with a twist and the ending is awesome (but of course absurd) and i look forward to seeing Fast Five ( ugh, what a name) to see if it picks up where this one leaves off, or if it picks up a year or so later.
also, to those who have seen this (like you Diesel ):
[Show spoiler]they mention how Dom left, and how Letty wanted to "ring him back" but the film picks up when they're together unless i missed something, did we figure out what was happening or what happened when he left / why he left? i'm guessing i missed that part
another fun film. and a great film to watch before a night out on the town
loved it
even though Fast & Furious gets a 4.5/5 and i gave the first a 4/5, i've been meaning to watch it again and bump it up to 4.5/5 because i really only dislike the last race segment that seemed a bit off. so the scores are the same and i still prefer the first then this one, then 2 Fast 2 Furious.
4.5/5
Well now you've seen the movie that inspired my screen name
My favorite of the bunch, but the first isn't very far behind (both get a 4.5/5)
I don't remember if I mentioned to you before watching it that it is much more serious than the other two or not. I like that about it. The first one is definitely more fun, but this one is more, like you say, "mature" toned. This is the movie that my "sad Diesel" avatar comes from
When he
[Show spoiler]was holding that engine over that guys head
I love when he's
[Show spoiler]bleeding like crazy and just calmly says, "I don't like being shot"
I agree, its obviously not very mysterious in what's going to happen next (there are a few things) but it doesn't need to be and it doesn't try to be that, so it doesn't matter.
For the effects, are you talking about the
[Show spoiler]cave chase
sequences? Those were done with them in the cars in green screen and they built some
[Show spoiler]'caves'
I think and filmed that stuff then put them together (at least that's how I remember them saying it in the special features). But a lot of the stunts and things were actually done practically with real cars and not CG, so I hope you didn't think the real stuff looked fake
As for your question. Are you talking about when
[Show spoiler]Mia was showing Dom the charger and talking about "How it was like she knew you'd be coming back"? If so, this was after he left her in whatever country they were in in the beginning (I don't remember) and went back to LA. She was working on the car and working undercover with the FBI to clear Dom's name to get him to come back, she wanted the car to be ready for him when he came back.
year: 2009
director: justin jin
starring: paul walker, vin diesel
another film in the franchise, and another success
[Show spoiler]gotta write this fast because the gf and i have dinner reservations tonight
did i enjoy the hell out of this one? HELL YES
i found it odd and surprising how mature and slow it is. it's also MUCH more serious than the first two (haven't seen Tokyo Drift yet) but i kind of liked that. of course, the absurd opening racing / chasing scene doesn't fit with the mature tone the film takes, but oh well
i mean seriously - characters act super serious with a serious(er) plot than the first two, yet the car chases / races sequences are almost more over the top and laughably unrealistic as possible. the two kind of clash in a sense, but i really didn't mind.
Diesel was awesome again, and a toned down bad ass, but he still has scenes with a shotgun with are very much and Paul Walker gets powerbombed by Diesel, which looked fun and painful and the last death in the film is grotesquely bad ass. loved it!
the writing was pretty awful however. well, not "awful" but predictable. while we were watching the gf and i would try and guess the next line of dialogue, and we were right about 70% of the time but does it bother me? no. does it take away from the overall score? fudge no!
saw this on blu (first film in the series i've seen on blu) and i don't know if they all have laughably bad CGI in some scenes, or just this one, but there were numerous "wow that looks bad" scenes that blu-ray shows off much more than a dvd or netflix instant. but does that take away from enjoyment?
noooooooooooooooope.
will i be buying this? HELL YES. i think i like Fast & Furious a bit more than 2 Fast 2 Furious, but of course the first is still the best and most fun imo. and of course Diesel is much better in this franchise than Tyrese (which i found odd they didn't even mention) but each brings their own to the respective films.
there were also a lot less scenes focused on the racing/ cars, which was also surprising. but, even though overall there were less scenes, the scenes here were louder, fast, more tense, better put together, longer and had a lot more "close calls" (hitting people, crashes, absurdity) than the first two did.
i still think the first film is better directed, especially the racing sequences, but this one isn't too shabby either
and the story for Brian (walker) is almost the exact same as the first "do i turn in my friend? or do i not?" although it plays out with a twist and the ending is awesome (but of course absurd) and i look forward to seeing Fast Five ( ugh, what a name) to see if it picks up where this one leaves off, or if it picks up a year or so later.
also, to those who have seen this (like you Diesel ):
[Show spoiler]they mention how Dom left, and how Letty wanted to "ring him back" but the film picks up when they're together unless i missed something, did we figure out what was happening or what happened when he left / why he left? i'm guessing i missed that part
another fun film. and a great film to watch before a night out on the town
loved it
even though Fast & Furious gets a 4.5/5 and i gave the first a 4/5, i've been meaning to watch it again and bump it up to 4.5/5 because i really only dislike the last race segment that seemed a bit off. so the scores are the same and i still prefer the first then this one, then 2 Fast 2 Furious.
4.5/5
[Show spoiler]They're together pulling jobs in South America after what happened in the first film, then he has to leave because he knows the law isn't too far behind him. She heads back to the states and when Dom finds out what happened to her, he returns to crack skulls
Btw, you need to see Tokyo Drift! I think the first is the best, with the 4th being close behind (though it can go either way) then TD and then 2F2F.
The first time I had seen it in years or perhaps ever. I certainly couldn't remember any of the story. It was much better than I expected and there was more of a story than I imagined.
I detected a few Cameron traits for sure when thinking about how it compares to Avatar.
PQ was reasonable for the most part, but a few of the shots look dated.
Although the first one is my fav, TD is a very very close second. It is the biggest spectacle (haha that sounds like testi...umm). Yeah, biggest spectacle of the lot. Love the Japanese culture.
I know that wasn't directed towards me, but you could put a million baseball bat emoticons up and I still would never watch Tokyo Drift.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel
Well now you've seen the movie that inspired my screen name
My favorite of the bunch, but the first isn't very far behind (both get a 4.5/5)
For the effects, are you talking about the
[Show spoiler]cave chase
sequences? Those were done with them in the cars in green screen and they built some
[Show spoiler]'caves'
I think and filmed that stuff then put them together (at least that's how I remember them saying it in the special features). But a lot of the stunts and things were actually done practically with real cars and not CG, so I hope you didn't think the real stuff looked fake
I'm not sure which one I like better between the first one and the last one. It's really close though as I really like both of them.
Those
[Show spoiler]cave chase
scenes looked like they took forever to film judging from what I saw in the special features (a lot of screwing up by the actors). I thought they were awesome though and were some of my favorite scenes in the movie.
Who's ready for Diesel's super-duper catch up post?
[Show spoiler]I feel the opposite on this. I don't think we needed a "man's man" for this role, we needed just what we got; a not exactly "rugged" man who wasn't the biggest, strongest, bravest man around. I love Russell Crowe, great actor, but I would not have liked to see him in this role. He's just not who the character is supposed to be. He's just an ordinary fellow pretty much who decided to take charge when it was asked of him and do what he must for the people. I thought Bloom handled the role very well. I'm not a fan of his really, but I do enjoy him in this film.
I like the speeches he gives. Are they the best quality? Not really, but that's why they work for me. Like I said before, this is just a regular guy who has had to take charge, he's not exactly an experienced speech maker or inspiring person and you can tell that from the ones he gives. He does the best he can in the moment and I think they are still good.
Agreed, its definitely a beautiful film
Agreed on Norton as the King, he does a great job in his rather small but important role. Norton brought to life the character, you really feel for the character and have a since of understanding for him and where he comes from and the things he does/believes. The first time I saw the film, I had no idea that Norton was behind the mask, which I think is a testament to how well he did.
At least you found aspects in it that you did really enjoy even if the film didn't work in all aspects
Very good review
My #2 of the group
Agreed here, his mission was consistent throughout in my opinion. It was just different stages of that mission.
Agreed again. That's one of its big strengths for me, the battles support the character and plot development, not the story being driven by action. It takes a back seat in this film more than, say, Gladiator. Which that's not to say I feel Gladiator is driven by the action, I don't think that one is either, but its a bigger component to the film than the action is in Kingdom of Heaven.
See my above response to this portion of his review.
See above.
That was one of the things I really enjoyed about Robin Hood even though I didn't enjoy the film itself overall. It was a VERY well made film. Visually it was fantastic
Great line
I agree, he's my favorite character from these films we've been comparing lately. After him would be Maximus, then Watanabe's Katsumoto.
Agreed with you guys that Sheen did a really good job in his small role
He really got the shaft in the theatrical edition.
Great sequence
Yep, but discussing it with you guys is making me want to see it again already
Well he may have a few more than 50 But at least you got the point, he has relatively little dialog for a major character in such a long film.
He definitely handles "depressed mode" very well in this film. Love the name for Eva Green's character As I said higher in the post, I'll take that a step farther and say I thought he was more than decent and was actually pretty good.
Bloom in this one was SO much better than in Troy. As I said in my review for Troy, "He brought the suck"
The character wasn't exactly meant to be likable, so I guess you could say he succeeded, but for me it wasn't the case as with someone like Eli from There Will Be Blood. In that one I couldn't separate who I disliked, the character or the actor, so the guy did his job right. In this case, I disliked both.
I haven't seen this yet, its on my eventual list though.
P@t felt a tremor in the force when Avatar was being spoken of and had to come and comment
Bearcat has my vote still, I mean come on, Paul Walker AND Daniel Day Lewis fan. Can't beat that.
Not Toy Story 3 level of emotional for me, but I definitely connected with the characters in many scenes.
Haha
What the hell? 8/10 for Iron Man? What happened to 1 or 2 out of 5?
You're giving him too much credit.
Well that explains it
We're all sheep, we go with what's current
And yet, we do read them all...well most of the time
Those were the medieval times of the thread
LMAO. Nice, this has to be the longest single reply i've seen.
Implying that you've already seen it and love it so much you don't wish to spoil the memories by watching it again...? Nice.
Lol, not exactly. I know some people liked it, but the fact that none of the characters from the first two are in it kept me from seeing it and the feeling never changed.
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I just realized I totally vented in the wrong place... a thread full of Criterion-hungry people 
. For future reference, in-store orders are the way to go. Sorry you had so much trouble.
Wow if that's not the most hostile joke... 
And I'll admit upfront that this is my favorite (currently) film between Gladiator, Braveheart, Last Samurai, and Troy (we recently ranked our favorites).
), all of equals a great big bowl of success.
he should have been in "best actor" because to me, he was the main character, not a supporting character. supporting character was tommy lee jones. but it was almost like they knew DDL was gonna win, and they needed NCFOM to win an award besides best picture (which also should have gone to TWBB imo) so they threw him in this category, robbing wilkinson of his award 
) and then when 
Fine I'll call it a schmiesel schmun and dun.
. Although I think we were right about EM's low replay value, it's such an amazing film and I had to get my hands on it. Man, the exact same thing happened the last time I pitted two movies together: The White Ribbon vs. A Prophet. WR being the better film and A Prophet having mind-numbing realism I'm starved to watch again. I am not good at these decisions...
unless i missed something, did we figure out what was happening or what happened when he left / why he left? i'm guessing i missed that part 
memories by watching it again...? Nice. 
Linear Mode
