Gruf
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Even more taciturn than my name suggests
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Post by Gruf on May 6, 2024 23:15:35 GMT
Rebel moon SCARGIVER 5/10 Poor. Every cliche you could think of is present and correct. The script was written by shit AI.
They end it by setting up a third film. Snyder is delusional.
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Post by Saul1138 on May 7, 2024 1:02:16 GMT
I never got the love for Fury Road. The story is banal, and don’t try and tell me that there is a subtle subtext, it is hammered home at every opportunity. The car chase features some spectacular stunt work, very Cirque du Soleil. But they just don’t seem to stop. A bit of variety would have been nice. I like Thunderdome more, it has a cheesy charm. But two is the best of the series.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on May 7, 2024 2:13:15 GMT
"Thunderdome > Fury Road" is quite the spicy take!
I'm curious as to exactly why you think the story is "banal". The plot of 2 is literally "Max wants fuel, reluctantly helps colony of people with their bandit problem in exchange for fuel", and that gets a tick of approval? To each their own and all that, but generally I'm not watching these movies for their complicated plots.
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Post by Bill in the rain on May 7, 2024 2:25:03 GMT
I will admit that when I first watched Fury Road in the cinema I was slightly underwhelmed. Not because it was bad in any way, but because it had been hyped up so much by people that my expectations were sky high.
But since then, I've twice casually clicked on it while idly browsing through streaming services, without the real intent to actually watch it. Both times I ended up staying up too late to watch it to the end, and loving it. Which is in contrast to several other films I've tried to watch recently, and found myself struggling to get to the end of... for example:
The Batman (finally finished it! Only took me about 2 weeks!)
Watching in 3-4 parts over a couple of weeks isn't exactly ideal viewing conditions, so my lack of investment might be down purely to that.
It's kinda like a Villeneuve movie, particularly Dune, in that it looks amazing, has great individual scenes and good performances, and a great booming soundtrack, yet it left me a little cold. The tone it was going for was kinda weary noir, and the voiceovers and ominous droning soundtrack did a good job of achieving that, while also being a bit droning and monotonous.
But I think the main flaw was that the central 'mystery' wasn't very good. Central plot was basically 'some criminals and corrupt politicians did some criminal and corrupt stuff a while ago, and now the riddler is exposing that in an overly complex way'. But why do we care? Who cares which corrupt person in a corrupt city might have been slightly more corrupt than the other corrupt people? Or which criminal kingpin might have done something slightly underhand to gain a bit more power?
It's going for something like Se7en-lite, but it end up more like the 60s Adam West TV Show with batman immediately knowing the answer to each Riddle, and Gordon standing next to him going 'Holy uninteresting reveal Batman!'
Big cgi ending was a bit rubbish as well, though I liked the main character arc and there were some good fight scenes. And I guess the modern politics and alt-right theme is just as relevant as ever.
If I'd seen it all in one go in the cinema I'd probably have rated it higher.
No idea what the Penguin tv-series is gonna be for. It was a decent performance, but it's a wholly unnecessary spin-off for a character that doesn't need it. Streaming services need content I guess.
Batman Returns and Dark Knight are still my favorites. Better than the Bane ones though.
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Post by elstoof on May 7, 2024 2:38:22 GMT
Fury Road was a bit average
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on May 7, 2024 2:41:33 GMT
You're a bit average
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Post by elstoof on May 7, 2024 2:51:21 GMT
And I embrace that
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on May 7, 2024 3:19:23 GMT
Well, shit.
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Post by skalpadda on May 7, 2024 5:17:52 GMT
I never got the love for Fury Road. The story is banal, and don’t try and tell me that there is a subtle subtext, it is hammered home at every opportunity. The car chase features some spectacular stunt work, very Cirque du Soleil. But they just don’t seem to stop. A bit of variety would have been nice. I like Thunderdome more, it has a cheesy charm. But two is the best of the series. That's kind of what's good about it. I'm usually a story and characters guy, I need some reason to care or I get bored no matter how big the 'splosions are, but Fury Road somehow kept me interested from start to finish with action and style. And to be fair it doesn't really have much less story than most action movies, there's just less talking.
But of course if it doesn't work for you it will definitely feel boring/mediochre.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on May 7, 2024 5:36:27 GMT
To me it's like a fairy tale. Fairy tales rarely get more complicated in terms of plotting than "there is an evil king, the heroes fight him", but simple isn't the same as bad imo.
And there was enough detail and world building (the rival factions, the weird people on stilts, the altar made out of steering wheels, etc.) that I could drink in, even if I didn't like the main plot.
But whatever, people like different things, that's ok. I'm personally trying to remain as unpumped as possible for Furiosa, but it's going to be a tough couple of weeks not pumping.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on May 7, 2024 5:36:49 GMT
Not in a sexual way.
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otto
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Post by otto on May 7, 2024 7:22:11 GMT
My A$0.02, the problem arises because they wanted to piggyback on the Mad Max franchise, but then the same charge can be levied against Thunderdome. The first two films stand alone, the subsequent films are fine for what they are but they're not really the same kind of films as the first two imo.
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Post by Vandelay on May 7, 2024 7:40:13 GMT
Watched Mad Max the first last night. I really did have no memory of it from previously watching it. I can only imagine I got distracted and only half paid attention, as there is plenty here that does stand out.
That opening sequence was fantastic and even more stunning considering the shoestring budget this must have been made on. Things settle down a bit after that though and the ice cold cop we see of Max is quickly replaced by an average Joe, which is a bit weird.
The whole middle section is odd really, jumping between a world on the edge of insanity and fairly ordinary days out with the wife and kid. The former is great, the later is a bit banal (actually banal and not Fury Road banal). I liked some of both bits though, with the ordinary making the setting feel a little more around the corner than the feeling given by later films. It could have lost some of that though and parts do drag a little, even in the alright slight 90 minute runtime.
I liked it overall though. If there weren't more films to follow, I could see this having become a cult hit by itself, although unlikely to have the mainstream recognition that the series would go on to receive.
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otto
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Post by otto on May 7, 2024 7:55:18 GMT
It did become a cult hit, hence the films to follow. I think I saw it on VHS before MM2 was made, though I might be misremembering. Certainly the first two were huge cult hits in the 80s before Thunderdome rode in on the back of them.
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Post by Vandelay on May 7, 2024 8:02:18 GMT
I meant I could imagine it still having a bit of a cult following today if no more films were made, although I expect it would be pretty niche. Sorry, badly worded.
Obviously, it was successful enough at release to warrant having more money thrown at Miller to go make more.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on May 7, 2024 8:02:33 GMT
The thing I really like about the first one, is that the setting is *just* normal enough that I could imagine it being real. There's some weird flourishes (like the police chief wearing leather fetish gear for some reason), but most of the movie is just about him doing a job and going home to his family.
And all the subsequent movies are bonkers post apocalyptic fantasy. Which is fine with me, but the vibe is very different to the first movie.
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sport✅
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notice me senpai
I want to claim my tits
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Post by sport✅ on May 7, 2024 8:18:48 GMT
Bonkers?? Have you even stepped out of your cushy urban apartment Mola? It's dog eat dog out there!
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Post by Saul1138 on May 7, 2024 8:19:14 GMT
Molar, I think that the problem is how it was sold. I was given too believe that Fury Road was a more interesting take on the action genre. It was supposed to have subtle comments on misogyny, revenge etc. But it wasn’t subtle at all.
The story amounts to, a group decide to leave their oppressors for a memory of a utopia. When they realise the utopia no longer exists, they decide to battle Joe and the Misogynistic men, and undo all the sense of threat that had been built up in the initial chase. It is terrible. I am not saying Mad Max 1 and 2 were masterpieces, but they made sense.
I get why people like it, the action sequences are truly great. But they don’t stop. Take thirty minutes of them out of the film and I may have enjoyed it more. But after a while, they get dull and duller.
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Post by Bill in the rain on May 7, 2024 8:23:54 GMT
Molar, I think that the problem is how it was sold. I was given too believe that Fury Road was a more interesting take on the action genre. It was supposed to have subtle comments on misogyny, revenge etc. But it wasn’t subtle at all. The story amounts to, a group decide to leave their oppressors for a memory of a utopia. When they realise the utopia no longer exists, they decide to battle Joe and the Misogynistic men, and undo all the sense of threat that had been built up in the initial chase. It is terrible. I am not saying Mad Max 1 and 2 were masterpieces, but they made sense. I get why people like it, the action sequences are truly great. But they don’t stop. Take thirty minutes of them out of the film and I may have enjoyed it more. But after a while, they get dull and duller. I'm not sure anyone would have ever claimed it was subtle The world building is top notch, and the entire movie basically being one big chase sequence is kinda what it was sold on, to me at least. The fact it manages to do that for its entire runtime without getting boring is pretty remarkable ymmv.
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Post by drhickman1983 on May 7, 2024 8:26:01 GMT
I think they're all good, but much prefer Fury Road to Thunderdome.
Fury Road is very simple narratively, but the imagery and set pieces are superlative.
It's a spectacle film and a masterclass in action blocking and editing. Far too many action scenes in other films end up becoming a mess, but the action here is very readable and understandable.
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on May 7, 2024 8:51:07 GMT
Yeah, aside from the stories about Miller getting the writer of the Vagina Monologues to consult on how to best handle the whole "sex slave" thing in Fury Road, I never ever ever expected the movie to be subtle.
Besides, it would be weird to have subtlety in a movie that also contains a dude with a flamethrower guitar. It's not subtle, and that's ok!
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Bongo Heracles
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Post by Bongo Heracles on May 7, 2024 10:05:50 GMT
I really enjoyed Three Thousand Years Of Longing. I know it’s not for everyone but it’s just nice to watch something by a talented director who clearly gives a shit.
I think it’s still on Prime so definitely worth a watch.
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Post by britesparc on May 7, 2024 10:14:23 GMT
Miller is a very experimental filmmaker, and all the Max films are his attempts to push the envelope to some degree in terms of action cinema. The climactic chase in Thunderdome, with multiple vehicles, was essentially a prototype of the sorts of chases he did in Fury Road. He's stated that his desire with Fury Road was to take that chase, and see if it was possible to drag it out to feature length - so the movie itself becomes one long action sequence. Would that be possible, would it be too much, etc. So everything then becomes how to use the grammar of an action sequence to tell a story, and how to do it in such a way as to always be legible, never too much, never confusing, never headache-inducing, etc.
I think he succeeded, but I can also imagine there are some for whom it is just random fantasy noise with a very long chase in one direction, followed by a very long chase back to where they came from. My wife, for instance, has zero interest in action movies and just doesn't find the flow and choreography of an action sequence compelling in and of itself, whereas I adore that sort of stuff. So she probably wouldn't enjoy Fury Road; I think it's a masterpiece.
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Post by rhaegyr on May 7, 2024 10:28:35 GMT
Well put.
For my money it's one of the greatest action films ever made.
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Post by drhickman1983 on May 7, 2024 10:43:21 GMT
For action blocking and editing it's up there with the climactic chase scene in Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers.
Not being glib there, that action sequence is amazing and succeeds in the same way Fury Road does, by having a clear sense of space, using action to draw the viewers eye across the screen, controlled cinematography and relatively slow cutting.
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Post by retro74 on May 7, 2024 10:48:25 GMT
Fury Road was a bit average I gave it a 6 out of 10 after watching it on the cinema so average is a out right for me It was ok
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rawshark
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Post by rawshark on May 7, 2024 11:04:27 GMT
I was angry before, but this thread has made me Furiosa.
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Post by paulyboy81 on May 7, 2024 11:54:16 GMT
Swordfish (2001)
Very much of it's time still. Bullet-time explosions, tits and arse at every turn, Oakenfold soundtrack, Huge Ackman doing the Magic Mike version of computer hacking and John Travolta not so much as chewing on the scenery but devouring it whole.
Stupid, but entertaining if you like naff action films.
6/10
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Post by Bill in the rain on May 7, 2024 12:42:06 GMT
For action blocking and editing it's up there with the climactic chase scene in Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers. Not being glib there, that action sequence is amazing and succeeds in the same way Fury Road does, by having a clear sense of space, using action to draw the viewers eye across the screen, controlled cinematography and relatively slow cutting. It's cool that he got his missus to edit it, despite her never editing an action film before, and she knocked it out of the park. Who'd a thought that one of the best action films in recent years would be directed by a 70+ year old dude, and edited by his 60(?) year old wife.
(apologies if I've over estimated her age.)
It's better than The Batman, anyway
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Post by britesparc on May 7, 2024 12:43:06 GMT
Can we all come together and agree that it's better than The Batman?
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