Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Sat Aug-22-15 11:02 AM
9. "The Zemeckis-esque song choice doesn't exactly inspire faith either." In response to Reply # 8
I haven't thought a Scott movie was *great* in decades... and his last really good ones are over a decade old. And he's made a couple of *really* bad ones since.
I remember seeing Kingdom of Heaven in theaters and being let down. I thought the battle setpieces were interesting but everything else just felt like filler. Orlando Bloom was awesome IMHO.
It's been a minute since I've seen it so I might have to look up the director's cut and see if my opinion changes.
18. "Its a completely different movie..." In response to Reply # 15 Mon Aug-24-15 11:09 PM by Sofian_Hadi
As in its AMAZING how different it is from the theatrical release. I ride hard to try and get people to watch this version. Even put my history professor onto it after a Crusades class.
Eva Green had a son and MUCH deeper storyline. Orlando Bloom had actual battle and siege experience. The priest in the beginning is actually. Orlando Bloom's brother.More scenes with Salah Ad-Din. More violence. Etc Etc. Its an hour and some change longer. Not just three added minutes. Its a COMPLETELY different movie.
I have no clue what Fox was thinking when they decided to butcher the original. They didnt even get the box office they were going after cause the theatrical release sucked. Had they left it alone i believe they would of gotten a bunch of awards and had box office success.
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"The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in." - James Baldwin
17. "^^^Listen to this man" In response to Reply # 11
I ignored it for years assuming it was some bullshit made to capitalize on Orlando Blooms prettiness and LOTR, which apparently the studio version was.
Seeing the directors cut blew my mind, easily one of the best historical dramas filmed.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Fri Oct-02-15 11:17 AM
28. "I mean... it's not *unrelated.* It's just not really an issue. " In response to Reply # 26
It *could* have been related, had his site been near the source of liquid water, which, if we were sending a manned NASA trip to Mars, we almost certainly would have done.
But it could have also easily been written off with one or two lines, something like, "If I'd been on the Ares 2 mission, I'd have had a water supply on my doorstep, but instead, we're researching the driest part of the planet, so I'm stuck," or whatever.
So it's not totally unrelated, as the fact that there's no water for him on the planet is mentioned several times. But it's not really a problem for the film, per se, as if the filmmakers had found out about the existence of liquid water on Mars during post, they could have done a quick dub over of Matt saying a line or two explaining why it doesn't help him.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Fri Oct-02-15 01:23 AM
25. "Really good. Ridley's best in a long time, for sure." In response to Reply # 0
Mostly a showcase for Matt Damon and for Wolski's visuals. I enjoyed how entertaining it was-- it never wallowed in needless grimness. Should be a big-time crowd pleaser, should make some good money.
27. "yo, this was dope. " In response to Reply # 0
damon continues to be a favorite of mine. well acted, great visuals, nothing to complain about with ridley's work, funnier than expected and, as mentioned above, they didn't wallow in the grimness of the situation.
38. "I love that New Yawk is Chiwetel's go-to US accent" In response to Reply # 0
And why isn't his name thrown around more as Bond? And was he in any of the ads for this movie? I didn't realize he was in it and he had a huge role.
Ridley's best film this century. Very enjoyable, light family film, despite some language. Thin Damon special FX were pretty darn good, I thought. The ending seemed kind of rushed but, honestly, I was happy that it did because the movie was getting long. Definitely could have worked as a mini-series but was good as a film.
I would love for movies like this and "Sicario" to become October staples. Smarter action films that might get lost in the shuffle of summer.
Also, impressive that that film only cost 108 million to make, given the cast and the way budgets are heading lately.
39. "Pretty good (Ridley Scott) film, except one glaring exception (spoiler a..." In response to Reply # 0
...Kristen Wiig. She played the worst, most annoying character. That role did nothing to showcase her acting abilities (we already know she can do annoying). That role should've gone to a lesser-known actor.
I thought this movie was solid, I'd give it an A-/B+ I saw it in 3D which was cool but I'm feeling some kind of way about watching things in 3D; it's cool at first, but then your eyes get used to it. It's no Avatar, I'll tell you that.
Matt Daman, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Jeff Daniels and Benedict Wong were standouts...everyone else especially the rest of the Mars space crew didn't contribute as much...even Michael Pena, whom I really like, shouldve gotten more airtime.
One last note...I think the film could've been even better if they showed more of Mark Watney's struggles and the effects of isolation...like they did with Tom Hanks in Cast Away with Wilson the ball...a little influence of that would've been a plus.
43. "Certainly Ridley's best in awhile" In response to Reply # 0
Really tightly paced and Matt was excellent and 'm a sucker for movies that involve problem solving and creating things. Felt the humor and script were well-done as welI .
Couple issues: I always find the constant barrage of public sentiment shots hokey and a cheap way to try and create emotional engagement so I wasn't a fan of those. Wiig's character was kinda irrelevant but otherwise I felt each of the character's held their own weight alongside Matt.
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44. "RE: Certainly Ridley's best in awhile" In response to Reply # 43 Tue Oct-13-15 09:35 PM by rdhull
>Really tightly paced and Matt was excellent and 'm a sucker
>Couple issues: I always find the constant barrage of public >sentiment shots hokey and a cheap way to try and create >emotional engagement so I wasn't a fan of those.
if I see another film using a crowded Times Square watching a video screen....
45. "Mars was more realistic than those shots" In response to Reply # 43
>Couple issues: I always find the constant barrage of public >sentiment shots hokey and a cheap way to try and create >emotional engagement so I wasn't a fan of those.
definitely broke up the tenor of the actual space rescue.
sticking to an old formula is fine if you do it well. well-shot, well-paced, well-edited. thankfully there was no melodramatic side plot or 20-minute personal existence thesis, just an analytical drive to survive based on fixing what's next.
50. "RE: Is this another great sci-fi classic from Ridley Scott?" In response to Reply # 0
No, but it is a very good movie. I liked it. I would not say that this is a very ambitious film. I sure am glad. We damn sure don't need another Prometheus. The Martian is pretty much a feel good space movie and it works for me. Grade B+
54. "Was damn good, mad at myself for projecting my own whatevers" In response to Reply # 0
due to the trailer, white men in space, and Scott
but yeah I fucked with this
I know for the book a community of scientist worked with the author on the science of Mars, but that ending, any links to the science of the ending, not that it would diminish the movie for me if it was off.
56. "Agreed, much more entertaining than expected." In response to Reply # 54
Saw the early jokes about Matt Damon farming in space for 2.5 hours and had no real interest. But damn good pacing throughout and it didn't feel like a long movie.
Glad I saw the movie before hearing about Juno... really adds to the appreciation for the real world science.
57. "Made the mistake of reading the book first" In response to Reply # 0
I really liked the visuals and feel like they did a great job of cutting some of the more tedious stuff out of the time on Mars, but that ending man.
I wasn't particularly pleased with the ending. I"m sure some people thought it was great, and I'll be honest about the idea of having huge hopes after reading the books. I just felt like after everything the ending was Hokey.
59. "From what I recall, book ending isn't that different (SPOILERS)" In response to Reply # 58
The main difference is in the movie, Jessica Chastain does the final rescuing of Damon out in space; whereas in the book it's the Winter Soldier that does it. I can understand the decision; Chastain was the bigger star at the time (probably still is now), and they wanted her more explicitly involved in the climax.
Also, the book ends right after the rescue and with him making his final log entry from the Hermes; there's no flash forward.
61. "Yea none of that is in the book, but it makes sense to try and put a bow..." In response to Reply # 60
The hokey ironman shit was shouted down, for all the reasons they stated in the movie.
The way he just left Mars was so fast, his trip to the MAV was FUCKED. They cut so much outta there that it took away from the overall accomplishment.
I'm just nitpicking, but I still didn't like that Chastain was the one to go out there. Winter soldier was clearly a beast flying around a space ship with no tether.
62. "Eh, I can still understand (MORE BOOK SPOILERS)" In response to Reply # 61
>The way he just left Mars was so fast, his trip to the MAV was >FUCKED. They cut so much outta there that it took away from >the overall accomplishment.
I guess one issue is that some of the trouble he faces on the way to the MAV wouldn't make THAT good cinema. Especially his main obstacle, the dust storm. I guess they could have him tumble down the hill, but I figure that wanted to save the drama/big money stuff for the space rescue at the end.
>I'm just nitpicking, but I still didn't like that Chastain was >the one to go out there. Winter soldier was clearly a beast >flying around a space ship with no tether.
I agree, but I understand this decision too. Chastain's character took responsibility leaving him on Mars, and then she closes the loop by being the one that saves him at the end.
63. "RE: Eh, I can still understand (MORE BOOK SPOILERS)" In response to Reply # 62
> >I guess one issue is that some of the trouble he faces on the >way to the MAV wouldn't make THAT good cinema. Especially his >main obstacle, the dust storm. I guess they could have him >tumble down the hill, but I figure that wanted to save the >drama/big money stuff for the space rescue at the end.
Yea my wife and i were talking about the Dust storm, its a high stakes moment, but the result is that he just drives away from it. So yea not great cinema, there's definitely science stuff that wouldn't be great for the movie, but the impact of getting to the MAV was a huge accomplishment in and of itself. You're right though, not great cinema.
Yea I get that, I just felt like it the ending was hokey, but again i'm just nitpicking
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