What Movie Did You Just Watch

[talonmalon333]

I haven't seen Terminator Salvation and I don't doubt that it's a weak film that hurts the franchise. However, based on the brief shots I've seen of it, it has a sort of grainy look to it that I think fits the Judgement Day war scenario well enough. If they incorporated that stylistic choice into a Judgement Day movie that makes sense (such as Spark's idea about a movie that follows John Connor and Kyle Reese in the future of the original timeline, before the future was changed), then maybe we could have had a good Terminator 3. Of course, though, it would also require good directing and writing.

That's really the only idea I can come up with for a Terminator movie after 2 that makes sense. Anything else at all that I can come up with clashes with the intent of the first two movies in some way. So if you set that aside, they should've just ended the series after 2.

[gunswordfist]

ah yes, no continuity breaking. thats a good idea.

[talonmalon333]

ah yes, no continuity breaking. thats a good idea.

What?

[gunswordfist]

i wasnt being sarcastic if thats what you meant

[talonmalon333]

I had no idea where to post this (I'm doing so here since we were talking about the Alien movies). A few days ago I finally watched James Rolfe's Monster Madness videos on the Alien franchise (when he aired those last October, I skipped them knowing that I'd watch the movies someday). For the most part I agree with what he says. I also highly agree on the strengths of the first two Alien movies, and I agree that it's completely arguable deciding which movie to prefer. One excels at horror while the other excels at action (both excel at characters, suspense, and all that).

I can also agree with him that Resurrection is more entertaining than 3, though I still don't really like either movie. In fact, I actually find 3 to be more memorable (or rather, less forgettable) both because of how much it frustrated me, and also because there was more effort put into it. With Resurrection, it feels like they didn't even try to make it good, and though it does succeed at being simple entertainment to a certain extent, I can barely remember anything that happened in the movie. And it's only been a few days since I saw it. I also find that I respect 3 more because of its effort, and I consider the ending of 3 (despite a few corny moments) to be better than any part of Resurrection.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm probably the only person here who thinks that Resurrection is a worse film than 3 was. Of course, they are both horrid pieces of shit, but I didn't get why people said that Resurrection was just simple dumb fun. It's certainly dumb, but nothing about it is even remotely fun. What made Alien 3 more frustrating to watch was because it was directly tied to the first 2 films and the movie clearly had a ton of effort out into it....it's just that the troubled production of the film really misguided the effort. David Fincher has proven himself to be a good director with many of his later films, but even he couldn't save a script that was pretty bad and that the studio pushed on him (and before you say it was his choice to go through with it, remember that he was bound by contract to make the film).

Resurrection, on the other hand, just felt like they didn't care. I understand that every movie takes a lot of effort to make. Even for bad movies, people are usually oblivious as to how much work and time goes into them, and for the people making the movie, it's impossible to tell whether it'll be good or not until the movie is actually done. With Resurrection, I'm sure it was a lot of work, but I get the feeling that there was no heart or passion in it. The people making it clearly didn't have much faith in the film to begin with. I think that the people making Alien 3 were actually trying to make a gear follow-up to Aliens, which ironically makes it that much more frustrating that it turned out to be crap. I think the biggest mistake was killing off all of the surviving characters from Aliens (sans Ripley), right at the beginning of the film (and off-screen, at that). Remember how a whole 20-minute segment if Aliens was devoted to Ripley risking her life to go back and rescue Newt? Yeah, Alien 3 says fuck that and kills her off like it's nothing. Right from that point I knew that the film would suck.

[talonmalon333]

I'm probably the only person here who thinks that Resurrection is a worse film than 3 was. Of course, they are both horrid pieces of shit, but I didn't get why people said that Resurrection was just simple dumb fun. It's certainly dumb, but nothing about it is even remotely fun. What made Alien 3 more frustrating to watch was because it was directly tied to the first 2 films and the movie clearly had a ton of effort out into it....it's just that the troubled production of the film really misguided the effort. David Fincher has proven himself to be a good director with many of his later films, but even he couldn't save a script that was pretty bad and that the studio pushed on him (and before you say it was his choice to go through with it, remember that he was bound by contract to make the film).

Resurrection, on the other hand, just felt like they didn't care. I understand that every movie takes a lot of effort to make. Even for bad movies, people are usually oblivious as to how much work and time goes into them, and for the people making the movie, it's impossible to tell whether it'll be good or not until the movie is actually done. With Resurrection, I'm sure it was a lot of work, but I get the feeling that there was no heart or passion in it. The people making it clearly didn't have much faith in the film to begin with. I think that the people making Alien 3 were actually trying to make a gear follow-up to Aliens, which ironically makes it that much more frustrating that it turned out to be crap. I think the biggest mistake was killing off all of the surviving characters from Aliens (sans Ripley), right at the beginning of the film (and off-screen, at that). Remember how a whole 20-minute segment if Aliens was devoted to Ripley risking her life to go back and rescue Newt? Yeah, Alien 3 says fuck that and kills her off like it's nothing. Right from that point I knew that the film would suck.

I wouldn't blame Fincher for everything that happened to 3. I know there was a lot of trouble during the creation of that movie. I do believe they really wanted to make a great movie with Alien 3, a dark and atmospheric movie that would serve as a great ending for the character of Ripley and the franchise. With Resurrection, I agree with James Rolfe that it feels like the movie existed hit theaters, make some money, and then be forgotten.

Also, I don't consider Resurrection to just be dumb fun. I just think it came off as more fun than 3, but that has to be put into perspective. My brother, who watched all the movies with me, called Resurrection dumb fun and I didn't get that. Resurrection was boring to me, and forgettable, and the characters were so silly they didn't feel real.

I think one way to put it is that I hated 3. It aimed higher, but if you're going to go the direction that 3 went, you need to really get it right. I disliked Resurrection too, but honestly, I think the fact that the movie went so much more simple and is overall more harmless makes it hard for me to downright hate it. It's just bland and forgettable. If I do remember Alien 3 at all a few months from now, I'll remember it as being a movie that ruined the franchise and was painful to me, whereas I feel confident that I won't even remember Resurrection at all. I barely even remember it right now, in fact. All I can remember is a few brief shots from the movie.

Also, yeah, I hated how they killed off the likable characters from Aliens, especially Newt. I think it's especially important that Newt survive because she became like a new daughter figure for Ripley. I wasn't totally expecting those characters to be in this movie, but they still didn't have to do that.

[Avaitor]

I found a used copy of the Star War box set with all 6 movies for $30. The catch is that the front cover is hella scratched up.

Still, that's not a bad deal, and even though I don't have any real use for the prequels, I'm pretty sure that most of the extras are only in that one set, as opposed to the trilogy exclusive ones. If I can magically make $30 before I go, I'll consider it.

[talonmalon333]

I feel like I'll never purchase a Star Wars set until the original, unaltered trilogy gets re-released properly. As far as I know, the last time they were released was on DVD as special features, years ago.

[Avaitor]

Not special features- they actually did get their own DVD releases. But not in a set, like the "remastered" trilogy, and without most bonus features.

Somehow, I doubt that we'll get the unaltered trilogy on Blu anytime soon, especially since Fox still owns the rights to A New Hope away from Disney.

[Spark Of Spirit]

After all this Star Wars talk, I think I'm gonna watch the old movies then hunt down the Thrawn trilogy. Then I'll stop. And I'll be just fine.

I've never really been a fan of the MI movies being not only that they felt remarkably different from the TV show, but also because I found them much too boring overall despite having some memorable moments. Also, that Tom Cruise keeps getting attaching to it as if it's his series and they can't make Mission Impossible without him, which simply isn't the case. He could easily be replaced and the series would be fine, it's not like he's very memorable in the part. This isn't Lethal Weapon or Die Hard.

That said, I've heard great things about Ghost Protocol, and since it is directed by Brad Bird, I do have an interest.

[gunswordfist]

i disagree. mi is cruise's top franchise. he's kind of famous, you know?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

And I honestly couldn't get into the TV series. I don't think it has aged all that well. Also, MI2 is a John Woo film, and John Woo is the greatest action movie director of all time, so that makes him infallible.[/fact]

[gunswordfist]

i wish hollywood woo was good. he made no more than like two good movies over here.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

i wish hollywood woo was good. he made no more than like two good movies over here.

That's Hollywood's fault. Woo should just make Harboiled 2, already. Stranglehold doesn't count.