I love the *Final Destination *movie (and 3 but not 2). One of the motifs is John Denver songs foreshadowing a death because John Denver died in a plane crash.
Really?
As clever as the writing was and they couldn’t make it more subtle by having songs by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, Jim Croce (Think about using “Crying”, “That’ll be the Day” and “Time in a Bottle”) or any other singers that died in a plane crash.
What is the one thing that you found disappointing in a movie that you loved?
In Double Indemnity, Fred MacMurray has an apartment door that opens outward, and it’s obviously designed that way to facilitate a plot point (Barbara Stanwyck hiding behind the door while Fred MacMurray talks to Edward G. Robinson in the hall). I mean, outward-opening apartment doors aren’t unheard of, but it seems like an obvious kludge in this case.
Recently I watched the trailer for the new Bond movie, and I was reminded of how good ‘Casino Royale’ (almost) was.
You see, I have this really big pet peeve about movies: if a protagonist is in danger, he has to get out of it by his own means. No deus ex machinas, no crazy coincidences. I don’t care that much about all the rest: you can violate the laws of physics, make incoherent dialogue and get the original source all wrong. That’s fine with me.
But the characters that just stand there while the plot unfolds in front of their eyes have got a name: supporting characters. So that moment when Bond is about to die after being tortured and a random assassin saves him at the last second, sparing his life against all reason? That kinda ruins the whole movie for me.
Does it help that it was in the book (admittedly pretty weak there) that way or should they have used the opportunity to improve it?
I thought they explicitly stated that it was Vesper’s blackmailers that saved Bond so that he’d give her the password for the funds?
I maybe mis-remembering it, but I could’ve sworn that M specifically pointed that out to Bond.
Galadriels temptation and rejection of the ring in fellowship of the ring was pretty weak compared to the rest of the movie.
This was not a Deus Ex Machina. This was depicted as a deus ex machina to mess with the audience (and it worked, too). But they did what they did for a very good reason (namely, 100+ mil $).
Now, I love and adore the LOTR films almost as much as the original books, but I just can’t stand the cheesy visual gag of Legolas riding his shield like a skateboard down part of a structure at the Battle of Helm’s Deep. So immature, so dumb. Makes me cringe.
Ditto with the dwarf-tossing joke.
Both of those things ‘break’ the fantasy element for me and draw me out of the movie by making irrelevant references to modern, non-Middle Earth.
Oh but of course! I feel so foolish now. Well, thank you, that clinches ‘Casino Royale’ as my ‘Best action movie EVER!!!’ pick, then.
There’s a Spanish movie i really like called Libertarias, about the experiences of women during the Spanish Civil War. It stars Victoria Abril, who i will watch in just about anything.
Anyway, the movie is a drama, with some action, leavened by some humor. It is, for the most part, completely realist in its narrative and directing. But there’s a scene in the middle of the movie where one of the characters is possessed, or channeling a dead person. The woman speaks with a man’s voice, and is clearly overtaken by some supernatural force.
Coming as it did in the middle of a movie with no other supernatural elements, it was quite offputting.
I can deal with all of that, but the “nervous system” comment jerks me out every time.
It musta been jerked right out of my mind - I can see the back of my own head from the eye-rolling those two images cause, but I don’t remember the nervous system line.
I think it’s the extended version, and I think it’s the third movie…? No, the second, after Helm’s Deep. It’s when Gimli and Legolas are competing for the most kills. At the end, Gimli claims to have one more (42 I think), while he is sitting on a body. Legolas shoots the body, and this conversation occurs (paraphrased):
Legolas: “Now we’re even.”
Gimli: “He was already dead!”
Legolas: “He was twitching.”
Gimli: “That’s because he’s got my AXE embedded in his nervous system!” twitches axe, causing body to twitch
:rolleyes:
I loved the book Sphere and the climax of the book is pretty much when the main protagonist figures out how to get inside the sphere, and we see his experience inside! During the whole movie tension is building as we wonder about the sphere, and then the main guy finally figures out how to get inside and then…they cut to another scene! We never see him inside!
Extended Editions are great, and most of the additional scenes in the trilogy are a pleasure. But there’s a good reason why this scene was cut from the theatrical release. It should’ve stayed on the cutting room floor.
I enjoyed “Where Eagles Dare”,it was suspenseful,exciting and for the most part believable(In as much as action movies can believable)but when the highly trained German mountain troops are after the goodies Clint Eastwood has a “Hero” weapon,he has unlimited ammo,doesn’t really have to aim and kills about two hundred troops all on his own,added to that he has an invisible forcefield that means that no matter how many bad guys shoot at him,even without any realistic cover, he’s perfectly safe.
It spoilt the film for me.
Also “Enter the Dragon”,enjoyable movie all the way through except for one scene where Bruce Lee makes an incredible back jump to end up sitting on the branch of a tree.
It is so obviously him being filmed jumping out of a tree and they’ve reversed the film that its silly.
I was a bit disappointed in **Alien V Predator II **that the gestation time for aliens seems to have been reduced beyond reason. There were people being face-hugged and aliens bursting out within a matter of minutes. Any film that contains both Aliens AND predators deserves to be given a lot of artistic license , but this alien-birthing issue was really poor. Especially in light of an entire film in the previous sequence being devoted to Ripley carrying a wee alien to term.
Well, the book establishes early on that Le Chiffre would be in serious (in fact lethal) trouble if his misappropriation of French Communist Party funds was uncovered (hence the desperation move of trying to recoup with high-stakes chemin-de-fer), so the arrival of the SMERSH assassin at the end isn’t completely out of left field. Overall, the premise itself is a shaky one, though - it would be easier to simply kidnap Le Chiffre (in the book he has two bodyguards - in the movie, none) and stash him somewhere for a week until his situation is well and truly fucked, then threaten to release him in the middle of Paris at high noon and let him take his chances.
The Living Daylights short story has an as-improbably contrived premise, but they’re both still good stories.
Contact. Could’ve had a great ending, instead had pap. In the book, Ellie finds a clue for the existence of God by analyzing pi (after being given a hint to do so by the alien impersonating her father). In the movie, that’s all cut out for Jodi Foster saying to Congress “take me on faith”, negating the entire philosophical message of the novel!
Yeah, that was a bit disappointing. Sagan must have been rolling in his grave. 
The theatrical ending of I Am Legend. Completely, totally misses the mark and makes the relationship between the title and the awesome twist of the original story nonexistent. Seeing that movie in a theater led to my first (and so far only) audible “No, you FUCKERS! NO!” in a theater.