The Shrine

My Lord, this was horrible. I downloaded this one because Speilberg has been very disappointing recently. Although Catch Me If You Can was pretty decent, it wasn't anywhere close to par with his others and The Terminal and Minority Report blew (I actually liked AI, even though it wasn't really his).

This one is easily the worst film I've ever seen of his and is one of my most hated films. Independence Day - which was very bad - is much better than this. Now that's something I never thought I'd say: an Emmerich film is much better than a Speilberg film. But that's how brutal this film was. I watched it for free and felt ripped off. I'll never get those two hours back.

Don't get me wrong, the effects were fucking gorgeous, some of the best I've ever seen. But the storyline was just brutal. Any decent acting (Robbins, Flemming) was just blown away by the awfulness of the script. Without exaggeration, my 5 year old neice could have done a better job with the script than this. This is beyond any level of disappointment I would have ever anticipated. This is Godzilla bad. There is no redeeming quality in this film other than the effects. Just don't even bother, even if it's on TV for free.

Where the hell have you gone, Speilberg?

I heard that it was pretty good from several people. I won't see it until it comes out on DVD though.

Well to be fair, the storyline is staying true to the original H.G. Wells novel, and I'd already seen the 1950's movie so I knew what to expect and wasn't as disappointed as I would've been if this was standing on its own. Otherwise I'd have to agree -- ID4 kicks the shit out of this movie. Even still, there were a couple things that bothered me. Spoilers below:







1. If the aliens were planning the invasion for a million years, why the hell didn't they have any inkling of the atmosphere/ecosystem and what it might do to them? The least they could've done was put on some biohazard suits.

2. The movie would've been a LOT better if the son hadn't shown up at the end of the film. It'd have been a nice touch of tragedy to an otherwise Hollywood ending. Instead, he just magically appears there with no explanation as to either how he got there or didn't get killed right away by the aliens.

It had its flaws, but I liked it. The action sequences were great, but it had that Spielberg brand of family sappiness. I'd forgive the poor dialog if it turned out that the son became liquid fertilizer.

I read the radio play and saw the 50's movie about a decade ago and I don't remember anyone mentioning the aliens planning an invasion for millions of years. Was that part straight from the book? If so, then yeah, it made the aliens look really incompetent that they overlooked this minor (ha!) detail during centuries of research.

I saw the old one when I was a kid. This one I am just going to wait until I can get in for free; judging from what I am hearing though, I might just want to watch another movie that day.

The "planning for millions of years" thing was added unto the movie, and thus created the massive plot hole. See, this is what happens when you tamper with the original works. You create "bugs" in the script.

Zeus doesn't like Minority Report? Harsh. I think Spielberg does very good sci-fi, though he should stick with Phil Dick novels, and not outdated ones from HG Wells. BTW, AI was mostly Spielberg's creation, though the ending is more of a Kubrick one that Spielberg let him have as a tribute.

Zeus is being too harsh. Not a stupendously great film for the ages true, but it's still actually a pretty good movie. In a nutshell, the movie had a great feel during the initial part of the invasion. It showed the confusion and terror early on very well. The subsequent extermination/harvesting of people was well done too overall. Many parts were actually pretty scary, something I'm not used to seeing from Spielberg these days.

Of course there were things I didn't like, but by *far* my biggest complaint is having the entire family survive for a happy ending. The son who made the boneheaded decision to rush onto the battlefield, presumably to be vaporized, magically shows up in Boston ahead of Cruise and daughter at the end where Mom had magically survived too. Oh brother, Spielberg grow some balls...please. My eyes almost got stuck in the back of my head.

Worth seeing in a theater.

And Zeus's argument for stealing the movie is retarded.

I saw it with the expectation that it would be really good (from what i've been readin on it), was slightly disappointed, but overall was entertained and was glad to have seen it in the theatre.

Signs, this movie; I'm real sick of the cop out ending on otherwise good alien flicks, but i know this one isnt Spielbergs fault since he was using a pre-written story. Spielberg has still been decent lately. didnt he do Cast Away? I also thought The Terminal was really good.

On a totally unrelated movie note, if you are in the mood for a cheesy love/date flick, go rent Love Actually. It is pretty funny, your chick will cuddle with you and love it and you'll probably get lucky afterwards.

Ishamael wrote:And Zeus's argument for stealing the movie is retarded.

Maybe, but really, what's the dif if I download it or wait for it for free on TV/TMN/stolen satellite? Just when I watch it. They're not making any money from me either way.

I often pay for movies I've downloaded (if I can) by either buying the DVDs or watching it in theatre. It doesn't change my behaviour in terms of going to the theatre or picking up the DVD. Whether you agree with it or not, I feel that it's justified considering there's nothing gained or lost.

SineSwiper wrote:BTW, AI was mostly Spielberg's creation, though the ending is more of a Kubrick one that Spielberg let him have as a tribute.

From my understanding, AI was a collaborative effort between Speilberg and Kubrik. That explains why it really doesn't feel like a Speilberg film, it feels more like Speilberg-ized Kubrik (not too messed up to appeal to the masses, but still messed up). I didn't love it, but I thought it was very good.

Minority Report had good ideas but just ended up being a hack-job, too formulaic and dumbed down for the masses. Total Recall, now there's a way to adapt a cool sci-fi story to appeal to the masses.

Zeus wrote:Minority Report had good ideas but just ended up being a hack-job, too formulaic and dumbed down for the masses. Total Recall, now there's a way to adapt a cool sci-fi story to appeal to the masses.

Man, you just have a knack for invoking ironic comparisons. Taking a "hack-job, too formulaic and dumbed down for the masses" movie like Total Recall, and mistaking that for Minority Report. Total Recall was one of the worst Phillip Dick movie translation out there, even to the point of rejecting the last script because "it was too much like the book".

Minority Report was a more faithful Dick novel-to-movie, though it wasn't perfect. BTW, AI was also based on a Phillip Dick short story, which Kubrick was thinking of scripting to a movie, but he offered the idea to Spielburg instead. Kubrick had some ideas, but it was mostly Spielburg's movie, with some influence of Kubrick and Dick. Dick's short story didn't really extend as far as the movie did, so there was a lot of original storyline in the movie itself.

Speaking of Kubrick, I find the majority of his films to be fairly boring. I did like Clockwork Orange quite a bit though.

The Seeker wrote:Speaking of Kubrick, I find the majority of his films to be fairly boring. I did like Clockwork Orange quite a bit though.

Dr. Strangelove was a masterpiece of film.

And how could you not like Spartacus?

The Seeker wrote:Speaking of Kubrick, I find the majority of his films to be fairly boring. I did like Clockwork Orange quite a bit though.

Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, 2001, Full Metal Jacket were all very good movies. How could you not love Dr. Strangelove?

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."

SineSwiper wrote:

The Seeker wrote:Speaking of Kubrick, I find the majority of his films to be fairly boring. I did like Clockwork Orange quite a bit though.

Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, 2001, Full Metal Jacket were all very good movies. How could you not love Dr. Strangelove?

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."

He's the Shrine voted redneck, it should be expected that films that require thought and attention go right over his head.

Flip wrote:He's the Shrine voted redneck, it should be expected that films that require thought and attention go right over his head.

If you don't have anything nice to say...

SineSwiper wrote:

The Seeker wrote:Speaking of Kubrick, I find the majority of his films to be fairly boring. I did like Clockwork Orange quite a bit though.

Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, 2001, Full Metal Jacket were all very good movies. How could you not love Dr. Strangelove?

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."

The Shining, 2001, lolita, Eyes Wide Shut, Dr. Strangelove, and Sparticus: just not my cup of tea. As simple as that.

Flip wrote:

SineSwiper wrote:

The Seeker wrote:Speaking of Kubrick, I find the majority of his films to be fairly boring. I did like Clockwork Orange quite a bit though.

Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, 2001, Full Metal Jacket were all very good movies. How could you not love Dr. Strangelove?

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."

He's the Shrine voted redneck, it should be expected that films that require thought and attention go right over his head.

More trolling by Flip.

SineSwiper wrote:

Zeus wrote:Minority Report had good ideas but just ended up being a hack-job, too formulaic and dumbed down for the masses. Total Recall, now there's a way to adapt a cool sci-fi story to appeal to the masses.

Man, you just have a knack for invoking ironic comparisons. Taking a "hack-job, too formulaic and dumbed down for the masses" movie like Total Recall, and mistaking that for Minority Report. Total Recall was one of the worst Phillip Dick movie translation out there, even to the point of rejecting the last script because "it was too much like the book".

Minority Report was a more faithful Dick novel-to-movie, though it wasn't perfect. BTW, AI was also based on a Phillip Dick short story, which Kubrick was thinking of scripting to a movie, but he offered the idea to Spielburg instead. Kubrick had some ideas, but it was mostly Spielburg's movie, with some influence of Kubrick and Dick. Dick's short story didn't really extend as far as the movie did, so there was a lot of original storyline in the movie itself.

As I've said repeatedly, it's not about making the book into a movie. Usually, that automatically limits it to a very small audience. Total Recall was a well-done dumb-down, Minority Report wasn't. That's what I meant.

Zeus wrote: Maybe, but really...

I'll take that as a yes.

What are you now, Ish, a freaking journalist for Fox News? ;-)

Zeus wrote:What are you now, Ish, a freaking journalist for Fox News? ;-)

Don't mind me. Just trying to be "Fair and Balanced".

Besides, I enjoy sitting on my moral high horse. The air is fresher up here. You should try it sometime!