Snowpiercer

[Shrinweck]

A surprisingly good comic book movie from a Korean director, starring English-speaking actors (namely Chris Evans (Captain America), Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, and Octavia Spencer). It's basically about a post-apocalyptic ice-covered Earth where the only survivors are confined on a train making a non-stop loop on its tracks. The train is segregated by completely arbitrary economic classes and focuses on Chris Evans' character who resides in the last car.

Probably one of the best comic book movies to be released in the last several years. Expect class war, violence, and idealism. Don't expect super powers.

It's on Netflix. It didn't get the press it deserved because it's essentially a foreign movie. It's a French comic, directed by a Korean filmmaker, and acted by English-speakers. Some of it is obtuse, silly, and lost in translation but it still manages to be good.

[Anarky]

Huh, thought I posted about this at some point.

Loved the movie, but some weird bits here and there.

Spoiler: show

Eating bugs is worse than eating babies?

[Shrinweck]

Yeah that whole bit was what I meant by "silly." People who harp on that bit often ruin the movie for themselves. I think it's a good movie the same way The Matrix was.

I think we both may have mentioned the movie in Now Watching? Or maybe there was a thread you made that I forgot? I did a quick scan of the last few pages of the forum and didn't see anything. Figured it deserved its own thread now that the movie was actually easily accessible.

In any case I hope this movie gets Chris Evans' foot into the door of more movies. He should be more than Captain America. He's really entertaining in person on podcasts and shit so it'd be cool to see him get more.

[Shellie]

It was enjoyable, a bit "funny" as you all mentioned, but I liked it.

Here's a great video on some film theory about decision making, with some big focus on Snowpiercer. I love this guy's stuff, very insightful.

MAJOR spoilers, dont watch if you havent seen the movie.

[Shrinweck]

Heh I think I caught that on a superficial level but I definitely didn't consciously realize it. Very interesting. I like that a lot.

[kali o.]

Ill confess, I dont totally get why anyone likes this movie. I mean, the concept is good, but way too many plotholes for me to ignore. And the ending...that killed it for me...

Spoiler: show

I mean, right on...they managed to kill pretty much everyone on the train and the two "kids" are about to be mauled by a polar bear at best (I know the point was that life was possible outside the train but world of difference between an arctic bear and two kids with no survival training or supplies)...

Maybe the comic makes it make more sense...i just didnt get it.

[Shrinweck]

I had trouble getting over that when I first watched the movie but I decided to look at the end differently. I remember my first thought upon reaching the end of the movie (other than how much I loved the triumphant music coming in and the movie title popping up) was that I felt I could go either way on how much I liked or didn't like the movie. I read a bunch of other peoples thoughts before settling on an amalgamation of what I skimmed:

Spoiler: show

Basically the human race as we know it was clinging to a memory of a memory and Curtis destroying the train had a lot to say about the importance of self-determination over 'survival'. Keeping this in mind, the survival of the children isn't important to me. The end is the discovery that life on the destroyed earth will continue. With or without us. There's a quote from the director talking about how that was partly what he was trying to convey with the bear at the end. I think he kind of failed to convey that, considering I had to go searching for an explanation. The ending is almost certainly awful taken literally.

Something else I vaguely remember reading is that the majority of the movie is about Curtis' class war and him moving through the train. After the destruction of the train his story is over, which is why we don't get a shot of his charred corpse or the daughter doesn't go around screaming at him and her fathers demise. The story focus instead moves onto the entities inheriting the earth. On the off chance the bear doesn't fuck them the hell up, you have two survivors (and presumably not everyone on the train is dead) who are innocent and deserving of a new beginning. Mostly in this scenario, the ending is still about life, in general, continuing.

Not going to argue that the movie isn't full of holes. But watched in a less literal sense I found it quite enjoyable.

[kali o.]

Spoiler: show

I think if you look at it that way, you are probably giving the movie way too much credit. The movie had a lot of big ideas (probably too many) - technology, class systems, control, global warming, conspiracies, religion, etc. It's not like any of those complex ideas were successfully crafted into the actual flow of the film...it's more like they were thrown at the wall for scenery.

Curtis sacrificing his arm -- that made sense for the subplot. Destroying the train, and essentially humanity, instead of the class system; not so much.

I don't have a problem with dark/happy endings, it just needs to make contextual sense. Nothing about the ending made sense. I think the director just tried for too many ideas, got lost in the plot, came back too late and a buck short for the *deeper* ending.

I can also *sorta* enjoy the movie...by ignoring the plotholes...at least until I hit the last 15 minutes. Just kills it for me.

[kali o.]

I just watched a movie that I feel did "dont take literally" properly. Its called Enemy (w/ Jake Gyllen-whatever).

I immediately thought of this thread after watching it.

[Shrinweck]

I've seen that. I liked it. And you do have a point :D

[Eric]

What a bizarre movie! Totally watched it because of this thread. I kinda agree about the ending with kali, in a literal sense lol.

Spoiler: show

"Yay we made it off the train!....Oh fuck a polar bear! FUCK, FUCK! OH GOD."

I think the only thing that would have made it better was if we heard hostile polar bear sounds right before the credits started lol

Still enjoyed it well enough. Kinda gave off Bioshock vibes at points.