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Elysium |OT| District 9 Director Returns With Matt Damon
- Thread starter Expendable.
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Jason's Ultimatum
Member
Uh, the argument I was making was about how shaky cam/rapid editing "cheats" action scenes. I replied to that poster saying that the Bourne films do not "cheat" by using those aforementioned techniques. The tool is more visual technique and not to hide any shortcomings.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Paul Greengrass shaky cam visual technique is miles and miles above the many imitators who use it haphazardly in their loud, frequently incoherent action setpieces.
The action in Elysium in breathtaking in it's mediocrity.
The action in Elysium in breathtaking in it's mediocrity.
TacticalFox88
Banned
Discotheque
Banned
That captain Phillip movie with Tom hanks looks good
More_Badass
Member
I agree
Personally, I don't go to the movies that often. Usually I'll wait for Blu-ray. And when I do go, I go to be entertained, for spectacle. Dramas, slower paced movies, I like to enjoy in the calm and quiet of my own home. But something like Elysium, Man of Steel, Fast 6, The Raid, TDKR, Avatar...those are the kinds of movies I pay to see in the theaters.
So maybe Elysium didn't have the best story, but it was decent and that's ok. Story isn't everything. I was entertained, the action was better paced than D9, it was a fun two-hour ride well worth the $11 admission, the effects were fantastic, Damon was finally playing a badass again
What more do you need to enjoy a movie? Sure when I see it again at home, I'll probably nitpick and mull over the plot. But for a fun movie theater experience, Elysium was great IMO
Jason's Ultimatum
Member
No kidding. People give a lot of shit for Supremacy and it's rapid editing and shaky cam, but it's NOT THAT BAD. I've been rewatching it on BR lately, and there are a lot of long scenes that are not only steady with bobbing of the camera, but not edited every 3 seconds. Ultimatum is what kicked it into hyper-gear due to Greengrass and the studio's decision create a high tempo film.
Neuromancer
Member
Good luck.
fifasnipe2224
Member
XANDER CAGE
Member
Neuromancer
Member
It doesn't end well for the
audience
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I watched the series for the first time a few months ago and was really impressed as to how despite the constant camera movements, I was never confused spatially. Not one of the films' many scenes threw me off.
enoirmeplz
Member
I'll probably never see this movie again... and I'm ok with that. Just wasn't what I expected. I'd tell all my friends to pass on it.
djplaeskool
Member
The Interrobanger
Member
Absolutely loved the film, really surprised with the overall negative reaction here.
Dreams-Visions
Member
going tonight or tomorrow.
plagiarize
Banned
ditto.
and I'm annoyed at all the complaints (I've read around the internet) about how this isn't a plausible future. it isn't meant to show us a plausible future, it is using a science fiction allegory to say things about how the world is today, whether those things are particularly interesting or deep or not.
it's not a what if, it's a what is wrapped up in science fiction trappings. such things are pretty normal for the genre.
Kruger's Face: the movie
District 9 was waaaaaaaaaaaaay better in every regard, but I enjoyed Elysium as a straight up action film. As a drama though, it was laughable. Trying to recall the last film that was this shallow while masquerading around as if it were deep.
Sharlto Copley: I've now seen him in 3 films, and he's been the single best thing in all of them. Love this guy.
District 9 was waaaaaaaaaaaaay better in every regard, but I enjoyed Elysium as a straight up action film. As a drama though, it was laughable. Trying to recall the last film that was this shallow while masquerading around as if it were deep.
Sharlto Copley: I've now seen him in 3 films, and he's been the single best thing in all of them. Love this guy.
Jason's Ultimatum
Member
Just got back from seeing it.
Man, this movie SUCKED ASS. Towards the end of the film I was waiting for it to end.
And that shaky cam was awful to the max when it came to the fight scenes.
Man, this movie SUCKED ASS. Towards the end of the film I was waiting for it to end.
And that shaky cam was awful to the max when it came to the fight scenes.
This movie was aight. Nothing I'd really recommend seeing outright and if someone were to ask me if they should see it I'd tell them to go do a matinee, non-IMAX and temper your expectations if you had any.
The standout was Copely and the world design of both Earth and Elysium. Those two things kept me involved enough to not leave. Everything else was just there to move it along and let me so those two awesome bits some more.
The standout was Copely and the world design of both Earth and Elysium. Those two things kept me involved enough to not leave. Everything else was just there to move it along and let me so those two awesome bits some more.
Demoncarnotaur
Member
Just saw it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Something felt off at times, but its a great movie.
greendomo's ghost
Member
Disappointed overall. Had some good moments, but also some really laughable ones, and some bad choices, Light years behind District 9. Great visuals though, and Sharito stole the show.
It's been a disappointing summer for me, in terms of anticipated films. Gravity is my final hope...
It's been a disappointing summer for me, in terms of anticipated films. Gravity is my final hope...
StUnNeR H2K
Member
Loved the action...
The story and concept didn't feel unique. Never really felt much emotion either for those stuck on earth.
Compared to District 9 I think this was a downgrade. I stayed spoiler free going into Elysium and was hoping for it to be a hidden sequel to District 9. Kinda thought the Elysium ring might have been technology stolen from the aliens in the previous film and that this was 100+ years later...
The story and concept didn't feel unique. Never really felt much emotion either for those stuck on earth.
Compared to District 9 I think this was a downgrade. I stayed spoiler free going into Elysium and was hoping for it to be a hidden sequel to District 9. Kinda thought the Elysium ring might have been technology stolen from the aliens in the previous film and that this was 100+ years later...
David Incorporated Esq.
Member
Holy shiiiiiiit just realized that Kruger was Wikus in D9.
I didn't think it was even possible to miss this....
lastflowers
Banned
that fight scene at the end would have been magnificent if shakey-cam + 3 cuts per second was not there. I still don't understand why directors think they're making their film better by doing it. All it did in this movie was hide the effect of the skeletal pieces on the fight. Instead of accentuate the uniqueness of the fight, it hid it. Stupid.
Winnie the Pimp
Member
crap, bummed at the negative impressions here, i had high expectations for this one hmm...
A friend asked me to either go see this with him or Lone Ranger, both of which it seems now are not top of the line stuff, would you guys pick this over LR still?
A friend asked me to either go see this with him or Lone Ranger, both of which it seems now are not top of the line stuff, would you guys pick this over LR still?
Neuromancer
Member
Without having seen LR I would still see this. It's not a bad movie, just disappointing in a lot of ways.
lastflowers
Banned
Agreed. The story is way too heavy-handed, but forgiveable. There are some really awesome action sequences, the antagonists' character is really intriguiging, and the special effects are really good.
Worth the ride, just disappointed because it could have been better had the director shown some restraint.
Discotheque
Banned
Lone Ranger is far and away the better film. Better music, action and acting.
Also I don't see why everybody liked Copley so much in here. He was cool for the first few minutes but him and his cronies got pretty annoying fast. Terrible writing killed the character. He was pretty much the exact same as the bald soldier in district 9. Only with more scenes
That scene with the woman "I wanna make you my wife" was terrible lol.
Had to have been a case of studio interference. The composition of action in this film is so completely different from D9 that it's either the result of a producer meddling or Blomkamp suddenly forgetting about his own style.
:lol, that was pretty dumb. I think he was fine overall but he definitely seemed like a mismatch for Kruger. For one, his voice does not at all fit the look of the character.
lastflowers
Banned
Copley's ridiculousness was what made him endearing.
I didn't recognize him at first, halfway through the movie I almost pulled my phone out to check.
For what it's worth, I kinda also felt this way. Lone Ranger had some silly moments and could probably have had 30-60 minutes cut out from the middle, but it was very enjoyable to watch if you like Pirates of the Caribbean style movies. Elysium was one of very few movies I've gone to in the last year or so that I could have really done without seeing. The others were Judge Dredd and RIPD, and I'm aware that some people probably loved Judge Dredd, so your mileage may vary.
Elysium and Lone Ranger are very different movies though, so they're hard to compare.
DevelopmentArrested
Banned
Name some recent action movies without shaky cam (other than The Raid)
Damnit. Was really hoping this would be good sci fi and not just another 'message' movie like District 9.
lastflowers
Banned
it's ruining action films. My mind is suffering because the industry is pushing it.
I don't recall The Wolverine having it, actually. Or if they did, it wasn't bad. I can't remember if Lone Ranger did it but I don't remember it bothering me there. It's quite heavy in Elysium.
I think there was even one place where the camera is following a child walking and it is shaking as they step or move or something.
Yeah I feel the same way. Kruger was a cool looking bad guy, and Copley definitely looked like he was having fun in the role, but the second he opens his mouth, it all falls apart. Then I can't see anyone but Wiccus trying to be a badass. I'm not sure it's all Copley's fault either. The script has him spouting stock bad-guy barbs in between lines that were unintelligible half the time.
Elysium was a movie chock full of questionable accents and affectations. I already mentioned Copley, Jodie Foster had his bizarre pseudo-French accent, William Fichtner had a distracting effeminate lilt to his voice, and I just outright disliked the actor who played Spider.
That guy is an actor?!
I watched the movie tonight, and it was...well, it was OK. I was expecting a bit more I think but it was still an amazing experience.
A couple things I've noticed and found pretty weird:
-The pacing of the movie isn't coherent it was like, character building-action-c.b-action and right until the ending 20 minutes where everything got into place.
-The theme of it never really came through, I guess that's because we were shown the life on Earth, but not really the life on Elysium.
I could list a few other things but, meh..who am I to criticise?
A couple things I've noticed and found pretty weird:
-The pacing of the movie isn't coherent it was like, character building-action-c.b-action and right until the ending 20 minutes where everything got into place.
-The theme of it never really came through, I guess that's because we were shown the life on Earth, but not really the life on Elysium.
I could list a few other things but, meh..who am I to criticise?
Saw it. Didn't like it at all.
I hate allegory, especially the heavy handed kind. The story was thin too, built around the allegory. Very predictable too, especially since i saw the trailer which basically told the whole story...
Characters are flat and boring. Kruger especially, i dislike villains who are more or less psycho-like.
Camera work was horrible, way too much shaky cam and slow motion. I don't mind the former if it is used sparingly, though the latter is never good, never seen a good use of it.
Some design things are a-okay (but ultimately irrelevant), like the
, and the aircraft/shuttles though they'd fit something like Tiberian Sun or Star Wars much better than this film.
Don't recall music at all... I didn't like Oblivion (the only other film i've seen this year) but at least its music was decent, with some pieces being memorable. Elysium's music might not as well existed.
Human-shaped robots are silly and impractical (unless the film was trying to be space opera like Star Wars where such things are given and accepted), all i thought was how they were either mo-capped or played by humans in green/blue-suits and CGId over.
Action scenes weren't very interesting. Too chaotic, not cool enough. Nor did the violence serve any real purpose either in the film, being there mostly for action's sake.
And the amount of fridge logic that bothered me during the film. Why a space station? An arcology would be so much simpler. The med-bay tech could be utilized to so many other things... Why
???
No, didn't like this film.
Unfortunate that nearly all science fiction there is is either crap or not really science fiction in the first place (Star Trek, Star Wars...)
I hate allegory, especially the heavy handed kind. The story was thin too, built around the allegory. Very predictable too, especially since i saw the trailer which basically told the whole story...
Characters are flat and boring. Kruger especially, i dislike villains who are more or less psycho-like.
Camera work was horrible, way too much shaky cam and slow motion. I don't mind the former if it is used sparingly, though the latter is never good, never seen a good use of it.
Some design things are a-okay (but ultimately irrelevant), like the
exo-skeleton (realistic, though lacked a power source)
Don't recall music at all... I didn't like Oblivion (the only other film i've seen this year) but at least its music was decent, with some pieces being memorable. Elysium's music might not as well existed.
Human-shaped robots are silly and impractical (unless the film was trying to be space opera like Star Wars where such things are given and accepted), all i thought was how they were either mo-capped or played by humans in green/blue-suits and CGId over.
Action scenes weren't very interesting. Too chaotic, not cool enough. Nor did the violence serve any real purpose either in the film, being there mostly for action's sake.
And the amount of fridge logic that bothered me during the film. Why a space station? An arcology would be so much simpler. The med-bay tech could be utilized to so many other things... Why
didn't Elysium have on-board defenses, instead using missiles launched from Earth, that somehow manage to achieve orbital velocity despite their small size
No, didn't like this film.
Unfortunate that nearly all science fiction there is is either crap or not really science fiction in the first place (Star Trek, Star Wars...)
Demoncarnotaur
Member
It came off to me that she didn't have access to Elysiums weapons without clearance, so to bypass that clearance she used the sleeper agents.
Makes sense. In retrospect. Bothered me a lot during the film though... Fridge logic is something fiction should try to avoid as much as possible.
Shit I wouldn't go into Brazil-Gaf saying that lol
Wagner Moura's really, really well thought of in his home country,
I saw this on the local imax on Sunday night. Even though it was opening weekend, I was able to get an amazing back row seat
.
Now I have not really been monitoring the movie scene at all. The last three movies I saw in theaters were Cloud Atlas, Django, and The Avengers. For some reason, I paid no attention and thought this was somehow related to District 9. That was largely the driving force in me going to see it. You can imagine my disappointment. That said, it was still a pretty good movie. I'm always down for a decent sci-fi romp.
probably more to do with the last showing of the day, 10PM
Now I have not really been monitoring the movie scene at all. The last three movies I saw in theaters were Cloud Atlas, Django, and The Avengers. For some reason, I paid no attention and thought this was somehow related to District 9. That was largely the driving force in me going to see it. You can imagine my disappointment. That said, it was still a pretty good movie. I'm always down for a decent sci-fi romp.
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