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Rottenwatch: Book of Eli (GAF meltdown incoming?)

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hey_monkey said:
This movie has a lot of things I generally dislike: religious themes and a big reveal at the end. But I really felt it was well done here--not preachy but a more realistic take on religion (not just anyone can "create" one, for example, and that faith can be a stick or a lantern, depending on how you use it), and the reveal made the film for me. I keep thinking too of little clues that give things away... man! I almost want to watch it again right now. I don't really get what people didn't like about it (those who didn't) and I haven't read the whole thread, just bits, but still. I quite enjoyed it and I'm usually a pretty harsh critic.
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The more I watch this, the more it seems to me that the movie is pretty even handed with it's religious themes. The main character believes of course and that's what drives him to make his journey. However, an equally made point in the film is the fact that The Bible can easily be used for bad as well.

On top of that, Eli doesn't take the book to a religious place, but rather a library, where it is stored next to other religious texts. In other words, The power the Bible has on its own is kind of neutralized by being a part of a collection rather than empowering a crazy man if it were out in the wild.

This all hinges on whether Eli had super powers from God or not. I lean toward him not having them but I get that if he did have powers than the movie turns much more religious themed.

Still had some of the best fights scenes from last year.
 
Had no idea there was a thread for this movie. Haters gonna hate, and I thought this movie was trash.

EDIT: Just read some of the posts in this thread. Why does everyone assume Eli was blind? He could have learned to read braille without being blind.
 
D6AMIA6N said:
Had no idea there was a thread for this movie. Haters gonna hate, and I thought this movie was trash.

EDIT: Just read some of the posts in this thread. Why does everyone assume Eli was blind? He could have learned to read braille without being blind.
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he's blind... Gary whitta wrote the script! and he's a GAFer!
 
Wow, mind blown.
I guess that makes the movie better?
No disrespect, but I sure as hell could not have made a better movie.

I like the direction these post apocalyptic movies take, but Eli, seemed a bit light. The Road, book more then movie, nailed the post apocalyptic world in my opinion.
 
How do you not infer that he's
blind
? And I quite liked the idea of religion as a weapon or tool for control but I'm a cynical agnostic kinda guy.
 
I just saw this the other day via HBO. I thought it was pretty enjoyable overall, though I too thought the religious theme was a bit cartoonish (they burned all the other bibles? really?).

Smacking myself for not picking up on the fact that he was blind, however.
 
haha, reading the last few pages...I love "
Blind
Gate".

I say this movie is one you HAVE to watch twice, just to see all the parts where
it's obvious he's blind the entire time.
When I first watched it I thought maybe he just changed after being shot, but that's not the case.

The fact that he fights those men in the dark underpass, in order to...even the odds.
The line when he meets the cannibals after they ask why he didn't read the sign that said no trespassing: "we...didn't see it"
The obvious brightness of the room.
Not letting many people see him without sunglasses, which would let them see his eyes.

Come on. :lol

And these people UPSET by the twist? Really? Why?
 
This movie is either made or broken by the twist. Some people can accept it, and others will write it off as stupid/unbelievable. I thought it was an enjoyable movie with good tension, nice cinematography, solid action sequences, decent acting, and simple but poignant religious commentary. The one problem I had with the movie was that scene at the end with Mila suiting up; it felt really out of place for such a serious movie.

I'll probably pick this up on Blu-Ray in the future.
 
bengraven said:
haha, reading the last few pages...I love "
Blind
Gate".

I say this movie is one you HAVE to watch twice, just to see all the parts where
it's obvious he's blind the entire time.
When I first watched it I thought maybe he just changed after being shot, but that's not the case.

The fact that he fights those men in the dark underpass, in order to...even the odds.
The line when he meets the cannibals after they ask why he didn't read the sign that said no trespassing: "we...didn't see it"
The obvious brightness of the room.
Not letting many people see him without sunglasses, which would let them see his eyes.

Come on. :lol

And these people UPSET by the twist? Really? Why?
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Do we still have to spoiler tag this movie? I think the statute of limitations has passed, especially in the movie's official thread. I'll just give a warning instead.

SPOILERS

The problem is that Eli never once acts the way a blind person should. Even when his sunglasses are off, he LOOKS at the people who are talking to him. Watch the scene where he's talking with Mila Kunis' character in his room. And until the blindness reveal, Eli's eyes aren't dead-looking like a real blind person's are. They look perfectly normal.

Also, his movements are totally unrealistic. Blind people don't move with such certainty. Compare Eli to the blind woman in the movie. THAT is how a blind person acts.

I dunno, I thought the twist was lame and cheapened the movie. But the worst part of the movie was the obvious product placement, the most egregious example being the beer truck which takes up about half the screen when it appears. It was so out of place. :lol
 
Jack Scofield said:
Do we still have to spoiler tag this movie? I think the statute of limitations has passed, especially in the movie's official thread. I'll just give a warning instead.

SPOILERS

The problem is that Eli never once acts the way a blind person should. Even when his sunglasses are off, he LOOKS at the people who are talking to him. Watch the scene where he's talking with Mila Kunis' character in his room. And until the blindness reveal, Eli's eyes aren't dead-looking like a real blind person's are. They look perfectly normal.

Also, his movements are totally unrealistic. Blind people don't move with such certainty. Compare Eli to the blind woman in the movie. THAT is how a blind person acts.

I dunno, I thought the twist was lame and cheapened the movie. But the worst part of the movie was the obvious product placement, the most egregious example being the beer truck which takes up about half the screen when it appears. It was so out of place. :lol
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It's from a distance. The blindness effect is barely noticeable on close-up. Blind men may not normally move that way, but Eli had two things going for him- purpose and skill. There was no question that this guy was one in a billion so he's not supposed to act like a normal blind person.
 
Bought the BD yesterday and i'm watching it as i type, the openning scene makes me think he is only parcialy blind at the beggining and maybe goes totally blind by the end, dunno. I like the movie of course but i still think his blindness is a little far fetched in some scenes.
 
Just got these today as a surprise gift; my girlfriend had them commissioned by a scale model-maker - really amazing detail work!

2m4d1mo.jpg



DoctorWho said:
A year later:

You made a Top 10 list!

:D

I still need to watch this film.
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I never saw that before! Thanks :)
 
Gary Whitta said:
Me too! Now I can fantasize about what having a Criterion edition would be like :p
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Buy it and sell it on Ebay with a tag "deluxemun edition that currently is owned by the director", grab the money and make The Book of Eli 2 featuring aliens and an iPod Touch.

nahhh, no.
 
I read spoilers above about
braille bibles and Eli being blind
So now as I'm finally watching the film thanks to Netflix I'm noticing all of the quirks that lead to the possibility of him being
blind.
And there are many.

I like the atmosphere (looks right out of the Fallout games) and I like the action of Eli putting the beat down on people. I don't like Mila Kunis and lol @ the ending.
weakling little girl bar wench becoming the "new Eli"
 
Casp0r said:
That's cool, fuck the haters this movie was awesome.
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This is right.

I am no religious person at all, but when I watched this movie for the first time one or two months ago I was really hooked. It's a very interesting story with really interesting main characters. And the ending was a fantastic plot twist.

Also, Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman both were EXTREMELY good in this movie.

I approve of this.
Good work, Mr. Whitta.
 
So Eli was actually blind? I thought the twist was just that the Bible was in braille, thus being useless to the mayor that was fighting for it the whole movie. I figured Eli learned how to read braille sometime in the past just so he could read the braille bible.
 
Heh just saw this movie for the first time a few hours ago. I liked it but i thought the whole plot revolving around the bible was pretty lame. Also it seems like its a ripoff of an early south park episode.
 
GloveSlap said:
So Eli was actually blind? I thought the twist was just that the Bible was in braille, thus being useless to the mayor that was fighting for it the whole movie. I figured Eli learned how to read braille sometime in the past just so he could read the braille bible.
Click to expand...

Did you miss that slow push up shot on Denzel's eyes?
 
After a long absence due to some kind of HBO exclusive window it's available again on iTunes! Seems to have come back well too, #57 on the Top 100, sandwiched in between Being Elmo and Moneyball. Not bad for a two year old movie!

http://t.co/izQYhJpB

Don't ask me why it's only available for purchase in SD while the 1080p version is rental-only, I have no clue. Also I think it might be back on Xbox LIVE/PSN but haven't had a chance to check yet. Hopefully Netflix Instant next!
 
Gary Whitta said:
After a long absence due to some kind of HBO exclusive window it's available again on iTunes! Seems to have come back well too, #57 on the Top 100, sandwiched in between Being Elmo and Moneyball. Not bad for a two year old movie!

http://t.co/izQYhJpB

Don't ask me why it's only available for purchase in SD while the 1080p version is rental-only, I have no clue. Also I think it might be back on Xbox LIVE/PSN but haven't had a chance to check yet. Hopefully Netflix Instant next!
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Still haven't watched this movie but popped open iTunes and saw this review:

Jonathan F. Richards said:
It's a post-apocalyptic western, it's an evangelical tract, it's a road movie, it's a martial arts movie, it's a disaster movie, it's a graphic novel. It's equal parts The Road and The Robe, A Fistful of Dollars and Fist of Fury.
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I swear a lot of reviews, especially negative reviews, are tailored to make the reviewer sound as smart as possible and stretch comparisons for the sake of alliteration and attention. It's really annoying, and if I read a review of my work like that I would likely chuckle and roll my eyes, then move on with life.
 
I saw this on TV a few months back (movie network I think). I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Action was pretty great and nice and gory, and Gary Oldman was hilarious and over the top (in a good way) as always. Could have done without
the cheesy Mila Kunis ending
though.
 
GloveSlap said:
So Eli was actually blind? I thought the twist was just that the Bible was in braille, thus being useless to the mayor that was fighting for it the whole movie. I figured Eli learned how to read braille sometime in the past just so he could read the braille bible.
Click to expand...

Yikes, I've seen the movie 3 or 4 times, never realized he was blind. I thought as you did. I'll have to watch it again.
 
So the movie is like an apocalypse remake of Zatoichi????

No way it is better than the original! Not even the Beat Takeshi remake...maybe the Rutger Hauer US one lol!

Still, I'll probably see it now!
 
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