Rate the last movie you've seen

[clanglee]

Hmm. . .I just watched Imperium last night. I actually quite liked it. Plot was thin as hell but it had great performances and I found the tension building to be pretty good. I'd give it a 7/10 Now Green Room I found to be kind of a cluster fuck of a movie. I wanted to like it but it seemed pretty much thrown together. Some effective scenes tho. 5.5/10 Why the hell are both of my movie reviews on movies about neo Nazis? . . . . .it's best we don't look too deeply into that I think.

[MinionZombie]

The Dark Knight Rises - 8/10 I've seen this a few times now. Still ruddy good. Could use a few tweaks here and there, and it can't quite live up to the sheer hype lumped down upon it in the wake of The Dark Knight, but it does a very good job of tying it all up and feeling epic without resorting to gargantuan CGI set pieces. Zack Snyder could learn a thing or two from Nolan. I enjoyed BvS, but it felt like he missed a few classes at Nolan Academy. ... Get out you! Mr Positive. 'Prisoners of the Lost Universe' 6/10 cheese rating 2/10 reality rating. STILL better than 'Rambo'. 'The Return of Captain Nemo' 3/10 (purely for nostalgia) Also better than 'Rambo'. Rambo was awesome. Why the hell are both of my movie reviews on movies about neo Nazis? . . . . .it's best we don't look too deeply into that I think. *edges away slowly*

[shootemindehead]

Rambo was awesome. Which "Rambo"... Actually, don't bother. They were both awful. It's funny though, how dreadfully the series "progressed" after the very good 'First Blood'.

[MinionZombie]

Which "Rambo"... Actually, don't bother. They were both awful. It's funny though, how dreadfully the series "progressed" after the very good 'First Blood'. The first and fourth movies are awesome. I wasn't so fussed about 2 and 3, but saw them both - only once, and it's been a long time. I'll get around to giving them another spin at some point. The first and fourth movies are very different, in some ways, but they both rock for different (and some similar) reasons.

[bassman]

Rambo(the fourth film) was no doubt the best of the sequels, but doesn't live up to the original at all. I basically ignore the sequels that have the character's name in the titles. They turned him into an 80's cheesy action hero whereas he was an average man in a bad situation in First Blood. A title which most people seem to have forgotten for whatever reason....

[EvilNed]

Free State of Jones 2/5 Boring. The third act loses all sense of rhythm and purpose.

[JDP]

Rambo(the fourth film) was no doubt the best of the sequels, but doesn't live up to the original at all. I basically ignore the sequels that have the character's name in the titles. They turned him into an 80's cheesy action hero whereas he was an average man in a bad situation in First Blood. A title which most people seem to have forgotten for whatever reason.... But even in the first film, which I agree was the best of the franchise, he was already this sort of nearly invincible, one-man-army fellow. He takes on that town's police staff, plus the State Police & the National Guard detachments sent to neutralize him. And Colonel Trautman seems very sure that the odds are against them, not lonesome ol' Rambo...

[EvilNed]

But even in the first film, which I agree was the best of the franchise, he was already this sort of nearly invincible, one-man-army fellow. He takes on that town's police staff, plus the State Police & the National Guard detachments sent to neutralize him. And Colonel Trautman seems very sure that the odds are against them, not lonesome ol' Rambo... Correct me if I'm wrong, and it's been a long time, but... While Rambo does neutralize some units that are sent after him, he never really wipes them out. He just chases them off with a bazooka or whatever, blowing up their cars. Colonel Trautman's concern is directed toward the death that could follow.

[shootemindehead]

The first and fourth movies are awesome. I wasn't so fussed about 2 and 3, but saw them both - only once, and it's been a long time. I'll get around to giving them another spin at some point. The first and fourth movies are very different, in some ways, but they both rock for different (and some similar) reasons. While the first film has something to actually say and a brilliant supporting cast in the shape of Richard Crenna and, especially, Brian Dennehy, the 2008 film is just too dumb for words. I'd be more forgiving if it was some Italian exploitation knock off (hello 'Strike Commando' !!!), but it completely lacks the dubious charms of those films. It takes itself waaaay too serious and the Rambo character is just laughable by this point. His "Live for nothing, or die for something" line actually made me LOL. The gore is great and the OTT violence earned it a point, but I could feel myself getting stupider watching it. It also suffers from the same thing that all of the Rambo sequels did. It's politics is wretched. But, I suppose if one of watching a Rambo film for political reasons, they're on a hiding to nothing. Funny, I remember all the guff about the 1985 'Rambo' in Britain. Gas stuff looking back at it now as an adult. - - - Updated - - - Correct me if I'm wrong, and it's been a long time, but... While Rambo does neutralize some units that are sent after him, he never really wipes them out. He just chases them off with a bazooka or whatever, blowing up their cars. Colonel Trautman's concern is directed toward the death that could follow. From what I recall, he spends most of his time hiding and evading the law enforcement and National Guard units that are sent after him. His only "kills" one person and that's only because the guy falls out of a chopper while trying to shoot him. It's a pity that 'First Blood' is counted as a "Rambo" film. It really is quite the different article altogether. - - - Updated - - - Also... 'The Purge' 4/10 Another picture that's a dumb as a brick. Amazingly this thing made $90 million on a $3 million budget!!! Fck me!

[MinionZombie]

'The Purge' 4/10 Another picture that's a dumb as a brick. Amazingly this thing made $90 million on a $3 million budget!!! Fck me! I found that movie to be sooooo frustrating. The whole conceit lacks any internal sense of logic, and the son in that movie - FFS! The second movie is better, but not by much - and the central conceit still lacks any internal logic. What's more insulting is that - on the day of the purge - nobody thinks "you know what, maybe I'll have a day off and hunker down early" - no, they're treating it like a normal work day and then oops, what d'ya know, they have car trouble, or they're running late - not for dinner, not for a movie, they're running late for getting back to their barracaded home so they don't get murdered. There's some interesting ideas in that series threatening to come out, but they're constantly hamstrung by dodgy plotting, cannon fodder characters, and the fact that nobody bothered to think through the history or mechanics of how "The Purge" would realistically work.

[JDP]

Correct me if I'm wrong, and it's been a long time, but... While Rambo does neutralize some units that are sent after him, he never really wipes them out. He just chases them off with a bazooka or whatever, blowing up their cars. Colonel Trautman's concern is directed toward the death that could follow. In that first film, Rambo is not a blood-thirsty character, so he is not interested in actually killing anyone, except maybe the town sheriff, who is responsible for the whole mess. However, the way the film presents the action, it makes it clear that Rambo is this unstoppable killing machine if he really wanted to. We see him outsmarting & outgunning the cops & National Guard many times. The film makes it clear that if Rambo wanted it, he could have massacred them. This is reinforced by his ex-commanding officer's warning to the authorities that if they continue to push things they are the ones who will end up in body bags, not Rambo. The sequels took notice of this and then proceeded to exploit it to its fullest, with Rambo actually becoming the unstoppable killing machine that the first movie only implied that he could be.

[shootemindehead]

I found that movie to be sooooo frustrating. The whole conceit lacks any internal sense of logic, and the son in that movie - FFS! The second movie is better, but not by much - and the central conceit still lacks any internal logic. What's more insulting is that - on the day of the purge - nobody thinks "you know what, maybe I'll have a day off and hunker down early" - no, they're treating it like a normal work day and then oops, what d'ya know, they have car trouble, or they're running late - not for dinner, not for a movie, they're running late for getting back to their barracaded home so they don't get murdered. There's some interesting ideas in that series threatening to come out, but they're constantly hamstrung by dodgy plotting, cannon fodder characters, and the fact that nobody bothered to think through the history or mechanics of how "The Purge" would realistically work. I think the central premise needs expanding, stupid though it is. It might have been an idea to introduce safe zones for people to evacuate to on Purge night. The idea that you just lock down is silly. If someone really wanted to get into a house they would and you don't think affluent neighbourhoods like the one in the picture wouldn't be hit on a super scale? It's ridiculous. It's also trying to say something about class, too, but it's just too dumb to get it out. Just comes across as clumsy. Plus, it needed to be set further into the future. 2020 something is too soon, nothing that radical would change in that short a time and a little background on, perhaps, society being completely totalitarian with nearly any crime being punishable by death, might have gone some way to support the idea of a "purge night".In reality, however, there's just no saving the idea. If a country introduced such a concept, there would the kind of a mass exodus on an epic scale, that there would be about 100 people still living there. While watching it, I thought that it might have made a good Judge Dredd film. Perhaps Dredd was caught out on purge night somehow and had to evade everyone wanting to have a go at him. Citi-blocks can be locked down in Mega City One too, so that idea has more sustainability there. Maybe purge night was a mad Chief Judge Cal idea, which could be shelved at the end of the film cos he gets locked away himself. 'Judge Dredd - Purge Night'. That might work. - - - Updated - - - 'JFK' 9/10 A 3 1/2 epic that feels like 90 mins. Extremely entertaining, no matter how many times you see it. 'Splice' 4/10 What starts out as an interesting, if silly, idea turns the corner into batshit crazy by the last third and not in a good way.

[MinionZombie]

I think the central premise needs expanding, stupid though it is. It might have been an idea to introduce safe zones for people to evacuate to on Purge night. The idea that you just lock down is silly. If someone really wanted to get into a house they would and you don't think affluent neighbourhoods like the one in the picture wouldn't be hit on a super scale? It's ridiculous. It's also trying to say something about class, too, but it's just too dumb to get it out. Just comes across as clumsy. Plus, it needed to be set further into the future. 2020 something is too soon, nothing that radical would change in that short a time and a little background on, perhaps, society being completely totalitarian with nearly any crime being punishable by death, might have gone some way to support the idea of a "purge night".In reality, however, there's just no saving the idea. If a country introduced such a concept, there would the kind of a mass exodus on an epic scale, that there would be about 100 people still living there. While watching it, I thought that it might have made a good Judge Dredd film. Perhaps Dredd was caught out on purge night somehow and had to evade everyone wanting to have a go at him. Citi-blocks can be locked down in Mega City One too, so that idea has more sustainability there. Maybe purge night was a mad Chief Judge Cal idea, which could be shelved at the end of the film cos he gets locked away himself. 'Judge Dredd - Purge Night'. That might work. All very good points - and yes, it would make a groovy Dredd story, wouldn't it? Yep - its social politics are clumsy as all get-out. Like, "Elysium" and "Diary of the Dead" level clumsy and blunt. I don't understand why they didn't bother putting a bit more thought into the practicalities of such a policy as 'Purge Night', because - for me anyway - when I watched the movie I was just distracted the entire time with how many holes there are/were in the whole idea of 'The Purge'. Like you say - there is something being said in there, but it just comes out all jumbled and making little sense. Plus they go on about 'all crime being legal' - and yet everyone just seems to want to kill and nothing else. Surely there'd be rapes being committed on a massive scale (and roving gangs of kiddy fiddlers ... eugh!) - that alone would scupper the idea of Purge night at the planning stages. Society just wouldn't stand for it. And nobody would attempt to rob banks? The whole thing makes not a lick of sense. And yeah - barricade your home - but even the top tier barricades are show to be so easily disabled (Ethan Hawke's son in the movie bloody well does it, the stupid little shit bag) - what a crummy security system! You even see elsewhere that people just hook up a vehicle with a good amount of torque and they just pull the barricades off! And that's a well defended home ... wtf?! That movie gets stupider the more you think about it, and it doesn't even take that long - so why on earth didn't they tie up all these 'but what about?' questions at script stage?

[shootemindehead]

All very good points - and yes, it would make a groovy Dredd story, wouldn't it? Yeh, I think so. But it would have to be tied into Dredd's more outrageous characters, which is why I mentioned Cal. I could certainly see that working, given the nature of the Justice system in Mega City One. Maybe I'm still just pining for a 'Dredd' sequel. FFS Hollywood. Yep - its social politics are clumsy as all get-out. Like, "Elysium" and "Diary of the Dead" level clumsy and blunt. I don't understand why they didn't bother putting a bit more thought into the practicalities of such a policy as 'Purge Night', because - for me anyway - when I watched the movie I was just distracted the entire time with how many holes there are/were in the whole idea of 'The Purge'. Like you say - there is something being said in there, but it just comes out all jumbled and making little sense. I would hope at the kickoff meeting that somebody would have said something about possible (and frankly obvious) plot holes in the basic scenario. 'The Purge' seems to want to say that we are all just animals and given the chance we'd all go out and act out our base desires. It sounds like a very disturbed alt-right Libertarian idea and not something that's grounded in any kind of reality. Society simply isn't like that as a whole. If it were, we wouldn't be here now. Unfortunately, producers of films these days don't go into ideas with any depth. Nobody seems to smoke test their concepts, they just seem to go with it. Christ, we've had a 'Ghostbusters' reboot and a 'Ben-Hur' remake this year. Both spectacularly bad ideas that should have been destroyed at birth. I know someone who used to work at Pixar, Dreamworks and other "film factories" in California. He said that the people who question ideas usually get marginalised and eventually moved closer to the door, as it were. It's a very with us or against us mentality in the film biz. If you're not stupidly positive, you're just seen as negative. There's no such thing as validating a concept or any kind of grey area. I wouldn't last five minutes there. You see, the movie biz is run the same shitty way as any other businesses these days. Badly. The dickheads at the top rarely have to answer for their bollocks decisions and that folk who actually have to do the work get the shaft when the Studio cut their losses. There's an appallingly unequal layer of insulation for people at a certain level who only have to fall on their sword for the most catastrophic screw ups. Plus they go on about 'all crime being legal' - and yet everyone just seems to want to kill and nothing else. Surely there'd be rapes being committed on a massive scale (and roving gangs of kiddy fiddlers ... eugh!) - that alone would scupper the idea of Purge night at the planning stages. Society just wouldn't stand for it. And nobody would attempt to rob banks? The whole thing makes not a lick of sense. You're not the first person to say this. Not even this week!!! Here's where a bit of background is needed. Maybe that type of "urge crime" has been all but eradicated? Or something like that. A simple bit of exposition at the beginning of the film, explaining society as it stands in 2027 or something. But even then, the basic idea still doesn't work. I suppose budget comes into play. At $3 million, you don't have a lot to play with. But, the likes of Carpenter could get around his dumb idea for 'Escape from New York' with a little write up and a voice over at the start of the film. It's possible and it goes some way to shutting up people like you and me. But yeah. I think after one Purge night, the population would be purging the government who came up with the mad idea in the first place. And yeah - barricade your home - but even the top tier barricades are show to be so easily disabled (Ethan Hawke's son in the movie bloody well does it, the stupid little shit bag) - what a crummy security system! You even see elsewhere that people just hook up a vehicle with a good amount of torque and they just pull the barricades off! And that's a well defended home ... wtf?! That movie gets stupider the more you think about it, and it doesn't even take that long - so why on earth didn't they tie up all these 'but what about?' questions at script stage? Oh that kid. Jesus, don't get me started. A half an hour with him and a Purge night didn't seem like a bad idea after all. LOL.

[MinionZombie]

Maybe I'm still just pining for a 'Dredd' sequel. FFS Hollywood. I know someone who used to work at Pixar, Dreamworks and other "film factories" in California. He said that the people who question ideas usually get marginalised and eventually moved closer to the door, as it were. It's a very with us or against us mentality in the film biz. If you're not stupidly positive, you're just seen as negative. There's no such thing as validating a concept or any kind of grey area. I wouldn't last five minutes there. You see, the movie biz is run the same shitty way as any other businesses these days. Badly. The dickheads at the top rarely have to answer for their bollocks decisions and that folk who actually have to do the work get the shaft when the Studio cut their losses. There's an appallingly unequal layer of insulation for people at a certain level who only have to fall on their sword for the most catastrophic screw ups. I suppose budget comes into play. At $3 million, you don't have a lot to play with. But, the likes of Carpenter could get around his dumb idea for 'Escape from New York' with a little write up and a voice over at the start of the film. It's possible and it goes some way to shutting up people like you and me. But yeah. I think after one Purge night, the population would be purging the government who came up with the mad idea in the first place. Oh that kid. Jesus, don't get me started. A half an hour with him and a Purge night didn't seem like a bad idea after all. LOL. 1) Hell yes. I'd love to see a follow-up to Dredd! 2) Really? Bummer. That seems like a really bad way to go about it. Sure, there's going to be some people who are just negative, but if you're highlighting basic flaws - or pointing out ways to improve what you have, that shouldn't be a case for marginalisation or dismissal. These concepts desperately need to be stress tested. Strange, too, because when you watch the extra features on various Pixar movies they have these story meetings and constantly go over and rework things in the script and try out new ideas when things aren't working ... must be different on different films, so not every project is run as open to change, perhaps? There's too much business in the movie business these days, as I said elsewhere on the forum. People running studios who have business degrees but no creative intelligence at all - which, considering you're in a business that is founded on creativity, you would have thought that would be a requirement. Cobbling together movies based on numbers on a spreadsheet is merely a cynical exercise - they miss the whole thing of what is often called in Hollywood itself as "movie magic". The creative people always get an understanding of the business side of it - it's a requirement, and you just pick it up anyway - but it feels to me as if the money men have sod all idea about the creative process and just view films as products. Yes, they can be commercial, and sold, and make a hell of a lot of money - but uninteresting, bland, cynical cash-grabs are sniffed out and tend to flop (although not often enough ... we're getting a fifth Transformers movie ... but then again, I guess their key audience is tweenage boys). 3) You're damn right. "Escape From New York" makes enough sense that you don't get distracted by the concept at all. Plus the fantastic performances, the strong visuals, the brilliant score, and Carpenter at the height of his talent. Crime was particularly prevalent in Manhattan in the 1980s (the murder rate peaked in 1990), hell, the city almost went bankrupt in the 1970s - so the concept of a lawless society, and New York City being converted into a prison, doesn't seem all that far-fetched. The Purge, on the other hand, comes at a time when crime is generally lower than it ever was. The movie probably would have made more sense in the 1980s than now. Again, there are things that the movie is trying to say, but it can't figure out what to say nor how to say it properaly. There is a terrifying schism at work in American politics in the last couple of decades, more prevalent than ever, but the rich/poor aspect of The Purge lacks any subtlety or finesse or even reality. It's got about as much understanding of all the angles as a half-assed placard in a protest. And, yep, that son in the movie would bring anyone around to the idea of the Purge. What a gargantuan arse! Nothing short of irritating. A very clumsily written character.