The Purge (film) - Ethan Hawke

[Danny]

So apparently its the story of an america that solved all its problems by having one 12 hour night period a year called the purge where nothing is illegal and ethan hawke locks his family in for the night to hope it passes them by unscathed. This ones gone completely under my radar but its looking like the strangers meets the crazies, sort of. Think i'll be checking this one out.

[MoonSylver]

Sounds like the episode of classic Trek "The Return of the Archons".

[Purge]

.................................................. ......

[Cykotic]

hmmmm.... something about this...

[Neil]

Shame! Sounded like a great idea, but the reviews imply the opportunity has been wasted http://badassdigest.com/2013/05/07/t...ma-get-purged/ Writer/director James DeMonaco has ambition, but the movie ends up exceeding his grasp. As the movie turns into an action film - Die Hard With The Strangers, more or less - I zoned out even as the kills brought cheers from the audience. The violence in The Purge is fine, but almost all of it happens to characters I don’t care about or don’t find particularly menacing.

[Neil]

Cinemablend gives it just 1.5/5 - http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/The-Purge-6441.html

[EvilNed]

I don't get it. Maybe the film is good, but the premise is so stupid that I just can't get my head around it. I will not watch this, because I know this is one of those films where I will not be able to suspend my disbelief. This is just so stupid. EDIT: This could work as a Twilight Zone episode, or a Star Trek fable about how people are beasts. But this is 2013 and this shit just doesn't fly. You cannot present this as a "realistic" tale whatsoever. If you want to set it in contemporary earth, you've got to present it as a moral fable right from the start.

[Neil]

I love the idea of the premise - True science fiction territory... Just a step beyond what you can imagine, and you're somewhere quite unpleasant...

[MinionZombie]

Yeah, I've heard that the characters make idiotic decisions and generally do a lot of utterly non-sensical things ... and there's apparently a lot of unanswered questions (to the plot, and the general story behind this 'one night of lawlessness' and how it works) that take the viewer entirely out of it. A nifty idea in a sentence, but you've got to really put the graft in to figure out all the angles on that sort of premise ... by the sounds of what I've heard, it's like they thought of the idea and just left it at that. Which reminds me of that awful piece of shit "In Time", in which I was constantly questioning the practicalities of the world presented to the viewer (as well as pointing out gargantuan plot holes and stupid character decisions) ... as such that was another intriguing idea that was totally wasted on an utterly ill-considered script.

[Neil]

Yeah, I've heard that the characters make idiotic decisions and generally do a lot of utterly non-sensical things Well, that's just bad writing then isn't it - - - Updated - - - I predict a sequel then - http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Purge...ice-37955.html The Purge, produced on a modest $3 million budget, raked in an incredible $16.7 million on Friday. Over the course of the weekend, the total grosses could approach $40 million, which will be enough to pummel second and third place entries The Internship and Fast & Furious 6, both of which are expected to fall on the wrong side of $20 million.

[rongravy]

I knew it was going to suck as soon as I saw Ethan Hawke was in it. We will probably see it when it's $3. I've heard nothing but bad about it. Here's to hoping the sequels are straight to video...

[EvilNed]

Yeah, I've heard that the characters make idiotic decisions and generally do a lot of utterly non-sensical things ... and there's apparently a lot of unanswered questions (to the plot, and the general story behind this 'one night of lawlessness' and how it works) that take the viewer entirely out of it. A nifty idea in a sentence, but you've got to really put the graft in to figure out all the angles on that sort of premise ... by the sounds of what I've heard, it's like they thought of the idea and just left it at that. Which reminds me of that awful piece of shit "In Time", in which I was constantly questioning the practicalities of the world presented to the viewer (as well as pointing out gargantuan plot holes and stupid character decisions) ... as such that was another intriguing idea that was totally wasted on an utterly ill-considered script. I agree with much of what you're saying, except the "In Time" bit. "In Time" felt like a fairytale, to me. It wasn't set in any particular year, unlike this. It was only presented as a possible world, where time is the currency. As such, I liked it. Had it been depicted as "set in 2029, after the great revolt of Chronos Prime, bla bla bla" then it would've been shit. But now, it played more like a fairytale. Which I liked. However, it's nowhere near as great as Gattaca, the directors previous venture inte sci-fi fairytaling.

[MinionZombie]

Ned - my problems with the film had nothing to do with whether it was set in a particular year, or was a 'fairytale' ... in either case I'd still be pointing out constant stupid decisions by characters and ma-hoo-sive gaps in logic in the world presented on the screen. In fact I went off on a right old rant when I first saw the movie: http://deadshed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/...e-seen-in.html

[EvilNed]

I liked it! There were many situations which were just cruel, but would ensue in a world where time is money and money is life. Thought the writers did a good job with it.

[Neil]

I predict a sequel then - http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Purge...ice-37955.html Ten points to me!!! - http://www.aintitcool.com/node/62821 it should come as no surprised whatsoever that a sequel is already on the way - and Universal and Jason Blum (who produced the first film) are already getting to work on the project.