Finally saw the DVD I bought about 9 months ago. Opinions? I couldn't believe how lousy it was. Not even Orlando Bloom could save it.
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It was entirely too long, poorly strung together, I thought. Are you sorry you bought it? And not even Liam Neeson could save it.
It's better if you turn off the sound. Then you can just look at the eye candy while you do other stuff.
King Arthur is much the same way.
King Arthur is much the same way.
I thought it was decent. It didn't have the "Gladiator" vibe of constant, bloody action, but I dug the cinematography, and Ed Norton and Liam Neeson's acting. Could've been better, but not bad.
dpaterso
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It looked very nice, and I found it entertaining, but it was no Troy.
Orlando's sudden evolution from peasant (what was he, a smith? or was that Pirates...? never mind) to sword-knight echoed Banderas's in 13th Warrior, alas just as unbelievable.
Did I already say it looked very nice?
What it really needed was Milla Jojovich in armor. With a big sword.
-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
My mother was a pure woman from a noble family. And I, at least, know who my father is, you pig-eating son of a whore!
Orlando's sudden evolution from peasant (what was he, a smith? or was that Pirates...? never mind) to sword-knight echoed Banderas's in 13th Warrior, alas just as unbelievable.
Did I already say it looked very nice?
What it really needed was Milla Jojovich in armor. With a big sword.
-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
My mother was a pure woman from a noble family. And I, at least, know who my father is, you pig-eating son of a whore!
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Next to Troy and Titanic, it was the worst epic I've ever seen.
I liked King Arthur immensely, btw.
I liked King Arthur immensely, btw.
Oh, King Arthur was a fun movie to watch, it's just not one of those gotta-watch-it-repeatedly-until-I-know-all-the-lines movies, like Gladiator was. My biggest problem with KA is that I thought the so-called romance between Arthur and Guenevere was completely wooden. Clive Owen's a hottie, and Keira Knightly is lovely, albeit rather underfed --- but there was no chemistry between them at ALL.
I kept hoping I'd see Lancelot and Tristan haning out together naked, but alas, it was not to be.
I kept hoping I'd see Lancelot and Tristan haning out together naked, but alas, it was not to be.
dpaterso
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King Arthur suffered from a couple of major problems, failure in the romance department mainly due to the odd character setup was certainly one of them. The movie also failed to jump higher than the yardstick set by Excalibur all those years ago. It should have been a sumptuous feast of a film. Alas, barely a snack.
Troy is in my list of top 10 films. Flaws yes, but outweighed by the good stuff.
Titanic fell down badly in the big battle scenes.
-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus
Troy is in my list of top 10 films. Flaws yes, but outweighed by the good stuff.
Titanic fell down badly in the big battle scenes.
-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus
Troy was excellent. Providing you check your purist notions of Homer at the door and watch it for what it is. KOH looks nice, but I really can't stomach Ridley Scott's detached sense of visual narrative anymore (not to mention his obsession of using that same weird silver mask in most of his films that's just gotten ridiculous), and the story was a lot of bunk. A cheese fest really. Orlando Bloom was alright in it though. Neeson was wasted. Yeah I am sorry I bought it, Stew
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A couple of days ago, I watched 15 minutes and then decided to abort.
I ended up watching "Going the Distance" on In Demand.
Pretty good actually.
I ended up watching "Going the Distance" on In Demand.
Pretty good actually.
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robeiae said:
They all sucked.
OK, the second part of Titanic was pretty cool. The only good thing about Troy was Eric Bana, who totally redeemed himself after Hulk. I watched King Arthur because I loved the whole Camelot mythology and Keira Knightley but it was an utter disappointment...
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Man. My taste isn't anything like any of yours.
I liked Kingdom of Heaven quite a bit even if it dragged in some parts, though I've only seen the director's cut version.
I hated Gladiator. I only liked the sinking part of Titanic. I fell asleep during King Arthur. I liked Troy probably the best of these, but I watched it while reading Illium so I knew all the characters.
I liked Kingdom of Heaven quite a bit even if it dragged in some parts, though I've only seen the director's cut version.
I hated Gladiator. I only liked the sinking part of Titanic. I fell asleep during King Arthur. I liked Troy probably the best of these, but I watched it while reading Illium so I knew all the characters.
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Good grief, what utterly bizarre tastes you people have!
That's the fun in discussing films, I guess...
-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
Lancelot, just a thought. A man who fears nothing is a man who loves nothing; and if you love nothing, what joy is there in your life? I may be wrong.
That's the fun in discussing films, I guess...
-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
Lancelot, just a thought. A man who fears nothing is a man who loves nothing; and if you love nothing, what joy is there in your life? I may be wrong.
Oh come on, Blacky. We had this exact conversation 6 months ago -- or were you in "prehate" mode on this film then?
Personally, the movie was "too big" -- they tried to tell too many stories, it had too many plots, and quite frankly, you're never going to have a successful sword and shield movie when your hero is no good with a sword and shield.
Meandering, lazy plot. Poor casting. Disappointing battle scenes. How this movie could have been anything but a failure is beyond me.
Personally, the movie was "too big" -- they tried to tell too many stories, it had too many plots, and quite frankly, you're never going to have a successful sword and shield movie when your hero is no good with a sword and shield.
Meandering, lazy plot. Poor casting. Disappointing battle scenes. How this movie could have been anything but a failure is beyond me.
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I made it as far as Orlando meeting the guy in the mask, then I walked out of the room.
Everyone said I only missed the very expensive battle scenes.
Everyone said I only missed the very expensive battle scenes.
dclary said:
If I was feeling negative back then it was probably because Ridley Scott is the biggest hit and miss director since Raoul Walsh
whistlelock said:
They're so dizzying muddled and infested with slo mo you can't really enjoy the carnage. That's another reason Troy was so good. Wolfgang Petersen didn't have his cameramen shoot the battle scenes from moving carnival rides.
Movies like Troy and this one will do nothing except remind the world that Braveheart's greatest milestone will be that it was the last non-CGI massive sword-and-shield battlefield movie.
I have no problem with the responsible use of CGI. It's when it gets in the hands of people like Peter Jackson I'm not comfortable with
Name any CGI-based battle scene that wouldn't have looked more comfortable as a cut-scene between video game campaigns than as an actual film sequence.
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Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring- specifically the Troll fight in the tomb.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King- just pick one.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King- just pick one.
dclary said:
I'm with ya here. CGI works wonders when you don't notice it. Like Gollum in LOTR once the character pulled you in. But the Helm's Deep battle in LOTR looked way too overdone and video gamish.
If you ever catch the updated version of THX-1138, where Lucas added subtle CGI details to bring the environment to life in various background shots, that was a decent example of the power of CGI when it's not trying to compete with the story for attention
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