Finally watched the Extended (16 extra minutes) version and I am very, very impressed. Even though I loved the theatrical and knew it needed work as it seemed cut down, i didn't expect the actual SE to be this good. Every scene that was restored was perfect and completely necessary. It really is a perfect vision now. I can't remember all the new scenes I watched but here's a rundown of what I thought:
The opening was superb- what a powerful, mesmerising shot of Jake in the city as they walk in slow-mo to introduce us to our world of the future. Very Blade Runner, the colours and design was fantastic. Though I never really had a problem with the original theatrical opening where it thrusts you into space (it was very much like 2001 Space Odyssey for me and worked great visually) but now the story is fleshed out more for the better- you understand better how the Pandora mission came to be, how wreckless Jake is and how he does things on a whim which is the central part of his character throughout the whole film. The image of Jake's brother's face on fire in the cremation was very strong as well, very cool meaning. All in all, a great opening and a great set-up which was cut out too badly in the theatrical.
The first glimpse of the sturmbeest herd as they graze was cool and very "Jurassic Park".
The school scene was very dark and added more depth and back story to Augustine's past. When she explains about what happened to the school later, it's also a very poignant scene where we understand more about here, as well as Neytiri and the ongoing war between the natives and the humans.
And extended scene where Neytiri and Jake walk a bit more into the night jungle was also very cool as we see more plant life and such.
Neytiri telling Jake her name was fantastic and a very worthy and additional scene. The film needed a formal introduction from her and what better way than here. Awesome acting by Zoe there with great animation and imagery of her eating. The little girl who shows interest in Jake was also very cute.
The crew getting off at the Hallelujah mountains and the shot of Jake looking up at the floating mountains from his wheelchair was awesome. I wish i could have seen this in IMAX 3D.
Jake's first flight test had a cool little scene where, at the foot of the mountains, he sees Neytiri fly past and they smile. Wonderful little moment there.
The Strumbeest stampede/hunt was awesome to watch but i think it's the only scene that felt misplaced. I don't think it flowed too well where it was placed, it just kind of felt shoved in there randomly. The scene itself was awesome and a great way to see Jake settle further into the clan but the scene felt like it stuck out, it just appears from nowhere. I also didn't like the music because it's just the battle theme again (probably because i've seen the battle too many times that hearing that music anywhere else seems out of place), but I can understand that using the battle music for this stampede links directly to when they are fighting in the finale, this time the RDA instead of sturmbeests, so it's a bit of foreshadowing as they fly, manoeuvre and use team work in the same way.
One scene which I was never happy with in the theatrical is when Jake and Neytiri first see that flying spinning lizard thing. In the theatrical it's just there with no emphasis on it- it's a wonderful little creation but it happens so fast in the theatrical that you don't have time to appreciate it and it seems that they just stick it in there for the sake of it. Now, in the Extended- we have a PROPER version where we see more of them and Jake and Neytiri play with them. Fantastic! It's like Cameron read my mind, it's exactly the scene i wanted improving, and it was perfect.
Jake and Neytiri's lovemaking was now perfect too. Showing them both doing the tsahaylu bond together was a nice touch and makes the scene make much more sense (before it looked like they were just dryhumping, now they are actually doing something). Makes the scene that much more intimate and gives more sense to when Neytiri says "we are mated for life".
The backlash towards the bulldozers where we see a shot of the burning machinery and the Na'vi shouting in triumph was a nice touch as well that leads onto the main battle, and gives the RDA a more personal reason to fight now. Having Wainbridge look at the casualties and report to Selfridge added more to this scenario as well.
Tsutey's death was hit and miss. I like how we get to see more of him as he first falls, and it's good to see that he gets a proper death (i remember asking what the hell happened to him when I first saw the movie in 09 and seeing a lot of people ask if he was still alive or not). But his death reeks of Boromir's last stand in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring "I will follow you my captain.." etc (and I really didn't need another scene like this after the uber-cliche "take... my...bow....protect the people...*dies*" scene with Etuykan and Neytiri earlier on). Still, a good and worthy send off for a good, under-apprecciated character. However, I was disappointed that we didn't see anything about Tsutey being shamed because his hair had been cut off (or something) like in the script. it would have been a nice detail to show the audience how important the hair is.
Other small scenes such as additional dialogue were well placed too. Augustine saying something like initiating the bulldozers as an excuse to go to war was again another stab at the Iraq oil/Afghanistan war scenario (along with Quaritch's "Fight Terror with Terror" line and the imagery of the tree being demolished being very similar to the Twin Towers crumbling), was nice added little touch there to further state this movie as being relevant to our times and a political statement/message that we all can relate to now (the main major point why this updating of this classic story works so well). Augustine talking to Jake about how he is losing weight and how she should stop smoking and such is also very good.
The only other thing which I was really looking forward to but didn't see is the shot of Neytiri pregnant at the end (i would have thought Cameron would have put this in here as it's in the script), but I guess he wants to do more with her before they have a child. But it would have been a nice little touch at the end.
Anyway, this movie is better now than it was before and the definitive version of it that improves on just about everything. I won't be watching the theatrical version any more. This Director's Cut is as significant, crucial and important as Cameron's Aliens Special Edition, T2 Extended Cut and The Abyss Directors Cut, hell it's as important as LOTR Extended Editions to me- deepening the story, characters, relationships for the better and making a better movie and experience. Top marks! THIS is the definitive version. I rated the theatrical a 10/10. Now, it's an 11/10 film.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Review: The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
First time I have ever seen a Terrence Malick film and I don't know what to say, it was an experience I have never felt before. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of euphoria, I felt like I was in a dream. Every frame, every scene, every piece of dialogue was a line of a beautiful poem. I was overcome with sheer wonder, beauty, sadness, loss and tragedy. This film had it all, but most of all, it felt honest and "pure". Natural sights and sounds of the world without a single glossy shot of artificial CGI to ruin the pure, real beauty of the Earth and it's inhabitants. It's like I was there with them, the editing and camerawork fleeting around so naturally that it all felt real. The fight with the natives was probably one of the most realistic fights i've ever seen because it looked authentic- this is exactly how a fight would be. This film was completely free of all the conventional trademark trappings of a typical Hollywood film, it was done so differently, no cliches or anything. The movie rule book was thrown away. Everything unfolded as it would in real life and shot that way. This was a visual, sensual and sensory wonder, incredibly immerse and unique. The expression and emotion of love and sadness was so real and authentic, it was pure life, heart and soul captured on film- never have I seen such simple purity shown in a film before. The ending is probably the most powerful piece of imagery I've ever seen, and that in itself is simply a 5 minute sequence that is incredibly simple on it's surface, but in context, unbelievably moving.
It's simply an incredible piece of work and I was stunned with beauty as I was watching it. As it ended, I was still speechless. Afterwards I slept and dreamt but none of my dream could even come close to what was presented in this film. Here I am the day after and i'm still speechless, trying to recollect my thoughts of what happened. It's an experience I have never felt before and one I will never forget. Masterpiece isn't even the word. It goes beyond that.
The worst thing is, I will probably never experience anything like it ever again.
Friday, 1 October 2010
Castlevania:Lords of Shadow demo thoughts
So, I just downloaded the new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow demo, and here's my thoughts so far: Overall, it's decent so far.
Gutted I couldn't move the camera since I like to be in control of it all the time (and Gabriel looked really small on screen for me), but otherwise the demo was decent. The presentation in particular is excellent- the book which opens up to show you the moves, the little hand drawn animations of the character as it does a move that you want to learn, the art drawings in sketchbook style which show as part of the cinematics were beautiful. Voice acting is great so far of course (how can it not be, with the likes of Robert Carlyle and Patrik Stewart involved, to name a few) and the graphics are sublime. Combat was decent as well. Cinematics are excellent and the atmosphere, art and design in the game are of a very high standard.
Now, the cons...
I know the art style isn't Castlevania (it being a reboot and all) but i didn't think they would remove the music as well. It doesn't seem very "Castlevania" at all. It actually sounds like the soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings movies (in particular, The Two Tower), and looks like it too. Castlevania's music is very central to the series but there are no motifs here or any homages or references. Seems like a proper fresh start, which is a shame for a long term fan like me who at least wanted some connections to the roots, more than a whip and sub weapons.
Also, everything seemed too scripted and they use cinematics too much as part of the fighting system. The part where you have to impale that Warg (more LOTR similarities there) is a bit lame because it's just an animation that plays to kill him, and if you miss to trigger it the first time, it'll just repeat again until you get it right. Same with the horse riding; you just press the button when it prompts you to trigger the long cinematic to kill things. Unlike God of War where at least you control every part of the killing animations (to a degree), here all you do is press one button to start the animation, and then you just sit back and watch pre-scripted cinematic....whilst it looks nice and is very movie-like, it doesn't require any effort at all, and thus defies the purpose of me actually playing it.
Still, it all looks great, but I'm not doing much in it. That's my major gripe at the moment- I'm watching too much rather than playing....Kojima's influence there, no doubt :)
Other than that, it's shaping up pretty damn well, and i'm interested to delve into this world further. Roll on October 8th.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Castlevania: A 3D Retrospective
In the light of the new "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" game, I thought I'd talk about the last few attempts at bringing the Belmont legacy to life in 3D.
The N64 ones are some of the most underrated games ever made. As a Castlevania fan, i think they perfectly converted what was so good about the old-skool series into 3D- straight up platforming action. People complained about it's difficulty, camera and controls but i never had a problem with them. I'm glad people are warming up to them now in time and they are seen somewhat as "cult classics". I personally love them (though it's really just one game- Legacy of Darkness is the definitive N64 title), i played through it over a dozen times back when it was first released and I had a blast with it, very fond memories.
Lament of Innocence was a great start to a new 3D series. Acting as a prologue/prequel, i think it set the series up nicely for a new, fresh run. It wasn't perfect, but it was a brilliant shot- more combat and action orientated whilst utilising some of the RPG elements that IGA introduced (but not all, it was severely minimised as it was intended to bring in newcomers to the series), it had an excellent fighting system, fantastic atmosphere and visuals, art+ design and absolutely superb music as usual (long term CV veteran Kojima's score should have won soundtrack of the year at a game award ceremony but unfortunately it went to Halo 2 instead- very lame). Although there wasn't much to the game itself (it all whittled down to a series of rooms where you have to kill everything in it, then unlock the door and move on to the next room), i admired the attempt and it remains among one of my favourite Castlevania games. The camera wasn't as great as it could have been though because it was always fixed and set high up looking down, and all you could see was the room at hand- they could have utilised it more and shown off some more of the environments, as the game did have excellently modelled setting but you could never see them properly because the camera never allowed it. I always used to jump up just to see some of the more beautifully designed interiors and ceilings..shame no-one else could see them if you were playing casually. Though, it always focused on the action and i guess that's what counted.
Curse of Darkness, however...that was the killer. Having been impressed with LoI, i was really looking forward to where they would go next...but Curse was a really big disappointment. Sure, this time they completely implemented the RPG system that IGA was known for, but this time it wasn't enough- the visuals suddenly looked dumbed down than before, the environments looked really bland, and the gameplay was repetitive as hell. They improved on LoI by having bigger environments to run around in but there was never anything to do, all you were doing was running around from one part to the next and fighting the same enemies over and over. The weapon forge system was decent but none of the weapons were good to wield- every weapon felt the same, nothing was different about any of them. The Devil Forge thing was a lame gimmick that never took off- like a Pokemon style familiar that follows you around, this was a good idea but just not implemented well enough.
The music was excellent as usual from Kojima as was the art and design, but it was wasted on a poor game. It just didn't do anything it tried to well enough- just boring, bland, repetitive and uninspiring. The bosses were also quite lame and it had one of the gayest villains i've ever seen (Isaac).
A shame as they set up the series really well with LoI and it looked like it was finally going places, but then they single handedly ruined it with CoD. I know there are fans of it, but i hated it. It's sad because the series did get a ton of new fans who were finally introduced to this gothic and beautiful world crafted by Kojima, IGA and Yamane but now they have abolished it because of the reboot. I know they still make hand-held versions of their universe, but it's not the same...and their last attempt (Harmony of Despair) was pretty horrible.
So, i think the best ones were the N64 ones and then LoI. Though they aren't as bad as people claim to say, sure Curse wasn't all that but there's still stuff in there that makes it a decent entry, if not heavily flawed.
From the looks of it, Lords of Shadow has giant bosses you have to climb, very much like Shadow of the Colossus and God of War. One think that i'm worried about are the lack of throwbacks to the original games- i hope there are some nods and references to the previous games, like musical cues, weapons and such, but so far there doesn't look like there are any and some reviews say that it's not very old skool CV. A shame really as i'd love to be running through the castle Clock Tower or something with an orchestral version of Vampire Killer or Bloody Tears playing in te background. But this game looks like a total new revamp altogether, molded off another game entirely with the Castlevania title tacked on it seems (the game was originally a new IP called Lords of Shadow but then Konami came into it and then developed it into a Castlevania game). It shows.
The N64 ones are some of the most underrated games ever made. As a Castlevania fan, i think they perfectly converted what was so good about the old-skool series into 3D- straight up platforming action. People complained about it's difficulty, camera and controls but i never had a problem with them. I'm glad people are warming up to them now in time and they are seen somewhat as "cult classics". I personally love them (though it's really just one game- Legacy of Darkness is the definitive N64 title), i played through it over a dozen times back when it was first released and I had a blast with it, very fond memories.
Lament of Innocence was a great start to a new 3D series. Acting as a prologue/prequel, i think it set the series up nicely for a new, fresh run. It wasn't perfect, but it was a brilliant shot- more combat and action orientated whilst utilising some of the RPG elements that IGA introduced (but not all, it was severely minimised as it was intended to bring in newcomers to the series), it had an excellent fighting system, fantastic atmosphere and visuals, art+ design and absolutely superb music as usual (long term CV veteran Kojima's score should have won soundtrack of the year at a game award ceremony but unfortunately it went to Halo 2 instead- very lame). Although there wasn't much to the game itself (it all whittled down to a series of rooms where you have to kill everything in it, then unlock the door and move on to the next room), i admired the attempt and it remains among one of my favourite Castlevania games. The camera wasn't as great as it could have been though because it was always fixed and set high up looking down, and all you could see was the room at hand- they could have utilised it more and shown off some more of the environments, as the game did have excellently modelled setting but you could never see them properly because the camera never allowed it. I always used to jump up just to see some of the more beautifully designed interiors and ceilings..shame no-one else could see them if you were playing casually. Though, it always focused on the action and i guess that's what counted.
Curse of Darkness, however...that was the killer. Having been impressed with LoI, i was really looking forward to where they would go next...but Curse was a really big disappointment. Sure, this time they completely implemented the RPG system that IGA was known for, but this time it wasn't enough- the visuals suddenly looked dumbed down than before, the environments looked really bland, and the gameplay was repetitive as hell. They improved on LoI by having bigger environments to run around in but there was never anything to do, all you were doing was running around from one part to the next and fighting the same enemies over and over. The weapon forge system was decent but none of the weapons were good to wield- every weapon felt the same, nothing was different about any of them. The Devil Forge thing was a lame gimmick that never took off- like a Pokemon style familiar that follows you around, this was a good idea but just not implemented well enough.
The music was excellent as usual from Kojima as was the art and design, but it was wasted on a poor game. It just didn't do anything it tried to well enough- just boring, bland, repetitive and uninspiring. The bosses were also quite lame and it had one of the gayest villains i've ever seen (Isaac).
A shame as they set up the series really well with LoI and it looked like it was finally going places, but then they single handedly ruined it with CoD. I know there are fans of it, but i hated it. It's sad because the series did get a ton of new fans who were finally introduced to this gothic and beautiful world crafted by Kojima, IGA and Yamane but now they have abolished it because of the reboot. I know they still make hand-held versions of their universe, but it's not the same...and their last attempt (Harmony of Despair) was pretty horrible.
So, i think the best ones were the N64 ones and then LoI. Though they aren't as bad as people claim to say, sure Curse wasn't all that but there's still stuff in there that makes it a decent entry, if not heavily flawed.
From the looks of it, Lords of Shadow has giant bosses you have to climb, very much like Shadow of the Colossus and God of War. One think that i'm worried about are the lack of throwbacks to the original games- i hope there are some nods and references to the previous games, like musical cues, weapons and such, but so far there doesn't look like there are any and some reviews say that it's not very old skool CV. A shame really as i'd love to be running through the castle Clock Tower or something with an orchestral version of Vampire Killer or Bloody Tears playing in te background. But this game looks like a total new revamp altogether, molded off another game entirely with the Castlevania title tacked on it seems (the game was originally a new IP called Lords of Shadow but then Konami came into it and then developed it into a Castlevania game). It shows.
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Reviews: Piranha 3D (2010) and Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)
Piranha 3D (2010) aka PORNAHA 3DSun, sand, sea and SEX! This is basically 2 hours of non stop T and A with hot chicks, as well as great cameos with some of the hottest stars in porn. Riley Steele, Gianna Micheals, Ashlynn Brooke AND Kelly Brook- all naked, tits out....on the big screen, in 3D. (Is it sad that I know all these porn stars?....)
Oh yeah, and there's some crappy story about killer piranhas tacked on. Well, there has to be a "story", ya know.
Anyway- lots of fun. The movie itself is absoloute crap of course, but we didn't come to see a movie- we came to see hardcore gore, kills, carnage, monstrous piranhas ripping the sh!t out of everything and everyone and lots and LOTS of hot girls strutting their stuff in 3D....which easily makes it a great A* film! At times it was like I paid just to see a 3D strip show...but a lot cheaper, of course. This is the first film which actually uses the 3D for the best purpose ever- PORN! And the audiences can't get enough! We want more! If you want to see a proper 3D movie in the cinema, then this is easily the best since this year's How To Train Your Dragon.
10/10 (though, realistically, it's like a 4/10- pure cheesy, bad, utterly ridiculous and completly predictable exploitation cinema...and I loved every second of it. The 70s/80s are back, yay).
Next:
Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)
Wow, I didn't think this kind of movie could get any better after the awesome Kick-Ass earlier this year, but this matched it equally! Edgar Wright does it again! Super fast, super clever, super witty, super inventive, super NINTENDO awesome film! I was entertained throughout and loved it, there never a dull moment whatsoever. Definitly a film for geeks and video game fans- but I loved that it is very self aware and never took itself seriously, and always broke the third wall (or 7 in this case!). I had a blast and can't wait to see it again- this is not only one of the best films of the year but also one of the best comic book/graphic novel adaptations ever. I have never seen anything like it- it's genre-breaking, highly creative and definitly ORIGINAL! (Something that is missing in 99% of films these days, and all of a sudden this comes along which is PACKED full of it).
10/10. Loved it! Too bad it's not doing as well as it should at the US box office...please support it! Us guys in the UK love it, though! Go and see it! This is Wright's best film after Shaun (and in some cases even better, i felt!). Could be his finest hour! I actually wanted to hate the film at first becuase I can't stand Micheal Cera, but this was a really good movie, and it's impossible to hate it for me. There's just too much coolness in it. Hilarious.
2010 is easily one of the best years for film for me! How can it get any better?!
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