'Lineage'
A place to talk about movies--Old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
I saw I, Robot last night and didn't totally hate it. It was kind of rote filmmaking, but not horrible. And not as unfaithful to the source material as the previews make it seem.
My biggest problem was that Will Smith had a small handful of his lines Will Smith-ed up, and they always threw me out of the movie because the rest of the movie and the rest of Smith's performance were not very Will Smith in tone.
My biggest problem was that Will Smith had a small handful of his lines Will Smith-ed up, and they always threw me out of the movie because the rest of the movie and the rest of Smith's performance were not very Will Smith in tone.
That really bugged me, too. Especially when he kills VIKI -- "Oh, you really have to die now" sounded like a last-minute "Oh, fuck, we forgot to have Will Smith deliver a Will Smith-like quip before killing the bad guy. Quick, somebody write a snappy quip!"
Last night I rewatched Blade Runer (Director's cut) and I agree with much of what people have said. I have not seen the voice-over version in ages and I've forgotten what additional info the voice-over gives you.
So, um, what's the extra info?
As Nutty pointed out, Deckard was divorced, but also, M. Emmet Walsh's character was much nastier with the voiceover, not only being racist, but it was much clearer that he forced Deckard to take the job. I'm not sure if that comes through in a narration-less version.
That really bugged me, too. Especially when [whitefont]
Exactly. And it also ruined what otherwise would have been a nice reminder that Will Smith can act, and not just be Will Smith.
it was much clearer that he forced Deckard to take the job. I'm not sure if that comes through in a narration-less version.
I'm not sure what's in the narration, but I thought it was pretty clear he was forced, what with Deckard's refusing in about seven different ways. I don't recall any specific malice, though. More the logical conclusion, "He didn't want to do it, yet he's doing it. He was forced." There's also the fact that he arrested Deckard to get him there. Clearly there's a sense of coersion involved.
Oh, I forgot to mention this earlier, re: Blade Runner....
For me, it's not so much that the voice over adds necessary information, but it adds a certain tone to the movie.
I was just talking about this with someone yeasterday, and I was trying to think of SF films that are truly thoughtful, and I could only come up with about 5 - Alien, Blade Runner, 2001, Solaris, and maybe Andromeda Strain. Anyone have anything else to add to this list?
The Quiet Earth was pretty thoughtful, as was Solar Crisis.
The Quiet Earth was pretty thoughtful
Oooh, I'd forgotten that one.
I was trying to think of SF films that are truly thoughtful, and I could only come up with about 5 - Alien
Alien is thoughtful? I thought there was just the killin'.