Films! good, bad, recomendations, and general film talk

[dave_mc]

:lol:

I haven't seen it, but I don't think I would really have been expecting much different.

I generally make a point of not watching films which are based on computer games, and vice versa (games based on films)... or at least don't have terribly high expectations whenever i break my rule. There's the odd exception which proves the rule, but by and large...

:lol:

[Philly Q]

I generally make a point of not watching films which are based on computer games, and vice versa (games based on films)... or at least don't have terribly high expectations whenever i break my rule. There's the odd exception which proves the rule, but by and large...

I know what you mean... I have the "advantage" that I don't play computer games, so my perceptions of the films are totally based on their own merits.

We've had some utter stinkers like Doom, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Tomb Raider, Hitman, Max Payne.... but I like the Resident Evil films (for all their faults) and Silent Hill came close to being very good indeed (although it didn't quite work).


(I must admit I have a fascination with the films of Dr Uwe Boll - House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Postal, Bloodrayne.... they're diabolical but I find them compulsive viewing.  :oops: )

[dave_mc]

i haven't seen most of those... due to my rule, mainly :lol: but certainly tomb raider sucked (and the second one was even worse), and i saw a couple of minutes of max payne which didn't look great either.

I think the problem is what's considered a good plot for a game kinda gets shown up in a film. the plot's secondary, even in games with good plots. and if the plot sucks, if the gameplay is good enough, it doesn't matter.

i guess it's a bit like lyrics in music- i'll gladly listen to music with cr@p lyrics if the music's good enough, but if i were reading poetry that wouldn't really be the case...

[nfe]

Having been reading about the prequel (of sorts), watched Alien for the first time in ages last night. Still tremendous.

Also, up to episode 7 of Game of Thrones and it's been getting better and better, less of the gratuity and more of the top flight television. And more of nigh on everyone being an utter bastard.

[dave_mc]

ah i haven't watched this week's episode yet, but i've seen up to there. It's pretty good.

[horsehead]

3rd'd on Game of Thrones, can't believe how good it is!

[_tom_]

I like it but the acting seems really wooden in places. The "imp" is an awesome character though :lol:

[Plexi Ken]

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Average at best, more like a made-for-TV movie, not a patch on the first in the trilogy.

[Philly Q]

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Average at best, more like a made-for-TV movie, not a patch on the first in the trilogy.

I've heard the second is meant to be the best of the books but the worst of the films (I've only seen the first film and still haven't read the books).

I'm waiting to see if anyone releases a box set of the extended versions of the films shown in Sweden.

[dave_mc]

wait there's an extended version?

i've only seen the first film so far, and while it was very good, it was noticeably cut down a lot from the books.

[Philly Q]

wait there's an extended version?

i've only seen the first film so far, and while it was very good, it was noticeably cut down a lot from the books.

Yeah, apparently they were shown on Swedish TV as a six-part miniseries - 3 hours per book/film, each divided into two parts.  You can buy them on DVD/Blu-ray in Scandinavia but they don't have English subtitles (AFAIK).

The UK and US Blu-rays of the theatrical versions aren't very good, so I've been reluctant to buy them - I keep hoping someone will be enterprising enough to release the extended versions with better transfers and some extras.

[_tom_]

Only just got round to watching the Seven bluray I've had for ages! I read somewhere that it was a bad conversion - clearly talking rubbish as it looks brilliant in HD :) And I still love this film - the "Detective!" bit still gives me goosebumps :lol:

[Philly Q]

Only just got round to watching the Seven bluray I've had for ages! I read somewhere that it was a bad conversion - clearly talking rubbish as it looks brilliant in HD :)

If it's the edition that came out about 6 months ago, that's a top-quality transfer! 

There was a terrible Canadian Blu-ray a couple of years ago, but I think there's only been the one UK version.

[_tom_]

Yeah I think I probably got it within 6 months ago :) And that explains why someone said it was terrible then!

[dave_mc]

Yeah, apparently they were shown on Swedish TV as a six-part miniseries - 3 hours per book/film, each divided into two parts.  You can buy them on DVD/Blu-ray in Scandinavia but they don't have English subtitles (AFAIK).

The UK and US Blu-rays of the theatrical versions aren't very good, so I've been reluctant to buy them - I keep hoping someone will be enterprising enough to release the extended versions with better transfers and some extras.

ah yeah if they didn't have subtitles that'd put a bit of a spanner in the works :lol: I can pick up the odd word here and there from having done german at school, but nowhere near understanding it (i couldn't watch anything in german without subtitles either, if it came to it :lol: )