Civil War

Author
Discussion

Hugo Stiglitz

37,223 posts

212 months

Tuesday 30th April
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Disagree, Dredd was critised saying it was just a RAID copy but it was a road trip as was Civil War although it was through levels, encountering civilians, those who didn't want to get involved, those that were passively and those that volunteered. It also showed the grittiness, described using SA footage of disorder etc. It was just as simple a story but felt much less foggy to watch.

biggbn

23,615 posts

221 months

Tuesday 30th April
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Hugo Stiglitz said:
EvoDelta said:
Absolutely loved this. I'm not sure where the bad reviews are coming from, I couldn't fault it.
Civil War imagines a crumbling USA torn apart by militias, a crazed president, and murderous ideological rage. The problem is, director Alex Garland never tells us anything about those ideologies.

And

Civil War does promise to be some great commentary on our cultural zeitgeist, and yet it’s not much more than a higher-minded version of White House Down or Olympus Has Fallen.

I agree with these critics.

For me it starts off with a jarring suicide bomber carrying the stars and stripes. That was a fantastic opener.

It then became/finished as just a shooting film.

Garland's Dredd was a snarling vicious view of the future.

I was thinking throughout Civil War that I didn't identify or feel any sort of empathy or warmth with any of the lead characters.

It just seemed to collapse with no attempt at story telling why, how, what.
I thought it was apolitical, mainly signified by 'the union' being Texas and California. No political bias, just a foreboding dystopia that seemed so possible and real..and close..yes, yes, there were silly bits, but there always is. A truly uncomfortable, joyless film that was a hard watch but is, in my opinion, unmissable. As another said, it could be lifted and transfered to any 'civlised' Union and still make sense

Speed Badger

2,716 posts

118 months

Wednesday 1st May
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Just seen this at the cinema about an hour ago, blimey it's pretty tough going. I thought it was great overall, couple of mis-steps, but on the whole pretty terrifying. I could imagine how easily a country could slip like this.

The part with Jesse Plemons was one of the most tense scenes I've seen in a long time. At the beginning I was sure the young photographer would be annoying, but for the most part isn't.

As mentioned in previous posts as a negative, I thought the fact you didn't know the ideologies of either the WF or the government was for me a positive, in that we, as the viewer didn't have a 'side' to root for, just observe.

Craiglamuffin

359 posts

181 months

Thursday 2nd May
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Just seen it here too and really enjoyed the tension of the whole thing.

I also thought the young photographer might be annoying, but the way she became so comfortable with what was happening around her nicely summed up how quickly war had turned people.

Only 3 people in our cinema showing and we all jumped with the gunshots too! 😆

Terry Winks

1,217 posts

14 months

Wednesday 8th May
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That's not what I expected it to be, only saw the trailers and inbetween jobs I love the day time trip to the cinema.

Thought it was great, and I would agree, I didn't get a sense of its political side, it actually seemed purposely didn't go into the reasons for the Civil War itself. That's the first realistic representation of gun fire though and the loudness of it I have seen in a film since Heat.