Discussion
Saw it yesterday afternooon at the Leicester Square IMAX with an audience of about six, which was perfect.
Thought it was excellent, been avoiding reveiws and this thread so went in blind and it was all the better for that.
Soundtrack went well, right from the start, along with some of the opposing imagery. (eg armoured vehicles and cyclists in NY).
Tense.
To me it had a slight Apocalypse Now feel about it which wasn't a bad thing.
I did flnch once or twice, as the sound was so immense, the gunfire was outstanding and the Washington DC part was brilliant on such a big screen, felt like I was there.
Walking out to a busy Leicester Square afterwards did leave me thinking how close things could be to changing to something like that, something I really didn't want to dwell on for long, so went and got a burger.
Well worth going to see. A solid 8.5 out of 10.
Thought it was excellent, been avoiding reveiws and this thread so went in blind and it was all the better for that.
Soundtrack went well, right from the start, along with some of the opposing imagery. (eg armoured vehicles and cyclists in NY).
Tense.
To me it had a slight Apocalypse Now feel about it which wasn't a bad thing.
I did flnch once or twice, as the sound was so immense, the gunfire was outstanding and the Washington DC part was brilliant on such a big screen, felt like I was there.
Walking out to a busy Leicester Square afterwards did leave me thinking how close things could be to changing to something like that, something I really didn't want to dwell on for long, so went and got a burger.
Well worth going to see. A solid 8.5 out of 10.
Edited by vixen1700 on Thursday 18th April 12:13
Not seen a trailer or a review so pretty blind as well.
IMAX, about 10 people, best way to watch a film
The sound was incredible and made the gunfire all the more shocking.
I think the adrenaline rush that many war photo journalists have written about is very well portrayed but......
Would they be right in there with patrols that are attacking somewhere? Surely the soldiers wouldn't be happy with that.
Plus the young actress looked about 12.
Enjoyed it though and they packed in a lot in an old school hour and a half.
IMAX, about 10 people, best way to watch a film
The sound was incredible and made the gunfire all the more shocking.
I think the adrenaline rush that many war photo journalists have written about is very well portrayed but......
Would they be right in there with patrols that are attacking somewhere? Surely the soldiers wouldn't be happy with that.
Plus the young actress looked about 12.
Enjoyed it though and they packed in a lot in an old school hour and a half.
vixen1700 said:
Saw it yesterday afternooon at the Leicester Square IMAX with an audience of about six, which was perfect.
Thought it was excellent, been avoiding reveiws and this thread so went in blind and it was all the better for that.
Soundtrack went well, right from the start, along with some of the opposing imagery. (eg armoured vehicles and cyclists in NY).
Tense.
To me it had a slight Apocalypse Now feel about it which wasn't a bad thing.
I did flnch once or twice, as the sound was so immense, the gunfire was outstanding and the Washington DC part was brilliant on such a big screen, felt like I was there.
Walking out to a busy Leicester Square afterwards did leave me thinking how close things could be to changing to something like that, something I really didn't want to dwell on for long, so went and got a burger.
Well worth going to see. A solid 8.5 out of 10.
Agree on the sound, elements of the 2nd half of Full Metal Jacket. We enjoyed it.Thought it was excellent, been avoiding reveiws and this thread so went in blind and it was all the better for that.
Soundtrack went well, right from the start, along with some of the opposing imagery. (eg armoured vehicles and cyclists in NY).
Tense.
To me it had a slight Apocalypse Now feel about it which wasn't a bad thing.
I did flnch once or twice, as the sound was so immense, the gunfire was outstanding and the Washington DC part was brilliant on such a big screen, felt like I was there.
Walking out to a busy Leicester Square afterwards did leave me thinking how close things could be to changing to something like that, something I really didn't want to dwell on for long, so went and got a burger.
Well worth going to see. A solid 8.5 out of 10.
Edited by vixen1700 on Thursday 18th April 12:13
Great film, highly recommended
The trailer was certainly quite misleading, as I expected the film to be more political than it was. In reality, it remained fairly apolitical, and I think it did a good job of not choosing sides, or even explaining what the sides were. Ultimately it was the breakaway Western Forces against the USA, but the reason for the breakaway was never discussed apart from a couple of throwaway lines (the Antifa massacre and the USA killing it's own people). Most of the time, you never knew who the people with the guns were fighting for, the atrocities were seemingly committed by everyone.
It was a film about journalism and recording history, the risks that war photographers have to take to be in on the action. Calling the main character Lee Miller and having a scene with her sat in the bath is a direct reference to history and the entire film is a modern retelling of the Allies rush to Berlin in WW2. Ultimately, the atrocities of war never change.
9/10
The trailer was certainly quite misleading, as I expected the film to be more political than it was. In reality, it remained fairly apolitical, and I think it did a good job of not choosing sides, or even explaining what the sides were. Ultimately it was the breakaway Western Forces against the USA, but the reason for the breakaway was never discussed apart from a couple of throwaway lines (the Antifa massacre and the USA killing it's own people). Most of the time, you never knew who the people with the guns were fighting for, the atrocities were seemingly committed by everyone.
It was a film about journalism and recording history, the risks that war photographers have to take to be in on the action. Calling the main character Lee Miller and having a scene with her sat in the bath is a direct reference to history and the entire film is a modern retelling of the Allies rush to Berlin in WW2. Ultimately, the atrocities of war never change.
9/10
As the poster above pointed out, you were just never sure who was who, which brings a question about modern warfare.
Take Ukraine as an example. The soldiers on both sides seem to wear the same uniforms, same helmets and use the same rifles.
What they are wearing doesn't appear to be too different to US battledress.
Outfits have evolved to be as efficient, protective, hardy and camouflaged as possible thus have ended up looking very similar.
Rifles mainly are AKs or M4s.
Not like the 'good' old days when German, Brit, US, French, Russian, Italian soldiers all looked very different and all carried different rifles.
Take Ukraine as an example. The soldiers on both sides seem to wear the same uniforms, same helmets and use the same rifles.
What they are wearing doesn't appear to be too different to US battledress.
Outfits have evolved to be as efficient, protective, hardy and camouflaged as possible thus have ended up looking very similar.
Rifles mainly are AKs or M4s.
Not like the 'good' old days when German, Brit, US, French, Russian, Italian soldiers all looked very different and all carried different rifles.
asfault said:
I thought it was rubbish.
Concept (of a modern civil war) was fine as was the actual productions and effects.
but i didnt feel invested in any of the characters. couldnt really tell who was who at times.
dumb ass journalists right at the front of a fire fight come on!
Scenes dwelled on for too long it feels like a movie journalists had too much say into to get their point of their job across.
Nice to see mechwarrior/battletech style concrete defence walls in the future though.
I agree and I thought the press getting in the way during a battle at the end was ridiculous. Concept (of a modern civil war) was fine as was the actual productions and effects.
but i didnt feel invested in any of the characters. couldnt really tell who was who at times.
dumb ass journalists right at the front of a fire fight come on!
Scenes dwelled on for too long it feels like a movie journalists had too much say into to get their point of their job across.
Nice to see mechwarrior/battletech style concrete defence walls in the future though.
Really spoilt the film.
Sorry for the double post (I posted this in the filns I watched thread, forgot there was a Civil War one)...
We saw this tonight. Wow. I was prepared to be underwhelmed after first half hour, it looked to shape up as a clichéd passing of the torch film, but I don't think I've ever felt as uncomfortable watching a film. It is a bloody horror film without the usual trite nonsense. Willfully beautiful in places as it tries to recreate still images, even when it isn't, and lots of nods to cultural icons...if you've seen it you'll know what I mean, it's not zombies we need to be afraid of, it's people...a genuinely disturbing film that twists the art follows life follows art stereotype and wrings every drop from it. Humourless, difficult but in a good way. Recommended. The 'war' scenes are really disturbing, certainly in the relative discomfort of a cinema
We saw this tonight. Wow. I was prepared to be underwhelmed after first half hour, it looked to shape up as a clichéd passing of the torch film, but I don't think I've ever felt as uncomfortable watching a film. It is a bloody horror film without the usual trite nonsense. Willfully beautiful in places as it tries to recreate still images, even when it isn't, and lots of nods to cultural icons...if you've seen it you'll know what I mean, it's not zombies we need to be afraid of, it's people...a genuinely disturbing film that twists the art follows life follows art stereotype and wrings every drop from it. Humourless, difficult but in a good way. Recommended. The 'war' scenes are really disturbing, certainly in the relative discomfort of a cinema
croyde said:
Would they be right in there with patrols that are attacking somewhere? Surely the soldiers wouldn't be happy with that.
Read this
Alot of the stories appeared in Full Metal Jacket and a few in Apocalypse Now. Not in a film is where a reporter would run point in the Vietnam Jungle with no weapon but he was a huntsman stateside so could see 'tales'.
Generation Kill - Rolling Stones reporter imbeded with USMC Recon unit and got to see alot of s
tEvoDelta 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.
Hugo Stiglitz said:
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.
Completely disagree.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.
Unlike White House Down or Olympus Has Fallen which are high ideal films with a simple story where everyone knows who the good guys are and who the bad guys are, with this film all those matters are deliberately left unsaid and blurry as those on each side would know that their view is correct and be utterly unwilling to be persuaded otherwise.
As for a story telling why, how, what - well you thought the president was crazed - why? Because they were a third term president? Who is to say they were not the sane one trying to prevent someone actually crazy from taking control of the nuclear codes. Were the WF the good guys or was it the other guys? Who is to say.
At the end of the day, as was clear from the final scene, the side that won gets to tell the 'why, how, and what' and the other side are buried in shallow graves. That's reality.
Hugo Stiglitz said:
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.
That's clearly not the film that AG was making though. He goes out of his way to avoid the whos and whys of the civil war - it's not important to the story he's telling, it's just a backdrop. It's a little like criticising the Sound of Music for not exploring the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany.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.
That's why I think the trailer is misleading, it's not a war film, but it contains lots of disturbingly realistic war scenes.
Hugo Stiglitz said:
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.
It was a great opener, and a clear sign that something is messed up in this USA, but I disagree that it became just a shooting film. The final scene of getting the interview/story/picture was the whole point of the journey through this fractured USA, so it kindof had to be like that.It then became/finished as just a shooting film.
Hugo Stiglitz said:
Garland's Dredd was a snarling vicious view of the future.
As much as I love Dredd, it was basically 2 hours of shooting and explosions, did we learn why Megacity 1 was like that? Did we learn anything about Dredd?Hugo Stiglitz said:
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.
The story was about the relationship between 2 photographers, the new and the old. The mental impact of covering the war, the danger, the risk and the excitement, and the desire to capture the truth regardless of the personal risk involved. In many ways the civil war was just a device for the real story to be told, and the film could easily have been set in South America or Africa or 1960s vietnam.It just seemed to collapse with no attempt at story telling why, how, what.
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