my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film Handlers' Movie Reviews   » The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008) (Page 3)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Author Topic: The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008) Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 12-21-2008 07:06 PM                     I've seen the old one and I can't find anything to be sentimental about---just an old badly done even for the day sci-fi.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-22-2008 11:36 AM                     I watched the first 15 min., and the last 15 min at a job site last week. That was enough. What a piece of crap!  |  IP: Logged Chad M Calpito Master Film Handler Posts: 435 From: San Diego, CA Registered: Apr 2006 posted 12-22-2008 10:03 PM                        I saw the movie yesterday at AMC La Jolla 12. I thought it was ok. To me, the original was the best. The special effects were good, but the idea of Gort becoming those little bugs that were to disintegrate every thing was way to far-fetched, especially the windows. Makes me wonder what those studio people are thinking. Oh well. I rate this film at a measly 2 out of 5 stars.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-24-2008 09:20 AM                     quote: Bill Enos I've seen the old one and I can't find anything to be sentimental about---just an old badly done even for the day sci-fi. quote: Chad M Calpito The special effects were good, but the idea of Gort becoming those little bugs that were to disintegrate every thing was way to far-fetched, especially the windows. This plays right into the hands of "Fitzkee's Fallacy." The idea that nobody will want to watch something unless there are special effects to "spice it up." The term was first applied, specifically, to magic shows by Darwin Ortiz in the book "Strong Magic." Basically, think about the "David Copperfield" type show where there are 15 minutes of scantily-clad women dancing on stage interspersed with about 90 seconds of actual magic. The presumption is that nobody will want to watch the show unless there are other things (girls, music and special effects) to "entertain" the audience. Consider the counterpoint of a magician like David Blaine or Chris Angel who can basically bring an audience to its knees standing in the middle of Central Park, wearing nothing but a pair of bluejeans and a white T-shirt. Apply this concept to a movie: We have movies like Luca's "American Grafitti" which, by most accounts is a great movie but has few, if any, special effects. Then we have his "Star Wars" series. "Episode I" through "Episode III" are heavy on special effects but are not considered to be Luca's best work by any but the faithful Star Wars fans. It is only the original "Star Wars" movie (Epsisode IV) which has a good blend of special effects and plot that make the movie believable. Now, consider "The Day the Earth Stood Still"... The original movie and the remake. We have the old 1950's version which has poor effects, even for the day, but is considered a good movie because it has plot and story elements that people will WANT to watch. They will "suspend disbelief" relative to the special effects because the REST of the movie is enjoyable. On the other hand, we have the remake version which, by all accounts, pales by comparison even though the special effects are orders of magnitude better than the first version. As a matter of fact, the very first post in this thread stated: quote: "Justin Gorka" Effects are well done without being OTT. I guess we could say that there is a new genre of movie: The "Special Effects" movie. It is the type of movie which has a purpose none other than to showcase the studio's SFX department. These films have been around for a long time, only coming into their own when digital (CGI) effets became viable. But, nowadays, with films like the "Star Wars" prequels I suppose we can say that they are in a class of their own. So, the question is: Do you consider "The Day the Earth Stood Still" to be a "Special Effect" movie? Frankly, I don't think it is. Nor should it be. And, so... "When somebody mentions a movie like this but one of the first things they mention are special effects, I KNOW it's going to be a bad movie. Or, at least a mediocre one with lots of SFX.  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 12-24-2008 10:46 AM                     I go to a movie for the whole thing, to me a good story is wasted if the rest is intolerable crap as this thing was. Do you want to sit through a Harry Potter or Dark Knight with effects at that level?  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-24-2008 12:24 PM                     I always grin when somebody says they "sat through" a movie. It implies that they simply sat there and "tolerated" it rather than watched and enjoyed the show. I rarely, if ever, "sit through" a movie. The only time I do it is when I am with another person who wants to watch it such that it would be impolite for me to walk out.  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 12-26-2008 12:58 PM                     Sometimes I'm thinking it can't get any worse than this, maybe it'll get better, usually doesn't though.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 01-04-2009 07:30 PM                        Caught up with this today at Regal 15 in Eugene, #11. Looked and sounded good. This movie is not very good, notwithstanding some nice visual effects. It's like the actors are just reciting dialog a lot of the time, and not always well-written dialog. Kind of lifeless. Hard to put my finger on exactly what's wrong except it just kind of falls flat. 2 out of 5.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-05-2009 01:18 AM                     quote: David Stambaugh what's wrong except it just kind of falls flat. It seems like a lot of movies made lately does this - like the director suddenly guns down on the throttle towards the end just to get this project done. ..and you walk out wondering what you just saw... -Monte  |  IP: Logged Caleb Johnstone-Cowan Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 593 From: London, UK Registered: Mar 2006 posted 01-05-2009 09:29 PM                     This film was atrocious, I'm not even glad that I was paid to watch it (we usher some shows now). It was just boring. The characters didn't endear themselves, there was no humour, and there was a total lack of action. It looked like the producers thought seeing Giants Stadium turn to dust would be enough to satisfy the audience. One of the worst films of 2008. The only good thing was it reminded me how much I love Independence Day, that's how a sci-fi event film should be done!  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.