Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-22-2011, 03:51 PM:

CINEMA: Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons, Sandy, UT
AUDITORIUM: 13
PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital Cinema DLP
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Three stars (out of four)

So the pre-show television-grade commercial nonsense ends and the Texas Instruments DLP thingie plays, then two cinema-grade local commercials that always play with the trailers play, then the Dolby Digital Cinema trailer plays, then the movie starts.

NOT ONE MOVIE TRAILER.

Hmmm.

THE PLOT: A wimp transforms. Not like a Transformer...more like Charles Atlas. Wackiness ensues.

I really liked the period piece feel of this. Hugo Weaving was an awesome villain. The confrontation between him and Captain America on the bridge as they separate was a great scene.

I don't think this one will be a long term memorable feature, but it's solid anyway.

I'm told there's no scene after the credits, and I didn't stick around to find out. The scene that's usually there actually ended the feature this time.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-22-2011, 03:57 PM:

Did Hugo call anyone "Mr Anderson"? Because that is always what I expect from him when he's onscreen in any movie. It was very distracting in Lord of the Rings and I simply could not buy whatever character he played. Matrix ruined him for all other movies.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-22-2011, 03:59 PM:

Admittedly, even without him wearing the sunglasses, I couldn't help but keep thinking the same thing.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 07-22-2011, 04:18 PM:

It's like "Al Bundy" syndrome. Do you ever see Ed O'Neil in anything and not think "Hey that's Al Bundy playing that ____"

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 07-22-2011, 04:53 PM:

I'd argue Weaving pulled off Lord Elrond, specifically because he wasn't a villain that time.

AJG

Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 07-22-2011, 06:58 PM:

One has an entirely different problem when their introduction to Hugo Weaving is from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

In some ways, I'd prefer to expect "Mr. Anderson..." [uhoh]

Posted by David Bowler (Member # 6064) on 07-22-2011, 07:08 PM:

There is a teaser for The Avengers after the credits.

Posted by Mike Frese (Member # 4361) on 07-22-2011, 10:05 PM:

There is a scene at the end of the credits with Nick Fury as well as a preview for The Avengers.

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 07-22-2011, 10:13 PM:

It's on-screen right now for the first time at our place, and I'm a bit confused. This is susposedly period set back in the 1940's right? Just saw a guy in some control room watching a dude blow up stuff with a tank via an LCD COLOR monitor and a PAN-TILT VIDEO CAMERA? Since I was born in '67, I can't really recall if they had LCD monitors and pan-tilt video cameras in the 40's.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-28-2011, 12:42 AM:

quote: Aaron Garman
I'd argue Weaving pulled off Lord Elrond

He did, but it didn't make it to the final cut.

[Eek!]

On a side note, is The Avengers going to be in 1.85? That seems odd.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-28-2011, 01:49 AM:

Other than the tea joke, this isn't worth your time. [Razz]

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 07-28-2011, 12:45 PM:

I always wanted to see that one Brad, even if everyone hated it. Besides, the cast at least makes it interesting.

AJG

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-28-2011, 01:41 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
Matrix ruined him for all other movies.

I agree Hugo Weaving was such a good villian in The Matrix it doomed him to being typecast. I think Alan Rickman's career suffered for some years after he played "Hans Gruber" in Die Hard over the same kind of thing. Even 20 years later whenever Rickman is in a new movie, like one of those Harry Potter installments, I always think of him as Hans Gruber.

quote: Barry Floyd
Just saw a guy in some control room watching a dude blow up stuff with a tank via an LCD COLOR monitor and a PAN-TILT VIDEO CAMERA? Since I was born in '67, I can't really recall if they had LCD monitors and pan-tilt video cameras in the 40's.

The earliest black and white studio video cameras from the 1940s had very limited capability. Any pan/tilt movement would have been built into the large pedestal holding the camera body, if the pan/tilt capability was there at all. The very first color video cameras weren't introduced until the 1950's.

Additionally color TV production and broadcasting wasn't widespread (from large to small market TV stations) until the mid 1970s. I remember it being a pretty big deal when the Far East Network TV station aboard Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan upgraded to doing the news in color in the late 1970s. Many of the movies they aired were ran on film and converted to a video signal and broadcast as the film ran. They even shot some of their news footage on film. It took a few years for that FEN station to complete the transition to video.

LCD-based devices didn't appear until the 1970s. Wrist watches and digital displays for electronics devices were among the first devices. The first LCD-based color computer monitors didn't go into production until the mid 1990s. At that time a 21" CRT with 1600 X 1200 resolution was the top end for computer monitors.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-28-2011, 04:14 PM:

quote: Brad Miller
Other than the tea joke, this isn't worth your time.

I'd likely rather watch that Avengers rather than the Avengers which is forthcoming. For one thing, it's guaranteed to be a lot less confusing since there aren't two dozen characters to keep track of each with their own little subplot. I can't imagine the comic book Avengers movie being any good, but comic fans will love it nonetheless.

I imagine to keep the confusion down, the Avengers will "group up" into two or three different groups, maybe four. Mark my words. It's the only way it could be somewhat coherent.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-28-2011, 06:37 PM:

Brad, for a moment I thought you were going to post THIS.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 07-28-2011, 09:33 PM:

This is one of the best comedy films of the year. I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud here.

This is pure textbook old-fashioned melodrama. You have the unflinching hero (Captain America)[note the song lyrics: "Stalwart and steady and true!"], the virtuous maiden (Peggy Carter) and the ultimate in evil {Johann Schmidt/Red Skull). Good never loses, evil never wins. Every time the villain tries something, he is foiled by the hero. I wanted to literally cheer on the hero and hiss at the villain. This would make a great audience participation picture.

3D is really bad here. Not "Last Airbender" bad but pretty bad. No reason for this to be in 3D. In the early parts of the film, skinny Steven's face looks to be on a different plane from his body...very creepy. See it in 2D...it will be brighter and clearer.

I heard very little in the surrounds...was this intentional or just a bad setup at the theatre I attended?

If you painted Red Skulls head green. wouldn't you have Jim Carrey in THE MASK? And on that giant Flying Wing, why do you only hear the 2 jet engines and not any of those propeller?

I LOVED the STAR SPANGLED MAN song. Nice work by Alan Menkin. Especially liked the last shot of the "tour" at what is supposed to be Radio City Music Hall. Loved the line "Who’ll hang a noose on the goose-stepping goons from Berlin?"

A lot of the look of the movie reminded me of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (2004)

My rating: As a classic melodrama, A+, as an action film, C
Wife Rating: D ("I just didn't get it.")

Oh, and the only real AVENGERS has Diana Rigg as Emma Peel.

Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 07-29-2011, 07:09 AM:

quote: Mark Lensenmayer
A lot of the look of the movie reminded me of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (2004)

Yes I can see that. Maybe a combination of that and Joe Johnston's previous The Rocketeer. There was a similar feel to me of both of those Johnston-directed movies. His recreation of an era as filtered through pulp comics is wonderful!

Not a fan of fake 3D, but was pleasantly surprised with this. I didn't notice any disembodiement of heads or such. There might have been a few shots here and there where contours seemed odd, but overall it appeared fine to me.

I saw it on the same screen on which I watched Drive Angry, and even without the glasses, the screen was noticably darker than before. Me thinks they're stretching their xenons...

Other than that, I had a great time.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 08-05-2011, 01:35 PM:

even though the film was 3D post converted, I thought the 3D really added alot of fun to the film visually. Mazza's Sony DP presentation were excellent, enough light, bright and colourful - Mazza has not yet disappointed me

Posted by Connor Wilson (Member # 6088) on 08-05-2011, 02:27 PM:

CINEMA: AMC Loews Palisades Center 21
AUDITORIUM: 4
PRESENTATION: Sony Digital Cinema 4K, I presume
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None that I noticed.
RATING: Five (out of ten)

The 2D-to-3D conversion I thought was so fantastic, I forgot I was watching a conversion! Otherwise, this movie blows in heart and wit.

Star-Spangled Man is a good track, though.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 08-05-2011, 02:37 PM:

I agree with Jonathan and Connor about the 2-D to 3-D conversion of CAPTAIN AMERICAN. I also thought the conversion of THOR to 3-D was also good. I saw both movies in Real D at the Regal Pearl Highland and the three 3-D auditoriums there are all excellent!

-Claude

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 08-06-2011, 06:03 PM:

quote: Mark Lensenmayer
I heard very little in the surrounds...was this intentional or just a bad setup at the theatre I attended?

It was probably intentional since I think Captain America's director, Joe Johnston, prefers a more passive presence in the surround channels. Case in point: When I interviewed him back in 2004, he had this to say:

quote:
QUESTION: How important a role does sound (namely, multichannel surround sound) play in the effectiveness of a movie presentation?

JOE JOHNSTON: Sound plays a tremendously important role in presentation, but like all other bags of tricks, it should only be an accessory to telling the story. A talented sound designer can find ways to make sound evoke feelings that pictures can't. But the key here is subtlety and restraint. If every sound goes whirling around the theatre's surround sound system, the audience gets tired of it and it loses its impact. If you put one or two choice sound moments in the surrounds, it can have a shocking and memorable effect.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 08-07-2011, 11:42 PM:

in terms of the sound, the film was supposed to be on screen 2, but with 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II' being on that screen (3D and all) I guess it was doing boffo business that AMC decided to give Captain America the shaft, which was a shame since I was looking forward to hearing the 7.1 soundmix that auditorium 2 offers (oh well, guess I'll just have to wait and hear it as such when it gets released on bluray)