Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (US 2011)

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Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 12-22-2011, 08:41 AM:

This movie is a veritable frame-for-frame remake of the 2009 Swedish feature which itself was a composit crafted for American audiences from the much longer Swedish TV miniseries.

This 2011 version is not bad but much like the Americanized remake of "Let The Right One In" it was completely unnecessary.

In the name of truth-in-advertising the title really ought be called "The Girl With the Dragon Tat-Two"

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 12-22-2011, 09:52 AM:

I don't agree about the frame-by-frame remake. The new film spends more time with the relationship between the writer and the editor, and also shows the sexual relationship between Lisbeth and Micke that wasn't as graphic the earlier version. There is also a significant differnce in the end of the movie regarding the missing Harriet. We also see more of Lisbeth's relationship with her original guardian. I thought this was a better movie than the first.

I really enjoyed this...seemed to move well even with its length. Music is especially good...this is the music Lisbeth would be wanting to hear.

My rating - A-
Wife rating - A-

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 12-23-2011, 08:51 PM:

I guess I am one of the lucky ones who did not see the original Swedish versions of both Let the Right One In and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I absolutely loved Let Me In and I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. For a 2 1/2 hour movie, the pacing was spot-on and never dragged. I thought Rooney Mara was quite amazing and would not be surprised if she got an Oscar nomination if not a win.

I would definitely watch this again to catch all the little details of each scene/setting. Also, the score is another win from Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross. I can't forget to mention the opening credit sequence. It's pretty awesome looking which matches the cover of 'Immigrant Song' by Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Trent Reznor.

4.5/5

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 12-24-2011, 06:48 PM:

CINEMA: Regal Green Valley Ranch Stadium 10, Henderson, NV
AUDITORIUM: 7
PRESENTATION: Sony 4K Digital
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four)

THE PLOT: A Swedish miniseries is bastardized into a Trent Reznor music video. Wackiness ensues.

The thing about the subject matter is that translating this type of thing to a script can result in something that feels like it drags a lot, which I found amazingly not the case with the Swedish version. Not so much with the American version.

I wasn't happy with pretty much any of the end resolutions in this one versus the original.

Posted by Keegan O'Brien (Member # 6539) on 12-25-2011, 05:22 PM:

CINEMA: Regal Old Mill Stadium 16 & IMAX (Bend, Oregon)
AUDITORIUM: 13
PRESENTATION: Sony Digital 4K
PROBLEMS: None, perfection.
RATING: 93/100

I haven't been as thrilled, excited, or interested in a film while sitting in the cinema as much as with this film in a long time. As soon as the opening credits sequence began I smiled like a kid on Christmas morning. The story was fascinating and riveting, the composition nearing perfection, the cinematography beautiful (see this in nothing other than Sony or DLP 4K), the acting, specifically by Mara, was captivating and mesmerizing, the music was ear candy, and the directing inspiring. Fincher has done it again... remarkable.

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 12-26-2011, 10:21 PM:

Just out of curiousity, anyone else find the sound mix to be a bit on the low side. We had to turn our fader up quite a bit to compensate for the sometimes-hard-to-understand dialogue (especially with the accents). If it's just me, then I'll have to get our levels checked out.

Edit: What I mean to say is that the dynamic range seems a little wider than normal.

Posted by Keegan O'Brien (Member # 6539) on 12-27-2011, 01:09 PM:

For the first 15 minutes the dialogue was a bit tough to comprehend, but after that I didn't have an issue.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 12-27-2011, 01:26 PM:

..and that's still 2K info being used in those 4K units..content just scaled up to fill the 4K chip.

And, if it was the twin lens setup, it's not even in HD being each dual image is only 858 x 2048.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 12-28-2011, 03:59 PM:

4.5 stars. Good music, good sound mix, wonderful new star. Sure to see at least 4-5 Oscar noms. All Dolby presentation on white screen with Christie projector (Series 1) Baxter Ave #8, Louisville, KY.

Posted by Steven J Hart (Member # 2340) on 12-28-2011, 10:25 PM:

quote: Monte L Fullmer
..and that's still 2K info being used in those 4K units..content just scaled up to fill the 4K chip.

I'm not so sure about that... The files for our DCP trailers for TGWTDT are identified as being 4K on the server.

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 12-28-2011, 11:20 PM:

This movie flopped big time.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-29-2011, 12:02 AM:

How about providing a source with numbers?

Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 12-29-2011, 10:54 PM:

--------------------------------deleted--------------------------

Posted by Keegan O'Brien (Member # 6539) on 12-29-2011, 10:59 PM:

quote: Monte L Fullmer
..and that's still 2K info being used in those 4K units..content just scaled up to fill the 4K chip.

And, if it was the twin lens setup, it's not even in HD being each dual image is only 858 x 2048.

Depending on the theater... a good chunk of Regal and AMC's have 4K servers and get 4K (Dragon is more like 3K anyway) DCP's when they're available. Not the majority, but a good portion. And the difference is obvious to those with a keen eye. I'd appreciate it if every-time I say I've seen a film in 4K that you don't A.) Assume I can't tell the difference between 4/2K, and B.) Don't assume the theater I attend has the worst possible set up. Thanks. You'll know if I saw a movie with that kind of set up Monte, this is the place I'll complain about it. [Wink]

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 12-31-2011, 04:49 PM:

actually 'Girl' was shot in Red Epic (5K) there was some press news that Sony is releasing this in actual 4K - was this also released in DLP 4K??

Posted by Keegan O'Brien (Member # 6539) on 12-31-2011, 05:55 PM:

quote: Jonathan Goeldner
actually 'Girl' was shot in Red Epic (5K) there was some press news that Sony is releasing this in actual 4K - was this also released in DLP 4K??

Dragon Tattoo was primarily shot with the Red One MX, with some scenes being shot with the Epic. However, the Red Epic won't produce a 5K image. It has a 5K sensor. It'd be like Sony advertising their new F65 as an 8K camera because it has an 8K sensor. The actual resolution of the image you can pull from the Epic is just over 4K after it goes through the debayering process. However, the resolution of Dragon Tattoo is lower than that anyway, since A.) Red One MX max's out a 3.7K, and B.) Fincher shoots with a heavy crop to give him enough space to re-frame an image in post if he so chooses. See image below.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwmo64Hu6a1qchowc.jpg

This results in a loss of 1/3 the resolution. He shot The Social Network the same way, and Peter Jackson is using this method on both The Hobbit films as well. And yes, as long as the theater has 4K servers Dragon Tattoo is being shown via DLP 4K as well. As far as I know, the DCP's for DLP's and Sony are the same.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 01-04-2012, 02:48 AM:

Finally got around to watching this tonight. Normally I would have loved this movie. It was very well made and told an interesting story. But it pales in comparison to the 2009 Swedish movie.

In most respects, the 2009 film felt more like a real investigation. You saw the characters looking for the evidence and the story behind how the evidence was discovered. A prime example is the photos from the parade. Fincher's film is more of a procedural by comparison. They have the evidence, but there is little story to go with how it is collected.

I also felt like the scene with Lizbeth's old guardian was kind of tacked on with little context to the story. In the Swedish version, the scene with her mother - along with the flashbacks of what she did to her father, help give context to her character.

Don't misunderstand me, Fincher's film is very well made and is one of the best movies from 2011. I just suffers from comparison to better movie.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-04-2012, 03:17 AM:

--deleted--

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 01-14-2012, 07:37 PM:

The best thing about this American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is that this is Fincher's version of Dragon tattoo. Not being a huge fan of the original film (sure, it was entertaining enough but not a life-changing experience), I met the breaking news of an American remake with a tired groan. However when a competent director as notable as David Fincher gets involved with a project as slovenly as a remake, it demands attention.

The good news is that this new adaptation is as good as the original. The bad news is that it is only as good as the original. The weakness in both these films is the story - I just don't find it greatly interesting. There's a lot of character threads to keep track of (a fact, ironically, articulated directly by Christopher Plummer's character in the film) and the pay off for juggling this multitude of components simply doesn't pay off in the end. It certainly doesn't live up to Fincher's utterly brilliant rock video prologue which plays like some nightmarish, f*cked-up 007 opening credits sequence. It's truly breathtaking.

The second best thing about this film is Rooney Mara. Fincher has clearly recognised something special in Mara whilst working previously with her in The Social Network, something which was not readily apparent up on the screen. Nor was it apparent in her breakout film, the remake of A Nightmare on Elm St - I don't even remember her in that film despite occupying the lead role of Nancy! But in the remake Dragon Tattoo, she single-handedly knocks it out of the park. After Noomi Rapace made the role her own in the previous film, Mara does a wonderful job carving out a place for herself in this work. She's a magnetic screen presence possessing an intensity which conveys this lonely, damaged, explosively feministic individual with remarkable subtlety. We are madly in love with her and petrified of her at the same time.

Mara's Swedish accent is also consistently strong in a film where the elocution elsewhere is all over the place or absent completely. Given this variability, one wonders why Swedish accents were attempted at all. An American film full of American accents despite being set in Sweden would have drawn less attention.

David Fincher is a steady hand and a competent director but his films are better when his stories are less conventional - who would have thought, for instance, that a story about the founding of Facebook could be so fascinating. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is closer to Zodiac for me; competently made and entertaining but not a world changer. The truth is, I found myself wanting to like this more than I actually did.

7.5 out of 10

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 01-15-2012, 10:31 AM:

I am certain that the symbols and characters in this story are allegorical of the history of modern Europe. As an American, I do not know the exact similarities, but the name "Lisbeth" is no accident. Louis

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 01-27-2012, 12:00 AM:

I have a question about the sound mix. I saw it tonight at the Regal Edwards Marketplace 14 in Bakersfield on one of their recently converted 4K auditoriums. It seemed every single left or right screen sound source was coming from the left surround of right surround while the end credits had music that seemed to mostly be coming from the surrounds as well. Was this on purpose? Or did this theatre screw up the osund assignments?