Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Thor: Ragnarok

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Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 11-04-2017, 03:40 PM:

I saw Thor: Ragnorak at the Regal nee Warren Grand in Moore Oklahoma yesterday at 4:30 in the Grand auditorium (#8). I'm in Oklahoma for my daughter's softball tournament.

I had always wanted to check out the big 80' wide screen at the Grand, and was glad to have a chance, especially before Regal (who recently purchased the theater from Warren) screws up the auditorium they way they did the Continental in Denver.

When we walked in, the curtain was down, which was nice, but then they opened it for a bunch of pre-show commercials. Boo.

The screen IS impressively large. I wish the room had a little more slope to it. We were on the fifth row and looking up just a little more than I like. All in all, though, it was a great presentation. Picture and sound were great. Seating is comfy in wide, spacious rows.

The movie was fun, with more light-hearted humor than most superhero flicks (but nowhere near as funny as Deadpool). It didn't have much heart, though. I never felt any real tension. And the visuals were another case of just too much onscreen. I was glad to have seen it, but wouldn't watch it again.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-04-2017, 04:38 PM:

The balcony seating in the two Grand houses is good, but it costs a few dollars extra. I prefer the two Grand screens at the former Moore Warren over the deep curved "grand infinity" screens at the former Broken Arrow Warren (the deep curve warps and skews the image way too much), but the grand infinity screens in Broken Arrow have Dolby Atmos sound systems. Still, when it comes to Atmos at theaters in Oklahoma I prefer the Cine Capri screen at Harkins' Bricktown location. Lots more surround speakers and they seem more effective. The new Dolby Cinema screen at AMC's Quail Spring Mall location is pretty decent. But the tickets cost a few dollars more than tickets for the Cine Capri.

quote: Geoff Jones
When we walked in, the curtain was down, which was nice, but then they opened it for a bunch of pre-show commercials. Boo.

In the Warren days they didn't run any of that crap. The curtain stayed closed until it needed to open. Warren had the curtains lit up in different colors and projected a Warren logo onto them. They even did this in the IMAX house. The location in Moore is one of very few IMAX-branded theater screens equipped with a curtain. The curtains opened only at show time. They ran a minimal number of movie trailers and then started the movie.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 11-04-2017, 06:08 PM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
The balcony seating in the two Grand houses is good, but it costs a few dollars extra.

I'm usually willing to pay extra for a better experience, but 1) that's way too far from the screen [Smile]

and 2) my 13-year-old daughter couldn't join me up there. Only 21 and up are allowed.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 11-04-2017, 07:10 PM:

SIDE NOTE ABOUT THREAD TITLE: It's Thor: Ragnarok, not Ragnorak)

CINEMA: Regal Warren East, Wichita, KS
AUDITORIUM: 4
PRESENTATION: Warren 21 Recline-O-Vision
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: WTF have they done with the pre-show?
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

As Geoff noted, sometime in the last couple weeks Regal raised the curtains and started running a pre-show thing similar to First Look, but this is called Noovies. What the fuck is a Noovie? The tagline says it's " always entertaining". Whatever. Nobody else noticed because they were all watching porn on their cell phones until it was showtime, when suddenly the footlights came on, the screen curtain dropped, and a couple of patrons said "Welp, the movie's over!" The Voice of the Theatre did his schtick, the curtain rose again, and the Regal Roller coaster rolled, I mean, what was even the point?

THE PLOT: Some asshole wants to destroy Asgard. Wackiness ensues.

My favorite part of this movie was when they threw out the plot twist of the second movie that was clearly designed to set up the third right at the start, because everything about the second movie deserved to be shit on. This movie still isn't as good as the first, but it's fun and funny as hell. Loki, in particular, is completely on point. Hulk gets way more use than I expected. Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster was colorfully fun. Even Doctor Strange's scenes were funny.

Probably could have been shorter, but in the end, nobody was complaining.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 11-04-2017, 08:28 PM:

quote: Sam Graham
SIDE NOTE ABOUT THREAD TITLE: It's Thor: Ragnarok, not Ragnorak)

D'oh! Thanks - fixed

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 11-06-2017, 02:27 PM:

I think Firstlook has changed to Noovie. Still hosted by Maria Menounos. It changed here too.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-06-2017, 05:14 PM:

My buddy Keith who is a huge Marvel fan didn't like it as well as the previous Thors, but people are coming out raving about how they liked it better than they expected, mostly due to it being funny.

I like how the Marvel universe is morphing into a pattern of not taking itself too seriously. Most likely the Iron Man and Deadpool successes (and most recently, Spider-Man) have led to this. I think it's a good trend, at least for a while. People are in the mood for some light-heartedness these days.

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 11-07-2017, 01:17 AM:

Not to get too "religious" but I do like how a major complaint from DC Fanboys is that the Marvel movies have too much humor. So what do they do, ramp up the humor level even more.

BTW, I had watched the one particular scene a couple of times before I had noticed the Matt Damon cameo. I also didn't recognize Sam Neill in the same scene until I read about it later.

Posted by James Wyrembelski (Member # 9037) on 11-07-2017, 04:43 PM:

I enjoyed it enough.

Although I had wished to see more of Hela. She didn't get near enough screen time in my opinion. The main villain, with probably the most potential, felt more like a side story.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-07-2017, 05:09 PM:

quote: Michael Gonzalez
Not to get too "religious" but I do like how a major complaint from DC Fanboys is that the Marvel movies have too much humor. So what do they do, ramp up the humor level even more.

I guess a major compliant from many "non religious" people is that WB/DC (sounds like a name for a band) is trying to copy the concept with stuff like Suicide Squad.

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 11-09-2017, 07:03 PM:

quote: James Wyrembelski
Although I had wished to see more of Hela. She didn't get near enough screen time in my opinion. The main villain, with probably the most potential, felt more like a side story.

Not to get too nerdy but in the comic Thanos is obsessed with Lady Death and ostensibly wiped out half the universe with the Infinity Gauntlet in an effort to impress her. In the comics Hela and Lady Death are two different characters but it seems likely that the characters are going to be merged for Infinity Wars. So there should be more Hela to come.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 11-18-2017, 05:48 PM:

I thought the added humor (which recalled Guardians 1 and 2) felt a little too forced at times, but visually what a fun movie. The 3D was a complete surprise and heightened it tremendously.