This is topic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 11-10-2018, 06:10 PM:
 
CINEMA: B&B Liberty 12, Liberty, MO
AUDITORIUM: 1
PRESENTATION: B&B GRAND Screen with Recline-O-Vision, butt warmers, ScreenX, and DTS:X
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

B&B has the new Pepsi answer to Coke's Freestyle machines. A little fancier looking, identical operation, and way less choice because Coke owns way more brands. More impressed with the Pepsi it poured than the Coke that pours from the Freestyle machines.

You know what I like in this auditorium? The recliners actually recline enough to comfortably watch the feature on this big screen from the fourth row. More than enough, actually. I didn't even recline it the whole way back.

THE PLOT: A rock band makes it. Wackiness ensues.

If you were a music fan on July 13, 1985 and had access to MTV, you were watching Live Aid. It was the biggest benefit show of its kind staged in two stadiums simultaneously (Wembley, 70,000 in attendance, and JFK, 100,000 in attendance) and not only were most of the major acts of the day performing, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited, and Paul McCartney showed up.

Queen laid waste to all of them.

Freddy Mercury held that audience in the palm of his hand. They were his, and happy to be so. It was voted the greatest live performance in the history of rock in a 2005 industry poll. If you've never seen it, get the Blu-ray of "Queen Rock Montreal", which includes the complete performance (along with a complete high definition shot-on-film concert from 1981, you know, if that interests you.)

It's the amazing recreation of the Live Aid performance that saves this movie and the way they wrap emotional connections from scenes into it. Because prior to this, the movie is a highlight reel of band and Mercury moments (with a lot of liberties taken) no more better done than any band biopic you've ever seen, made-for-TV ones included. It's as formula as it gets. And critics have angrily roasted it as a result.

Thing is, every average moviegoer I know of who's seen this absolutely love it Why? Because average biopics play well to them. There's a scene where Mercury is being interviewed on the radio and, having failed to get "Bohemian Rhapsody" released as he first single from "A Night at the Opera", gets the guy to play it. As it starts, a collage of one-line negative critic responses to the song from back then appear on the screen. They were all proven wrong by the public, who made the song massive. That's exactly what's happening with the movie. The critics hate it, but the masses love it.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-12-2018, 01:10 AM:
 
I never did like the song much and still don't, but I still want to see this movie. I like biopics so I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Since it kicked ass upon release I think we'll probably play it, if the schedule opens up anywhere.
 

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Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-14-2018, 04:05 AM:
 
If it's just the song the movie is named after you don't like, then the good news is that the song is just a small part of the movie.

If you don't like Queen's music at all, or have a hard time looking at Freddie Mercury's peculiar antics, then the movie will be quite a hard ride.

I generally enjoyed it. Maybe it was somewhat over-dramatized, sometimes even a bit cheesy and there are the usual inaccuracies due to "artistic licensing" and "story streamlining", but the good parts win. The stunning recreation of the Live Aid concert was the absolute highlight for me.
 

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Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 11-16-2018, 04:55 PM:
 
I certainly enjoyed watching this one; the music is a damn sight better than A Star is Born.

It's an interesting story that's well made. And the concert scenes don't blow you out of your chair so I didn't feel like I had been assaulted by the time the show was over.

Anyone who enjoys Queen will probably like this movie. Anyone who doesn't, won't. But they won't be the folks coming to watch this one, anyway.
 

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Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 11-23-2018, 09:58 AM:
 
Ultrashort version: Until the film arrived, I knew TWO Queen songs and never cared.
Now, -for the last four weeks, I've been standing in the back of the auditorium for the last twenty minutes of every show, listening, whatching, rocking along ! It's just great, and so say my custumers every night !
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 11-26-2018, 10:17 AM:
 
it may take some liberties with true actual events and facts, but the film is undeniably entertaining ~ really quite enjoyed it.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-04-2018, 10:41 PM:
 
Cinema: AMC Patriot 13, Lawton
Screen: 12
Format: Mystery Meat Digital, 5.1 Audio?
Presentation Problems: Decent volume, but lacking in the sub-bass & surrounds.
Movie Rating: 3 stars out of 4

Personally, I was a big fan of Queen when I was a kid. I was a little hesitant to see this movie. The mixed reviews from critics added to that problem. But Cynthia kind of twisted my arm to see it. And the $5 Tuesday night ticket deal made it a little easier to take the chance.

The movie wasn't bad. But it takes glaring liberties with the band's history, basic stuff like when certain songs were released, to move the plot in a certain direction or get more emotion out of a certain scene. The anachronistic choices might play best to people who have only a casual familiarity with Queen, such as millennials and younger people who only buy songs one at a time via download or listen to "channels" on their favorite music streaming service. To me it was just as distracting as a bad fourth wall break.

Basically the movie was kind of a superficial greatest hits show, centering on Freddie Mercury. That might be enough for most viewers. There are other documentaries about Queen that dig more into the specifics about the band's history (and at least get the time lines correct on when their albums and hits were released). Even though the focus is on Mercury the plot just covers the basics about him.

I think the cast was great, considering the challenges of who they were playing. At first glance Rami Malek seemed like a terrible choice to play Freddie Mercury. I mean, he's kind of a twirp compared to the actual guy. But Malek is a great actor and probably filled this role better than anyone else could hope to manage. I thought it was funny how Joseph Mazzello (remember the kid from Jurassic Park?) had a resemblance to bass player John Deacon. Brian May is a very impressive guitar player. It's very entertaining to watch May play; his technical precision and phrasing style seems fitting for a top notch orchestra. Gwilym Lee plays the part well, but he obviously can't bend strings like Brian May. I wonder if they used Brian May's original "Red Special" guitar at all in the movie. There's one close-up beauty shot of it in the case. FYI, the Red Special was custom built by Brian May and his dad when Brian was just 15.

It seemed like Mike Myers was cast as Ray Foster partly for the nostalgia effect. Wayne's World gave the song Bohemian Rhapsody another level of popularity 26 years ago. So it kind of seemed fitting to cast Mike Myers in a Queen movie.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-06-2018, 03:41 PM:
 
I liked "Bohemian Rhapsody" quite a lot, which for me is a pretty good leap because I was never a huge Queen fan, never liked the title song, and would rather have a root canal than ever hear "We Are the Champions" ever again.

One thing the movie taught me though, was that I was more of a Queen fan and knew more about them than I had given myself credit for. I agree with Bobby that the "facts out of order" stuff really bugged me. In this movie, "Fat Bottomed Girls" came out right after "Bohemian Rhapsody and ahead of "Another One Bites the Dust!"

You might also get the impression that they only ever made one album. None of other album covers are ever shown or even talked about, and no album title is ever mentioned outside of "A Night at the Opera." (Probably because the rest of the albums and concepts weren't as "difficult" for the record company to swallow.) The stylistic shifts they made with each record was hardly dealt with at all...I'm sure there were a lot more arguments with record company suits than what's shown in the film. But then, I enjoy seeing that kind of stuff where the typical moviegoer might prefer getting right to the next concert scene.

And it's pretty obvious that a lot of things didn't happen as quickly or as neatly in real life as they did in the movie, but that's just a function of moviemaking....if they told the whole story exactly as it happened it'd be a six-hour show.

That said, there is a lot to like in this movie. As Louis points out, the Live Aid performance at the end makes up for whatever problems came before. I looked up the video of the actual 1985 performance on YouTube, and the degree of accuracy is astounding. Even little touches like the placement of the Pepsi cups on the piano, or the green tape on the microphone, or the cheesy colored floodlights at the foot of the stage are spot on. When watching the video I at first thought it was footage from the movie!

Aside from the final concert scene, I really enjoyed the other songs in the soundtrack, especially "Don't Stop Me Now." Even the ones I'm sick of sounded awesome coming out of the theater sound system. I enjoyed the "We Will Rock You" segment the most. The sound in this bit was awesome.

So I'd give this one 3.5 stars.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-07-2018, 12:23 PM:
 

quote: Mike Blakesley

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You might also get the impression that they only ever made one album. None of other album covers are ever shown or even talked about, and no album title is ever mentioned outside of "A Night at the Opera." (Probably because the rest of the albums and concepts weren't as "difficult" for the record company to swallow.) The stylistic shifts they made with each record was hardly dealt with at all...I'm sure there were a lot more arguments with record company suits than what's shown in the film. But then, I enjoy seeing that kind of stuff where the typical moviegoer might prefer getting right to the next concert scene.

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quote: Bobby Henderson

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the scene involving Mike Myers is funny ("the song is six bloody minutes long")

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