*** Official The Departed Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Citizen87645]

The rat on the balcony knocked at least half a point off my score. I was totally into the movie until then, though even sans rat I can't see the film getting Best Picture. I think the final shot with only the Massachusetts State House would have been much more powerful.

 

[BrettGallman]

I finally saw this due to the re-release last weekend, and I loved it.

One of Scorsese's best, in my opinion, which is really saying something.

 

[Tim Glover]

Saw this very, very late last night...actually it was really early this morning.

It is a great film and remains one of the year's best no doubt.

After seeing it again on HD DVD...Jack did deserve an Oscar Nom. Wow. When he's discussing finding the rat scene with Bill and he does that rat impersonation, begins to rub his forehead..Wow...freaky and frightening and even funny at the same time. I hope to never, never piss off Jack in my lifetime .

Yes, I am still suffering from The Oprah Syndrome (TOS) still thinking that...Bill, (Leonardo) should NOT have been killed!
but nothing can change that. Still a very solid movie experience.

 

[John Doran]

saw it again last night - it's the only scorsese film i can stomach, but it's one that i can watch over and over and over again. weird.

i don't like dicaprio, but watching this was (for me, anyway) like watching keanu in the matrix - it was like watching someone disappear and be replaced by someone else.

but i will say that the rat on the balcony is just terrible - it's jarring and irritating every time i see it, without fail. i'd love to know what marty was thinking when he ok'ed that shot...

 

[MikeRS]

I said I'd do it on Oscar night...

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...7&postcount=43







Congratulations Marty!

 

[Joe*A]

Congratulations Mr. Scorsese on you Oscar. Well deserved.

Other than "Goodfellas" which I thought was brilliant from the first time I laid eyes on it, Martin Scorses films are appreciated more as the years go by. The age very well like a fine wine. The Departed will be considered a true classic in the years to come. I watched the film this weekend and thought it was very good but not great. But then again, the following day, I thought of a series of images from the film and again the following day. And I began piecing together the meaning behind a lot of the scenes shot. And that's what makes a movie great - one thinks of it days later with expressions of "wow, that's what that meant".

Mr. Scorsese, please continue showing us how its done right.

 

[Josh.C]

HOLY CRAP!

I finally watched this film tonight. I don't know where to start. Marty is unbelievable. This film was incredible. I haven't been on the edge of my seat like that in a very long time.

The end pissed me off a bit, even though I still think the movie is genious. Don't ever get connected with a character in a Scorcese film. He polishes people off like he's directing a Shakespearean tragedy.

I know my thoughts are jumbled, and I need to let this one soak into my brain. Pure Brilliance is all I can say. 10/10!

JC

 

[Josh.C]

BTW, How in the Heck did Jack not get an Oscar nom for this. There are 4 guys in this film (Nicholson, Damon, Decaprio, and Wahlberg) that gave Oscar winning quality performances. Star power galore, and yet it didn't take away at all from the film.

WOW! I have to go edit my top 10 list now.

 

[Tim Glover]

I'm sure my friend Josh (who FINALLY saw this! )...will agree with me on Leo's character, Costigan, that he should have NOT been killed at the end

I love the film but it kills me when I see it.

 

[Nick Martin]

I must confess that I've never seen a Martin Scorsese film before, but I rented this on Tuesday night to see it due to its Oscar wins and nominated performances.

At the end I was left with a kind of 'what the hell did I just witness' feeling. It so intense, unexpectedly very funny, and I cared about almost every character, making it hard to see one side 'one up' or take down the other.

Are all Scorsese films as great as this? I feel a trip to the video store for a DVD marathon is in order, because I've certainly missed out.

 

[Yee-Ming]

To address the two complaints above, IMHO Jack didn't get an Oscar nod because it was the same-old same-old from Mr Nicholson, nothing that we haven't seen him do before. If anything, it was almost self-parody.

As for the ending, that's what makes the story so much more powerful. Indeed, when I first watched Infernal Affairs, I too (as someone previously observed) had the thought that this was such a good story, it should be remade by Hollywood, provided that they resist "Hollywood-ising" the ending. Which I suppose they did, in the main part -- the ending to Infernal Affairs IMHO is even more grey, or dark, in that the crooked cop doesn't get his comeuppance and remains in the force, although to be fair in IA Andy Lau's character is rather conflicted about his role as a mole and seems to want to go straight, whereas Damon's character was just looking out for #1. Indeed, this darker theme was carried through in the alternative ending (apparently for China audiences where it was deemed inappropriate for a 'bad-guy' to get away wiht it) and Lau's character was arrested upon emerging from the lift, but in that version it ends almost immediately after and Leung's character is never discovered to be an undercover cop, so his reputation is never redeemed, as it was in the original version.

 

[Coressel]

Yes! In my opinion anyway.
Definately treat yourself to a Scoresesefest. You won't be dissapointed.
Some of his films might not be 100% perfect, but even his slight misfires make for compelling and fascinating viewing.

 

[Andy Sheets]

A significant chunk of them are better. I have to admit that while I'm glad he won an Oscar, I have to side with my Scorcese-freak friends who thought it was kind of a joke that it was for this film, which, good as it is, doesn't approach his real masterpieces.

 

[Holadem]

Great? Going by the consensus, the answer is obviously "yes". Like this? Definitely not, this one is heavily plot driven unlike most of his work which as was said in another thread relies more on moods and settings. It's good to keep this in mind, lest you be dissapointed by the likes of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.

This is a minority opinion, but The Departed is easily my favorite Scorsese. The only exception might be Taxi Driver, which I loved but only watched once long ago.

--
H

 

[JediFonger]

1. Absolutely, in fact, the other Marty films are much better than The Departed.

2. If you liked The Departed, please be sure to check out Infernal Affairs (that's FERNAL, not ternal!), the original HK movie that this Departed was made from. imho, that has much better pathos than this one. you care about the characters even MORE

 

[Josh.C]

You mean, absolutely your opinion. I think this film is every bit as good as top notch Scorsese films.

Nicholous, I would recommend the following as "must rent" movies for you, if you liked this.

Casino
Goodfellas
Gangs of New York
Cape Fear

Congrats to Marty!

 

[MikeRS]

And character. A good chunk of his films are meditations on very specific characterizations. His fascination/obsession with a character would usually be the thrust (trumping "conventional" narrative plotting concerns). And the worlds and settings he evoked would methodically be viewed by these distinct personae.


Charlie, Alice, Travis Bickle, Jimmy Doyle, Jake LaMotta, Rupert Pupkin, Jesus, Lionel Dobie, Henry Hill, Max Cady, Newland Archer, Ace Rothstein, The Dalai Lama....

 

[Holadem]

Yup, and pretty unlikeable ones at that. Was it on some interview where he said "I make movies about people you don't want to know".

--
H

 

[MikeRS]

That was the fascination for Scorsese.

If he could somehow make you empathize...

 

[JediFonger]

that goes without saying. i dunno why this keeps popping up from different people every now and then. the assumption is that the person who is creating the post is posting his opinion and not HTF nor the general populus. if i make a sweeping generalization, then that's mine to keep but not to share. again, goes without saying. but people have to say their piece and say stuff that doesn't need to be said. it's like saying, today is today, yesterday is yesterday, tomorrow is tomorrow, etc. . it's like writing i think, i am, the author is already thinking, why state it?

of course you don't have to agree with what i'm sayin', we just gotta end up agreeing to disagree.

http://imdb.com/name/nm0000217/
^out of catalog, i'd have to say i liked:
-mean streets
-color of money
-taxi driver
-goodfellas
-king of comedy

that's about what i have seen. his deniro collaborations are awesome.