[chris winters]

I read the book after seeing the film. It is quite different, but then not really. Creasy is a white guy, ex french foreign legion, big, and the whole thing takes place in Italy. His buddy , the christopher walken character in th movie is younger then him, and is a widower. The book it more brutal is some regards.

Spoiler:

The little girl is raped multiple times, and killed. but unlike the movie she stays dead.

The book takes it slower, with Creasy taking more time to train after being injured, and hanging out outside the city. He has a love affair etc...then comes back when hes tip-top again to exact his revenge. Things are generally better eplained, as to tactics etc...

Overall a good read, I would say the movie handled the pre-kidnapping stuff better, and the book the after kidnapping stuff was better.

[ChrisBEA]

I just posted a review of this on my blog:
http://draven99.blogspot.com

[Holadem]

I liked the movie, .

I am a fan of Tony Scott. Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Games are all models of excellence in the action genre. But he may have gone overboard this time with his style. Lots of unecessary, pointless "tricks". Sometimes, I wonder why this guy is given such a break from Michael Bay haters.

Quote:

I found the Lisa Gerard vocals distracting. I don't think they were exactly the same as Gladiator's but they were *very* similar and telegraphed the noble death thing a bit too much. I kept expecting a shot of a hand moving through a wheat-field over the final montage...

agreed! What Zimmer lost by staying away from his usual orchestral bombastic scores (opting instead for a more ethnic style), she more than made up for by ripping off hear previous work.

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H

[David Tolsky]

(Some spoilers ahead, use caution in your reading)...ends up being just "Okay". I really thought this movie had potential. Decent story, great locations, great lead actor and good performances all around. So what's with this MTV filmmaking mentality that we get knocked over the head with? I'm referring to the sequences where the film is sped up and even blurred in places. Maybe I'm alone in my thinking here but these so called techniques just occurred too often in this movie to take it seriously. Which is too bad because I thought the story was decent and the acting for the most part was good. Also in the second half of the movie, when Denzel actually goes to work, did he suddenly lose his drinking habit? It seemed to magically dissappear. Also, did you think it was explained enough how Denzel's character became such a skilled assasin? I know we were shown a very brief shot of his resume and given several verbal warnings from Christopher Walken, doing his best Richard Crenna in "First Blood". For that matter, how many times in movies have we heard an "expert" describe how nobody can beat this killing machine? That got a little old hat for me. Still, there was a lot to like about this movie despite some obvious flaws. What did you think?

[Alex Spindler]

Quote:

Also in the second half of the movie, when Denzel actually goes to work, did he suddenly lose his drinking habit?

It actually happens quite gradually, culminating I believe after he and Pita exchange words through their windows that he grabs his bottle and, spurred undoubtedly by Pita awakening the feeling of hope and happiness, he puts it down and picks up a bible. That's the part where he turns away from drinking. I would also suggest that its the reason he was able to identify and kill as many as he did during the kidnapping, as otherwise his skills would have been impaired.


As to his background, I thought it was done well enough abstractly, and I must confess that I wasn't quite prepared for his obvious skill at extracting information from unwilling participants. Based on the previews, I had his pegged as your garden variety rambo mercenary, but I think there was some rogue counterterrorism (shades of Jack Bauer) in his past.

I quite loved the movie, and a part of it was how Scott restrained from using the flashy effects until things get out of control. It helped, for me anyway, to enjoy the feeling of calm he grows to enjoy and then the chaos he descends back into. But, I'm again unapologetically a fan of the film.

[Holadem]

BTW, what the hell was Saddam Hussein doing in this flick?

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H

[David Preston]

I hope this is the right place to post this. I don't have the movie with me now I let someone borrow it. Who's music is it that is played a few times in the movie. It is the slow music they play a few times briefly in the movie then a little more at the end. It kinda sounds like Enya. Can someone help me out? Thanks

[Nick Sievers]

The Official Discussion Thread is located HERE.

I've only seen it once but they did use some old Nine Inch Nails music but since you said it sounds like Enya I doubt i'm thinking of the same piece.

[Chuck Mayer]

Lisa Gerrard, of Dead Can Dance and Gladiator (and Whale Rider, and The Insider, and MI:2) fame.

Unbelievably beautiful voice,
Chuck

[Michael Reuben]

Quote:

The Official Discussion Thread is located HERE.

David Preston's thread has been merged into it. Previous posts answer his question.

M.

[BobbyPerry]

I just got the movie from Netflix. Is it gonna be worth my time? Should I watch it alone or with someone?