Whats the longest its taken you to acknowledge disappointment with a film? (1 Viewer)

[TheLongshot]

Episode One would be the only film I could think that fits in that category. Mostly, it is because I didn't manage my expectations and I bought into the hype. Episode Two was better because my expectations were appropriately lowered and I enjoyed it more.

Jason

 

[Ruben Zamora]

Mine has to be the matrix.


I didnt see it in the theater because I didnt care too much about a movie the same concept as the Terminator movies .

Then I kept hearing all these non-movie geek punks say how AWEsOME it was and blah.

So I bought the DVD. It was the first DVD i bought. Wanted to try out new DVD player so I bought cheapest good movie I could find . Matrix was it. When I watched it, I was in awe with the cool effects. Shortl after I really anylized the movie and pretty much made up my mind that it was crap. I think its just Keanu's acting that really cheeses up the movie. Then seeing all the overly done movies with matrix like effects got me more annoyed with the movie. NOW I JUST HATE Matrix ALL together.

I do want to see the 3rd one though, just to see how it ends.



My other movie is probably LOTR. I have to say I LIKE IT, but its not as AWESOME as I thought it was at first. I mean, the movie is awesome up until you see the FRODO sequences LOL. LOTR:TT was pretty good for me. But the scenes with frodo and samwise are just too corny. Its just whenever they're in dialoge it feels like I'm watching a movie about two queers. "It's me, its your sam" oh please LOL..

Like Matrix, I will see the 3rd film of course because it REALLY REALLY looks good. LOTR:ROTK i feel will be one AWESOME movie box office wise!!!

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Have to agree strongly with The Phantom Menace!

 

[Edwin-S]

I just have to vehemently disagree with you on this point. I think Tolkien realized his characters quite well within the framework of the story he was telling. Jackson "improvements" to the characters are the movies biggest failing: especially in THE TWO TOWERS.

The Faramir changes were abominable. Tolkien's whole point in making Faramir "wishy-washy" (which I disagree that he was) was to reinforce just how different he was from Boromir. He had none of Boromir's weakness, which showed that he was really the most suitable to be the next steward of Gondor. I would dare say that Jackson's take on the character succeeded in making Faramir more "wishy-washy" than Tolkien did. Jackson succeeded in making Faramir look as weak as his brother.

I think Jackson deciding to have Faramir take Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath was just excuse for him to be able to put in a "neat" special effect. The special effect being the ridiculous face to face that Frodo engages in with the Nazgul king.

I can only hope that the additional material in the EE will at least help to alleviate some of the stupid changes and additions that Jackson made to Tolkien's story.

 

[Scotty_McW]

Matrix Reloaded was a huge dissapointment. It feels more like a video game than a movie to me. Can't stand the fight with all the Smiths. One of the coolest things about the first one, to me, was the fact that the fights were mostly one on one. I realize it's set in a computer world, so the action would reflect that of a game. However, the visual effects during the Smith fight take me right out of the movie.

As far as LOTR goes, I have never read the books. I've tried almost a dozen times to read Fellowship of the Ring, and each time it bores me to tears. I love fantasy, and really want to like these books, but I just can not get into them. I go into these movies with high expectations, but no real idea of what to expect. So as someone who has never read the books, I think the films are amazing. Sure they have their moments (I have never liked belching in movies where something serious is being discussed, such as war) but as was said before, the score, the acting, the locations, cinematography, etc....wow.

 

[Travis_S]

I mean, the movie is awesome up until you see the FRODO sequences LOL. LOTR:TT was pretty good for me. But the scenes with frodo and samwise are just too corny. Its just whenever they're in dialoge it feels like I'm watching a movie about two queers. "It's me, its your sam" oh please LOL..

......to each his own, I guess.

 

[Kami]

LOL I expected to see a "frodo is gay" comment on AICN talkback, not the home theater forum...but as Travis said, to each their own.

Anyway, my movie was Phantom Menace. I wanted to like it more than I could imagine but after lots of viewings I realized how bad it was.

Then I went into AOTC with such unbelievably low expectations that I actually enjoyed it for what it was and had some chuckles over the dialogue.

 

[Ricardo C]

Out of curiousity, how do you figure that the additional Faramir scenes are going to improve TTT? Faramir's character, second only to Gimli, was the most revised character in the movie. The teaser scenes for the EE seem to only reinforce the changes in Faramir.

I'm not crazy about having yet another Osgiliath scene, but I'm hoping the added insight into Farfromthebookamir's relationship with his father will give viewers a better understanding for his actions in the film. It's not the perfect solution, but it should lessen the insult to my purist sensibilities.

Additions I don't care to see include "Aragorn the horse whisperer" and "Eowyin can't cook", but I'm willing to give the EE a chance. Just one.

 

[Edwin-S]

Decided to move my comment to the TTT/ROTK discussion thread.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

To answer the original question: not too long.

I like TTT, but I was pretty disappointed with the changes as well.

The Blair Witch Project fell apart for me after the third or fourth viewing.

 

[Edwin-S]

I never saw the film in the theater but I did buy the DVD because the film looked pretty good. The movie was TEARS OF THE SUN. I thought this movie was a pretty big let down. Definitely not one of Willis's better efforts. I watched it with a friend. He thought it was pretty good but all I could think was how contrived the whole thing was. After watching BLACK HAWK DOWN it is pretty hard to believe that Africans would welcome the use of American force.

 

[richardWI]

Jackson has turned a potentially great trilogy into merely a pretty good one by presuming to think he knew better than Tolkien how the atmosphere should be laid out.

Of course he did. And by definition, he does know better than Tolkien how to lay things out on film. Tolkien never directed a frame of film in his life and didn't have the weight of hundreds of millions of dollars on his shoulders while he created his art. Cut the man some slack.


"...infinte fidelity may be an author's ideal but can prove a producer's ruin." - Vladimir Nabokov on Kubrick's adaptation of his bestselling novel, "Lolita."

 

[Michael Henry]

Mission To Mars.

I was SO stoked for this film....Need I say more?

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I really wanted to love Pearl Harbor. I thought Bay had it in him. I was wrong.

As for the usual suspects in here...the big three trilogies:

TPM - During my second theatrical viewing, I realized I was bored. BORED! I still like the film OK. It has a simple charm.

AOTC - Oh, did I hate this film during the midnight viewing. It was like amateur hour at a comedy club. It was JV. Further viewings have softened me somewhat. I still prefer TPM.

FOTR/EE - never a problem. Magic.

TTT is probably my answer. Much of that stems from a) my astronomical expectations, b) watching the FOTR: EE SIX TIMES between it's release and TTT (burning me out), and c) the poor editing in TTT. I still think it's a good action movie and serves it's purpose, but it took me a while to accept that it should have been better (I have great hopes for the EE). There were tremendous moments in the film, but it did not gel like FOTR before it (and I missed Sean Bean a LOT...and Sir Ian).

The Matrix was never all that for me. But it was a GOOD movie, well-crafted and worthy of accolades. It was The Second Renaissance that excited me about the sequels...and the Super Bowl ad. Further viewings have improved the experience.

The Matrix Reloaded - I loved it. It worked on every level for me. I can see how it's pretentious and overblown...but it's so ballsy and well-made.

It's hard to be so excited for a film, and have it not work. Sometimes it obvious (PH), sometimes you wanted it so bad you don't accept it's flaws and blame yourself (TTT), and sometimes you take a second chance, and realize it still doesn't work, but maybe you just weren't in the mood (AOTC).

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Holadem]

After watching BLACK HAWK DOWN it is pretty hard to believe that Africans would welcome the use of American force.

Africa is a big continent. Nigeria and Somalia are two different nations, i.e. different and distinct political entities, like the US and Bolivia.

--
H

 

[Chris Atkins]

Great post, Chuck.

I agree that TPM has a certain charm to it. And I still enjoy the film and recommend it, but it is not AS GOOD as I thought it was on first viewings.

Interesting that you hated AOTC on opening night...I remember your review being quite different from others...sorry you couldn't join in the love with all of us!

 

[Shane D]

I will say this about Star wars: episode 1, episode 2 did make it a better movie, not by much, but it does make more sense now.

 

[Kevin Grey]

Good call on Pearl Harbor, Chuck. I also really thought Bay was going to pull one out of his hat.

It was AOTC for me. I was never dissapointed with TPM and have enjoyed it more every time I see it. AOTC I loved on first viewing but, unlike TPM, it has gotten worse on repeated viewings. I thought the dialogue, particularly the romantic stuff, was by far the worst in the entire saga. To be fair I think it may be a combination of Hayden's acting and Lucas's directing more than the dialogue itself. Reading it in script form I can imagine ways of delivering the same lines that would have been much more natural sounding than the finished product.

I really thought TPM laid a lot of groundwork that was never followed up on in AOTC. Midichlorians didn't bother me because I had faith that Lucas would follow up on it and make it meaningful. The fact that it wasn't even mentioned in AOTC worries me that he has dropped the whole thing from the backlash and now it will be some weird hanging thread throughout the entire saga. The same with the "immaculate conception" stuff.

I was also looking forward to seeing the designs transition from the look of TPM to the Episodes 4-6. There were a few of these like the clone troopers and the pseudo-Star Destroyers at the end but not enough IMO. Its interesting that Lucas is seemingly putting a lot more effort into this for Episode 3 (hairstyles, etc) when you would think there would be less change in the two or three years between AOTC and Ep 3 than the ten years between TPM and AOTC.


No disspointment in TTT for me. I think I prefer FOTR:EE more but for reasons that TTT could never match: the emotional resonance I get from watching the early Shire scenes and of course the wonderful performances from Sir Ian Holm and Sean Bean. I'm really excited about the additional Boromir scenes in TTT!

 

[Estevan Lapena]

Pearl Harbor, Matrix Reloaded.
I wish I could edit the hell out of Pearl Harbor, because the action scene was pretty good. But the rest of the film was absolute cliched, propaganda. The movie could have begun when Pearl Harbor got attacked first of all and we would be spared the entire Love Triangle BS. In fact the ONLY good thing about the movie was the Pearl Harbor scene. Which was nearly 20 percent of the movie?

Reloaded just annoyed me with its cheesy dialogue and silly metaphors. It came across as VERY pretentious and overall a very MTV style over substance show off fest. Not to mention how predictable the movie was.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I think the problem is, our expectations are high going into a much anticipated film.

My example is when a friend and I went to see the first Austin Powers movie. I had heard very little about the film, and the previews looked like just another Mike Meyers fluff film. So, I went in with my expectations low... I thought it was hillarious. So much so, that when a sequel came out, my friend and I ran out to see it. My expectations were high at that point and when I saw the second film was just a retread of the first with basically the same jokes, I was immediately let down.

Return of the Jedi was a let down for me. I think this is where I realized Lucas was turning this whole series into a fairy tale.

So, I try to make a point of going into a show and not expecting too much.