|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
108.81.116.219
Ridley reaffirms that science and Duck Tape are the only things needed to get past anything the universe may throw at you.
Damon plays a space botanist who is also half DaVinci and half Newton. He sciences the shit out of his plight with great aplomb and much appreciated humor. Yep, there is a LOT of humor in this film--not the rubber chicken or squirting lapel flower kind but enough to keep a smile on your face the majority of the time.
The supporting cast is top flight with an international flair. Benedict Wong and the Chinese space agency join the party to help bring in the victory. Casting was shrewdly done to make this an international block-burster and that it will be.
The real star of the film is science with a strong assist from Duck Tape and some feces. It is an interstellar McGyver film that is compelling in itself. The overlay of drama merely holds together the human story. One could say Damon was the "star" but not really. You have a very well acted ensemble cast both in space and on Earth plus Duck Tape.
The CGI is wonderful and I will have to search how they did the weightlessness inside the Aries space ship. To me, all "space" films tend to be the same. High tech sets, space suits, and zero gravity with a smattering of real plot. This has all of that but more. A man who wants to fight for his life propped up by his wits and Duck Tape.
Everyone will be going to see this. It is not a work of art but a very awesome entertainment. It is not a vapid venture like Bullock in space. It is a showcase for human spirit, determination, science, and D.....
Go see or be a pillar of salt.
Follow Ups:
The Alien Engineers "Dancers", in a Jack Campbell "Lost Fleet" science fiction series were so enamored with Duct Tape they wanted to do some serious trading to get a couple boxes of it.They kept calling it the "Universal Fixing Substance" and none of the human officers could figure out what they were asking for. It took some old Maintenance guys to figure it out.
Great series, by the way.
Edits: 10/29/15
I won't go into all the plot elements...
In a nutshell Castaway Meets Apollo 13 Meets Mission to Mars meets Red Planet...the a little of Shawshank when you are really pulling for the lead protagonist...
Matt Damon-Mark Watney Has a Hanks quality, where you just like him...His NEVER throw in the towel attitude was inspirational and just faced every setback, without dwelling on it...just kept moving forward...really good performance..."might" get an Oscar nomination for who he is and the popularity of the movie...(Depp's and Fassbender's were both better)
Jessica Chastain-Melissa Lewis Talk about the right stuff...there is no doubt who was in charge...yet gave you glimpses of her humanity...I really liked that Hollywood is giving more and more female leadership roles and taking gender out of the equation...kind-of
Kristen Wiig-Annie Montrose Ok...this was the most miss cast role...used basically facial reaction shots of despair...Is she really ever seen doing her job???
Jeff Daniels-Teddy Sanders As I stated in my Steve Jobs review, one of the best supporting character actors in Hollywood...has the every man quality...but delivers everything with confidence...he never waivered from playing the percentages...his press conferences blunt, with very little filter and believable...
Michael Peņa-Rick Martinez Taking the role of the comic banter, but showing his military can do attitude or leave no one behind...solid and fit his role...
Sean Bean-Mitch Henderson I always enjoy when an actor who has been forever "type" cast as a menacing Marlboro Man, is put into a role of the humanist speaking for the crew on the ground...leaking to the crew, Damon was still alive...sacrificing his job, because he felt it was the right thing to do...
Kate Mara-Beth Johanssen Ms. Mara just seems to me is getting better and better...very solid performance...
Sebastian Stan-Chris Beck Know more for his Super Hero roles as the Winter Soldier...he was the only negative nelly on the crew...he gave you the impression he "MIGHT" vote against heading back to Mars...then became one of the ultimate team players...Mara's romance with him was just there...did not drive the plot at all, other than window dressing...
Aksel Hennie-Alex Vogel The Chekov of the crew, gives you the impression, this actor is capable of good range...almost a Hardy quality...
Chiwetel Ejiofor-Vincent Kapoor Has been type cast as the Humanist quite a bit...but a good actor and delivers...
Benedict Wong-Bruce Ng Need a believable science guy, cast someone of Asian decent...does refer to the help of Chinese as his people...really a solid performance
Mackenzie Davis-Mindy Park OK...I REALLY liked her...they tried to down play her natural beauty...but damn...hard to hide that...she was very genuine in a fairly small role...but she made MORE of her role with an organic believability...I look forward to seeing more from this young actress...from the surface, she seems to be capable of having some depth of character
Donald Glover-Rich Purnell Turned in the big brained scientist you keep in the back room and let him do his thing...his lack of people and communication skills are what you expect from those types...he nailed it...but not a stretch...
I do believe actors line-up when a director with Ridley Scott's rep is making a movie...and they seem to ALL bring their A-game...this was a very well made film...4.0 stars out of 5 stars...
Thanks
Mark
...it did not feel like a 2.5 hour flick. Didn't drag at all ...quite the opposite.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
that it made me feel incompetent. I had to suspend belief on the duct/k tape and the 'blood sealed my spacesuit' parts. Much better flick than 'Gravity', IMO.
Nt
....
The movie did not let us forget that the entire crew was made of of eminently qualified scientists in various pertinent fields. Which these days happens to be the reality of government funded efforts in outer space.
Not so many fighter jocks, any more.
-Steve
----------------------
"E Burres Stigano?"
The eternal silent pause following "What did the crew say when you told them I'm still alive?"
No language can be a lot of communication.
Its predictable overall, but you won't really be able to know that until its over. Some cliffhangers are along the way. The devil is in the details with this one. The scenes and action seem set up specifically for a blowout 3D effect, so I advise seeking out that opportunity if you can. My view was in 2D.
The overall tone of this flick is upbeat on several fronts. First, it is a rescue op, so that speaks for the humanity of it all, even though there is an attempt to squelch that by the NASA director (Jeff Daniels). You are always aware that forces are still with us that don't want altruism to win the day. The bean counters and politicians don't win this one. Second, the story develops a cooperative joining of cultures that helps guarantee success. This goes against any current climate between the US and China. In this film, partnering rules against competition. Third, Damon carries this film in lightness, showing that even the gravest situations can be met with optimism and pragmatism, instead of despair.
All that said, this film borrows heavily (maybe even plagiarizes) from the two more recent Mars films that came out in 2000 -- Mission to Mars, and The Red Planet. The first starred Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins. Robbins was a guy who also needed rescuing via a tethered space walk. It was a major piece of the film action. The Red Planet starred Val Kilmer as a guy stranded on Mars during an exploratory mission -- and -- who got off the surface by jury-rigging an old lander from a previous mission! Same damn story, really; different in details only. Amazingly close in overall story scope. I have to wonder about that.
I took the "joining of cultures" as a rather transparent concession to the world's (potentially) largest movie audience: China. Also, a possible slap to Russia. From a purely logical perspective, from what we know today, Russia has the more advanced space program and NASA has a history of cooperation with the Russians: much less so with the Chinese. IOW, the story on the screen portrays the "future" involving the Chinese and not the Russians. Didn't read the book so obviously speculation on my part.
Regardless, I really enjoyed the whole thing and appreciated CGI and other effects that served to enhance the story instead of dominating it.
A Ridley Scott film that has humor and heart. Who'd a thunk it.Not much plot. A dire emergency puts all characters into a 'situation'. Then the rest of the film is about fixing the 'situation'. Reminds me of Gravity in that regard. At least it is when you reduce it down to the bare and simple.
Enjoyable. Humor. Our protagonists were up to the challenge. Upbeat. No wallowing about in angst and depression like in Interstellar.
An observation: in the last few sci-fi films we've seen space going adventures that base their environments and fundamentals on known science. Example, much has been learned about Mars in the past 20 years due to the info sent back by robots/drones we've put there. I guess new data reduces both the amount and the type of speculation that can be made about Mars. We know too much. Not a lot of room to fantasize. Ditto for floating about in space.
-Steve
Edits: 10/05/15
Th
----------------------
"E Burres Stigano?"
Laughing...I will pass.
....
...
Nt
.
...local review said it was very interesting but got tedious at 2 hour + running time.
Same as the book.
Plot is a little bit like the Tom Hanks film where he's deserted on an island.
Somebody called it a cross between Apollo 13 and Castaway.
Cheers
Bill
Sheesh, do I have to do all the thinking 'round here?
-RW-
He is from the south. Evidently they don't have ducts there.
Our language continues to be corrupted. Nowadays you can be correct to use either 'duct' tape or 'Duck' tape. But Duck Tape is a brand. The other, which predated it, is now generic.
-Steve
Get back to you about that...
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
tho it was obviously originally "Duct" tape, it's now being branded and sold as "Duck" tape, so..., either could apply.
K
...I took it as a tongue-in-cheek reference because he used it so many times and was very deliberate about it. Consider too the story involves a lot of ingenious improvisation, maybe too much of it..... and as we all know, duct/duck tape is the universal enabler of modern improvisation.
...
You must be thinking of Duck Tape, which is a very poor version of good duct tape (e.g. 3M, which the pros use, me too). I don't even know why I keep Duck Tape around; it does come in colors though, and the fluorescent ones are sometimes useful.
Real duct tape *does* stick very well to ducts...hard to believe, eh? They didn't just pull the name out of their ass. It also kind of explains why Duck Tape *isn't* called duct tape.
...
I have learned not to travel without a roll of it, whatever one may choose to call it.K
Does 'duck' tape stick to ductwork?
Edits: 10/02/15 10/02/15
----------------------
"E Burres Stigano?"
There is a 10-screen complex just 200 meters from my office, and surely no one will notice my absence, so it is time I checked into that!
Don't have a senior card - will the drivers license do?
One girl simply asked what year I was born in. 1948. She said if there is a hesitation, even a tick, it means you are figuring it out. She said it works well in bars.
I have found locally that my gray, thinning hair is all the ID I ever need. After all, the kid working the ticket booth sees anyone over thirty as a senior...
-RW-
----------------------
"E Burres Stigano?"
.
Although my breath won't be "bated", I don't think, ...... though i do get enthusiastic about good sci-fi in the movies.Anyway, Monday matinee with a senior discount. That should work for me.
-Steve
Edits: 10/03/15
Let those working dawgs pay my SS!
IMO,better than Gravity.
-Wendell
.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: