Interestingly, with a few exceptions, we seem to be sharing a lot of similar choices Fernando, including this round! :lol:
09-04-2014 08:19 PM
mae
AI and Blade Runner. Again, AI is a criminally underrated film, it's Spielberg's best sci-fi film.
09-04-2014 09:36 PM
frik
Blade Runner
Star Wars IV
sk
09-05-2014 01:42 AM
Mattrick
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heather19
District 9
A.I.
Samesies
09-05-2014 07:23 AM
Jean
I intensely disliked AI, The 5th Element and The Mist. Have voted for Blade Runner
09-05-2014 07:31 AM
mae
Why such a reaction to AI, Jean? Could you elaborate? It's one of my favorites.
09-05-2014 08:12 AM
Odetta
District 9
Blade Runner
09-05-2014 08:49 PM
divemaster
Quote:
Originally Posted by frik
Blade Runner
Star Wars IV
sk
Same vote for me. Easiest grouping in this round by far.
09-05-2014 09:16 PM
pathoftheturtle
Quote:
Originally Posted by divemaster
Quote:
Originally Posted by frik
Blade Runner
Star Wars IV
sk
Same vote for me. Easiest grouping in this round by far.
Yeah. To think that District 9 is better than either of these must take a lot of mental effort.
09-06-2014 12:58 PM
T-Dogz_AK47
Star Wars
Blade Runner
That was so easy this round must have been a joke, right? :lol:
09-07-2014 04:34 AM
Jean
Quote:
Originally Posted by pablo
Why such a reaction to AI, Jean? Could you elaborate? It's one of my favorites.
I don't think I can at the moment, because I don't remember much of it except being simultaneously exasperated and bored (rare mix, but one I normally experience while watching Spielberg)
09-08-2014 08:56 AM
mae
AI is beautiful. Only four votes. Sad.
09-08-2014 09:30 AM
Heather19
I voted for AI, and loved it. But I'm not surprised it's not getting more votes. Most people I know really disliked the film. I can't understand why though. But based on that, I always just assumed that most people ranked it rather low. I just checked and IMDB has it listed as a 7.1/10, rotten tomatoes has it at 64% for viewers, and netflix has it at 3.2/5 stars. That's actually better than I was expecting.
09-08-2014 09:44 AM
pathoftheturtle
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jean
... being simultaneously exasperated and bored (rare mix, but one I normally experience while watching Spielberg)
I agree with that. I confess the ending made me tear up a bit, but I think that was just because at the time I hadn't seen my mom for a while. It's really just D.A.R.Y.L. all over again.
09-08-2014 10:07 AM
fernandito
Quote:
Originally Posted by pathoftheturtle
Quote:
Originally Posted by divemaster
Quote:
Originally Posted by frik
Blade Runner
Star Wars IV
sk
Same vote for me. Easiest grouping in this round by far.
Yeah. To think that District 9 is better than either of these must take a lot of mental effort.
Idk, a case can be made for District 9 being a better sci fi film than Episode IV. I'm glad for either to advance though.
09-08-2014 10:28 AM
T-Dogz_AK47
Quote:
Originally Posted by fernandito
Idk, a case can be made for District 9 being a better sci fi film than Episode IV. I'm glad for either to advance though.
WTF!!! Really!!?? :wtf::panic:
Awww shit.... Dude, you really need to give me fair warning before posting something like that.... Your comment just made me spray coffee all over my laptop!!! LOL! :lol:
09-08-2014 11:16 AM
fernandito
Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Dogz_AK47
Quote:
Originally Posted by fernandito
Idk, a case can be made for District 9 being a better sci fi film than Episode IV. I'm glad for either to advance though.
WTF!!! Really!!?? :wtf::panic:
Awww shit.... Dude, you really need to give me fair warning before posting something like that.... Your comment just made me spray coffee all over my laptop!!! LOL! :lol:
Always happy to provide comedic relief :)
Yeah, see the science fiction in SW is just a cog that's part of a larger machine -- in this case, that machine is a story about Good vs Evil painted in very broad strokes. Its like politics in the SW universe. They exist only in bare bones form to serve as the stories' skeletal outline and give purpose and direction to the conflict. All we know is that Rebels = good, and Empire = bad. We aren't really provided specifics because they're not important. Don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars and will always geek out at the sound of a light saber switching on and X-Wings are some of my favorite star craft of all time, but the specifics of how they function are after thoughts.
Now compare that to something like District 9 where specifics are everything and the science fiction is an integral part of a powerful and poignant story about human nature; our priorities (or lack of), our fear of the unknown and how we hive mind against it, how deeply our morality decays while on a greedy pursuit
Spoiler:
Wikus's father in law telling his own daughter that her husband is dead when he's really not
, our never ending quest to obtain weapons to obliterate each other with. All that, and it still has more than enough visual set pieces to satisfy the sweet tooth of any action aficionados.
Like I said, very different films but I'm happy to see either advance.
And we all know how well that worked out lol. My bad, I should have cited Ep IV specifically -- it's what I was thinking of when I typed that ^
I think that's one of the prequels' pitfalls, in all honesty. Lucas was trying to make of the saga something it was not... or rather, he was not equipped as a writer to properly integrate them into his universe. Stuff like the intricacies of the senate/republic and the midochlorians (lol) could maybe have worked if in the hands of a capable writer. Unfortunately, Lucas was not that person.
09-08-2014 12:57 PM
Mattrick
District 9 is a better film than A New Hope. District 9 is an almost perfect allegory for the long-running class struggle in South Africa. I love it. Wish more films like this came out in Hollywood these days, and are as successful as this one was.
09-08-2014 06:42 PM
pathoftheturtle
The whole concept of Star Wars was to NOT put the science center stage on principle that space travel is more believable if taken for granted. That can hardly be made to count against now, especially since District 9 is one of the imitators.
And here
Quote:
Originally Posted by fernandito
And we all know how well that worked out lol. My bad, I should have cited Ep IV specifically -- it's what I was thinking of when I typed that ^
I think that's one of the prequels' pitfalls, in all honesty. Lucas was trying to make of the saga something it was not... or rather, he was not equipped as a writer to properly integrate them into his universe. Stuff like the intricacies of the senate/republic and the midochlorians (lol) could maybe have worked if in the hands of a capable writer. Unfortunately, Lucas was not that person.
You got it. It was precisely my intent to underscore how good Ep. IV was by reminder of contrast. All you really need to establish the Empire is imagery styled clearly after the Nazis. Duh. And don't forget, ANH was all done on much smaller budget. D9 has some good points, but iconic filmmaking still is not a bad thing.