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Post by Cleric Dogbert on Mar 17, 2006 23:47:16 GMT -5
Just went and saw V for Vendetta and I all can say is WOW!
When the Wachowski's don't have to beat another movie they made (thinking of the Matrix), then they can really write. It is different enough from the original story, but the movie can stand on it's own pretty well (you don't have to read the original comic mini-series to know what is going on). Natalie Portman does an awesome job as Evey and Hugo Weaving is both scary and herioc as V
I would suggest you go see the movie as soon as possible.
"Remember, remember the fifth of November..."
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Post by JenGe on Mar 18, 2006 0:58:40 GMT -5
I was planning to see it today but I've come down with the stomach flu instead. Not sure when I'll get to it since the hubby wants to see it and that may not happen until next Wednesday. I really hate having to wait for him...maybe I won't!
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Post by Cleric Dogbert on Mar 18, 2006 2:02:46 GMT -5
I was planning to see it today but I've come down with the stomach flu instead. Not sure when I'll get to it since the hubby wants to see it and that may not happen until next Wednesday. I really hate having to wait for him...maybe I won't! go ahead, see it by yourself, that's what I did.
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Post by -mark- on Mar 18, 2006 10:58:39 GMT -5
Saw it last night....good movie.
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Post by wtf on Mar 20, 2006 9:31:44 GMT -5
Run, do not walk, to see this film!
I thought they did an good job with the film. They did take a few liberties from the original graphic novel (I'm thinking it's about 70 % of the original story), but I agree with Cleric Max in that it stands on it's own, and it delivers (more or less) the same essence. I was more struck by what they did leave in instead of what they left out.
That and Hugo Weaving did an incredible job as V. He could do a lot with the small gestures that the mask limited him to. Natalie Portman also did a good job as Evie, just had to get over the fact that she looked completely different than the Evie in the novel.
Loved the knife fighting in it, especially the one towards the end.
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Post by Witcher Wolf on Mar 20, 2006 12:35:38 GMT -5
The only verdict is: Vengence!
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Post by JenGe on Mar 20, 2006 12:42:02 GMT -5
==============MAJOR SPOILER!!!!
Ok, I saw this on Saturday and I waited to post so I could let a few things sink in. I really enjoyed it but I do have a major issue with the film (I have not read the novel.)
I enjoyed the film well enough but have a certain element of difficulty with the fact that V tortures Evey to free her from "fear". I have to give the film credit that I even want to discuss it at all but this form of personal humiliation and break down was just too close to the exact methods by cults and other organizations use to breakdown their victims and turn them to their cause. The Symbionese Liberation Army did it to Patty Hearst, white sex traders use it as well, as do religious zealots. I see it as just one form of brainwashing traded for another. Torture often bonds a victim to their captive & their cause. It also remindes me of the end of 1984 but in Vendetta instead of Big Brother using this method it's V.
This is the point where he lost my empathy. It was not until I related V to characters like Hamlet and Phantom that I truly began to understand his distorted view and his justification for his actions.
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Post by JenGe on Mar 20, 2006 12:48:40 GMT -5
BTW...the body count is about 45.
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Post by Witcher Wolf on Mar 20, 2006 19:06:38 GMT -5
V is a tricky character to empathise with on many levels, especially after that but in his twisted and distorted view we presume that particular path was the only one he could see open to him. All in all...an utterly stunning movie that has shot to my new list of favourites.
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Post by TheKaiser on Mar 20, 2006 19:19:03 GMT -5
==============MAJOR SPOILER!!!! This is the point where he lost my empathy. It was not until I related V to characters like Hamlet and Phantom that I truly began to understand his distorted view and his justification for his actions. I don't really think you should have much empathy for V apart from what was done to him. He is a pyschopath that is basically as facsist as the government he is bringining down. Sure he gives Evey the choice to pull the lever (a symbol of him allowing the people to make the choice), but he's manipulated her so much that she's engrossed in his doctrine. Really it is the Police Inspector who makes the ultimate choice.
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Post by Cleric Dogbert on Mar 20, 2006 21:12:40 GMT -5
Run, do not walk, to see this film! I thought they did an good job with the film. They did take a few liberties from the original graphic novel (I'm thinking it's about 70 % of the original story), but I agree with Cleric Max in that it stands on it's own, and it delivers (more or less) the same essence. I was more struck by what they did leave in instead of what they left out. That and Hugo Weaving did an incredible job as V. He could do a lot with the small gestures that the mask limited him to. Natalie Portman also did a good job as Evie, just had to get over the fact that she looked completely different than the Evie in the novel. Loved the knife fighting in it, especially the one towards the end. Agreed, even though they dropped quite a few of the original series, it was still good.
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Post by Cleric Dogbert on Mar 20, 2006 21:15:03 GMT -5
==============MAJOR SPOILER!!!! Ok, I saw this on Saturday and I waited to post so I could let a few things sink in. I really enjoyed it but I do have a major issue with the film (I have not read the novel.) I enjoyed the film well enough but have a certain element of difficulty with the fact that V tortures Evey to free her from "fear". I have to give the film credit that I even want to discuss it at all but this form of personal humiliation and break down was just too close to the exact methods by cults and other organizations use to breakdown their victims and turn them to their cause. The Symbionese Liberation Army did it to Patty Hearst, white sex traders use it as well, as do religious zealots. I see it as just one form of brainwashing traded for another. Torture often bonds a victim to their captive & their cause. It also remindes me of the end of 1984 but in Vendetta instead of Big Brother using this method it's V. This is the point where he lost my empathy. It was not until I related V to characters like Hamlet and Phantom that I truly began to understand his distorted view and his justification for his actions. True, that was brutal, but outside of the stuff that V did to Evey, he never really talked to her about his view on the world. The only time he talked to her, he used different voices and only said the things that Creedy would have said to her. Her "waking up" came about because of Valerie's letter. At least that how I saw it...
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Post by Cleric Dogbert on Mar 20, 2006 21:16:45 GMT -5
==============MAJOR SPOILER!!!! This is the point where he lost my empathy. It was not until I related V to characters like Hamlet and Phantom that I truly began to understand his distorted view and his justification for his actions. I don't really think you should have much empathy for V apart from what was done to him. He is a pyschopath that is basically as facsist as the government he is bringining down. Sure he gives Evey the choice to pull the lever (a symbol of him allowing the people to make the choice), but he's manipulated her so much that she's engrossed in his doctrine. Really it is the Police Inspector who makes the ultimate choice. Yeah, Finch is the other "hero" in this movie..he doesn't want to be part of Norsefire, but he has no choice...and when given the chance to stop what happens at the end of the movie, he decides not to.
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Post by Witcher Wolf on Mar 21, 2006 4:20:33 GMT -5
Finch is definitely a very likeable character and makes an excellent unlikely hero.
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Post by Walldude on Mar 21, 2006 22:46:39 GMT -5
Just got back.... WOW! For me it was easily the best movie I've seen in a long time. Maybe because of my political activism but probably just because it fucking rocked! First let me say that now that I've seen the movie, the trailer was the best in a long time. It made me want to see the movie and yet I still felt like it gave away nothing, exactly what a trailer should do. Now on to the film. The political allegory was amazing. It touched on many things that have happened and many things that are in the works. It's scary how close art is imitating life. The performances were great all around, and I too though Stephen Rea did a terrific job as Finch, I knew 20 minutes into the film that he was going to make the right decision.
***Spoilers follow****
Ok Jen see if my perspective helps you any:
While I agree with you in a way, I saw this as something V needed to do. It was the only way to "free" her. Remember that after her parents were taken away Evey was sent to be "re-educated" for over 5 years. The brainwashing was so well laid into her that even after she knew the truth she still tried to turn V in when he sent her to the Bishop. Now remember this happened after she had made the decision to save him from the cop. I believe V saw that moment as defining. He saw what she really was behing her mask and took it upon himself to deprogram her, to remove her mask. And because she was so deeply programmed, he had to use the worst methodology to bring her back. He himself admitted that he was a monster. One that they had created. One that came back to bite them in the ass. Well thats my take on it anyway. Oh and I haven't read the Graphic Novel yet, I plan to now, and it's too bad that Alan Moore washed his hands of Hollywood, I understand his dissapointment with From Hell and League but I think he might have actually liked this one.
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Post by JenGe on Mar 21, 2006 23:29:43 GMT -5
========== SAW 1&2 SPOILERS!!! =====
Not really. Finch really is the character that carries the movie for me. I feel nothing for V. Sadness for Evey being played. I was talking to Gene about it tonight and though it sounds sick I can identify more with Jigsaw's actions from Saw in "liberating" his captives than V's. V is motivated by pure selfishness in my hum. op. of course caused by his own demons and vendetta. Jigsaws liberation in my view is similar and we see the same results in Saw 2 when one of his victims becomes his disciple. For some reason I am more able to empathize with Jigsaw than V.
Like I said though, the fact that I even want to discuss this and probe into the characters and my feelings towards them in all of these films says something for V for Vendetta. I certainly cannot get it or how I feel about this out of my mind. In my view that means the film is a great success.
"Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici" - Faust
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Post by Wraith on Mar 24, 2006 14:12:49 GMT -5
SPOILER ALERT!
I went to see it last night and I really liked it, even though I don't agree with it politically at all. Many parts where very clever (I like the Boston Tea Party payback, and the "heroic" police raid on TV), but a lot of stuff irked me, especially the presence of a pedophile priest. Still I thought it was a very well-made and fun movie. V not only looks cool, but he's very funny. I loved his witty dialogue and the scene where he was cooking with a frilly apron killed me. I like how they balanced him charm and cruelty, and Hugo Weaving does an excellent job of acting through that mask. The only similar effect I've seen is from Darth Vader, but Weaving does it better. He is one my favorite movie characters now. Natalie Portman comes through too. Blowing up buildings didn't offend me. After all, it wasn't like Islamic extremists invented blowing crap up. And I loved the fun use of the 1812 Overture (Suttler doesn't even recognize it). The cinematography was good, the music was good, and the fight at the end was brilliant. I noted a good death scene with the female scientist who experimented on V. So if someone as conservative as I am really liked the movie, I guess that might be encouraging to prospective viewers.
PS: Did you notice that the "Creedy" voice used in the movie by V was completely different from the one in the trailer. I guess they didn't want to spoil it.
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Post by Witcher Wolf on Mar 28, 2006 6:37:35 GMT -5
Hugo Weaving joins David Prowse and Jeremy Bulloch in the actors that had to wear masks and still make a definite impression, and for those of you that don't know the last two:
Darth Vader as Wraith says and...
Boba Fett...
Just a single nod of his head defined Fett's 'Do not mess with me' personality and I feel the same thing about V, Weaving does a fantastic job bringing this very peculiar and twisted character to life.
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Post by MisterAnderson on Mar 30, 2006 9:44:41 GMT -5
Just saw V4V, and the verdict?......V-antastic!!!
I hadn't read the graphic novel, but Ive heard from a few people who had that its a pretty decent interpretation/adaptation.
I was expecting a lot more action, but this didn't affect my enjoyment at all - in fact i think it had less than Equilibrium but that last one right near the end was a doozy! Another very solid story from the Wachowskis, in fact the whole "Matrix" influence served the film very well (by this I mean that the Exec Producers/Writers, Producer, Director & Production Designer & certain actors all worked on the Matrix trilogy).
I'm sure I saw a fleeting glimpse of Larry & Andy dressed as Clerics in that first scene at the church with the Priest that V kills early on....anyone else can confirm this?
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Post by wtf on Mar 30, 2006 19:52:03 GMT -5
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Post by Lightfighter on Mar 22, 2011 15:46:59 GMT -5
Viva la Resistance'!
Among my favorite parts in the movie is the five minute monolog where he uses almost nothing but words that start with V. Brilliant! Many of the world's nations are not too far from that state of government control. It wouldn't take much for something like that happen.
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