Which movie is better, and why?!

MoFo Whisperer

09-09-08

A quick one for Braveheart vs Sparticus.

I hate both films, but Braveheart really is my idea of hellish cinema. It has no redeeming features. I hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I'd rather watch Sparticus twice than Braveheart once.

Prospero

Msg

Comin' for ya

09-09-08

I liked both American Gangster and The Departed, but Scorsese's film was definitely the better of the two. The plot (lifted from the far superior Hong Kong flick Infernal Affairs) was much better, as were all the performances.

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

09-09-08

Originally Posted by honeykid

Why? (It's Spartacus.)

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MovieMan8877445

Registered Film Lover

09-09-08

Originally Posted by honeykid

Both American Gangster and The Departed are vastly overrated films, but I agree with drewmachine about American Gangster being boring at times. The pacing really isn't very good at all and I truly hate the end. I know that, as it's a true story, so they really didn't have anywhere to go with it, but it was so anti-climatic. No matter how much they tried to crank up the suspense and tension, it just wasn't there and watching them try just annoyed me more and more.

The Departed is overrated, it's a fudge of a movie and, were it not for DiCaprio and, susprisingly for me, Walhberg, it wouldn't be as good as it was. That Scorsese got his Oscar for this rather than The Aviator (let alone many of his other films) is one of the biggest travesties in Oscar history and, let's face it, it has plenty of those. All that, and it's not a patch on Infernal Affairs. Still, it's better than American Gangster.

I Actually Liked The Ending To American Gangster, The Extended Edition Ending Is Even Better Though. But The Departed Probably Has One Of The Best Endings In Movie History IMO.

honeykid

MoFo Whisperer

09-10-08

Originally Posted by mark f

Why? (It's Spartacus.)

I don't like Kubrick films. Actually, let me rephrase that, I don't like any of the Kubrick films I've seen. I've not yet seen Paths Of Glory, Barry Lydon or Eyes Wide Shut and, with the exception of Paths Of Glory, I don't expect to like either of the other two should I see them. I don't know why I think Paths Of Glory could be different, it's just a feeling I have.

TONGO

Unregistered User

09-10-08

Departed and American Gangster had moments of genious but both were awful as a whole. The ending to Departed was more contrived than that Neve Campbell movie Wild Things. American Gangster was boring, and with that much talent theres no excuse. My vote goes to American Gangster cause it didnt win Best Picture like Departed, and The Departed had as much business winning the award as Shakespeare In Love did. Not at all.

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

09-10-08

Originally Posted by honeykid

Sorry, but how about another why? Can you specifically explain all the things you dislike about the individual films? Or at least, partially explain it?

Last edited by mark f; 09-11-08 at 11:18 AM.

7thson

Msg

AMC Ape

09-10-08

I really did not love neither The Departed nor American Gangster, but as to which was better I have to say The Departed. Also, although I did not love either of these films, They were not awful, just kinda middle of the road for me. I guess I have to say I edge it to Departed because for once in my life I kinda liked a Leo' peformace. (Not counting WEGG)

A.G = C
T.D = C+

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Swan

CIA Spook

09-11-08

Originally Posted by mark f

Sorry, but how about another why? Can you specifically explain all the things you dislike about the individual films? Or at least, partially explain it?

I would also like to know why he doesn't like Kubrick's work.

Last edited by Swan; 09-13-08 at 12:43 AM.

Iroquois

Welcome to the human race...

09-11-08

Asking me to choose between The Departed and American Gangster is like asking me to choose between cat crap and dog crap. I really don't like either film at all. However, if I have to choose one, I'll go for American Gangster. Why? Because unlike The Departed, I actually found American Gangster to be entertaining.

I feel the same way about The Departed as Holden feels about Tombstone.

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rufnek

Msg

Registered User

09-11-08

Originally Posted by mark f

It's already been posted several times a couple of pages back (pages 4 and 5). If you read them, you'll get it. He didn't just shoot "any" German.

Well, I did go back and look at the earlier postings, the most comprehensive being a detailed entry from some Online Encyclopedia posted by Erasmus Folly. The encyclopedia material is so detailed that I wonder how much is evident on film and how much is some unknown person�s interpretation of what he assumes happened. Anyway, the highlights appear to be that the clerk and German talk while the German is digging graves for dead GIs (I thought he was supposedly digging his own grave). Some of the Rangers want to kill him, but he begs for his life and the captain turns him loose with the foolish instruction to surrender to the first Allies he sees. Instead he gets hooked up with a Waffen-SS unit, ends up at the bridge where he shoots the captain and then the clerk shoots him.

OK, I�ll skip over the inaccuracy of stopping to bury bodies in a combat area rather than pushing on with your assigned mission. I�ll ignore a GI and German making small talk with each other after each group has just killed members of the other group. I�ll even overlook the ultimate stupidity of turning a prisoner loose on a battlefield with instructions to surrender to the next enemy he runs across. When we next see him, as I remember it, he�s even wearing the SS uniform, and I�m still puzzled as to why he was issued a different uniform by that unit; that would be like the clerk-typist sewing on a ranger unit shoulder patch before starting out on the patrol.

Frankly, I don�t remember who shoots the captain and at the time I was seeing it, I really didn�t think it mattered. One of the few scenes I remember from the film was the duel with the tank and I thought that perhaps all of that machinegun fire had something to do with him getting knocked down. That it was the prisoner he released who later kills him would matter only if the captain recognized who fired the fatal round, it seems to me, but I don�t think there�s any indication of that.

I could sort of understand the motivation for the clerk shooting the German who walks past him on the stairs, an obvious insult that such a coward wasn�t worth killing. That German had seen him at his very worse, and shooting that German, even if unarmed, might somehow make up for the shame. But it seems to me it all changes when you plug the other German into that role of the victim.

First of all, did the clerk even see the captain get shot? My brief recollection is of the clerk always cowering behind cover, too worried about getting shot himself to ever look around at�or look out for�anyone else. He had already stood by while another American who he could have helped gets stabbed to death. So even if he witnessed the shooting, why would he even care if the captain got shot or who pulled the trigger? He�d only been with the unit a couple of days and hardly knew the captain any better than he knew the former German prisoner, so revenge can't be the motive. I don�t know what the German said after being captured a second time, but I saw what to me was a look of disdain on his face when talking to the other Germans and I figured he was saying, �This guy�s a wuss. Don�t worry.� Which would have been more appropriate for the German on the stairs who witnessed his cowardice.

Now it wasn�t the clerk�s fault that the German prisoner was released, and there was nothing he could have done to save the captain and nothing to indicate that he cared anything for the captain or anyone else in the squad. So he didn�t shoot the German to �right the wrong� of letting him go in the first place or out of any great loyalty or love for the captain. And it wouldn�t make up for the fact that he and the other German knew he was a gutless coward. And it wasn�t because he felt threatened because after killing the one German, he let the others go.

So why bust a cap on that one particular German? It wasn't out of remorse or shame or loyalty or fear. I don�t think it really mattered which German he shot. I think that was just something thrown into the film with no real meaning, that the German was really just a "target of opportunity" who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think, with the fighting winding down around him, it was the clerk's one last moment to �bag� a German so he could tell everyone after the war that he had "done his share" on the front lines. Probably carved a notch in his rifle stock afterward.

MovieMan8877445

Registered Film Lover

09-11-08

Okay, Well Since It Seems Like The Last One Is Finished I'll Go Ahead And Start Another One.

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 Vs. Vol. 2

For Me It Has To Be Vol. 1. I Thought It Was Just The Better Movie, And I Don't Get Why Everybody Says 'It's Action Orientated', Because It's Really Not (Except For The Ending). Niether Of The Kill Bill's Are Action Movies And They Aren't Meant To Be. But I Just Liked Almost Everything About Vol. 1 Better (Except For The Actual Wedding Massecre And The Ending To Vol. 2). I Liked The Characters And Story Better In Vol. 1, But I Still Loved The Both Of Those In Vol. 2.

Sedai

A system of cells interlinked

09-11-08

It's one film really, with a single narrative running throughout. The reason it has some odd pacing differences between the two volumes, is because the director originally intended it to be one film. Once the run time went over 4 hours, the film had to be cut into two parts. So, the intent was that it should be one film, and it should be viewed as such, IMO.

I won't bother comparing Kill Bill to itself.

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mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

09-11-08

re: Saving Private Ryan

rufnek, I'm not going to explain it again, but I will say that for a film you cannot even remember, you sure have a lot of STRONG opinions about what you think does or does not happen in it and what it may or may not mean. From your "analysis", I can understand why you don't like the film, but your "ideas" about the relationships of the characters in the film and what actually does happen in the film don't change the facts of what is on the screen during the movie.

Swan

CIA Spook

09-11-08

Kill Bill vol. 2. Much more story, much more interesting, and much more satisfying when it was over than vol. 1. Not to say I didn't love vol. 1.

But vol. 1 is definitely action-oriented.

Like Sedai said, it is one film. I preferred the second one over the first, but it is just one long movie, so it's doesn't really need to be compared.

TONGO

Unregistered User

09-11-08

Originally Posted by Swan

Correctamundo! If I had to choose....Vol 2. SPOILER though this whole threads a spoiler - when she was buried alive, and screaming in terror I was on the edge of my seat. Who woulda known Pai Meis' cruel teachings would save the day. Unrealistic? Absolutely! Acceptable? Absolutely!
Vol 2 beat 1 due to content over gore.

Lennon

Will your system be alright, when you dream of home tonight?

09-11-08

Originally Posted by MovieMan8877445

I don't think I see Tarantino's name enough...

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TONGO

Unregistered User

09-12-08

Cloverfield or The Blair Witch Project

Though both movies recieved scathing reviews, and great ones they both imo are great. Blair Witch was fun, but if you sat down thinking you were gonna get treated to a special effects fest then youd hate it. I do admit the girl playing Heather should have died first because the chick never dies first, and damn she was loud. Alot.

Cloverfield was a blast, and dont let anybody tell you something fell into the water the last scene of the film. It was a hoax, but bs rumors like this is great hype and buzz. Needs a sequel!

I have to go with Cloverfield, but not by as large a margin as many would expect. I understand many of you hate both, but do realize this style of filmaking will evolve, and marketing of Blair Witch especially was another fresh concept. Thats only a good thing.

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

09-13-08

Cloverield, and I don't even think that much of it. However, I do respect several people who went to the theatre and thought that Blair Witch was the scariest film ever made. I never bothered to watch it because I was sure in advance that it was total BS. Sorry. When I saw it at home, it was even worse than I expected, but I guess that even an "objective" guy could be wrong, but I still don't believe it! Go ahead and correct me with all those ideas that you were scared to go to the bathroom after Blair Witch. Be sure to include what your religion is, or if you believe in witches. Hell, I don't need to believe in witches to think that Rosemary's Baby is scary crap!

Swan