Elysium - GateFans member preview commentary (mzzz)
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heisenberg
Earl Grey
I am so looking forward to seeing this.
This looks good.
I also like social commentary disguised as sci-fi. That was basically what the original Trek was about. But I really hope that the social commentary is not biased like what happened on the most recent "V" series. The social commentary was clearly biased. The idea of a marble and slate for a space station is SO COOL!!! Im interested in seeing where this goes. Not so much interested in District 9 sequels. How about Jar Jar in the District 9 sequel? 
--- merged: Apr 10, 2013 at 11:26 AM ---
I dont know when I will pay to see a newly released movie again. Not feeling one smidgen of guilt either. I have paid to see the release of every Trek movie in a theater within a day or two of its release, but not this next one. This movie will probably be pretty good.
ParagonPie
Well Known GateFan
This actually reminds of a South Korean Anime I watched a while back called Sky Blue/Wonderful Days, in which to save the world the city utopia (Ecoban) had to be destroyed. Though the major differences here is that the anime was based around an ecological disaster than social divide. Either way Blomkamp has set a good standard with District 9, though that had an obvious message it wasn't bludgeoning you over the head with its morality stick (*cough* Avatar), either way it looks light years ahead of what comes out of Hollywood.
I do like the technological exo-skeleton that is literally drilled into the main character, then again I've always been into technology, particularly things like cybernetics.
I do like the technological exo-skeleton that is literally drilled into the main character, then again I've always been into technology, particularly things like cybernetics.
heisenberg
Earl Grey
New trailer. Super excited
This post has been promoted to the Blog.
Well I had a bad feeling about this thing the second I saw Matt Damon was the star. I got to go see it and frankly it is a turd.
The pity is I liked District 9 in part because the social commentary was nicely woven into the story and also because of the interspersed humor and the good acting.
Well, we get none of that here.
The social commentary is way too heavy handed and the whole plot revolves around it, which has the unfortunate side effect of making the plot as a story pretty weak and containing a lot of goofy developments. I like my science fiction to have social commentary too but I want it properly woven into the story - tell a good story and make the commentary in the background as a part of it. The commentary here made me feel like the filmmakers were lecturing me - no thanks.
What little humor there is falls flat partly because the whole film reeks of cynicism and also because Damon and Foster seem to be sleep acting.
Thankfully for me the tickets weren't paid for by me - a friend insisted. My Gatefans prize is still safely waiting its true purpose - Riddick.
The pity is I liked District 9 in part because the social commentary was nicely woven into the story and also because of the interspersed humor and the good acting.
Well, we get none of that here.
The social commentary is way too heavy handed and the whole plot revolves around it, which has the unfortunate side effect of making the plot as a story pretty weak and containing a lot of goofy developments. I like my science fiction to have social commentary too but I want it properly woven into the story - tell a good story and make the commentary in the background as a part of it. The commentary here made me feel like the filmmakers were lecturing me - no thanks.
What little humor there is falls flat partly because the whole film reeks of cynicism and also because Damon and Foster seem to be sleep acting.
Thankfully for me the tickets weren't paid for by me - a friend insisted. My Gatefans prize is still safely waiting its true purpose - Riddick.
OMNI
My avatar speaks for itself.
+1 thankfully i didnt pay to see it myself either.
B
Backstep
Guest
So, the summer of blocksnoozers continues 
Can hope the fall releases improves in quality.
Can hope the fall releases improves in quality.
OMNI
My avatar speaks for itself.
sigh.. i guess thats why Pacific rim is tanking at the boxoffice then eh? and riddick? ffs dont be such a optimistic fanboi.
Pacific Rim only had trouble at the US Boxoffice and that was because it was not promoted here at all (it got caught in the middle of the whole kerfluffle with Legendary Pictures going from WB to Universal). It has been #1 in the overseas market pretty consistently and stands at 355 million in boxoffice against a 190 million total cost. So it can't be called a flop. And also, the movie itself is really enjoyable. I admit to being sick of the angsty, cynical, dark slop we've been dished up the past few years and this film has not an angsty bone in its body.
Riddick I have hopes for. Pitch Black was really good and Chronicles of Riddick was decent if you watched Twohy's director's version where the stuff the studio cut out was restored.
Riddick I have hopes for. Pitch Black was really good and Chronicles of Riddick was decent if you watched Twohy's director's version where the stuff the studio cut out was restored.
Bluce Ree
Tech Admin / Council Member
I'm experiencing angst just thinking of all the angst we've been served in these angst-filled angsty pictures.
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Oh dear....I just saw this, and now I completely understand why you chose to use a rare occasion to use a descriptor like "turd". You could not have been more accurate with that term. I mean, what did I just watch? This movie is an unabashed immigration reform movie, specifically addressing the issue of illegal immigration into the United States by Latinos from Mexico. It couples this with the idea that once the rich whites are no longer in control of earth, it will be overrun by blacks and Latinos (mostly Latinos). But on Elysium, everyone is European and/or white. I would not even mention this "race" element, but it is quite sharply emphasized in this film. What's more, almost all of the remaining inhabitants of earth are Latinos and a smattering of blacks, and on Elysium there are mostly all whites....where did the majority of Humanity go in this film? That would be the Asians. Very little representation of them in this film. But that is just the social commentary portion of this review.
The cinematography, quite simply, SUCKED. Too much movement, to many cuts in scenes, bad lighting, the works. The space station Elysium is a thing of beauty as far as design, with an open air inner ring which is protected by a shield of some sort to enclose an atmosphere. We are "treated" to French-speaking, upper crust citizens of Elysium sipping wine, impeccably dressed and what not...but the central characters Jodie Foster and Matt Damon just dont pull this off well at all. The characters are poorly developed, and the supporting characters are even worse. They did get the look right, making Los Angeles look like some third world slum (presumably what the world would look like if Latinos ran the city?
). The flying shuttles and other tech looked convincingly weathered and worn, but the OVERWHELMING social commentary was what dragged this film down.In a nutshell, this movie is about illegal immigration into the United States from the side of the illegals, trying to make a case for a path to US citizenship even if it means revolution. Not a message I am interested in hearing, and definitely not seeing in my movies. Whatever my feelings on this issue, it was a poor choice for the core story of this movie. I give it two thumbs down.