Civil War

Author
Discussion

smn159

Original Poster:

14,082 posts

232 months

Tuesday 2nd April 2024
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President refuses to leave the White House... Decent cast and directed by Alex Garland

Looks like it might be decent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDyQxtg0V2w

Marniet

266 posts

171 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2024
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Yes I plan to go see this in my local imax . Unpopular opinion but Iv mostly always enjoyed films he’s been involved with .

FourWheelDrift

90,922 posts

299 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2024
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00:06 did they just re-use the road and abandoned cars set from the Walking Dead?

Scabutz

8,442 posts

95 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2024
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Yeah that looks largely up my strasse

vixen1700

26,036 posts

285 months

Thursday 11th April 2024
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Just giving this a bump as it's out in some places today.

Looking forward to seeing this on the big screen in the coming days. cool

C5_Steve

5,786 posts

118 months

Thursday 11th April 2024
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I'm looking forward to watching this, seems to be pretty polarising in terms of reviews due to some of the narrative choices.

Garland recently said he's done with directing now so this will more than likely be the last film he directs.

horsemeatscandal

1,824 posts

119 months

Thursday 11th April 2024
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Looking forward to this. Enjoyed a lot of his other films, director or otherwise. Was going to see it tonight but partner has a cough and whilst I sympathise, it's highly annoying.

I saw a film similar to this last year, took me a while to track it down but it was called American Insurrection (neither are subtle titles, are they?). It was decent but it wasn't subtle, hopefully this one is a bit more objective.

smn159

Original Poster:

14,082 posts

232 months

Sunday 14th April 2024
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Saw this last night. a-political by design but hard not to draw the obvious parallels. Very powerful and hard hitting evocation of the horrors of war with some great performances.

Not the action movie that the trailer suggests, but all the better for it IMO.

Definitely worth seeing.

tardelli

412 posts

131 months

Tuesday 16th April 2024
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I went to see this yesterday as I had a spare afternoon, The trailer led you to believe it was a sub par Marvel film.
But it was a very different beast and all the better for it :-)
A solid 8/10 for me.

asfault

13,173 posts

194 months

Tuesday 16th April 2024
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I thought it was rubbish.
Concept (of a modern civil war) was fine as was the actual productions and effects.
but i didnt feel invested in any of the characters. couldnt really tell who was who at times.
dumb ass journalists right at the front of a fire fight come on!
Scenes dwelled on for too long it feels like a movie journalists had too much say into to get their point of their job across.

Nice to see mechwarrior/battletech style concrete defence walls in the future though.


valiant

12,255 posts

175 months

Tuesday 16th April 2024
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Saw it today and thought it was very good with some excellent performances especially from Kirsten Dunst.

Obvious parallels are obvious but not overplayed as the main story is the journalists own journey as they travel towards Washington DC. Final ‘battle’ scene was especially well done but if you’re expecting a full on pew pew action film, you’ll leave disappointed.

asfault

13,173 posts

194 months

Tuesday 16th April 2024
quotequote all
valiant said:
Saw it today and thought it was very good with some excellent performances especially from Kirsten Dunst.

Obvious parallels are obvious but not overplayed as the main story is the journalists own journey as they travel towards Washington DC. Final ‘battle’ scene was especially well done but if you’re expecting a full on pew pew action film, you’ll leave disappointed.
I mean thats not what i was looking for.

I feel it was more like a movie that could prequal how the world is in escape from new york is or even early early mad max downfall.

The Gauge

4,721 posts

28 months

Tuesday 16th April 2024
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Felt let down by this film, the trailers suggested a film about a civil war within USA when really it wasn't about that at all, just an over the shoulder look at a group of war journalists.

ajprice

30,676 posts

211 months

Wednesday 17th April 2024
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As said already it's a different film to what's in the trailers. It's well done and I thought it looked great. It doesn't pick a side, it's about photo journalists so it does what they do, presents the pictures for you to make your own mind up. Jesse Plemons' character was a level above though, he's in the trailer so you know what I mean, shades of Todd in Breaking Bad. Most of the film is tense, his scene ramps that up.

Swervin_Mervin

4,734 posts

253 months

Wednesday 17th April 2024
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ajprice said:
As said already it's a different film to what's in the trailers. It's well done and I thought it looked great. It doesn't pick a side, it's about photo journalists so it does what they do, presents the pictures for you to make your own mind up. Jesse Plemons' character was a level above though, he's in the trailer so you know what I mean, shades of Todd in Breaking Bad. Most of the film is tense, his scene ramps that up.
But it sort of does, really, doesn't it? I mean that's the undertone.

I loved it. It's not only a story about photo journalists but in many ways also shows the utterly batst nature of Americans as well as the huge splits in how, when society is broken down, people react so differently. And was it me but were the scenes with artillery fire much more visceral in terms of audio? I don't think I've ever seen so many people flinch in a movie auditorium before at gunfire etc.

Jessie Plemon's 10mins on screen though - definitely on a different plane altogether.

It felt a bit like I was watching takes from Zombieland at some points (apocalyptic scenes + "road trip"), but I guess that's to be expected given the context. And there were shades of the 2nd half of full metal jacket.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

smn159

Original Poster:

14,082 posts

232 months

Wednesday 17th April 2024
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Yes I thought that the sound was excellent

valiant

12,255 posts

175 months

Wednesday 17th April 2024
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Swervin_Mervin said:
Jessie Plemon's 10mins on screen though - definitely on a different plane altogether.

.
A very visceral scene and probably what you end up remembering long after you’ve left the cinema.

So much going on there. The mass grave where you initially think they’re simply casualties of war until you realise that they’ve been shot in the same place - then you realise that it was the scene of an execution. The fact that there’s no dead soldiers in the pit indicating civilian atrocities. The lack of insignia on their uniforms creating the feeling that these guys had their own agenda and working outside of any chain of command where it they that decide who’s an American or not and then what kind of acceptable American. The total power trip him and his crew is on and the fact he takes great joy in this power he now holds and the sound really makes you jump when he fires his weapon.


Again, you can’t see this as an action movie. The trailer is misleading. This story could have any country as its backdrop as the outcomes and characters would be the same and the fact that it’s the US used is just a hook. It could just as easily have been the U.K. or France or wherever and the story would be the same but I guess the obvious Trumpian overtones were too hard to resist.






ajprice

30,676 posts

211 months

Wednesday 17th April 2024
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Was it ever mentioned whether the president was republican or democrat?

I did watch a few reviews before seeing the film and they were generally positive, one thing Kermode picked up on was the 'Antifa massacre' line, was Antifa massacred or did they do the killing?

Swervin_Mervin

4,734 posts

253 months

Wednesday 17th April 2024
quotequote all
valiant said:
Swervin_Mervin said:
Jessie Plemon's 10mins on screen though - definitely on a different plane altogether.

.
A very visceral scene and probably what you end up remembering long after you’ve left the cinema.

So much going on there. The mass grave where you initially think they’re simply casualties of war until you realise that they’ve been shot in the same place - then you realise that it was the scene of an execution. The fact that there’s no dead soldiers in the pit indicating civilian atrocities. The lack of insignia on their uniforms creating the feeling that these guys had their own agenda and working outside of any chain of command where it they that decide who’s an American or not and then what kind of acceptable American. The total power trip him and his crew is on and the fact he takes great joy in this power he now holds and the sound really makes you jump when he fires his weapon.


Again, you can’t see this as an action movie. The trailer is misleading. This story could have any country as its backdrop as the outcomes and characters would be the same and the fact that it’s the US used is just a hook. It could just as easily have been the U.K. or France or wherever and the story would be the same but I guess the obvious Trumpian overtones were too hard to resist.
I'm not so sure it could be "anywhere" else. Certainly not most European countries. The US is the obvious choice simply for the level of gun ownership and free availability of fairly serious firepower. They're also immensely paranoid (and hence trigger happy). In some states the tension is palpable and I was last there in 2007!

asfault

13,173 posts

194 months

Wednesday 17th April 2024
quotequote all
Swervin_Mervin said:
valiant said:
Swervin_Mervin said:
Jessie Plemon's 10mins on screen though - definitely on a different plane altogether.

.
A very visceral scene and probably what you end up remembering long after you’ve left the cinema.

So much going on there. The mass grave where you initially think they’re simply casualties of war until you realise that they’ve been shot in the same place - then you realise that it was the scene of an execution. The fact that there’s no dead soldiers in the pit indicating civilian atrocities. The lack of insignia on their uniforms creating the feeling that these guys had their own agenda and working outside of any chain of command where it they that decide who’s an American or not and then what kind of acceptable American. The total power trip him and his crew is on and the fact he takes great joy in this power he now holds and the sound really makes you jump when he fires his weapon.


Again, you can’t see this as an action movie. The trailer is misleading. This story could have any country as its backdrop as the outcomes and characters would be the same and the fact that it’s the US used is just a hook. It could just as easily have been the U.K. or France or wherever and the story would be the same but I guess the obvious Trumpian overtones were too hard to resist.
I'm not so sure it could be "anywhere" else. Certainly not most European countries. The US is the obvious choice simply for the level of gun ownership and free availability of fairly serious firepower. They're also immensely paranoid (and hence trigger happy). In some states the tension is palpable and I was last there in 2007!
Yes i feel i could go to any part of the uk and be 99% sure if someone was a potential psycho or danger to me. In the US at any point you just feel like you dont know if they are a gun nut or a god nut who can flip if you say the wrong thing.