So ... Rebel Moon? Beware spoilers here.

[Rob_Royale]

So I finished the second episode last night. Am I the only one who was fairly disgusted with the plot?
How many times can Kurosawa's Seven Samurai be rehashed? And yes, in these films, there were seven, counting the robot.
I liked the effects and most of the cast. I'd watch Djimon Hounsou read the yellow pages. He's terrific. I could do with less of Ed Skrein chewing up the scenery though.

But man, the story was just juvenile. Cinematic rip off after cinematic rip off. Snyder just isn't as good at this as everyone seems to think he is. Thoughts?

 

[AlinaX]

I kinda lost interest while watching the bird taming in Part 1.

Generally not a fan of Snyder.

 

[Paul_Chance]

I agree - in terms of plot and writing, whew, Rebel Moon is one terrible mess. It's almost painful to watch. LOL - but I did watch it, kind of like I look at car wrecks when I drive by. However, Rebel Moon isn't "so bad it's good", it's just bad.

 

[onehitwanda]

*cough* Blue-eye Samurai is worth watching.

 

[AlinaX]

Yes, although I'm still stalled in the second episode.

 

[lovecraft68]

Zack Snyder has had a couple of hits, but he has had some epic bombs as well, and this is one them.

TBH I don't get the fanboy/girl hysteria over the Snyder cut of Justice League, it was just as shitty, just darker shitty.

Dawn of the Dead remake was so good it was insane, but that Army of dead thing was horrid.

Watchmen was hit or miss for me-and would have hit harder if it came out 10 years sooner, but I know a lot of people didn't like it.

 

[Rob_Royale]

*cough* Blue-eye Samurai is worth watching.

Oh yes. It really is. Great stuff.

I liked Watchman. But the original Justice League was such a mess because WB refused to do things the Marvel way, building a story over a dozen or more films. The Snyder cut was needed just to make it remotely watchable. But it's still crap in a slightly bigger bag.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Wasn't this a Robert Heinlein novel?

Not to my knowledge. It's a space rehash of the Seven Samurai.

 

[StillStunned]

Wasn't this a Robert Heinlein novel?

Are you thinking of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, perhaps?

 

[Syzoth]

So I finished the second episode last night. Am I the only one who was fairly disgusted with the plot?
How many times can Kurosawa's Seven Samurai be rehashed? And yes, in these films, there were seven, counting the robot.
I liked the effects and most of the cast. I'd watch Djimon Hounsou read the yellow pages. He's terrific. I could do with less of Ed Skrein chewing up the scenery though.

But man, the story was just juvenile. Cinematic rip off after cinematic rip off. Snyder just isn't as good at this as everyone seems to think he in my

Yeah, but wasn't Rebel Moon also a sequel or a pastiche which was inspired by TMIAHM?

They made a game out of it. I played it as a kid.

So I finished the second episode last night. Am I the only one who was fairly disgusted with the plot?
How many times can Kurosawa's Seven Samurai be rehashed? And yes, in these films, there were seven, counting the robot.
I liked the effects and most of the cast. I'd watch Djimon Hounsou read the yellow pages. He's terrific. I could do with less of Ed Skrein chewing up the scenery though.

But man, the story was just juvenile. Cinematic rip off after cinematic rip off. Snyder just isn't as good at this as everyone seems to think he is. Thoughts?

As with almost any science fiction or fantasy movies, there has to be some suspension of belief.

With that being said, that can be done in a way that's not totally insulting to the audience. Character motivations and actions should make sense even in fantastical situations. That was my biggest issue with the Rebel Moon movies.

Also, movies are best (in my humble opinion) when all the information isn't spoon-fed to you. Did we need the bad guys dressed like Nazis to know that they're the bad guys? And that scene where the girl is giving each of the heroes a gift as she describes their qualities... "Juvenile" is a good description. There are plenty of Lit writers who could've written that better.

Snyder is a brilliant... BRILLIANT... visual director. But he needs someone to help him with plot and dialogue. There was just a lot of stuff in the movies that didn't make sense.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

So I finished the second episode last night. Am I the only one who was fairly disgusted with the plot?
How many times can Kurosawa's Seven Samurai be rehashed? And yes, in these films, there were seven, counting the robot.
I liked the effects and most of the cast. I'd watch Djimon Hounsou read the yellow pages. He's terrific. I could do with less of Ed Skrein chewing up the scenery though.

But man, the story was just juvenile. Cinematic rip off after cinematic rip off. Snyder just isn't as good at this as everyone seems to think he is. Thoughts?

I'm sorry to inform you that it's far worse than you realize. Not only is the plot a pastiche of the Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai and Star Wars: A New Hope (you could think of it as Snyder's remake of Battle Beyond The Stars), but I have it on good authority that most of the visuals and what passes for the lore are shamelessly plagiarized from the lore of the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000.

The good authority in question has taken to using the phrase "Hack Snyder" after watching the two films with me, and for reasons that overlap with his, I can't help but agree.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

*cough* Blue-eye Samurai is worth watching.

I LOVED Blue-Eye Samurai!!!

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Did we need the bad guys dressed like Nazis to know that they're the bad guys?

Oh, they weren't dressed up as Nazis, they were dressed up as commissars from the tabletop game Warhammer 40K from which Snyder plagiarized his paper-thin lore and the visuals and backstory of his evil empire. Just compare the villain's costume with the 40K art.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Wasn't this a Robert Heinlein novel?

I think that would be Starship Troopers.

 

[AndersonsBiographer]

I think that would be Starship Troopers.

That movie wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as people say it was.
That book wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as people say it was.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

That movie wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as people say it was.
That book wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as people say it was.

Starship Troopers is one of those movies that has to be watched at least twice to appreciate. It's deceptively good satire of what life would be like in a fascist state.

I haven't read the book, but apparently Robert Heinlein leaned pretty far to the right and wrote the Bugs as an allegory for communism. The Dutch filmmaker who wrote and directed the movie adaption grew up in Nazi-occupied Netherlands and decided to turn the whole thing on its head by depicting a "perfect fascist world."

Fun fact: when the director told the cast he was going to film them naked for the shower scene, they agreed on condition that he also had to be naked during shooting.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

You warn about spoilers. Do you mean beyond what the show runners, writers, and director did with the show?

 

[Rob_Royale]

You warn about spoilers. Do you mean beyond what the show runners, writers, and director did with the show?

No, that about covers it.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Watchmen was hit or miss for me-and would have hit harder if it came out 10 years sooner, but I know a lot of people didn't like it.

I found it bland, like it was the network TV version. Snyder, generally is a big nope for me.

 

[lovecraft68]

I found it bland, like it was the network TV version. Snyder, generally is a big nope for me.

His best movie was the remake of Dawn of the Dead, thing kicked ass on every level, and I used to wish he'd get back into the horror genre...then he did Army of the Dead and...yeah stick to SH stuff.

But yeah, he's gotten more self indulgent over time, everything is slow motion and everything has to be Super Dark. I don't care what his fanboys say, his version of JLA was crap too.

 

[MrHereWriting]

Snyder just isn't as good at this as everyone seems to think he is. Thoughts?

I saw his first movie: Dawn of the Dead. Not exactly original, but good. I enjoyed it.

I saw 300: Based off a graphic novel, right? So not really his work. I enjoyed the visual spectacle of it.

I saw Watchmen: Based off one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. Not really his work. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Sucker Punch was a big disappointment since everything was just an imaginary vignette and even the cool scenery couldn't save it for me.

Everything else I couldn't get through since I stopped going to the theaters for his movies and had the ability to just turn it off without losing money. A lot of it involved bad plot and bad acting. Seems like his work is just other people's work, but he doesn't have the talent to give it new life.

Did we need the bad guys dressed like Nazis to know that they're the bad guys?

If there was one thing the Nazis were good at, it was knowing how to dress.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

But can like 10 farmers on a faraway planet produce enough food that they are important enough for all this attention?

And if you have robots and can fly into space etc, do you have to harvest by hand and use tools from the 1800’s?

Don't forget that the spaceships can jump from one end of the galaxy to another through giant space vaginas but for regular spaceflight they're literally powered by coal.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I could not finish the second movie, I was so bored.
First was ok.

But can like 10 farmers on a faraway planet produce enough food that they are important enough for all this attention?

And if you have robots and can fly into space etc, do you have to harvest by hand and use tools from the 1800’s?

Don't forget that the spaceships can jump from one end of the galaxy to another through giant space vaginas but for regular spaceflight they're literally powered by coal.

Great point that really bothered the shit out of me. They used a hover cart to carry the grain, but a hand held scythe to cut it down. And the coal thing?