Original Story I think?
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Hah. 'Original'.
It looks as generic as possible.
It does look interesting since it goes from gritty backalley-highrise-space-big scifi gothic palaces.
Well, as the movie is now out, bumping this.
I'll revisit this thread soon I think, as I have some thoughts on it.
I might go see it with friends coming Wednesday.
I'm looking forward to seeing it just for the pretty pretty visuals. Story I don't mind, this one's all about the spectacle for me. If it's a good story, then bonus.
From what I understand it was recut and edited taking the focus away from character and story while emphasizing action set pieces, and there's good reason it dropped in the movie release nowhere of January/February.
The impression people who had followed the project got was that the movie the Wachioskis wanted to make, this was not it.
Going to be a good director's cut movie then.
Hmm, some thoughts of mine on it. Seeing how divided people are on it, with some loving it (I think I am in that group) and some hating it (a lot of others), I think this film is definitely going to be a cult classic. Now the next stuff I'm going to talk about will spoil the movie for you if you read it and haven't seen it (hence why it's a spoiler)...just a heads up.
1. What I don't get about the movie itself is why she didn't just start having her own retinue of loyal troops and start commanding them. Is it that all she got was the Earth and that was it...nothing else to help protect it or anything to that matter?
That seems kind of odd. I was expecting that once she got her inheritance, basically she would get everything that all the other three siblings had and be in control...but apparently, she didn't.
The only thing I can reason from this is because she ONLY got the earth with no other assets.
2. Since Titus basically attacks the Police force of the future...why isn't he arrested (or was he)?
3. What did the sister gain?
4. If they were making a Trilogy I'd imagine Balem is the one for this movie, being the most direct (I want to kill you) type foe, the next would once again be Titus, and finally the sister would prove to be the most dangerous of them all.
In many ways, it appears they are trying to set up a universe with all the political intrigue of something like Dune or even more complex.
I would jump at a sequel, unfortunately, barring a miracle at this point, I don't think that's going to happen.
Is it worth watching for anything other than the visuals? The preview makes everything else look terrible.
Is it worth watching for anything other than the visuals? The preview makes everything else look terrible.
I REALLY like it, but it depends. I don't know what it is that some people hate, but there are some out there that absolutely despise this movie.
Maybe they just don't get it or something, as most of those who hate the movie don't even comment on the more in depth intricacies of the movie itself.
But I don't know. I think it's going to go down as one of those cult movies sort of like Blade Runner (flopped when it originally came out) or Dune (this movie has more similarities with Dune than Blade Runner, Dune was universally despised by many when it came out as well) to tell the truth. Those that get it, get it and love it. Those that don't, think they are absolutely horrible movies.
Is it worth watching for anything other than the visuals? The preview makes everything else look terrible.I saw the preview and had no interest in it.
Then I saw Jessica Price's comment on it and I think I have to see it now.
Ok, so the previews are accurate and I should just go looking for special effects and ignore the plot I will most likely despise. More or less what I expected.
Loved the movie but I can acknowledge that it has some pretty huge flaws, especially how the main protagonist is a constant damsel in distress who also makes really bad decisions.
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Pretty sure Blade Runner was not a flop. While I cant find production budget for BR, films of the same year like E.T. and Star Trek II had production budgets of around 10 million. BR grossed 32.8 million leading me to believe the film was a theatrical success.
Reception was mixed at the time of its release but over time BR is considered a top film by many sites. Maybe the initial critical response leads you to think BR was a flop? 91% on rotten tomatoes is pretty impressive. Also, Ebert originally was lukewarm on BR, but gave it better props over the years. It would seem BR is a rare example of a film that enjoys high praise and cult status.
I think your comparison of Jupiter Ascending might closer resemble Dune. Dune grossed 31 million on a 40 million budget. Also, Dune has a 56% score on rotten tomatoes while Jupiter ascending is sitting at 23%. Jupiter is in trouble with a production budget of 176 million and a lethargic boxoffice show so far of 33 million and change.
BR is a favorite film of mine and Dune is a film I enjoyed. Ive taken note of the comparison and my interest has been piqued. Ill be waiting for DVD release though because all the personal reviews i've received said, "they didn't get it because they didn't care enough about it to get it." Ill check back in awhile once JA is out on video.
Actual budget of BR was 28 million, so the initial look may appear that it made a profit of 5-6 million, but with the advertising budget I think it actually got a loss.
Very similar to Jupiter Rising, many critics felt that it was all focused on Special effects at the cost of story and action, and that it wasn't the action movie they felt was promised (though Jupiter rising some include the action along with the special effects at the cost of story instead). Ebert himself said the story was clichéd and the plot thin. As different cuts have come out he's revised his original thoughts slowly but surely.
At the time of release of Blade runner, there are several parallels that can be drawn between it and Jupiter Rising. The fact that even the Director has distanced himself to a degree from the theatrical release can be somewhat telling in all the recuts of it.
Time has been very kind with BR and it's risen to a huge Cult status in film...but it's original release was probably closer to Jupiter Ascending than people would like to remember. Even more so, just like Jupiter Ascending has had 2X the profits internationally than domestically, it follows Blade Runner in that aspect (domestically, BR may have been a bigger bomb than Jupiter Ascending may become...time can only tell on that front).
I absolutely loved Blade Runner from the time I saw it to the present, but it wasn't always popular (at least in some circles) to say you loved Blade Runner.
However, I would be apt to say the comparisons are probably more akin to Dune (in the financials especially) in comparison to Jupiter Ascending. Current Jupiter Ascending has a Box office that is just shy of 100 Million (World wide BO), and with returns slowing, very doubtful it will make up it's production budget, much less it's entire budget (production, promotion, advertising, distribution, etc).
Storywise, I'd say there are a lot more similarities between Jupiter Ascending and Dune as well in regards to what was planned and hoped and what was actually turned out.
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Yeah, unless it evolves into a cult classic, I fear we won't be getting any sequels. Which is too bad, because maybe then we could have explored how fricking terrible people are in the larger universe, instead of just brushing the theme. Seriously, the generally accepted philosophy in outer space is, according to this film, "genocide, yes please".
But, yeah, air surfing wolf-man Channing Tatum was awesome. What an incredibly cool fighting style, martial arts + energy shield + pistol + flying, please make a Pathfinder class like that. ^^
Pretty sure Blade Runner was not a flop. While I cant find production budget for BR, films of the same year like E.T. and Star Trek II had production budgets of around 10 million. BR grossed 32.8 million leading me to believe the film was a theatrical success.
Reception was mixed at the time of its release but over time BR is considered a top film by many sites. Maybe the initial critical response leads you to think BR was a flop? 91% on rotten tomatoes is pretty impressive. Also, Ebert originally was lukewarm on BR, but gave it better props over the years. It would seem BR is a rare example of a film that enjoys high praise and cult status.
I think your comparison of Jupiter Ascending might closer resemble Dune. Dune grossed 31 million on a 40 million budget. Also, Dune has a 56% score on rotten tomatoes while Jupiter ascending is sitting at 23%. Jupiter is in trouble with a production budget of 176 million and a lethargic boxoffice show so far of 33 million and change.
BR is a favorite film of mine and Dune is a film I enjoyed. Ive taken note of the comparison and my interest has been piqued. Ill be waiting for DVD release though because all the personal reviews i've received said, "they didn't get it because they didn't care enough about it to get it." Ill check back in awhile once JA is out on video.
Blade Runner was a FLOP both financially AND Critically.
Even after the initial release AND multiple theatrical re-releases the movie had a shooting budget of 28 million and to date theatrically made 32 million.
Critically if it didn't get lukewarm reviews it was being savaged for being too slowly paced and the voice over monologue. On Sneak Previews (aka AT THE MOVIES) Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up but just BARELY. I'm pretty certain that Gene Siskiel didnt.
It's funny that people are saying they don't care about the special effects when that's pretty much the ONLY reason that he liked Blade Runner. Gene Siskel calls out the fact that he didn't care about the characters either and after only 20 min the special effects don't even matter.
Ah here's their review at about the 22 min mark.
I'll just say that there are plenty of movies that are now considered classics that got middling to dismissive reviews when the initially came out. Blade Runner, Alien, 2001 didnt get glowing reviews. Even Star Wars got dismissed by Janet Maslin when it first came out. I still think Blade Runner is a less than great movie. I love Sean Young and Rutger Hauer in it. I think it looks great. But it's a movie that is a bit of a snooze fest. I saw one of the re-releases in the 90's and fell asleep in the theater half way through it. And I typically DONT fall asleep in the movies.
Weeeee! *zing-zing-zing* *shoooo* *zing-zing-zing* *kboom*
It was fun!
Finally saw this movie, actually liked it, too bad there is no hope for a sequel.
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With a friend we came to conclusion there is still place for four more movies.
I was disappointed with this tawdry and dry work.
Visually it was unique, and spectacular...so Kudo's there.
But it dropped the ball in so many places, from the subpar acting to the mangled plot and even its star feature, its special effects, were regularly clumsy and inexpertly handled.
It is clear that the designers were fans of many sci fi stories, as you can see their plots being ripped off and violently inserted.
All in all it had great visuals. I look forward to screencapping it someday, but I weep for something that could have been much better, without even trying I might add.
1.5/5
Batts
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** spoiler omitted **
What did the sister get?
Commercial advantage. They are supplying a refined natural product and they are in competition with each other. As I understand it, elder brother is richest, sister is no. 2 and little brother is no. 3. Mother's inheritance comes from big brother's estate. It will seriously reduce his wealth and power. It is greater in value than little brother's entire estate (which is why he wants it and why big brother doesn't want to lose it). By protecting Jupiter and helping her towards her inheritance (through the nice cheap and easy expedient of just handing her over with a smile to the police when they turn up) she reduces the power of her biggest competitor, prevents the strengthening of the competitor below her, and increases the value of her own assets by putting a large resource out of production (because even if Jupiter does decide to go into the family business, which is highly unlikely, she won't be in a position to be a major competitor for a long time). No need to get into a messy fight with her siblings or the law enforcement authorities. Don't worry about grabbing other people's assets, sit back and watch the value of what you already have increase as they destroy each others'.
So, Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar... :p
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I really enjoyed the movie. I thought the universe (which we only scratch the surface of) was beautiful, complex, and something I wanted to see a lot more of in any medium. Space ships were beautiful. Costumes were interesting. Technology was very dynamic. The skating boots were particularly cool.
Plot was lethargic, and the ending was weak. I felt more could have been done with Jupiter.
Magnuskn's comment about damsel in distress was on the nose... but
I really liked that she didn't do something stupid like sign over the planet to protect her family.
I thought the sister was cool. Definitely one of the more interesting characters. The Captain of the Aegis cruiser was also appreciated. Across all mediums strong interesting female characters are at a premium, so shoving bunch in here (especially to offset the weaker Jupiter) was a good choice.
Might see it again just for the visuals and to pick up more on the world. Thought this was in trouble though when the initial previews came out sooo long ago, and it kept getting pushed back. I don't think we have any real hope of a sequel, which is a shame because the universe could produce a much more interesting and less generic one.