StephenReponen

Well... This movie was quite odd... Ok, I'm quite partial to cerebral movies and I actually understood this film and its concept. But still it doesen't make me actually like it. So the whole "You hate it cause you don't understand" line doesen't really apply to me. Cause I did understand! When the credits started rolling the only thing that popped in my head was "So?"...

When I went to watch this film, I was expecting something slower and more "dramatic" than a full out Sci-fi thriller. I read the reviews, but still kept an open mind, since like I mentioned before I like "thinking" movies...

So I sit down and the film starts. No title credits. At first I thought that it was the projector's screw up, but incidentally the film is supposed to start like that. Ok. Doesen't really affect the film in my oppinion, but at least its a way to already grab the interest of some people. So i became intrigued. But then after 20 minutes of monotonous dialogue and events, I was allready looking at my watch. The film was unfortunately extremely boring. Nothing really happened. It did manage to capture my attention at some parts, even to the point that I was once again intrigued and hoping that the film would suddenly take off and things would actually happen at a regular pace.

I understand some people enjoy slow movies, and I also have no problem with films that decide to take a slower pace to build characters and reveal plot at key moments instead of grand-slam action with big breasted women donning two hand held cannons, blowing aliens to pieces in order to save humanity from an onslought of alien invaders... (Though I do like those movies too. :D) But, this film was slower than slow. I mean, you can even hear the actors deliberatly spacing their words in order to drag out the conversation. Much like "Can...You...Get.....(shot of Solaris)........That?" This was too much to bear for me, but I managed to watch the movie to its completion. Even though I nodded off a couple of times, only to wake up and see that the main character hasn't even finnished his first sentence yet.

Then theres the whole point of the film. Yes, its a thinking persons film. In a way. But if you manage to stay awake, its not really that hard to figure out. There are no clear answers given, but through out the conversations, you get the idea what they're talking about.: "What is being human?" "Human, Clone, alien, does it really matter?" "What makes you, YOU?" "Are you only a compilation of memories, residing in a physical body, thus proving that an individual is a sum of his upbringing and surrounding? Or do you have soul, with a predetermined fate, created by a diety?" "Or are we all just someones dream?" The film poses some great conversation topics. But the film doesen't really express them too well in my oppinion. It doesen't smack you in the face as if they're going "See?! This is how it is!!!" its more like "Well... It could be this... Or this... Or perhaps that... uh... What do you think?"

In my oppinion thinking movies should pose a lot of questions, but they should also try to answer some of them sometimes. Its easy to pose questions in film. (Basically look at the monolith in 2001: A Space Oddesey. Kubrick intentionally left it without explenation. He wanted people to be totally confused) It's harder to answer them... And thats when films like "The sixth Sense" shine. They pose interesting questions, AND THEY ANSWER THEM! *Shock* *horror* How could this be? Well, because the writer thought it out. He realised that its a lot more fulfilling that a film actually does a bit of the cerebral work on behalf of the audience, so that they can atleast enjoy the film. Films that usually lack answers are usually met with more scorn than films that do have answer. I'm not saying that all films that lack answers are bad. I'm just saying that sometimes, when a film poses so many questions, and doesen't even ATTEMPT to answer any of them, audiences feel cheated.

Solaris did not have any personal stand point. It didn't have any of its own oppinions on the questions it itself asks. And I'm not talking about questions like "What is Solaris?" I'm talking about the "Humanity questions" The things this film basically was about. They should have atleast tried to prove something. Not just post questions. So when the credits rolled I was "So? What does it mean to be human?"

The film does make you think. And it is filmed very well. Solaris is beautiful. And the base is creepy and lonely. But the dialogue. The pacing, the actual flow of the film was lacking.

Oh well, this movie was a dissapointment in my oppinion. But sometimes when they try to score a hit, they miss...

This movie has excelence written all over it! I utterly loved this film. Not only does it return us to the original feel of the first trilogy, it gives us a new one that levels on the same merrits as the first. This film makes Episode 1 also better, becasue this practically starts off where the other left. Apart from it being 10 years later. The plot and overall themes are both excelent and dark, with a few added twists and suprise thrown in for good measure. And trust me, there are some scenes that will be instant classics among all other scenes in film history!

The special FX are top notch, and although there might have be the same amount or more fx in this movie than the last, to me at least, I didn't feel swamped by them. They just "were". Yes there is "eye candy" loads of it, but it won't detract you from whats happening.

Ok, now I've read that the critics say that the dialog and acting was either bad, or campy. But come one! It's Star Wars! I believe the acting to be good infact, however the dialog is just as good as any of the other movies. We shouldn't be expecting Shakesperean prose, rhyming couplets at the end of each act! Altough there was one in the end of Episode 1, actually. :) It also contains the fair amount of humor we all love in the first trilogy, but which perhaps Episode 1 took a little overboard and made it childish. This one goes back to its roots and gives you a chuckle and sometimes a hardy laugh, but never does it try to be too overly wacky.

Overall this is a definite improvement over Episode 1 if you think Episode 1 was bad. (All though I didn't)This actually helps Episode 1 bridge some of the gaps it had with the first trilogy as well. Its exciting, its suspensfull, its funny, and its sad! Everything you want in a blockbuster summer movie! Trust me, this is a excelent movie! When the credits started rolling the only thing I was angry about was the fact that now, I got 3 years to wait for part 3! ***** out of *****

Now, I'm a major film enthusiast. I watch all types of film from all over the world and I'm usually VERY positive about the films I watch. Even if the film was initially bad, I would still give it a go and find the good parts in the movie. Now, I was quite exited about Moulin Rouge and I've been waiting a long time to go watch it. Now that I finally have, I don't know what to say... I've never actually hated a movie before... This movie was bad, unoriginal, simple and predictable. It's like some sort of psychodelic nightmare of MTV, with a crosscut of all the top hits of the 20th century. Worst of all being them using Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit"... I really like that song, and for this movie to use it because of six words "Here we are now, entertain us" was just too much for me. I've never in my life had a headache from watching a movie. But this movie almost gave me a migrane. I strained my brain to see the positive in it. I came up with one thing. The credits. Cause I knew when they started to roll that I could go home and get an aspirin.