Man, there is so much in this movie that was completely irrelevant. The scenes about his love interests were so unimportant that I almost dropped my dvd player in the bath tub. Not to mention, the director was VERY generous with slo-mo to the point that the film almost became a parody of action movies in general.
This movie was way too long, poorly acted and ridiculously cheesy.
Holy *beep*
To the OP, we cant all be blessed with recognition of something good when it hits us in the face. Im sure movies like Epic movie are more your style, leave us this "crap" to enjoy.
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Any last words ?
Shut the *beep* up
-Mutant Chronicles-
lol you can say that there are some negative aspects in the movie, but calling it "horrible" proves you have no knowledge in movies what so ever
go back to watching fast and the furious if you can't follow "real" movies
idiot
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I see dumb people everywhere, and sometimes, they don't even know they're dumb!
As others have so eloquently put it, I can't believe I missed this thread first time around. It has given me a great ending to a very dull day at work, at times I have had to contain my chuckles at Pommeraie's rants as otherwise my colleagues might think I was mad!
This is one of my favourite movies (although I have a LOT).
I hadn't heard too much about it but convinced my brother and another friend to see it with me. The only showing we could find was at the Prince Charles cinema in London (UK) at 11pm. There were about 6 other people in the audience.
At first I thought it would be a horror film from the opening, but I knew Mark Dacascos was in it so there would be some martial arts (I'm a huge fan of the genre).
The story didn't disappoint. The costumes didn't disappoint. The cinematography certainly didn't disappoint. I didn't know who Vincent Cassel was then, but everyone knows him now. Monica Belluci was stunning as she was in her prime. The acting, the intrigue was all good.
Then the kicker. Mani died halfway through. The fighting was cool but it was a little bit of the Americanised martial style which had become very common. No-one had seen Fronsac fight up to that point. Heck, no-one in the cinema thought he could fight. Then came the facepaint and the fighting took on a whole new level. Instead of large sweeping moves we had vicious killing and brutality, moves designed to maim and take someone down very quickly. The brutality was comparable to Braveheart and reminiscent of Bourne, even though it was long before Bourne was released. Who knew Fronsac could fight that well? We didn't and it was a complete blast seeing him go through people like a hot knife through butter. Totally unexpected and totally mesmerising.
Even the ending was pretty cool. I own the 3 disc Canadian edition and am now going to get the blu-ray. This is pure fantasy entertainment at it's best, done with a loving care and tip of the hat to many different genres, all of which I enjoy. It never tries to be anything it's not and that's why it works so well.
"But it happened at sea! See? C for Catwoman!!"
I couldn't agree with you more!
shareI must agree with the OP on this one. I recently checked this out from my campus library because I wanted something to break-up all the old Films-Noirs I've been watching lately. I remember seeing the previews for this way back in the day, being kind of curious about it, but then forgetting about it. I also vaguely remembered while watching that someone told me back then that it wasn't very good.
Don't get me wrong, I love a good blockbuster and never shy away from foreign film, but this one might as well have been made in Hollywood; the direction is so indebted to big American action and suspense/horror films that it was just kind of sad. France has such a rich history of filmmaking and such a definitive style--it's a shame to see it utterly ignored in order to ape current (at the time) trends coming from Hollywood. For evidence, see: the overused and redundant slow-motion effect; the use of wires for fight scene stunts and not bothering to edit the film so the audience won't be able to see said wires; the gratuitous and irrelevant female nudity, the ridiculous costumes, and the basic relegation of women to silly and ineffectual roles; the horrible insertion of martial arts via the "spiritual" savage American Indian; the terrible CGI graphics; that horrible sword/chain/whip made from what looks like dinosaur bones. I've never seen a film starring Vincent Cassel where I've actually been embarrassed for him--that being said, he's the best part about this overlong "Epic" overkill.
What I found most laughable, annoying, and offensive was when our "Libertine" (*rolling eyes*)hero Fronsac goes native; in order to seek revenge for Mani's murder (who "signs his shots" with silver bullets?), Fronsac dresses up in Redface and is suddenly an Indian brave, martial arts master, and knife twirler--rather than just being a roguish, 18th Century skirt-chaser and sketch-artist--that is able to take on a bunch of feral French hooligans and Christian separatists. This is where the film gets completely out of hand absurd, even if you do want to see him kick some "Wolf Brother" ass.
Ultimately, there's way to many disruptive elements to make this an enjoyable film; simply put, it's an eyesore. And yes, it's like a cheap, French version of Sleepy Hallow or Hound of the Baskervilles with a severely pronounced Matrix-hangover. I'm not knocking fans of this film; I can understand why it's entertaining and works on a certain level, but personally, I know I won't be watching it again.
I was a big fan back when it first came out but now it's hard for me to get through. Problem is it's just too long. Some kind of hour and a half cut would be pretty awesome in my opinion.
shareI thought the movie was great. I do agree that it was a bit too long. There were definitely some scenes that could have been cut out of this film. I thought the acting was decent. Not terrible, but not stellar either. I did try watching again with the wife, but she completely got bored with it after 30mins and left to watch something else. The movie is very slow to start. There is a lot to take in especially if you watch it in subtitles. It's not a movie for everyone. If you are expecting lots and lots of action, with an engaging story, you're watching the wrong movie. There are some great action scenes here, but they are few and far between. Worth a watch if you have patience and can sit through 2-1/2 hour movie.
shareIt was a LONG, convoluted mess...
shareAbysmal and cringeworthy.
share