But if The Astronaut Wished His Brother Was Never Born... - Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) Discussion

[–] Firetears_X 19 years ago

1st off, this is a slight spoiler for anyone who isn't smart enough to figure it out before it happened(like I did) so you should've put *SPOILERS* in the title. Anyway...

Since he was there the 2nd time it happened then it didn't happen exactly how it happened. This time around he was there to talk himself out of doing it. The real question is, shouldn't Danny had called Walter the 1st time around?

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[–] sethozlott 18 years ago

That has nothing to do with what the topic creator is saying. He is saying if the guy's brother was wished to have never existed than he could never had played the game to begin with.

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[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ryankent_afi 18 years ago

EXACTLY! This is targeted at probably 7-14 year olds, so who cares if there's fire in outer space?

I'm 21, and I took it for what it is and I thought it was great.

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[–] AmandaCrewFan 18 years ago

Since the game can't continue if a player goes missing for whatever reason, then the remaining player(s) are stuck wherever the game transported them to. Since the astronaut(Adult Walter) wished his brother away in the past, he was stuck in the game in space for the rest of his life(that's what he says), that's why he was spun and appeared during the game.

His wish for Danny to disappear wasn't that he was never born, it was that he was gone, therefore, nothing changed, his brother had still been born, he just disappeared, that's why the game was still active. If he had wished Danny had never been born, then Walter would have never played the game because Danny wouldn't have been around to discover it.

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[–] jtpaladin 18 years ago

You have to suppose that time is circular rather than linear.

If the game could not be finished in the appropriate time or the Zorgons destroyed it, then that would reset time. So the process began again, this time with the older Walter having become an astronaut, doing God knows what while waiting to get back.

I loved this movie. It was fun.

--------------------------------------
America put the "fun" back into "Fundamentalism".

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[–] zephyr-123 18 years ago

"His wish for Danny to disappear wasn't that he was never born, it was that he was gone, therefore, nothing changed, his brother had still been born, he just disappeared, that's why the game was still active. If he had wished Danny had never been born, then Walter would have never played the game because Danny wouldn't have been around to discover it."

But that's exactly what grown-up Walter said. He said he wished that his "brother had never been born." He didn't say he'd wished that his brother would disappear. It still doesn't make sense to me how the two boys showed up all over again playing the game after grown-up Walter and his brother had already played it.

Grrrrrr!!Aaargh!!

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[–] acand187-1 18 years ago

I could be way off here, but adult Walter did say he traveled through a time scphincter. It would seem to me he simply went back in time to BEFORE he made the wish. If he went back in time to an hour or so before he had made the original wish, he could change the past, which is what he did.

Let's say he wished Danny was never born at 10pm on January 1st 2006. If he went back in time to 9pm on Jan. 1st, Danny would still be there because it's before the original wish was made. He went back in time and changed the past.

Check your palates. Get them tested.

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[–] droche-3 18 years ago

This is nothing new. I wondered how the disconnedted fetus could breath in outer space in the movie 2001, A Space Odyssey. I wanted to give it CPR.

"When you throw dirt, you lose ground" --old proverb

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[–] Progeny51 18 years ago

It's not a spoiler, the movie's out. Take the stick out of your ass.

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[–] whookie 17 years ago

how was he turned into a card anyway? like if he played the game and wished his brother away, then how and why did he all of a sudden become a card for them to roll? like wtf!

where does the game originate from? ... all I can say for this is WTF.

why must the astronaut come into the game with a helmet and suit, but then can fly off into space to save the kid wearing just a shirt and his jetpack?

this movie is full of mistakes, and it annoys me.
i'm 16, not THAT old, and i still found this utterly UNenjoyable.

jumanji was so much better!

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[–] DesiredFX 17 years ago

Yet another poster with problems suspending their perception of reality.

This isn't "space," this is a game. The laws of physics within the game have nothing to do with the real world, and your insistence that they should has ruined the movie for you.

In other words, what you got out of the movie reflects what you brought to it: a lack of imagination.

Proud denizen of your Ignore List since 2007.

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[–] whookie 17 years ago

that's how i enjoyed jumanji, due to lack of imagination. LOL at you.

It is a game, that is based in and on SPACE, just because something is a game does not mean you need the wildest imagination to play or see it in a movie.

pretty sure jigsaw's games are not based on imagination for everyone, and i don't care if they are aimed at different audiences... i'm saying it to prove a point.

there is a line in these kinds of movies that make it seem like the director/writer/whoever, is just using the "this is a game, not real blah!" as an excuse for his/her mistakes.

sorry if you see me as having a lack of imagination, that is your bad judgement. I simply found this movie boring, and full of mistakes which could have easily been avoided with no consequence.

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[–] DesiredFX 17 years ago

In every post, you've said the movie is "full of mistakes." What mistakes?

Obviously, the film decided from the start that the laws of physics as we know them only vaguely applied in the game. The minute the house ends up in space (apparently without lifting off and flying through the atmosphere), the story demonstrates that the rules of physics will be only loosely observed. If you consider it a "mistake" that there was still gravity in the house, that they could come to the porch without suffocating, then, yes, I will continue to say that you came to the film with a lack of imagination, so tied to the reality of physics that you couldn't see the film for the fantasy it was.

Proud denizen of your Ignore List since 2007.

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[–] whookie 17 years ago

no because they are major parts of the movie, which would have made the movie not work if added.

i am saying, why not have adjusted it a little bit?

as i've mentioned, the astronaut comes into the game from outside, wearing a full space suit, with a helmet. so why then can he go flying out into space without a helmet? its a contradiction of itself, and thats what annoys me, not the fact that they have gravity in the house and blah blah.

the gravity might just apply to the house, and thats why the couch can float off and whatnot. But you don't seem to know where i am coming from, so i'll leave it with you claiming that i have little imagination, bahahaha

once again, LOL at you.

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[–] DesiredFX 17 years ago

There's an obvious reason for the helmet, and it's what's known as a "story reason:" it obscures the astronaut's face to prolong the question of whether the astronaut is even human, much less a good guy or a bad guy.

But, since you insist on cold logic and science in a movie that has clearly shown itself to be imaginative fantasy, try this explanation:

When the astronaut arrives, we've already seen the kids standing on the porch, yet still able to breathe. We've seen the house pelted through with holes, but no oxygen appears to be lost, nor do they appear to ever be in danger of running out of air.

When the astronaut arrives from deeper in space--where he did need the helmet--he comes within the realm of the house which is already seen to have at atmosphere of sorts in and around it.

So, once he's within the house, he doesn't need the helmet when he is inside it or within the vicinity of it. He leaves the house without a helmet for just as long as it takes to grab Walter and bring him back in. He's not taking a long trip outside the house.

See what I did there? Used what was available within the movie, combined with a tiny bit of imagination to destroy what you thought was a mistake.

Essentially, there's a difference between the way you and I watched the movie: you approached with cynicism and a closed mind, expecting the movie to explain every detail for you (another sign of a weak imagination) and calling it a "mistake" when it didn't; I, on the other hand, brought my open mind to the experience and was prepared to understand more than exactly what was told to me by the events and the dialog.

Proud denizen of your Ignore List since 2007.

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[–] whookie 17 years ago

the house has gravity and air, which is what i've said before, this for me is acceptable. then when they are not touching the house (when they are on the porch, they are still in or ON the house) the gravity and air does not come into it.

it makes more sense like that, and having an imagination shouldn't be an excuse to destroy ALL reality, it is not some surreal sci fi, artistic movie of sorts. it is a movie aimed at both kids and adults (shown by the more frightening appearance of the lizard men, and the overall feel of the movie).

I went into the movie expecting something more like jumanji, but instead got a stupid rip-off. I don't care if YOU think I have a lack of imagination, because you have no idea about who I am or what kind of imagination I have. I have not said anything to insult you or put you down, but you insist upon making this into some enraged argument against me.

I have said to you that I don't expect every detail to be explained, I have stated things that could have been avoided and made more sense out of for the older audience, I think it was an okay movie, Jumanji was just better.

Excuses will not change my mind, You just keep going over the same details and telling me I have little imagination which I do not at all appreciate. And your points don't "destroy" anything of what I've said, because they do not excuse the points I've made at all.

<b>"When the astronaut arrives from deeper in space--where he did need the helmet--he comes within the realm of the house which is already seen to have at atmosphere of sorts in and around it.

So, once he's within the house, he doesn't need the helmet when he is inside it or within the vicinity of it. He leaves the house without a helmet for just as long as it takes to grab Walter and bring him back in. He's not taking a long trip outside the house."</b>

the house does not to appear to have any atmosphere, because a planet has an atmosphere and a gravity does exist inside of an atmosphere. The couch is seen floating away as soon as it leaves the houses porch, meaning that any atmosphere it has cannot reach outside of the house.

once again, your excuses will not change my mind. and you are being very negative about this. bye.

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[–] DesiredFX 17 years ago

Yes, this is a surreal story, though it isn't science fiction. The whole point is that the space-based fantasy universe in it is created by a game, and the first thing that game does is change reality in ways that don't fit in with the real world.

I'm not insulting you, but you're taking insult at what I'm saying. There isn't a single thing in this movie that can't be explained by applying a little imagination to what the movie already shows. What you did was short-shrift the movie--and yourself--by judging as you went it rather than simply letting yourself watch and take it in for what it was.

That sort of thinking makes movie critics, not artists.

As for your argument, the house does have an atmosphere of sorts surrounding it. As long as you are within the vicinity of the house, you can breathe. There is no indication in the movie of how far that atmosphere extends.

In addition, the debris floating outside the house indicates that the house itself has gravity--otherwise, why is the bicycle always hanging nearby?

They shoved the couch out the door with enough force to get it away from the house, out of the pull of its gravity, and it continued to burn, implying that there was oxygen outside of the house proper. Even when the couch got beyond the atmosphere, the flames could continue to burn for a short while, consuming the oxygen trapped in the stuffing of the couch.

All of this material is in the movie, right there for everyone to see, yet you keep insisting there are mistakes when all it takes is a proper, imaginative understanding of the movie to see that absolutely nothing in this movie is a flat-out mistake within the space-based fantasy realm of the story.

Proud denizen of your Ignore List since 2007.

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[–] overnightdesignz 17 years ago

wheelz, you lost.... LOL at wheelz :D

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[–] voyagerandsouthpark 17 years ago

I have a mistake which i hope isn't confusing. If the astronaut was never there then how could he save Walter from being ejected through the roof. The astronaut came from the future in order to stop Walter from making the wish therefore the dimension the astronaut came from would never involve his future self in the first place. He could never have had an argument and made the wish for his brother to disappear if he himself had died in space. Danny would've got stuck in the house on his own instead. And another thing is his sister was out of crygenic sleep when he would of made the with for his brother to disappear so she wouldn't have been frozen forever.

Its never been mentioned before but i noticed that the first time i watched it.

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[–] lokis_angels 11 years ago

Can't be bothered to read all of the tekst from this thread, but here's my thought: You like Jumanji better, fine with me.

HOWEVER: what jungle has rhino's? I seem to remember a rhino stampede in Jumanji. So there goes the credibility claim. Next up: sfx in Jumanji was crappy at least. Zathura got that better.

Lastly, in any film they are Always right. If they can breathe outside the house, it's true and possible. If there are rhino's to be spun, that's fine. As long as we (the audience) are to believe things are magical, based on a fantasy or whatever, it doesn't have to apply to physics.

As for Jigsaw: I am sure there aren't too many people that would try to live that fantasy, but the fact someone made this up, sort of proofs for me there is someone (yet maybe another than the one making it up to be a film) that would actually live it.

My point being: magical games don't exist, sick bastards do. The former wouldn't need to subject to physival laws, the latter does.

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[–] voyagerandsouthpark 16 years ago

time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] voyagerandsouthpark 16 years ago

the game created an alternate space where the normal rules don't apply, it needed to keep the people inside alive so it could continue, if there was no oxygen or gravity they wouldn't last very long. It had to give them a fighting chance, also older Walter wasn't the future Walter he was a character the game created to help them out. The real story was the two brothers learnign to work together and they never did that till the astronaut came.

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[–] jmacsgrl15 16 years ago

but he said he was walter.. but also what i can't understand is if the older walter went back to save his brother.. how come when he asked his young self what he wished for it was just a football.. and his young self looked confused... which means he didnt really ever wish his brother away because the older him all he did was yell.. ughhh brain hurting!

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[–] voyagerandsouthpark 16 years ago

his older self knew what his younger self wanted to wish for and so tried to make him stop, so as a result of him yelling his younger self couldn't concentrate and so wished for a football instead, the older version of Walter did change the future. I don't think he was from the future anyway but someone the game created to help them finish the game and also Walter would of wished his brother away if the astronaut wasn't there, somehow the game knew this and sent an older version of Walter there so that they could finish the game.

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[–] wight1984 13 years ago

Presumably when future-Walter went through the 'Time Sphincter' he mentioned. He went back before the wish and changed history.

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[–] 11 years ago

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