MovieChat Forums > Harbinger Down (2015) Discussion > I Prefer Leviathan (1989)

I Prefer Leviathan (1989)

posted 10 years ago by raphroehler2004
11 replies | jump to latest

I know that on the Scream Factory Blu-ray Features of Leviathan(1989)...Alec Gillis was crapping on the film itself & on the FX he helped make on the flick.

With all due respect to Mr. Gillis...I'll take Leviathan a hundred times over your directorial debut, Sir.

I mention Leviathan because it too has elements of The Thing. But I also think Leviathan looks better, has a better soundtrack (Jerry Goldsmith), a better cast of characters, memorable scenes (like Peter Weller punching out Meg Foster and saying "Better. A Lot Better."), great lines of dialogue ("I Know You've Gone Through Hell." "Gone? Bitch, we're still here!"), and yes, in my opinion, better FX. Plus, at least it changed it up Somewhat but having the film take place underwater.

It's cool if people disagree. Just my opinion.

[–] supercygnus 10 years ago

Leviathan isn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece. It was ok but it's not like this new film was meant to replace it or something. Considering the minuscule budget Harbinger was made from and the generous resources and veteran movie stars Leviathan had going for it your assessment is pretty harsh. You seem to be creating a controversy and rivalry where one doesn't already exist.

[–] scochs-1 10 years ago

Yeah supercygnus, I don't think everyone knows how much BS Alec and Tom went through to get Harbinger Down made. Leviathan had a $15 Million budget back in 1989 - Harbinger had what? $350K to work with? In 2015?!? And it was funded initially with Kickstarter. If anyone got paid - it must've been with penny rolls.

People aren't aware that HD was made because 2011 "The Thing" studio re-did all of ADI's practical Fx from that film with (SOMETIMES LAUGHABLE) CGI.

IMDB - Because some Trolls need more than just a bridge

[–] amitynow 10 years ago

That laughable cgi in the thing prequel is much better than any of the practical effects in harbinger easily. Syfy channel has more realistic effects haha. Oh and yeah leviathan rules and was about 5 trillion times better than this peice of trash vanity project.

[–] scochs-1 10 years ago

First off amitynow, I like "The Thing 2011" - rated it 7/10 (mostly out of nostalgic reasons for respect for my favorite film of all time, 1982 The Thing (10/10! for me.)

Some of 2011's CGI was great! Some of it was stoopid dumb. And that "stoopid CGI" was not as good as the best practical FX of Harbinger Down. So, I disagree with you on that. I also disagree that SyFy has more realistic FX - sometimes they do! Not always though.

The Thing 2011 budget - $38 MILLION. Harbinger Down Budget ~$350K. I haven't confirmed, but I'm guessing whole crew was paid with free food.

IMDB - Because some Trolls need more than just a bridge

[–] AlienFanatic 10 years ago

I'm with scochs on this one. Yes, the effects in Harbinger weren't totally up to par, but they were ridiculously better than most low-budget CG. (Compare, say, the SyFy "Bigfoot" movie to what HD did and probably for similar budgets.) ADI is absolutely capable of stunning, highly-realistic practical effects but those effects cost money. The time it takes to design and fabricate fully camera-ready and convincing effects is substantial and Gillis and his crew only had a miniscule budget to work with. I doubt they had the money to spend on large amounts of premium latex or on the OT to pay their staff what they deserve. This was a labor of love.

If you want to see how fully-funded practical effects can look in comparison to CG, I suggest you look at the YouTube video by StudioADI that details all of the scenes they created for The Thing (2011) that were cut. The realism is ridiculous and highly-convincing. And because those effects were staged on set, the actors are working with what appears in front of them. As a result, their performances are much more convincing. The thing about CG that has yet to be resolved is that no matter how good the effects look, there's something missing in the performances of the OTHER actors, no matter how good the actors are.

Here's probably the longest of the videos regarding the practical effects work ADI did for The Thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBzpT7VmSaU

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In space, no one can hear you scream. On IMDB, we can hear you but we just don't give a crap.

[–] raphroehler2004 9 years ago

Actually, I already knew the story about The Thing 2011.

So (in MY OPINION, you don't have to agree) they made another film which took place in a similar environment, had sub par acting, characters I couldn't care about, limp direction, forgettable score, no scares/suspense, is predictable...just like the 2011 The Thing.

Only this has Practical FX which wasn't that great and featured lighting which wasn't that good (probably because they even knew it wasn't up to par).

By the way, I love practical FX and hate The Thing 2011. I've seen plenty of low budget horror films that do feature great practical FX, both in today's age (I thought even the creature in films like Storage 24 was pretty decent...crappy movie but I liked the creature) and back in the day.

The only reason I made the post in the first place was because the director Alec Gillis wanted to talk about how much Leviathan sucked on the Blu-Ray, but (in my opinion) made a film that was much more of a sub par effort. It's COOL if you disagree. I'm not saying you have to agree.

[–] Legendary_Badass 9 years ago

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[–] Barney_Ross_Homecoming 9 years ago

LOL @ comparing Leviathan to this. Leviathan had a budget of about 25 Million in 1989, which is about 45 million in 2015's money.

Harbinger Down has a budget of about HALF A MILLION $$$$$.

T4 and T5, both PG13, are the only Terminator movies NOT to open #1 at the box office. PG13 flop.

[–] amitynow 9 years ago

Well if they didn't have the budget to make something convincing and good, then they shouldn't have done it in the first place.

[–] SATerp 9 years ago

Deep Rising and Virus were far superior, and a lot more fun than this thing was.

[–] LordRIB 9 years ago

I always LOVED LEVIATHAN. I think It's effects ARE great, even today. I give it a watch at least once a year since its release. Of course I watch Carpenters THE THING much more often, it's waaayyyy up on my list of favorite Sci-fi/Horror (just above 88's THE BLOB which is great imo). And yes I was not a fan of the 2011 THE THING. Didn't hate it, thought it was pretty strong out of the gate, but falls apart bad in the 3rd act.

I mean by the time the THING (2011) gets pissed and goes full on zerg, tearing ass all over in a furious rage, i asked myself... If its this fast and powerful, why did it bother to even hide after it was let in? It coulda wiped out a room full of humans in a minute! It's not even really even vulnerable while its absorbing lifeforms. It should be. That's the whole reason it was so careful to be concealed.

There was a slew of mediocre remakes of my favorites in a row that visually looked cool, but felt hollow to me. Robocop, Total Recall, The Thing... soon the Blob, and Back to the Future!