MovieChat Forums > Phantasm: Ravager (2016) Discussion > ah, okay, this is from a TV director ,,,...

ah, okay, this is from a TV director ,,, not Resnais

posted 8 years ago by zuloworks
4 replies | jump to latest

who is used to handle animation series ... now this explains a lot.

Mainly the focus on 'little scenes' that those magically combine to something bigger.
And they do not. There is nothing really wrong with the details, even what people are used to call the 'production values' are not the problem.

What is really disturbing is the absence of a 'bigger picture' that tighten everything into a bow, give some sense about what is happening. It feels very fragmented and everything seems to be totally pointless. No direction.

What is the film about? Where do all the characters come from and what are they doing and why. All these encounters.

I really cannot say. I am totally lost. Maybe I am just too stupid to understand what is going on.
This is a perspective I do not like when watching a movie.

I was only watching this because I read a notice that was connecting this (mess?) to Alan Resnais.
Boy, what a dissapointment. Very different playground.

I have nothing against comic strips, but they better be transcendental ... Not only serving the empty entertainment industry.

[–] blammo_kaboom 8 years ago

Well, it was originally supposed to be a webisode series based on Reggie, a spin off..

They already had all that footage and added more scenes into the very loose narrative we ended up getting.. So basically they said, we've got a ton of footage of reggie and fans are bugging out for a sequel to wrap things up...

The main thing holding back a proper sequel/finale film was finding someone to put up the money.. So they raised whatever money they could, used the existing footage from the unfinished web series as the basis and put together whatever they could before Angus Scrimm passed away..

Thats my understanding that is...

Without Angus, it would be tough to do a finale film.. So they did what they could at the time to get Angus in the film. Perhaps Don didn't WANT to do another phantasm film without Angus, he was loyal to his friend. Or many other reasons..

One thing is for sure, no money investor was really willing to put up a proper budget, so they did what they could with basically no budget at all.. I'm sure that a bunch of people worked on this film just out of love for the series, taking reduced or no pay at all to help see it done. To at least give the fans some sort of resolution and Angus a final send off.. These people are family with each other pretty much... I dont know any of them at all but I know how it goes.. Bands, films, casts, ect.. All grow up and older together.. It's not about money, it's about love of the guys/gals in the foxhole next to you and of the art of it.

Yes, this is subpar and maybe it should've been left at film four but after seventeen years of diehard fans clamoring for a resolution/return, already having a bunch of phantasm related footage to use, and it looking like no one's gonna put up proper money to back it... And Angus's age getting up there (and maybe his health failing), maybe Don and his friends thought something was better than nothing at all, even if they did want to do it properly but with no one to fund it, how could they.. Well, they did..

And sure, people whine and complain because they are spoiled, ignorant of how things work behind the scenes sometimes, and also make suppositions in the negative because of that ignorance, rather than go out and even attempt to do something on their own. Its frigging hard to make a damn movie, check out the backstory on Manos, hands of Fate.. That was made on a bet, it was awful (wonderfully so) but that guy put his damn money where is mouth is at least... Its so easy to armchair general such things..

But still, thats the nature of fandom, so I cant slam them too hard.. But context is everything, the circumstances behind things do matter.. It's not that they didnt care or set out to make a bad film, they did what they could with what they had... Because people wanted it and personal reasons as well for thise that made it.

So it is what it is..

[–] blammo_kaboom 8 years ago

Let me clarify..

I really don't have an issue with people giving this negative reviews, a film should be judged objectively and on it's own merits but wanted to perhaps give an apologist's alternate view of why the film is the way it is.. Because it's a beloved cult film franchise and that's a different thing than empty cash grabs.. Don C. Had a chance to do a remake, he wanted to keep it his own thing and that is very admirable to turn down money to keep things a bit more pure..

[–] zuloworks 8 years ago

I see this film as a totally loose junction, a pastiche, of maybe good moments. But they not at all come together to something wholesome.

Yes, there may be good reasons for that, as you say but, those do not make that it a better movie ...

Just saying.

[–] coex23 8 years ago

thanks for the info! I'm glad there's something going on behind the screen that explains all this. I still had a less than positive experience watching this film, and your info still doesn't change it. but I feel better about the people that made it at least...