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Author Topic: V For Vendetta (2006) Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 03-16-2006 06:07 AM                        Based on the trailer and hearing random bits from random people before seeing the film, my understanding was of a cross between Batman and 1984. I'm not familiar at all with the original graphic novel, but when I was told that the original author does not have his name anywhere near this film, I got the impression that even if that comparison were true, this movie wouldn't necessarily reflect that ... so I took the movie on its own terms. If there's one thing I know for sure coming out of this movie, it's that I will never be the same again. My life has been changed, and definitely for the better. My mind is expanded and I'm a stronger person ... because I have been exposed to images of Natalie Portman in a little girl outfit, complete with bows in her hair. I need that poster! They have to make a poster! Seriously, I thought the movie was good, but it's nothing new. Political overtones were inevitable (or at least too easy not to tie in), and the sentiments behind the script's message, if a clear one was even intended, are typical "think for yourself", "let ideas live", "power in words", and above all "beware the Brave New World" angles that any well-read science-fiction fan is all too familiar with. On a larger scale, though, I don't think this movie did anything original with it, or took the idea anywhere, or developed it as effectively as it maybe could have; as if the core ideas driving it were revolutionary enough for its audience. The story held my interest, though. I wasn't bored. It was good. The IMAX DMR job on this one looked great. No better than the past several DMR's particularly, but they all looked great. Not much else to mention about this one ... except, did I mention Natalie Portman with pig-tails and pink bows?  |  IP: Logged Dan Suomi Film Handler Posts: 53 From: Aurora/Oswego, IL Registered: Jul 2004 posted 03-16-2006 10:33 AM                        I am a big fan of DMR but I didn't think that this movie needed to be in IMAX. I rather have seen Ice Age 2 be DMR'd.  |  IP: Logged Stephen LaPadula Film Handler Posts: 50 From: New York, Ny Registered: Mar 2005 posted 03-16-2006 12:19 PM                     Much like Brian, I went into this blind, not really knowing what it was about besides watching the trailer. I also wasn't particularly interested in seeing it, but had the opportunity to tech our digital print and said why not. It definitely held my interest, and although I think its a little over 2 hours, it really didn't seem that long. I'm not familiar with the comic, but something doesn't seem original about the story-line, though I can't place it either. If anything it makes you think about the future, and then it hit me: superpowers don't live forever....The Greeks, Romans, and English once ruled what they knew as the world. How much longer will the states have influence over the modern world??? The digital print looked great and for the action scenes towards the end, I only wish our digital screen was bigger. 4/5 for me  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 03-17-2006 05:20 AM                        There's an exchange between Finch and Creedy about an hour into the movie. One quick cut to Finch was OBVIOUSLY time-stretched and looped, or (unsuccessfully) forced into a different bit of dialog. Anyway, it is SO distracting, and it only happened for a brief few seconds, but it made my heart jump ... since things going out of synch on our system CAN happen, indicating a problem somewhere. Anyway, just wanted to mention it. How obvious was it to anyone else?  |  IP: Logged Robert Burtcher Expert Film Handler Posts: 194 From: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Registered: Jun 2005 posted 03-17-2006 05:31 AM                     I quite enjoyed V for Vendetta. It held my attention like no other movie in some time. Did any of you get your 35mm prints shipped to you wet? Ours was slightly moist, but not too bad. Also, our print seems to have a noticable amount of negative dust throughout the entire print... Anyone here have any problems with that?  |  IP: Logged Don Anderson Master Film Handler Posts: 312 From: West Bend, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 03-17-2006 11:33 AM                     I found this film to be entertaining. I've never heard of V prior to the film. The mask was a little creepy at times. I would highly recommend the film to anybody, it has impact. Too bad they couldn't have trimmed a bit of the blood and got it a PG13 rating.  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-18-2006 02:23 AM                     Brian noticed the dialogue problem too. I thought it was a print specific hitch, but it looks like it's in every print. Regal Hacienda Crossing 20 w/Imax. Driving home from Los Vegas after attending ShoWest, I decided to take in V for Vendetta in DMR Imax. I also wanted to avoid 80-miles of urban rush hour traffic. I have peeked in on an Imax DMR presentation but I haven't sat through one. In looking at DMR presentations I thought that something might not be quite right, and I was right. First the movie: I liked it but didn't love it. I liked how they pointed up the fallacy of US foreign policy without bludgeoning you over the head with it. I liked the way Natalie Portman transitioned in her character. I thought it was very interesting the way V acted in his mask. I liked the way Stephen Rea came to understand what was happening. But something about the story didn't stick together. Now about watching it Imax: I bought the ticket a couple of hours before the show. I went to eat sushi at the restaurant across the street from the theatre. They screwed up and delivered Sashimi instead of my sushi order then they insisted on charging me the higher price. Oh well, the waiter just screwed himself out of a tip. Because of the delay, I arrived right before the start of the show. I had to sit in the lower cross isle about 3 rows from the screen. Perhaps the crick in the neck will be off set buy the extra legroom. DMR movies are letter-boxed on the screen. I swear that the light spill on the extra screen kills some contrast. For this they charge $13. Then being down low, I think the horns weren't aimed at me and I feel that the sound suffered some. The effect of watching the movie from so close was like the effect of John Hurt's Chancellor character on that big video screen. It was just too close and too big. I don't want to be that close to Natalie Portman unless I am having intimate relations with her. (and no, I wouldn't mind.) During the intro tag, it stated that watching a movie in Imax is a “Digital” experience. I'm guessing that they are referring to making the print from a 4K digital interpositive. I saw some digital video breakup during some effect scenes like the explosion at the end. Also at the end of the movie the credit crawl looked like it was video that wasn't scrolled correctly. It was like the edges were blinking during the crawl. Credits without motion, didn't have this effect. I'm not sure if it was the single opening of the shutter per frame, or actual video problems. All in all, I would rather watch it in a real movie theatre. Let's see, it's 11:46, I have to stop in Windsor to post this, then go to the all night grocery store to get some food. I need to pick up some eggs, bread and butter so I can make an Eggy Basket.  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 03-18-2006 03:38 AM                        quote: Ian Price the single opening of the shutter per frame The shutter effect produced by the rotor still flashes each frame twice. The "digital" in the tag refers to the digital remastering process, converting and processing the original into 15/70 via whatever sophisticated digital technology they've employed. The "video" effect during the credits is presumedly an artifact of this. I've noticed it, too; particularly heavily in the end credits to Spiderman 2 IMAX DMR. The scrolling-pixelated flutter was quite noticeable. And yes, IMAX (even peripheral-filling 3D) should not be viewed that close. The BACK rows for these DMR transfers is the optimal location, whereas true IMAX format stuff I find is ideal around seven or eight rows from the front. Sorry it was a lousy $13 experience for you. That's what we're charging, too, and the first week's shows tend to fill up quickly, so those extreme seats have to go to SOMEONE.  |  IP: Logged Eric Hooper Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 532 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 03-18-2006 12:50 PM                     Saw it at the Grand Lake last night. The audience loved it, with a huge applause at the end. Although this theatre and the patrons is famous for being anti-government and anti-Bush. I give it an A-. I think it will definitely be a cult status film going forward! Ian, the sound in that IMAX screen in Dublin has always muffled and crappy the 2 times I've been there.  |  IP: Logged Jennifer Pan THE JEN! Posts: 1219 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: Nov 2003 posted 03-18-2006 01:18 PM                        I enjoyed it, but I didn't like how they turned up the volume a lot more than usual. I had to over my ears in some parts because it was so loud. The V character creeps me out but I grew to like him when he showed that he really cared for Natalie's character. I was partly expecting it to be kind of cheesy like the Spiderman films but this was darker and in my opinion way better acting.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 03-18-2006 04:29 PM                        CINEMA: Century 20 at Jordan Creek, West Des Moines, IA AUDITORIUM: 9 PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital/THX PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None RATING: Three stars (out of four) WARNING: Remember, Remember the Spoilers of November Image quality was above average for this venue today. Very nice. Okay. Here's what annoys me about the THX "Cow Can" trailer. There's obviously a "cow" in there that is just some guy mooing, and mooing badly. It's just one of the moos on the right side, but it's sounds stupid. Actually, the last sound at the end before the logo starts shaking ALSO might be the same guy badly mooing, but I can't determine if that's supposed to be a "moo" or Tex voicing his opinion. Right. Our hero is a sort of pissed off dude in Britain twenty years into the future. Virtually nothing went in to making anything look futuristic. Even the computer monitors at the police station were today's black 4:3 Dell's. This movie put even less effort into its futuristic visuals than "The Island" did. We get a big explosion early on, a big explosion at the end, a whole lot of blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah in between (this movie spends more time explaining itself than actually being a movie), and some lesbian poetry. It's really a romance novel loosely transcribed for film. And yet, it works. Totally.  |  IP: Logged Steve Scott Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1300 From: Minneapolis, MN Registered: Sep 2000 posted 03-18-2006 08:51 PM                     Entertaining the old fashioned way with high action, tension and romance, V haunted me all day & night after our first Friday show. The film banks its sets of characters into their own fifteen minute development segments that might either lead one into frustration over the absence of such a great palate of characters, or to play into their unknown paths. That said, I enjoyed the later type of tension & how those brief flash-forwards in the third act helped center me on the finale rather than the outcome. Totally stellar. What a sound design too! Play those fireworks scenes for all their worth.  |  IP: Logged Dave Williams Wet nipple scene Posts: 1836 From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-19-2006 09:04 PM                        This for me was just all right and ok, but nothing to caw about. I have wondered why the studio keeps plugging this as "from the makers of the Matrix Trillogy", as if that was something to be proud about! Most people still feel ripped off from those last two train wrecks, why would anyone spill their money again for the wachowski bros and anything they want to do. I saw this out of pure curiosity, that maybe these two idiots of video garbage can somehow redeem themselves. Well it is not as good as the Matrix, but it is a scant better than the two follow ups. The original authors and the film makers have all said that this film is SUPPOSED to openly advocate anarchy as a form of governance, and anyone that doesn't get that really is missing the point. It has some of it aimed somewhat at the bush administration, but really it is more a cautionary tale that ANY government is open to the possibility of corruption, so you should get involved and know what is going on. You know, anarchy. I didn't jump up and down for this picture, and don't particularly reccomend it either, although it is a well crafted yarn that has no basis in actual reality. Let's face it, if we really were living in a facious regime, would they be able to actually put this thing out? PLEASE!!! Ciao  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-22-2006 11:01 AM                     I watched V for Vendetta on a much smaller screen up here in Cloverdale. I couldn't see the digital artifacts that I saw in Imax. But on the first Tuesday night of the run, they didn't sell any admissions. I watched it with two employees. On Thursday they also recorded no ticket sales and didn't run the film. I was there to see Failure to Launch. That's two days in the first week where nobody came to see the film. This is the #1 film in the country, $30M so far and nobody comes to see it in Cloverdale. Is it a wonder that some small town theatres can't cut it? [ 03-23-2006, 10:58 PM: Message edited by: Ian Price ]  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Jorgenson Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1002 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: Feb 2005 posted 03-24-2006 12:55 PM                        quote: Brian Michael Weidemann Anyway, just wanted to mention it. How obvious was it to anyone else? another "yes, very obvious" (also saw the 15/70 version)  |  IP: Logged

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