callmeishmael Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Saw it in the theater, but at home, the DTS ES Discrete 6.1 was exceptional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriton Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Strange and disturbing film - saw it over the weekend. It has that disjoint and rather disconnected narrative that a lot of foreign films have in my opinion. The few special effects that there were, were magnificent - in a Hellraiser sort of way. There were no real explanations about the creatures or the tasks, and the real world seemed more fantastical and perilous than the "other" world. I thought the captain made an excellent sociopath, but there was no real back story as to why he was the way he was, or the larger historical context (except brief mentions), why this martinet would cart his wife into a war zone, why she would really have had anything to do with him other than she had "been alone for too long"...Just a lot of questions, why the toad was the way he was, why the King didn't send anyone to look for the Princess, what was up with the baggy skinned dude and the feast, why why why. The peasant being hit with the bottle was early and pretty graphic, and not expected. Went down hill from there. I caught some of the not-so-subtle parallels with the fantasy world and the real world, but they were just obscure and off putting to a large extent. The awards for graphic design, etc. though, I believe were well deserved. I guess I expected more of a coherent story from Del Toro, the direction (Del Toro) was slick and excellent - the writing (also Del Toro) was not. Interesting movie, certainly one of the best foreign films I have seen of late, but disturbing. NOT for children, and only a FEW adults. K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 I saw it in the theater and was hoping for more fantasy world scenes because they did them so well. It was different and not another boring formula movie where everything is warm, fuzzy and predictable in the end. It was good. I would really like to see a movie about the surrealist movement in Europe. The characters would be overwhelming Dali, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Miro, Duchamp, Kandinsky, and others. Many of these artists were friends and it could be real fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeishmael Posted May 21, 2007 Author Share Posted May 21, 2007 Yeah, but how did you like the audio? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriton Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Uh, yes...the audio was decent - I tried both setting the discrete DTS and the DD, most notably the gun fire was exceptional - a lot of dialogue, so the full extent of the formats was not utilized to fullest extent, but the sound track was very good. Explosions were a good sub challenge. K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 I rented this over the weekend and enjoyed in thoroughly. An innocent, love and loss, a war, conspiracies, betrayal, magic, scary fairy tales stuff and murdering fascists. I wouldn't try to scare the kids with this, it's a little too gruesome. Good special effects, mood and pacing. I like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Guillermo del Toros foreign film won 3 Oscars in 2007, for Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Cinematography and Best Achievement in Makeup. That is only half the story. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Look at the nominations and you can see why this is an outstanding film and one of the best movies of last year. Pan's Labyrinth was nominated for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures/Original Score, Best Foreign Language Film of the Year and Best Writing/Original Screenplay (great story by Guillermo del Toro). Del Toro has indeed created something very special - part war movie, part fantasy, that everyone should see. This is a very 'visual' film that does not rely overly on dialogue. I wish I had seen it in the movie theater. I had none of the why questions. It is much better than the closet tale of Narnia, more compelling and easier easy to watch than Lord of the Rings 2, and yet as political as Schindlers List. Although the young girls fantasy world juxtaposes her harsh real world, it is not mere escapism. The movie is too shocking for most kids, and some adults. It is not gory, but it is realistically violent. If you liked V for Vendetta and History of Violence, you will like this movie. Like V, the real world dilemma of the plot is simple: good versus shocking evil. Face-to-face fascism in a glance. Submission of good and kind souls. The evil that men do. The young girl and her mother are trapped by circumstances. While the promise of the fantasy world is appropriately extraordinary, the fantasy challenges (tests) Pans heroine faces are more realistic that the outlandish ones in Lord of the Rings. In Rings, each challenge is supposedly impossible to overcome, yet its group of heroes easily wins and not with special gifts that aid them in overcoming their adversary. Besides, the computer generated graphic images (CGI) fills the screen endlessly with fake backgrounds. In Pans, the heroine succeeds because of her inate goodness, and yet makes tragic mistakes. Pans graphics intrude into the stark reality of WWII. In the beginning, CGI offer a glimmer of magic, hope and possibility, which we and the young heroine spy. The tension of the real world drama adds to the movie as the girl moves back and forth between the real world and fantasy land. The tragedy of the real world, and the failings in the fantasy, add suspense, moving the story along and keeping it interesting. In Narnia, there is no interaction between real and fantasy world, the heroes somehow easily conquer and win their fantastic destinies, all in gorgeous and endless CGI packed landscapes. I normally cant watch the audio commentary; it is so full of meaningless crap. Yet the one for this film was as interesting as the one for Young Frankenstein. If you are an avid movie lover, as am I, I found de Toros references to other movies and techniques fascinating. Ive seen a few good movies recently. I also like the wonderful Judi Dench and Cate Blanchette (always good) in Notes on A Scandal, from Sharon Stones incredible performance in the disturbing Alpha Dog and the fantastic Helen Mirren (see the bizarre The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover (1989) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097108/) in The Queen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 I agree. Great film! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theryugobuddy Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 A beautiful movie-- you know you're watching a new classic fairy tale as it unfolds. The story splits between a child's frighteningly brutal surroundings and a dreamland amalgamation of all the fairy tales she loves, and her adventures in this scary dreamland fit right in with the cruelty that goes on around her. I kept thinking should I show this to my 8-year olds, but it is too gory and kids like a definite good guy/ bad guy story -- this keeps you guessing throughout. Incredible cinematography in the lush mountains in Spain and high artistic values in the special effects, dialogue, and sound-- Again --its a classic. I bet we'll see an English remake that ruins it soon!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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