T2K / Post-Apocalyptic Movies

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

Has anyone seen "Terminator:Salvation"?

I missed it at the cinema, so will probably pick it up when it comes out on DVD, but I wondered if anyone had any opinions on it?

Also, if you like your post apocalyptic landscape with relatively few survivors, there's "I Am Legend" with Will Smith (yes, I know it's a remake!)

I Am Legend is the best of all the versions of that book...but I couldn't watch when Samantha (his dog) died after being bitten by plague-infested dogs. I'm a dog lover.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

Has anyone seen "Terminator:Salvation"?

I missed it at the cinema, so will probably pick it up when it comes out on DVD, but I wondered if anyone had any opinions on it?

Also, if you like your post apocalyptic landscape with relatively few survivors, there's "I Am Legend" with Will Smith (yes, I know it's a remake!)

Terminator: Salvation annoyed the hell out of me. So many plot holes, so many instances where real world science were ignored. Could have been so good and had sme great moments but all in all - what a waste.

I much preferred The Omega Man to I Am Legend. Some of the things Will Smith's character did were just ridiculous. I didn't really appreciate the theological/metaphysical stuff in I Am Legend either.

[General Pain]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I Am Legend is the best of all the versions of that book...but I couldn't watch when Samantha (his dog) died after being bitten by plague-infested dogs. I'm a dog lover.

I got the same problem - can't stand seeing animals (especially dogs) in pain or worse....humans on the other hand no problem....

[Targan]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I Am Legend is the best of all the versions of that book...but I couldn't watch when Samantha (his dog) died after being bitten by plague-infested dogs. I'm a dog lover.

I didn't like that scene either. But it was entirely the fault of Will Smith's character. For him to have survived all that time, doing so well, and then to suddenly start kooking out? It frustrated the hell out of me. What US Army officer of any branch who lived through all of that would leave his sidearm in the car? After that scene I was looking forward to him dying. He deserved it. Should have been called "I Am Loser"

[Marc]

I read “I’m a legend� this past year…Well, I enjoyed the book and after seeing the trailer of the film I decided that my memories about the novel were too nice to tempt my luck with the movie and Will Smith. In my opinion, “Based on� it’s quite a loose expression, especially if you liked the original book.

Targan, I think I had the same expectation you had with “Salvation� and, sadly, with the same final result. I always had found that the most exciting and stunning moments from the first “Terminator� are those short scenes of the future struggle between the humankind and the machines. When I knew about salvation I thought that finally, someone would exploit the plots suggested by those scenes, taking profit of the late technology in special effects… Again, technology is not enough, after all. (…mmmm…It seems a slogan for the Russian Army )

[Marc]

Bon dia!

Rebumping this thread after watching “The War Game (1965)�, a docudrama suggested by TiggerCCW_UK in a previous post.

Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58NmAzQzRjk

In a few words, like “Threads�, the movie left me the same feeling: a grim, nightmarish and disturbing after taste. It’s a good sample of how to horrify the audience without the need of spectacular and expensive special effects. In my opinion, a recommended and interesting production.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Having seen three movies based upon the book "I Am Legend", I must respectfully disagree that the Will Smith movie is the best adaptation.
While it's better than "The Omega Man", it's far too concerned with silly and in some cases utterly stupid, action scenes to portray the story well although I will give some credit to Will Smith in that the scenes where he starts to lose his sanity are well done.
In my opinion, the best version was the Vincent Price movie "The Last Man On Earth". While it suffers a little from having been made cheaply (filmed in Italy rather than the US and filmed in B&W rather than colour even though it was made in the early 1960s) it remains far closer to the book than any of the later movies. It remains a drama, like the book, rather than trying to be a horror/action flick like the later movies.

[WallShadow]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Having seen three movies based upon the book "I Am Legend", I must respectfully disagree that the Will Smith movie is the best adaptation.
While it's better than "The Omega Man", it's far too concerned with silly and in some cases utterly stupid, action scenes to portray the story well although I will give some credit to Will Smith in that the scenes where he starts to lose his sanity are well done.
In my opinion, the best version was the Vincent Price movie "The Last Man On Earth". While it suffers a little from having been made cheaply (filmed in Italy rather than the US and filmed in B&W rather than colour even though it was made in the early 1960s) it remains far closer to the book than any of the later movies. It remains a drama, like the book, rather than trying to be a horror/action flick like the later movies.

Uhhhh...me, too! I have to agree with SSC's choice for the best adaptation--both I Am Legend and Omega Man changed the resolution, Omega Man somewhat, but IAL completely lost the whole point of the story--the Changed are now civilization and the "hero" is a monster in their estimation and must be destroyed.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

While talking to some work colleagues this afternoon about the movies made from the "I Am Legend" book, one of them mentioned a movie I hadn't heard of before. With a little checking I found a review that proved quite interesting. Here's what the reviewer had to say in his first paragraph

"A black man, the last man on Earth, fends for himself in Manhattan after a global plague wipes out the rest of humanity. His loneliness overwhelms him. He slowly slips into insanity, speaking to mannequins he's set up throughout the city to approximate some form of normalcy. Every day at noon, he pleads into a short-wave radio, announcing his location, and his intention to broadcast indefinitely, hoping to get a response. Then he finds out he's not alone. That's the premise behind I Am Legend (2007), right? Wrong, but who could blame one for seeing the similarities?"

The movie is called "The World, the Flesh and the Devil", starring Harry Bellafonte and made in 1959
http://www.cinemaviewfinder.com/2009...nth-world.html
While this movie wasn't an adaptation of "I Am Legend", the movie of that name might be something of an adaptation of "The World, the Flesh and the Devil". Who can say but I thought it was interesting that the two movies share a lot of similarities - almost to the point of the Will Smith movie being a copy of some scenes.

[FrankieFisticuffs]

THREADS.

And by the way, don't bother paying to see "The Book of Eli"

[firewalker]

don't bother paying to see "The Book of Eli"

3 times man

what's not to like about denzel washington being a badass over and over agine. although the post-apocalptic compont is vary week.

[Tombot]

What about "A boy and his dog" ?

Nobody seems to have seen that one. It was an inspiriration for George Miller, who did the Mad Max-movies.
I can recommend the comic from Corben, too. It has some scenes, which are not included in the film. Good one, real gritty, but in some ways humorous, as well.

Another one, which inspired me, is a not a postapocalyptic story, but a western (very particular in itself, cause its made by Jim Jarmush!) - "Dead Man".
I just love bleak storys with some, detailed and strange people in it.

By the way - the series "Jeremiah" was mentioned here.
I recommend all of you (dont know if its available outside of europe), the comics, which the TV-series is (very loosely!) based on from "Hermann".
The early "Jeremiah" comics are a very good postapocalyptic, western-like setting, and the series is still around. Recommandation (although i personally did´nt like the TV-Version at all) !

[Sanjuro]

I saw A Boy and his Dog; didn't enjoy it much...

[mikeo80]

I do not see that these were posted earlier. If they were, my bad.

Some old classics:

Fail Safe
On the Beach (Gregory Peck version)

A little newer:

The Day After
Terminator
Terminator 2
By Dawn's Early Light

My $0.02

Mike

[simonmark6]

I saw A boy and his dog as a teen, it was on very early satellite TV and I never saw it again. I enjoyed it though and I was surprised to see Don Johnson out of nattily cut Miami Vice style gear.

[Targan]

The Quiet Earth - A New Zealand classic starring Bruno Lawrence. The moment a prototype global power system goes online for the first time every person who was alive at that moment disappears, while everyone who was on the brink of death at that moment is left behind. Odd but interesting.

[Legbreaker]

The first half hour or so of Vin Diesel's Babylon A.D. seemed to me to depict a city like Krakow in T2K fairly well. The rich are extremely rich, while the rest live best they can.
The latter section of the movie is a complete contrast to the first, which while not exactly post apocalyptic, does work fairly well for the movie as a whole.

[Rainbow Six]

I didn't see this one mentioned...

Doomsday

Directed by the same guy that did Dog Soldiers, it's set in a near future Scotland that has been quarantined from the rest of the UK following the outbreak of a deadly virus.

It has homages to several post apoc films - most noticeably the Mad Max films and Escape from New York (the lead character, who is female, has a Snake Plisken style eyepatch) and is enjoyable enough if you don't take it too seriously.

[pmulcahy11b]

How did I forget that one...with the delectable Rhona Mitra...I loved how her character could toss her prosthetic eye ahead of her to do recon.

[headquarters]

Well guys - I know it aint exactly kosher to drag zombisa nad what have you not into our genre- (we prefer political/military backdrops ) but "Stakeland" is pretty good imho. Good imagery for a T2K setting , characters and story are a bit clicheèd but holds their own imho.

I definently recommend "Stakeland" - have to say I wanted to whittle a bit after.

Well thats all - of to the store for some more dry goods and buckshot shells.

[kota1342000]

Has anyone mentioned Doomsday yet?

[RN7]

Originally Posted by headquarters

Well guys - I know it aint exactly kosher to drag zombisa nad what have you not into our genre- (we prefer political/military backdrops ) but "Stakeland" is pretty good imho. Good imagery for a T2K setting , characters and story are a bit clicheèd but holds their own imho.

I definently recommend "Stakeland" - have to say I wanted to whittle a bit after.

Well thats all - of to the store for some more dry goods and buckshot shells.

Stakeland is one of the weirdest films I've seen in a while. It was good in a strange way but to me the vampire apocalypse setting just doesn't work, although the general setting could be used for T2K. No real explanation to how the vampires came about, and no consistancy to their powers. In the first scene the vampire can jump about like a fly but from then on they just walk around like other people. Sometimes they are only about after dark but then in other scenes they seem to be able to walk about fine in the daylight. Guns don't seem to harm them but a small wooden stake can kill them and fire can scare them. Weirdo religous nut cases using helicopters to drop them into fortified towns they want to take over. Strange and inconsistent.

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by RN7

Stakeland is one of the weirdest films I've seen in a while. It was good in a strange way but to me the vampire apocalypse setting just doesn't work, although the general setting could be used for T2K. No real explanation to how the vampires came about, and no consistancy to their powers. In the first scene the vampire can jump about like a fly but from then on they just walk around like other people. Sometimes they are only about after dark but then in other scenes they seem to be able to walk about fine in the daylight. Guns don't seem to harm them but a small wooden stake can kill them and fire can scare them. Weirdo religous nut cases using helicopters to drop them into fortified towns they want to take over. Strange and inconsistent.

agreed - inconsistent in some parts - just like I d imagine an apocalypse to be. As I said - its not a military/economocal/political backdrop - but rather your zombie type carnage situation that brings the govs down. As for the lack of explanation - there arent anything but theories in the movie.

I dont think its weird - in the sense that its hard to follow - but it has a certain twist to it. I consider it to be a good movie in the genre. Glad you saw - I would imagine it to be limited release.

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by kota1342000

Has anyone mentioned Doomsday yet?

See Post 48

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

I didn't see this one mentioned...

Doomsday

Directed by the same guy that did Dog Soldiers, it's set in a near future Scotland that has been quarantined from the rest of the UK following the outbreak of a deadly virus.

It has homages to several post apoc films - most noticeably the Mad Max films and Escape from New York (the lead character, who is female, has a Snake Plisken style eyepatch) and is enjoyable enough if you don't take it too seriously.

[kcdusk]

I forget who recommended it, but i have just started watching Falling Skies. And after 3 episodes its been great.

Better than Walking Dead series 2 anyway,

[RN7]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

I didn't see this one mentioned...

Doomsday

Directed by the same guy that did Dog Soldiers, it's set in a near future Scotland that has been quarantined from the rest of the UK following the outbreak of a deadly virus.

It has homages to several post apoc films - most noticeably the Mad Max films and Escape from New York (the lead character, who is female, has a Snake Plisken style eyepatch) and is enjoyable enough if you don't take it too seriously.

Dog Soldiers was a lot better than Doomsday in my oppinion. How building a new Hadrians Wall and letting Scotland collapse into anarchy would stop an epidemic is anyones guess. All the Scottish nationalists must have loved watching England abandon them and saving themselves. I mean its not like Scotland is a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no air or seaports. The Scottish cannibals were good however!

[RN7]

Anyonne see V for Vendetta?

Near future Britain run by a totalitarian fascist party, a sort of latter day Oswald Mosley version of Britain meets 1984.

The world has gone to pot through enviromental crisis and America has collapsed into civil war, possibly due to biological weapons developed by the facist Norsfire Party which has taken control of Britain and made it into one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world.

Civil liberties and freedoms of all sorts repressed unless your a member of the new party. All sorts of bigotted propaganda being broadcasted on state media. No blacks, muslims, homosexuals or any other ethnic minorities in this version of Britain, and the Irish are once again repressed.

All sorts of themes and analogies, and many more noted by its many critics, while the hero is an odd but well spoken Erol Flynn type who wears a black cape and a Guy Fawkes mask.

[Rainbow Six]

Yeah, there's no doubt parts of the plot of Doomsday were at best a bit tongue in cheek and at worst a bit dodgy...the first half was probably the best for me (up to when they got on the train)...I found the whole part with the knight in full plate armour a little daft. As I said initially it's best not to take it too seriously...and as mentioned Rhona Mitra is easy on the eye...

I haven't seen V for Vendetta yet although from what I know about it, it does appeal to me.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by RN7

How building a new Hadrians Wall and letting Scotland collapse into anarchy would stop an epidemic is anyones guess.

It turned out that it didn't; it just delayed the epidemic from getting out for about 20 years. Hence the reason for the character Rhona Mitra played -- find out how the few who did survive the epidemic did so and bring it back. But, as others have said, such movies are best not watched with a critical eye.

[RN7]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

It turned out that it didn't; it just delayed the epidemic from getting out for about 20 years. Hence the reason for the character Rhona Mitra played -- find out how the few who did survive the epidemic did so and bring it back. But, as others have said, such movies are best not watched with a critical eye.

I suppose its a bit pointless thinking too hard about things that actually make sense in these films, but suprisingly it did miss out on an Oscar.