Most suprising movie ever?

[Thorndyke]

Suprisingly good:

 

Fight Club - I expected nothing but a mindlessly angsty violence- and brutality-driven flick, featuring Brad Pitt's exposed chest. Needless to say I was stunned when I eventually saw it.

 

 

Suprisingly bad:

 

Well... a damn lot, but one of the worst memories is 'Blue Velvet'. God, what high expectations I had for this movie after hearing everyone and their mother endlessly praising it. What I got was an awfully boring piece of crap with a one dimensional main character played by a pasty, twelve year old jackass whose acting repertoire consisted of two oddly similar expressions.

 

The 'Silence of the Lambs' sequel 'Hannibal' is a close 2nd on my list of disappointing movies.

[Jurgenaut]

I have to say that I didn't have any high expectations of Memento, but it was very good. Got PS:T-vibes out of all the tatoos and amnesias

I loved the cutting, how the whole movie goes in 'reverse'.

[Cantousent]

Well, deg, I agree with you on this one, also. I liked Van Helsing. I expected mindless action and I got it. Of course, I'm kind of a movie anti-elite. I like just about everything. Hell, I thought the movie was misleading as hell (needlessly so, since there are valid and true arguments to be used against guns) but Bowling for Columbine was actually entertaining. ...And it's just the nature of the universe, or maybe the cosmos, that a film has to have something thought inspiring in it, even by accident.

 

*shrug* and I'm easily amused. After all, I come to this forum all of the time.

[Product of the Cosmos]

I agree eldar, I thought Bowling for Columbine was very entertaining. Enough so to buy it.

[Iolo]

The Sixth Sense

 

But perhaps surprising in a different way

[Phosphor]

The remake of Ocean's Eleven was surprisingly good. I'm not a fan of Soderbergh and while the cast looked good, heist films don't often do it for me. But, when they're good, they're very good and this was very good. It kept such a feeling of cool throughout the whole film, and the cast was spectacular.

['JN]

Starship Troopers....

It's funny you should say that. People love to slam that movie, but I actually liked it. Sure it was cheesy as hell, but it was still a fun movie and I thought the parodies of the WWII propaganda reels were pretty clever. I had never really heard of it though, maybe other people had higher expectations for it.

[Phosphor]

I thoroughly enjoyed Starship Troopers. It was an excellent interpretation of 50's pulp science fiction while presenting a modern appearance.

There's a direct-to-video sequel that I've heard mixed things about.

[taks]

i've heard the movie did not quite portray the "war is ludicrous" theme nearly as well as the book. at least, a lot of the cynicism was played down (though still evident).

 

taks

[Grandpa]

No...in fact Starship Troopers was very little like the book.

 

The reason I picked it is, despite the B-movie sci-fi cliche' of it all, it was actually pretty darn good (shower scene or no). OK, I'd still like to know how they can zoom around space at warp speeds and such yet still be using ball ammo in their weapons. And how in the world is it that those weapons never seem to run out of ammo...

 

On a lot of CG ships, there is a tradition that you watch a particular movie the last night before returning home. Call it superstition. For about a year and a half, Starship Troopers was it. So, to me, it has a sort of nostaligic feel as well.

[Cantousent]

Starship Troopers was quite unlike the book. First of all, the book was not anti-war. It wasn't a parody, either. In many ways, it was prophetic of the Viet Nam conflict.

 

On the other hand, I enjoyed the movie. The chics were hot. The soldiers kicked ass. The bad guys were beastly. What's not to like? After I spend 7 bucks on a film, I'm going to look for the good things, not the bad.

[taks]

well, perhaps the anti-war statement was a misnomer... i had heard the book was cynical regarding war... the veiled references to nazism and such, the gung-ho attitude of the soldiers, etc.

 

taks

[taks]

oh wow... translation of book.

 

i was quite wrong what the differences were. the movie is much more cynical than the book...

 

taks

[Kinbote]

I've never read the Heinlein book, but I've always been under the impression that his admiration for the military and soldiers was entirely unironic. In fact, he's often been accused of the fascist sympathies lampooned in the film. And yeah, the movie is extremely sour and cynical.

 

Soderbergh (to shift to an earlier subject) is at his best when he's making light, stylish crime comedies, like Ocean's Eleven, The Limey, and (dang, can't remember the title) the Elmore Leonard one with George Clooney and J-Lo (the latter giving a surprisingly excellent performance). Soderbergh suffers when he tries to be significant or thought-provoking, as in the messy Traffic. Granted, I haven't seen all of his movies, so there might be a few contrary examples, but I think it holds true as a general rule.

[Phosphor]

Soderbergh (to shift to an earlier subject) is at his best when he's making light, stylish crime comedies, like Ocean's Eleven, The Limey, and (dang, can't remember the title) the Elmore Leonard one with George Clooney and J-Lo (the latter giving a surprisingly excellent performance). Soderbergh suffers when he tries to be significant or thought-provoking, as in the messy Traffic. Granted, I haven't seen all of his movies, so there might be a few contrary examples, but I think it holds true as a general rule.

I think that's probably fair. Have you seen Schizopolis? Gods, what an irritating film. It's pretty much his peak of attempting significant or thought-provoking film.

 

Oh, I forgot he did Kafka, which was spectacular. He also directed Spalding Grey's "Grey's Anatomy", but there's not exactly a lot of direction there, as the film is a monologue (excellent stuff though).

[Kinbote]

Never heard of Schizopolis, but based on the title alone, I think I'll give it a wide berth. Not sure if I've seen Kafka or not, but in my experience Kafka movies are best avoided; most people interpret him as being dour and self-serious, when in fact he was actually being funny. But if this one comes up on the tube, I'll give it a go.

 

Is Grey's Anatomy the one where he thinks he's dying and travels all over the world looking for a miracle cure? If so, that was amusing. Poor Spaulding Gray, though.

 

EDIT: according to Imdb, Kafka has Alec Guinness and Ian Holm, so now I have to watch it.

[taks]

well, isn't the kafka movie a biography of sorts, not actually written by kafka? kafka was actually not so much dour and self-serious, but paranoid and horribly afraid of the world, IMO. maybe he was just being cynical and humorous... i haven't studied him enough.

 

i think the movie i watched was "the tower" with about 20 minutes of black and white footage to imply the unwritten portion. i can't recall if i watched the kafka movie or not.

 

taks

[Cantousent]

It's difficult to have a discussion about Heinlein's Starship Troopers with folks who haven't read it. Philosophically, I would place Starship Troopers as quite thought provoking. It is unabashedly pro-military, but it describes a system where the civilian government is in control of the military. Here's the rub... enfranchisement comes at the cost of one year's military service. Serve one year, and you're allowed to vote. That, and that alone, is the qualification of citizenship. I gave my copy of Starship Troopers to a friend a while back, but I believe my memory serves me.

 

Now, here's another twist, everyone with virtually no exceptions is allowed to serve in some capacity or another. If a potential volunteer (because the miltary, even at the worst, was comprised entirely of volunteers) who was too stupid, slow, feeble, etc. to carry out other order might be sent for breaking down rocks at a remote location or used as a test subject. Nonetheless, virtually every member of society had the chance to become a full, voting citizen.

 

There are some almost prophetic comments that made me believe the book was written after the Viet Nam conflict when I first read it. Indeed, it is a book from the 50s.

 

One thing remains true, however... the book itself is multi-cultural. The main character is from the Phillipines. This fact is not known, however, until the very end of the book. Think about that. Heinlein had some motive in both making the protagonist non-white and dropping such knowledge on the reader at the last moment.

 

The movie Starship Troopers is superficial and simplistic. It takes the complex system described in Heinlein's book and apes it. The movie might be thought provoking to a young person on the verge of graduating from junior high. It falls far short of Heinein's book.

 

*shrug* That I'm quite biased in favor of Heinein should be readily clear to those who read my post. However, I will say that I think the movie had entertainment value. Furthermore, my experience has given me an education... don't be angry or upset when a movie fails to capture the essence of a book. The movie serves to inspire folks who would never have thought to read the piece to purchase and read it.

 

Hell, I thought Troy was a great film. Action, adventure, Greeks and Trojans slaughtering each other... what's not to like. Still, it wasn't the Iliad. What do I care? It gives me the opportunity to put my rather expensive education to use teaching the next generation of Classics students all about the Iliad.

 

Pretty much, I'm probably going to enjoy a movie. I laugh with them. I laugh at them. Occassionally, I show how much of a girlie man I am and cry with them. Whatever. It's Hollywood. Some movies are classics. I'll relish them. Some are bombs, I'll grin and shrug and enjoy the show.

[taks]

cool...

 

my favorite "surprise" movie, btw, was the usual suspects. i was not a fan of kevin spacey till that movie... now he's one of my favorites (i simply hadn't seen him in much before that).

 

taks

[Product of the Cosmos]

damn the book starship troopers seems way better then the movie. I thought the movie was pretty entertaining. But falls short of anything spectacular like, lets say, Gladiator.

 

What about peoples favorite movies?

 

These are some of mine:

 

Gladiator

Waterworld

The Postman

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Fifth Element

Quest for Fire

The Matrix(1st one)

Tombstone

The Arrival

Contact

The Ref

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Snatch

12 Monkies

Blow

????(still waiting for a good ancient Egypt movie)

and many others I am probably forgetting.

 

 

Good movies with multiple separate ones but not neccesarily my favorites:

Die Hard

LoTR

Matrix

Predator

Terminator

[Child of Flame]

I can't believe no one's mentioned Loser yet. I was pleasantly surprised when the lead did a cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The end sequence where they tell where his roomies ended up was priceless. :D

[Product of the Cosmos]

loser? never seen it...

[jaguars4ever]

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

 

Expected it to be a mindless B-action slugfest and it turned out to be one of my favorite movies of all time. The ending still gets me all misty-eyed even today. B)

[Phosphor]

Never heard of Schizopolis, but based on the title alone, I think I'll give it a wide berth. Not sure if I've seen Kafka or not, but in my experience Kafka movies are best avoided; most people interpret him as being dour and self-serious, when in fact he was actually being funny. But if this one comes up on the tube, I'll give it a go.

 

Is Grey's Anatomy the one where he thinks he's dying and travels all over the world looking for a miracle cure? If so, that was amusing. Poor Spaulding Gray, though.

Schizopolis is extremely annoying, made doubly so by the fact that it's the sort of work film snobs like to espouse for it's brilliance, and so if you didn't like it, you just didn't get it.

Kafka is a fictional biography, basically putting Franz in a world that resembles the world he writes about.

I love Kafka's work, and his sense of humour. "Gregor woke up and... wait for it.. he was a giant bug! Ha ha!" But despite his humour, he did paint a very critical and bleak image of bureaucracy and order and how it smothers life.

 

And yes, that's Gray's Anatomy. I can't believe he killed himself; it's so sad.

[Phosphor]

i think the movie i watched was "the tower" with about 20 minutes of black and white footage to imply the unwritten portion. i can't recall if i watched the kafka movie or not.

I haven't seen that. The only other Kafka-based film I've seen is The Trial, with Anthony Hopkins and Kyle MacLachlan. I thought it was a rather accurate telling of the story, but really, really boring.