Most suprising movie ever?

[Phosphor]

Newfoundland is a world unto itself.

 

Back on topic.. Daredevil was surprisingly poor. There was some good stuff, but overall it wasn't great, or even all that good. Very mediocre.

[kumquatq3]

Back on topic.. Daredevil was surprisingly poor. There was some good stuff, but overall it wasn't great, or even all that good. Very mediocre.

Anyone seen Tigerland, on the subject of good ole Colin? Good flick.

[Product of the Cosmos]

I actually liked The Last Samurai a lot. Thought it was a damn good movie. It was another one of those 'meh Tom Cruise blah' after movie=Damn that was a great movie.

 

Another movie that was suprisingly good was Timeline.. Another one based ona book I havent read.. But I thought it was good.

[kumquatq3]

I actually liked The Last Samurai a lot. Thought it was a damn good movie. It was another one of those 'meh Tom Cruise blah' after movie=Damn that was a great movie.

 

Another movie that was suprisingly good was Timeline.. Another one based ona book I havent read.. But I thought it was good.

I have to say, I hated both of those movies

[Hiro Protagonist]

The Boondock Saints surpised me. I saw it a few years ago and wasn't sure what it was about and it totally rocked.

[mkreku]

Once Were Warriors was a movie that took me completely by surprise. I went to see it in a small, alternative movie theater and I hadn't heard of it beforehand. One of the most powerful movies I've ever seen.

[oherror]

Bubba Ho Tep. I thought it sounded interesting but after watching it it's one of my favourites now.

i agree i thought since it was a b-rated movie it might suck but was kinda good.

[Raven]

the matrix trilogy surprised me, it showed me that 2 people (a man and a man/woman) can create a movie, which has horrible characters and a confusing storyline, throw in some special effect and you can come up with a movie which people will like.

[kumquatq3]

The Boondock Saints surpised me.

ahhhhh yes!

 

I have to say, back in the day I didn't think the Evil Dead Series would be any good

[Cantousent]

I really enjoyed Boondock Saints. I'm against the idea of anyone taking the law into his own hands. I'm against the idea that the Catholic Church return to the bad old days of deciding policy and enforcing justice. (I'm a Catholic. It's not the church, but the idea that good Catholic boys become the fiery sword of God.) The whole premise is completely flawed. I really enjoyed Boondock Saints. It's a wonderful film.

[Raziel]

Pirates of the Carribbean was probably my biggest movie surprise ever. I went to see it 'cause Orlando Bloom was in it (I know, I know ) and hardly expected it to be at all redeeming or entertaining otherwise, but I was pretty darn surprised at how good it was, especially for a movie based on a friggin' amusement park ride for crying out loud. It was wonderful. ^_^

 

My worst surprise movie-wise was Reign of Fire. I had expected it to at least be entertaining as a cheesy action movie, but after 2-odd hours of boring, overused plot and bad dragon FX, I found that I was horribly wrong. I think one of my friends put it best when he said that RoF tried to be too many things--a post-apocalyptic movie, an action movie, a buddy movie, etc., and wasn't too good at any of those.

 

the matrix trilogy surprised me, it showed me that 2 people (a man and a man/woman) can create a movie, which has horrible characters and a confusing storyline, throw in some special effect and you can come up with a movie which people will like.

 

I liked the guy who wanted to move back into the matrix and have himself a nice big steak.  That was about as profound as that otherwise very juvenile movie got.

 

THANK YOU, AMEN. So many people say "oh, the first movie was wonderful and deep and thought-provoking, it was just the second two that spoiled the genre" but in my oh-so-humble opinion they were that bad from the beginning. The pretentiousness of the second two was just more unbearable, that's all. (Ironically, I've seen the Matrixes more times than perhaps anyone I know, or at least parts of them. The stuff I do for my Hugo Weaving fix. *sigh*)

['JN]

Comparing the first Matrix to the sequels is pretty silly. Neither of the sequels had the complexity or symbolism that made the first one so good.

[Phosphor]

I liked Reign Of Fire. It could have been a lot better - it lacked focus - but the story, visuals and acting were very good. Particularly the visuals. I loved the "modern medieval" style, it's not something you see often on film. It shows up with some frequency in stage productions of Shakespeare's history plays, and I love it there, too. But given the big film treatment was fantastic. The shot of the dragons in burning London was wonderful as well. Should have been a longer shot, rather than just a glimpse. The camera work and lighting were nicely done, really creating the atmosphere as a burning, smoky, dirty place.

I liked the story, but it could have been tighter. Christian Bale and Matthew McCaughnahey (sp?) did a fine job too.

 

Before seeing the film, I had read all sorts of bad press, but was really surprised and thought the reviews had been un-necessarily harsh.

[mr insomniac]

^ I like the way they turned the Vader/Skywalker lightsaber duels into a legend.

[The_Prodigal_Knight]

The Fellowship of the Ring. Goin back to when i was a kid, got all the LOTR books in one bind on my birthday. Read it many times since then. When they announced LOTR would come to the movies, i was very surprised, but i didnt get my hopes up. I thought they couldnt make a LOTR movie good. Because it had so many details, characters and length; It was mind-blowing! I couldn't sleep for nights.

Biggest dissapointment would be Matrix Revolutions. Reloaded was preety good though.

[chemchok]

The LOTR movies were alright, biggest annoyance for me were the "Legolas skateboardin' on a shield" fight scenes.

[mkreku]

Comparing the first Matrix to the sequels is pretty silly. Neither of the sequels had the complexity or symbolism that made the first one so good.

Got to love it when people claim that Matrix is complex and filled with symbolism and have no clue what they're talking about.

 

The first Matrix was a great action movie, nothing else. The two sequels weren't even that.

[Phosphor]

Got to love it when people claim that Matrix is complex and filled with symbolism and have no clue what they're talking about.

 

The first Matrix was a great action movie, nothing else. The two sequels weren't even that.

Complexity is purely subjective, but the Matrix does have a lot of symbolism. Whether it's effective symbolism can be argued, but it is there, and there's a lot of it.

['JN]

Complexity is purely subjective, but the Matrix does have a lot of symbolism. Whether it's effective symbolism can be argued, but it is there, and there's a lot of it.

Don't bother explaining that to him, he's just here for a quick hit & run, which is usually what he does whenever he attempts to troll. I think it's a full moon thing. Where the hell are those silver bullets when you need them?

[mkreku]

Complexity is purely subjective, but the Matrix does have a lot of symbolism. Whether it's effective symbolism can be argued, but it is there, and there's a lot of it.

Don't bother explaining that to him, he's just here for a quick hit & run, which is usually what he does whenever he attempts to troll. I think it's a full moon thing. Where the hell are those silver bullets when you need them?

Well, 'JN, I was actually hoping to hear your version of why you feel it is complex and what kind of symbolism you've seen in the movie. You see, I have lots of friends who claim that Matrix is deep, but when asked to explain why, most people don't know. They just parrot what others have said.

 

Surprise me with something intelligent!

[Hell Kitty]

Starship Troopers started out as Bug Hunt, before they got the rights to ST, just as I, Robot started out as Hardwired before they got the rights.

 

I, Robot is a film that surprised me, for being a hell of a lot better than I would have imagined.

['JN]

Well, 'JN, I was actually hoping to hear your version of why you feel it is complex and what kind of symbolism you've seen in the movie. You see, I have lots of friends who claim that Matrix is deep, but when asked to explain why, most people don't know. They just parrot what others have said.

 

Surprise me with something intelligent!

I'm not a parrot, and I'm definitely not your friend, so what the hell do you know?

 

The movie is chock FULL of symbolism. Some of it you can understand right off the bat if you're familiar with the source material, some if it you might not get until the second or third time around. There are a lot of people who think that the movie is based entirely off of Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation, which is in one of the first scenes of the movie (Neo keeps his pirated software in a copy of it). There are a lot of books that the movie borrows heavily from, but the Bible is definitely the most signficant. There are biblical references at almost every single turn in the movie. Take Neo for instance. He is the perfect Messiah figure. His Matrix name is Thomas (an obvious reference to doubting Thomas), and it is not until he dies and is resurrected that he finally becomes who he is meant to be.

 

Neo, Morpheus and Trinity also form a sort of Holy Trinity. Morpheus is the father, Neo is the son, and if you don't know what Trinity is, don't ask me.

 

That's not even touching on the symbolism of the actual theme of the movie, which is a much more tricky and subjective area. There are all sorts of smaller touches that you have to really look closely for, like the plaque of the Nebuchadnezzer (it's actually a passage in the bible), or my favorite, the woman who is watching "The Prisoner" when Neo runs through her apartment.

 

I didn't have to explain any of that, but I decided that I would anyway, just for kicks. You happy now?

[Phosphor]

The religious symbolism is overwhelming. I really don't have time to write a thesis on the subject right now, as it would take all day, if not longer. If you're so interested, do a web search and you'll have lots to read.

My father, who's a Deacon in the Anglican church, saw The Matrix and was blown away by the thouroughness of the religious symbolism, and how intelligently it was implemented.

'JN hit on a couple of solid examples, but that's just the tip of the iceberg, really.

I don't care if you don't like the movie(s) or not, but to claim there isn't any symbolism in them just shows your ignorance and stubborness to see otherwise.

[mkreku]

Or maybe I don't search for wisdom in Hollywood produced action movies? I loved The Matrix, but trying to find a deeper meaning in it is useless. I do think it's hilarious when people try to find hidden meanings in useless stuff.

 

There was a swedish guy once who wrote a doctor's thesis about Bruce Springsteen's song "The River".. Sometimes the swedish school system makes me so proud..

[Phosphor]

Or maybe I don't search for wisdom in Hollywood produced action movies? I loved The Matrix, but trying to find a deeper meaning in it is useless. I do think it's hilarious when people try to find hidden meanings in useless stuff.

That's your loss, then. There's some fantastic stuff in The Matrix, a lot of references to esoteric lore, religious symbolism and so forth. You can choose to not look for it, or to believe it's not there since that's what suits you, but in doing so you cannot proclaim it to be an empty action flick with no substance. Perhaps that's what it is to you, simply because of you choose to remain ignorant, but don't treat that opinion as fact.