What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[Shingster]

I refuse to watch The Patriot because I already watched it once and it was bollocks!

[bradavon]

@ Satly: cinematic licence, correct.
@ Mark: It is indeed.
@ Shingster: It is indeed bollocks.

[saltysam]

The Patriot was an ok watch,a typically overlong and probably highly historically inaccurate but Mel Gibson is always worth watching.Wouldn't revisit it in a hurry though.

[degeneration]

The Dark Knight 3.5/5

Finally got round to seeing this. Didn't know what to expect, was it being praised so much because it was Heath Ledger's last film? Or was it because it was also very good? So my expectations were mediocre to good, while my hopes were high. It was pretty good, but not great. The story seemed to jump around a bit and it was a little confusing ish at times. It did seem like it was trying to do too much, which made the film feel a little overly long. In fairness though, I've never been that fussed by Heath Ledger, but his portrayal of the Joker was very good, probably the highlight of the film. So at least the hype surrounding it was right in that regard.

[saltysam]

Dark Knight was definitely over-praised.good movie though.

[romerojpg]

Over priaised puts it mildly, good film but damn the way people say it is one of the best of all time is mental in the head.

Someone said to me the other day it IS THE best film of all time, I just chuckle on the inside.

[oldeschool17]

Christian Bale's voice sounded like he smoked a carton of Marlboro's on set.

[Markgway]

Good film, but hardly the masterpiece some critics claim. Gross overpraise lead me to feel disappointed about a film I still quite enjoyed. I'd give it 3/5 although I only saw it once (and that was at the cinema). How I'd feel about it at home on BD I'm not sure.

[oldeschool17]

I think its fair to say that Dark Knight and Batman Begins are the best Batman movies to date. Joel Schumacher's versions being the worse.

[saltysam]

I think its fair to say that Dark Knight and Batman Begins are the best Batman movies to date. Joel Schumacher's versions being the worse.

Prefer the first two Burton movies to be honest.

[oldeschool17]

I think its fair to say that Dark Knight and Batman Begins are the best Batman movies to date. Joel Schumacher's versions being the worse.

Prefer the first two Burton movies to be honest.

Why is that? Is it because Burton gives Gotham are more "comic book" feel? Better female leads? Better vehicles? Slightly more comedic?

[Markgway]

All of the Batman movies have flaws as well as virtues which is why it's so difficult for me to say which is best.

Batman
Pro--Good script, noirish atmosphere, inspired casting of Keaton, Danny Elfman's iconic theme.
Con--Hammy Nicholson, bland Basinger, disappointing finale, awful Prince songs.

Batman Returns
Pro-- Sexy Pfieffer as Catwoman, great set design (and Xmas setting), crisp photography, dark sense of humour.
Con-- (A little) too wierd and joyless, too many Burtonesque "freaks", silly finale.

Batman Forever
Pro--Inspired casting of Carrey
Con--Rest of the cast, cheesy dialogue, camp direction.

Batman & Robin
Pro--Erm..............
Con--Entire cast, terrible script, naff visuals, unbridled stupidity, sheer gayness... whole thing, really.

Batman Begins
Pro--Serious tone, mature approach, clever story, interesting cast.
Con--Pretentiousness, speechifying, badly shot action, Katie Holmes.

The Dark Knight
Pro--Heath Ledger, filmmakers' ambition in telling an epic story, psychological angles, professional action.
Con--Overlength, overpopulation, dubious plot turns, self-importance.

[HungFist]

1. Batman Returns
2. The Dark Knight
3. Batman
4. Batman Begins
5. Batman Forever
6. Batman and Robin

[bradavon]

IMO there praise is worth it when you consider:

A. Many Superhero films aren't taken serious at all and just camp it up
B. As an outright action film they're also very solidly made

Obviously not masterpieces or the best films ever made but boy both are very well made films indeed. For those reasons alone I don't think either are over praised, okay maybe Batman Begins is a bit. I liked them both much more than Iron Man, which was also solidly made but completely forgot superhero films are supposed to be fun.

Remember when Pirates of the Caribbean 1 was hyped up so much and everyone said it was the best thing since sliced bread. All I saw was an over long, poorly written, Hollywood cash cow. Everyone said Depp was so good, he wasn't "that good" and to be nominated for an Oscar was a joke (cue Romero's rant on the Oscars ).

Con--Hammy Nicholson, bland Basinger, disappointing finale, awful Prince songs.

Nicholoson is excellent IMO but obviously Ledger is better.

The trouble with both Batman and Batman Returns for me is, if you watch them now, boy they've not aged well. Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are simply hideous.

[Markgway]

The first Batman has dated far worse than Batman Returns despite a mere 3-year gap. I loved the 40s style design but the producers put in too many anachronistic 80s elements. The sequel didn't really have that problem.

I wouldn't say Forever was "hideous" as such but it's not terribly good. Batman & Robin, however, is hideous.

[bradavon]

The first Batman has dated far worse than Batman Returns despite a mere 3-year gap. I loved the 40s style design but the producers put in too many anachronistic 80s elements. The sequel didn't really have that problem.

I'd agree with that.

[degeneration]

My order would be, although this should maybe be taken with a pinch of salt as it is a while since I last saw any of the other 4 batman films:

Batman = Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Batman Returns

Batman Forever
Batman & Robin

The last 2 are quite notably lower down the ranks than their mere position suggests.

I would also like to say I thought PotC 1 was great, and Depp's acting was that good in it. It is partly what made the film so enjoyable. And unless he is the same way in real life, then it was acting, and very good acting at that, so I don't think Oscar nomination was unjustified. My opinion anyway.

[Markgway]

POTC did nothing for me. Couldn't see what all the fuss was about. The novelty of Depp's Keith Richards impression wore off after about 5 mins and was in no way the basis for an Oscar nomination.

Naturally I didn't even bother with the sequels.

[Shingster]

Iron Man, which was also solidly made but completely forgot superhero films are supposed to be fun.

Iron Man is just about the most light-hearted Superhero film of the new wave!

[saltysam]

Yeah Robert Downey's Tony Stark was pretty light and played tongue-in-cheek for the most part. Sneaking in a fan boy Nick Fury cameo at the end showed the movie wasn't a po-faced exercise. Iron Man is very good,looking forward to the sequel.

[bradavon]

POTC did nothing for me. Couldn't see what all the fuss was about. The novelty of Depp's Keith Richards impression wore off after about 5 mins and was in no way the basis for an Oscar nomination. Naturally I didn't even bother with the sequels.

Me too.

Iron Man is just about the most light-hearted Superhero film of the new wave!

Light-hearted isn't the same thing as good fun/exciting icon_suspect. It took way to long giving us an average story but the superhero action actually started. As I said, well made but nothing more. Not one with much re-watch value.

[saltysam]

Crank 2:High Voltage 4.5/5 The insanity continues in this riotous sequel,a film that people will either love or hate,there's no middle ground here politically incorrect,nasty,violent but also funny and gloriously over the top entertainment. in no way perfect Carradine's Fu Manchu look a like dirty old man is an embarrasing misstep transfer on the blu-ray is stunning.had to watch on my usa ps3 as the disc wouldn't play on my standalone sony player

[romerojpg]

Crank 2:High Voltage 4.5/5 The insanity continues in this riotous sequel,a film that people will either love or hate,there's no middle ground here politically incorrect,nasty,violent but also funny and gloriously over the top entertainment. in no way perfect Carradine's Fu Manchu look a like dirty old man is an embarrasing misstep transfer on the blu-ray is stunning.had to watch on my usa ps3 as the disc wouldn't play on my standalone sony player

Just ordered it myself, I broke my not over £10 rule Nooooo!

Still it is amazing so I know I will get my £15 out of it.
UK disc for me, and reading how bad some problems are with the American disc! it scares me this crap still goes on! jeeez!

[saltysam]

UK disc for me, and reading how bad some problems are with the American disc! it scares me this crap still goes on! jeeez!

It's the UK disc i have Romero it'll be fine on your ps3,it'll ask for an update when you first put the disc in.

[romerojpg]

Just updated to the new (swanky looking) firmware so it should be an instant play