Elysium

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  • #16
    Re: Elysium

    Beyond the first 25 minutes or so, I doubt it would spoil the film.

    What we can see is that Matt is gonna break into Elysium, he gets an exoskeleton to do so, and the bad guys are after him for this. We see him making a journey in space to reach the ringworld. It even seems that we see him crashing his small space vessel into a suburb in Elysium.

    So they spoiled really important act 2 and act 3 stuff, yet didn't spoil information that comes in the 1st act. Wouldn't it be good if they did the opposite?

    None of that really bothers me, thought. The exoskeleton is impossible to hide in the marketing, it's obvious that there is going to be a space journey to Elysium, and the space battle in the proximity of the ringworld obviously has the kind of big money shots that are going to be used in marketing.
    Last edited by tuukka; 04-10-2013, 06:21 AM.

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    • #17
      Re: Elysium

      Originally posted by ATB View Post
      It's about a man who, because of the wretched conditions on Earth, finds his body deteriorating with just days left to live.

      His only option? Take some pills and die quietly.

      But Elysium's residents? They have access to machines that can cure disease in mere moments.

      So, because his body is deteriorating, he equips himself with some experimental exo-skeleton to infiltrate Elysium and gain access to one of these machines. He needs only moments inside to cure his disease, but will he focus on his own health or the well-being of his fellow man?

      That's a good hook.

      And that's a good one.
      "A screenwriter is much like being a fire hydrant with a bunch of dogs lined up around it.- -Frank Miller

      "A real writer doesn't just want to write; a real writer has to write." -Alan Moore

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      • #18
        Re: Elysium

        It reminded me of some Japanese sci-fi cartoon... but in a good way.
        Originally posted by Chief View Post
        They claim they love filmmaking but once they get the dough they make one every 5/6 years.
        Sigh.
        Applying for grants can take a long time: getting the forms ready - because there's only one shot at it - can in itself, take months, then there's the waiting around.

        After this, there's trying to find investors/sponsors... even when found, they'll normally commit verbally depending on blah and blah and it's not uncommon that they end up pulling out, putting the producer/s back to square one.

        Then come the actors: takes a while to finally get that perfect person for the lead... then look around to try to fill the rest of the leading roles... and somebody nearly always pulls out. Back to square one.

        Investors may have signed up because of a certain actor or won't, because of actors/director, and guess what? All these factors can change, meaning that nothing is ever concrete.

        On a final note, because you yourself are a writer, I'll ask: how long does it take you to write a good script?
        The script always has to come first, and believe me, as frustrating as it is, it's torn apart the whole time - everybody wants to change something: more screen time, cooler lines, write in a one-line speaking character for an investor's daughter, budget requirements mean that the ending has to change... the list goes on.

        There's a HELL of a lot to consider, so the fact that these people even made a first film when they're nobodies is a great achievement!
        To make a second, bigger budget film is an even bigger achievement.
        Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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        • #19
          Re: Elysium

          Elysium - Official Trailer #2

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RSDaRttpzk

          Looks pretty good

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          • #20
            Re: Elysium

            Originally posted by FoxHound View Post
            a) There's no way of knowing that from the trailer.
            b) It's an interesting premise, but it's not that great a hook. We're not exactly in Looper territory here.
            c) Solely because of D9 will I be seeing this.
            As someone who has read the script (no, I can't send it to anyone, so please don't ask), I can assure you that Blomkamp will deliver. I also know someone who sat through a test screening and said it rocked.

            And this is nothing like Looper. Not even close. If anything I would say it's closer to D9 from what I know. Minus any prawns of course.
            @TerranceMulloy

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            • #21
              Re: Elysium

              New trailer is great. Goals, stakes, motivation, urgency, antagonists...it's all there.

              Can we just skip July?

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              • #22
                Re: Elysium

                Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
                New trailer is great. Goals, stakes, motivation, urgency, antagonists...it's all there.

                Can we just skip July?
                No.

                This is the End. Tomorrow. Excite.

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                • #23
                  Re: Elysium

                  Looks great but **** I hate those 90 second trailers that try to give away every plot point.

                  I love going to the movies to be amazed for 90+ minutes, not mentally tick off plot points from the trailer

                  So +1 for the movie

                  -56 for the trailer

                  I heard the starting gun


                  sigpic

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                  • #24
                    Re: Elysium

                    There are definitely some similarities with District 9, but overall, I think it feels fresh. I'm sure the writer/director will knock the action out of the park again.
                    The Screenwriter's Toolbox: Learn the 15 essential techniques every writer must know before beginning their screenplay
                    http://amzn.to/16oqehn

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                    • #25
                      Re: Elysium

                      Originally posted by ATB View Post
                      It's about a man who, because of the wretched conditions on Earth, finds his body deteriorating with just days left to live.

                      His only option? Take some pills and die quietly.

                      But Elysium's residents? They have access to machines that can cure disease in mere moments.

                      So, because his body is deteriorating, he equips himself with some experimental applaud-skeleton to infiltrate Elysium and gain access to one of these machines. He needs only moments inside to cure his disease, but will he focus on his own health or the well-being of his fellow man?

                      That's a good hook.
                      ***Spoilers**** Saw it last night and it was awesome!

                      If I may delve deeper into ATB's synopsis above...

                      It's a story about a boy who has a dream to one day make it to the beautiful, lush, protection of Elysium. He promises his best friend that one day he will take them both there. This is at the core of who this man is.

                      Now, cut to 20 years later, and due to the circumstances of living in this wretched world, he becomes a criminal just to get by, and by the time we enter the story with Matt, he's on probation and working his way to his dream to get to Elysium. It's a hard life here, and he's focused on one thing, buying a ticket to Elysium.

                      His best friend tries to get him to join up as a thief and we realize that Matt was a rockstar in the world of thieves. But he resists and we applaud him for it and at the same time wouldn't blame him if he reverted to his old ways, because damn, this world is hell.

                      And we like him, respect him. Sympathize with him. We want to see him succeed. So the set up is good in my book. He even meets up with his childhood friend and now all we care about is that his dream comes true.

                      Then a catastrophic accident happens and he's got 5 days to live. He's driven, he's not gonna die on this garbage dump and because of this he makes a deal with an old crime lord buddy. The exoskeleton isn't really an experimental device so much as an outdated model-- we see it used by paramilitary, mercenary types.

                      He reverts to his old ways as a means to save himself, so he sells his soul. But as the story unravels we realize that there's a lot more at stake than one life... it's an epic tale of what one man will do shift an entire world.

                      Jodi Foster is terrific as a villain. As is true of Sharlto Copely. All of the characters really shine. Great performances by the entire cast.

                      But what I really liked is the fact that Elysium and Earth and the setting for what I think is a great story. It's a world of the 'haves' and 'have nots.' Of the wealthiest people who live in a paradise while the rest of humanity struggles to survive in a cesspool of ****. They've isolated themselves from ever having to witness the inhumanity of what they've allowed to happen.

                      And for all you District 9 fans, you won't be disappointed by the action sequences. It's completely believable. Our hero isn't Thor, he's an Average Joe, and that makes it even better.

                      There's just enough of Elysium to satisfy our need for spectacular imagery, but what really shines is the story of an unlikely hero who learns that he can save himself or he can save a world.

                      It doesn't get better than that.
                      FA4
                      Last edited by finalact4; 08-11-2013, 08:15 PM.
                      "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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                      • #26
                        Re: Elysium

                        I'm a huge District 9 fan, but this one really fell flat for me. I loved the visuals, and Blomkamp absolutely has a bright future as a director, but the execution here was poor.

                        I liked Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley, no complaints there. Jodie Foster was laughably bad, though. Her accent was a combination of English/French/German/Future (?). I don't mind the occasional bad accent, but it really detracted from her performance. Even felt a little comical at times.

                        The dialogue was so on-the-nose, ugh. I don't think this is the writer's fault - I have a feeling someone (a producer? or whoever) dumbed it down for the masses. It's a shame, because the whole film feels very heavy-handed, with all the healthcare, immigration, and socialism themes at the forefront. In District 9, apartheid certainly played into the film, but the story was absolutely captivating, the message secondary. Here, I dunno...I kept waiting for the story to make itself clear. The stakes were muddled, the objectives even more so. I knew from the very beginning how everything was going to end, which makes for a dull movie.

                        I was hoping for a smarter film from Blomkamp, but ELYSIUM wasn't a complete miss (I've seen a few of those this summer...).

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                        • #27
                          Re: Elysium

                          I really liked the underlying concept of what is essentially a post-scarcity economy existing in separation from and dependent on a collapsing pre-singularity society. Usually settings that involve the sort of magic-tech that Elysium clearly had go for the "whole society is transformed by it", rather than putting the wizards in a castle on the hill, so to speak. The concept of haves and have-nots being so monstrously separated was interesting.


                          The execution felt a little off, though. Nothing major (aside from Jodie Foster's performance being... weird), but lots of little things kept dragging me out of the story.

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                          • #28
                            Re: Elysium

                            I liked it a lot. One of the best third acts of the summer, I think. They could have tightened up a lot in the first half though. And probably didn't need to beat the audience over the head with the immigration / health care analogy quite so many times. Also, this might be just me, but a bad guy with a South African accent doesn't feel very bad ass and threatening. (Possible Spoilers?) I was stoked that they took Sharlto Copley's character in the direction they did for the finale, but I wanted him to feel a little more grounded and less surface. Maybe just a tad more like the bad guy in Avatar, instead of just all crazy. That's just me though.

                            All in all, it was a fun sci fi action flick. Directing was awesome, but that was to be expected.
                            @ZOlkewicz - Don't follow me on Twitter.

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                            • #29
                              Re: Elysium

                              Originally posted by 8bit Llama View Post
                              Also, this might be just me, but a bad guy with a South African accent doesn't feel very bad ass and threatening.
                              It's not just you. My wife had the exact same thought, although she suspected the pitch of his voice might have played a role in her feeling, too.

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                              • #30
                                Re: Elysium

                                Sat through it this Friday. Just another ho-hum Hollywood action movie, loaded with action-movie cliches. Boring and predicable. What made it even more excruciating was the heavy-handed political stuff.

                                And the overacting.

                                Other than all that, movie was awesome.
                                Last edited by SNAFU; 08-12-2013, 03:53 PM.

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