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Equilibrium
The_Hiro writes ""Farenheit 451 - meets - Brave New World - meets - Matrix" (minus the overdone wire work). Created on a limited budget, Equilibrium combines the best of sci-fi with the action genre. Unfortunately, the marketing droids at Dimension have neglected to promote the film (release date: Dec. 6th). Chud.com has a glowing review of the film and some pretty pictures. Check out the trailer also."
Personally, the idea of a film about a man who battles the system reminds me of the movie Rollerball ( the original, not last year's remake ). Those of you who have seen it may remember that the hero's boss wanted him to retire from the game because they feared that he would rise above the deadly game, which itself was meant to be an analogy to show everyone that no one was greater than the system. Hence in the end, the rules of the game were changed ( no time limit ) so that the game of rollerball was changed from a more violent soccer like game into a deathmatch.
Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
Why is a re-hashed version of ancient Western Philosopy, a philosophy that's been around for thousands of years, considered innovative and fresh?
Well, I don't remember many people saying the philosophy backing the matrix was anything particularly revolutionary, just that the film was incredibly refined visually and beautiful. I also don't remember anything about living inside giant computers and robot overlords in eastern phil. Maybe I took the wrong class, or maybe illiterate morons such as yourself ascribe any kind of 'deep' thought to 'eastern philosophy'.
What eastern phil you might be referring to is beyond me. What does the matrix have to do with the Dao or natural way of the universe which should be followed? What does it have to do with reincarnation or karma? What does it have do with meditating and given up earthly desires to reach enlightenment?
The only 'eastern' thing about the matrix was the bad-ass fight choreography. That, along with it's visual style was what was 'revolutionary and fresh.' Not it's scatterbrained philosophical underpinnings. It's an enjoyable light movie, and as such, it succeeds widely.
But what am I talking to you for? You wouldn't know a Zen koan from a Confucian saying, from a <p> tag.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
WHY THE H*** THEY WON'T LET ME DOWNLOAD A HQ TRAILER TO MY HARDDRIVE!! I just don't get their logic. It's a commercial for them; something they put there because they want people to know about their product, yet they don't want me to see it in anything but shitty quality? I "only" have 256k (and there are still a lot of modem users out there!) and I don't get to see that trailer in all it's (potential) glory.
Bitch/moan++: even if I had 768k, I still wouldn't be able to see it if I didn't have IE... well SCREW THEM! If they don't even want me to see their trailer, I don't want to spend any money on their movie.
I see this as somewhat akin to gamespot's move to a pay-to-see-video business model. It surprises me that anybody has signed up, because all they (essentially) get is commercials for games. That's right! They pay to see commercials! It would be ironic if it wasn't such a damned tragedy that someone went ahead and actually bough into that.
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Entranced by anime since late summer 2001 and loving it ^_^
This was my introduction into Hong Kong gangster films done by a master of the oeuvre. Must be one of my all-time favourites. The show-down gun-battle you mention is truly beautifully done.
A must-see for anyone who digs Tarantino (though, of course, he had a wide range of influences). Highly recommended, as is The Killer.
The key to this type of film is that they must be extremely character driven, and we have to care about the characters (note the plural) while at the same time be made unsure of the main character's direction. As you say, this genre tends to be relatively plotless, or plot figures less than the dialog and character development.
-- clvrmnky
What does the matrix have to do with the Dao or natural way of the universe which should be followed? What does it have to do with reincarnation or karma? What does it have do with meditating and given up earthly desires to reach enlightenment?
The parallel between The Matrix drew from Eastern (more specifically, Vedic) philosophy is the belief that the world we think we live in is an illusion, which affects us only insofar as we believe it it. And of course, if one becomes enlightened - whether by meditating for many lifetimes or by the grace of a scriptwriter - one may gain mystical powers that will really impress the viewing public.
While The Matrix is vastly overrated IMHO, it does have its merits in that it made many people think.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the War Room!
Actually, I believe that the very fact that this film even got made is what is significant. You mention that the last time that orwellian predictions were brought up on a regular basis was during the cold war. I doubt that this was because we could see the opression in Soviet nations, but more because these were the times when western society felt threatened and gave extra powers to their governments in order to stay safe. It is at times like these when those who can see the trend towards an orwellian society feel that they must voice words of caution about the dangers involved in absolute governement power. That is why we saw these movies and books in the cold war, and that is why we are seeing them again now.