WTAH, Dead Reckoning started at 2100 on Ch4+1 and the theme music began at approx 2127 and went immediately to an advert! 🤣
I saw Dead Reckoning Pt1 on Netflix the other night - just as a reminder cos I saw it at the cinema when it was first released - but Ch4 and a couple of other film channels are showing all the M:I films at the moment.
Went to see it Saturday evening. Mr Cruise's Messiah Complex had a good airing and I was not enthused by the film. The filmed introduction by the star was really cringe and set the tone for the evening.
WTAH, Dead Reckoning started at 2100 on Ch4+1 and the theme music began at approx 2127 and went immediately to an advert!
Lol that's amazing.
I'm floored generally that the MI7 intro takes nearly 30mins to pop up after heavy exposition and scene setting. But that timing is class.
Re-watched Dead Reckoning last night and didn't warm to it any more. It really is an overlong mess, and even the stunts and fights were getting tiresome and too drawn out towards the end - the long sequence of bits of train falling off looked like they ran out of time during the CGI and editing process, it just looked shoddy even on a relatively small screen.
Obviously we know why they didn't put both movies together as a single, more tightly-edited banger (revenue). The franchise could have gone out on an absolute high.
Tried to watch it (Dead Reckoning) last night made it to 20 minutes then switched off
Obviously we know why they didn't put both movies together as a single, more tightly-edited banger (revenue). The franchise could have gone out on an absolute high
Totally agree with this. It would have been a tighter more impressive outing.
Just back from seeing it. It was OK, but so many plot holes, I won't post spoilers.
What amazes me is how some films create suspense and others can't Argo, Bridge of Spies, Eye in the Sky all come to mind. My overwhelming feeling on this was 'how much longer' and when they unearthed another bomb and the timer started I definitely thought 'another 20 mins! FFS!'
The real disappointment for me was that the sub commander Bledsoe had that as his final line, rather than announcing that in return for saving the world (I assume that isn't a spoiler) then he'd be throwing a melon party. If you know, you know.
If you're willing to suspend your disbelief and not question how they trot around the world with no issues, it's a good story in between the gravelly voiced exposition from multiple characters all finishing each other sentences.
The biplane scene on IMAX is just 😳
What amazes me is how some films create suspense and others can't Argo, Bridge of Spies, Eye in the Sky all come to mind.
This is so true. Suspense is an underused mechanism. Done correctly it draws the viewer in.
It's down to writing - think how fantastic the scene in Scicario is at the border. Barely any dialogue. Taylor Sheridan is so good at this.
People like Tarantino too have a knack for plentiful dialogue broken up by suspense. (Think Brad Pitt's trip to Spahn Ranch in OUATIH). Again economical dialogue and max suspense.
Ironically it feels like MI 7/8 went the same way as Kill Bill which was originally a single film. One of my least favourite Tarantino films.
Ironically it feels like MI 7/8 went the same way as Kill Bill which was originally a single film.
There's a lot of shoehorning previous M:I storylines into TFR to make it work, told through flashbacks and occasionally some flash sideways.
I don't think it would have worked as a single film without becoming excessively complicated and very very long.
At least this time the main stunt sequence was just teased, not examined in all sorts of behind the scenes reveal-all.
I don't think it would have worked as a single film without becoming excessively complicated and very very long.
What about detangling some of the more confusing plot points? I mean AI as a baddie and regular baddie plus the baggage of the untidy back-stories?
I thought it started as a single-film and then effectively expanded in much the same way Kill Bill was. You know two films for two sets of cinema receipts?
I don't think it would have worked as a single film without becoming excessively complicated and very very long.
In the first one you could save about an hour by just having one key rather than having to two separate missions to retrieve two halves of the same key.
Watched part 1 last night on our big screen. Was OK with nice shots of Venice, Rome and “Austria”. Stunts had of course been previewed, but a train into a quarry was impressive. And not a real Britannia either. A full mock up. But the second is definitely a Vue-not-Everyman film. We’ll go and see it as Mrs TiRed is a fan. I think I’ve only seen the first and 7. At least it’s not a superheroes film.
I thought the train stunt went on for far too long, as did Cruise running through Venice. That was basically the feel of the film, everything a bit too stretched out to make 50% of the story into a whole film that the material never merited. It would have been better if they had spent some of the stunt money filling out the plot. And I like action adventure films, I usually prefer a bit of escapism to the more cerebral serious films, but this went too far the other way. So I will wait for it to come on streaming, and for a rainy Sunday afternoon before I watch the 2nd.
But productions are massively down (certainly in LA , as are global attendances - down 30% since 2019).
Plenty of A-list stars moving on to streaming commissioned production environment.
Most people I know don't go anymore.
Not necessarily a bad thing(?)
big bucks franchise productions from LA based studios, while dominant, aren’t actually all of cinema.
While it’s sometimes fun to switch off your brain and watch some comic book derived cobblers or indeed strange Tom deliver another masterclass in Straight-line sprinting and clenched jaw based acting, perhaps it’s a good thing if there’s a bit more space for smaller productions to be shown in cinemas.
(Edit: down 30% since 2019? I wonder what could have happened in the intervening years that might account for that?)
There is an element of the dead hand of VC here - they only want to bankroll stuff that’s ‘guaranteed’ to make money, which means formulaic.
The problem for the VCs is that it doesn’t quite work like that.
Not necessarily a bad thing(?)
big bucks franchise productions from LA based studios, while dominant, aren’t actually all of cinema.
While it’s sometimes fun to switch off your brain and watch some comic book derived cobblers or indeed strange Tom deliver another masterclass in Straight-line sprinting and clenched jaw based acting, perhaps it’s a good thing if there’s a bit more space for smaller productions to be shown in cinemas.
(Edit: down 30% since2019? I wonder what could have happened in the intervening years that might account for that?)
Hollywood isn't just blockbusters and sure it's a money machine but the reality is there would be no real market of films for people to see if it wasn't for Hollywood. Hollywood is a finely tuned system of technicians doing things well. At the budget end we are all scraping around. For sure it contains the worst excesses of capitalism.
I say this as an independent film-maker that is struggling through a distribution VOD contract currently with my first-feature so I know more than most.
I love world cinema, I love independent films but they really on punters.
Yes and COVID and SAG did take a hit but it's probably going to struggle to come back to what it was is my outlook.
Small films in cinemas - not really going to happen these days. As I'm discovering the expense of a release is just to much. So the pull to straight to stream is just too much. Plenty of big films don't get cinema releases these days.
(The sound mix for my independent film is going to cost 13,000 - friend prices that's before it gets to release. So all has to be funded by us.)
I don't particularly hate Hollywood myself - films are films. The M.I films have been examples of good block-busters until now perhaps.
The UK film industry is largely poor in my opinion - there have been high points (Trainspotting) etc but even a modest budget levels they're scraping a living. I know many film professionals and they're really struggling to make a living now.
Not necessarily a bad thing(?)
big bucks franchise productions from LA based studios, while dominant, aren’t actually all of cinema.
While it’s sometimes fun to switch off your brain and watch some comic book derived cobblers or indeed strange Tom deliver another masterclass in Straight-line sprinting and clenched jaw based acting, perhaps it’s a good thing if there’s a bit more space for smaller productions to be shown in cinemas.
(Edit: down 30% since2019? I wonder what could have happened in the intervening years that might account for that?)
Hollywood isn't just blockbusters and sure it's a money machine but the reality is there would be no real market of films for people to see if it wasn't for Hollywood. Hollywood is a finely tuned system of technicians doing things well. At the budget end we are all scraping around. For sure it contains the worst excesses of capitalism.
I say this as an independent film-maker that is struggling through a distribution VOD contract currently with my first-feature so I know more than most.
I love world cinema, I love independent films but they really on punters.
Yes and COVID and SAG did take a hit but it's probably going to struggle to come back to what it was is my outlook.
Small films in cinemas - not really going to happen these days. As I'm discovering the expense of a release is just too much. So the pull to straight to stream is just too much. Plenty of big films don't get cinema releases these days.
(The sound mix for my independent film is going to cost 13,000 - friend prices that's before it gets to release. So all has to be funded by us.)
I don't particularly hate Hollywood myself - films are films. The M.I films have been examples of good block-busters until now perhaps.
The UK film industry is largely poor in my opinion - there have been high points (Trainspotting) etc but even a modest budget levels they're scraping a living. I know many film professionals and they're really struggling to make a living now.
Well, I enjoyed it. I didn't worry too much about all the exposition in the first third, or the convoluted method of dealing with the McGuffin, I just sat back at Imax and watched it.
I loved the cameos - the guy with the knife? Brilliant. John Romain flying the plane? Yes please.
I will watch it again when it's on streaming, and I'll count how many times the top secret, everyone-wants-it key is held up to the light, and turned and admired...
It's what summer cinema is. A big spectacle. Watch it.
Nice to hear a positive review
Nice to hear a positive review
It's what summer cinema is. A big spectacle. Watch it.
Yup,its a Mission Impossible film ,packed with exactly what you would expect.
Impossible stunts ..check
Impossible sprinting..check
Impossible ability to hang on to things by one hand ..check
Impossible , amount of seconds left on the countdown clock ..check
Impossible length of time that Jasper Briggs used the same facial expression..check
I really liked it and enjoyed the cameos and nods back to the previous MI films
It's a solid 8/10 from me.
Saw it last night, was really looking forward to it as I've loved them all so far (apart from MI2, obvs).
Brief review - it was crap.
Longer review - so many overly drawn out scenes. So much po-faced self-seriousness. So much dreadfully earnest explanation of what the next bit of the film is going to be about. So little humour. So little excitement (biplane bit was impressive, admittedly, the submarine bit was dull). Zero suspense. Zero 'snap', everything was really laboured.
The franchise goes out with a whimper, not a bang.
Watched it yesterday afternoon. Tremendous fun, silly plot, great action, good comedy dialogue log, ridiculous stunts by the man himself and great cameos tying them all films together. Ultimately it’s a daft action film but I knew that before I went. I seen the first at the cinema so wanted to see this too, the first was just an action film too.
Ultimately it’s a daft action film but I knew that before I went.
I think I saw a different film to everyone else. I was really looking forward to seeing a daft action film, what I saw was a really long boring film.
It was long yes, didn’t find it particularly boring myself.
Interesting differences of opinion.
I'm gonna skip the cinema and watch on my projector now.
Just don't feel revved up enough for the flix.
For me the cinema reason was that I’d seen the first there. I watched it at my local tiny cinema as it’s cheap. It works so well on a big screen.
I spoke to a chap who worked on the current film, he said it was absolutely the worst experience of his life. One that he would never repeat. The director was an absolute piece of work and a bully. Shame to hear, I enjoyed the film. Maybe should have watched the previous one. I did enjoy it more than the two people sat next to, fast asleep and snoring loudly not long after the first credits. Needed a kick to wake them and shut them up!
