Movies that surprise you by Kayna

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Movies that surprise you

POSTED BY: KAYNA
UPDATED: Sunday, April 23, 2006 01:04
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VIEWED: 6911
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Sunday, March 19, 2006 6:00 PM

I love my captain

This came from a blog I wrote. In fact the bulk of this post is copied right from that blog. The point is that sometimes a movie you expect to be total drek turns out to be pretty good. A huge example for me is Underworld. I love that move and I really didn't expect to. To a much lesser degree, Doom qualifies as well. It was a more recent experience so that's the one I bloged about(see following paragraphs). Other times they disapoint you horribly. We could go on for hours about those (cough, SW prequels, cough) but I feel like talking about the pleasant surprises.

Here's my bit on the surprises of Doom.
______________________________________________

The title refers to a movie I saw recently that I didn't ever plan on seeing. Doom. Someone brought it over and put it in and I ended up watching most of it.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a great movie but it was a lot better than I expected. See, all I got from the trailers was the Rock, and First Person View. I don't give a crap about the Rock and FPV, while it works in some games, is usually a really bad idea in a movie. Imagine my surprise whe I realized that the Rock wasn't the main character, Karl Urban was. If you don't know, Karl Urban played Eomer in the Lord of the Rings. I didn't even know he was in Doom! Now, while he's not on a level with the Capt for me, I really enjoy watching him. He's atractive and talented and I just love his eyes. The story, while unoriginal, at least worked and they even managed to surprise me a few times. All in all, not the total crap I was expecting.
________________________________________________

What are some of your similar experiences?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Monday, March 20, 2006 4:21 AM

CHRISISALL

A movie from a video game with a title like Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever made renting it a gamble, but I liked the stars. Imagine my surprise to find the flick was pretty decent, and the martial arts were GOOD! And production value was high. I actually bought a copy later.
Same for Daredevil: the Director's cut.

Chrisisall

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Monday, March 20, 2006 4:24 AM

ZISKER

The Exorcism of Emily Rose - I went into it with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised not only by the cinematography of the movie, but the acting quality and the story itself - raised some curious theological, ideological and legal issues. Pity that the 'true story' it was based off of was much less interesting.

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and is widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams

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Monday, March 20, 2006 11:33 AM

KAYNA

I love my captain

I haven't seen either of those but I have been wanting to see The Emily Rose one. It looked like a good freaky movie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Monday, March 20, 2006 11:41 AM

MATTCOZ

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
A movie from a video game with a title like Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever made renting it a gamble, but I liked the stars. Imagine my surprise to find the flick was pretty decent, and the martial arts were GOOD! And production value was high. I actually bought a copy later.

Actually the game was based on the movie, even though the game came out first. Weird I know.

Antonio Banderas, Lucy Liu, and Ray Park(known to most as Darth Maul)... not a bad cast. Still one of the worst movies I've ever seen, I guess it surprised me just how bad it was.

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Monday, March 20, 2006 11:46 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by mattcoz:
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
A movie from a video game with a title like Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever made renting it a gamble, but I liked the stars. Imagine my surprise to find the flick was pretty decent, and the martial arts were GOOD! And production value was high. I actually bought a copy later.
Actually the game was based on the movie, even though the game came out first. Weird I know.

Antonio Banderas, Lucy Liu, and Ray Park(known to most as Darth Maul)... not a bad cast. Still one of the worst movies I've ever seen, I guess it surprised me just how bad it was.

The game came out first because the movie was so awfull, it sat on the shelf for months.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Monday, March 20, 2006 11:50 AM

EST120

Underworld was one for me. I thought I would hate it, but the trailer was pretty intriguing so I watched it. Have not seen the sequel yet. Reign of Fire is another one.

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Monday, March 20, 2006 12:03 PM

KAYNA

I love my captain

Underworld was absolutely awesome. The trailers may have intrigued you but they turned me off of it. It looked like Romeo and Juliet with Vampires and werewolves. That did not appeal to me.

When I did see it (someone else made me) I was stunned. This was so much more then I thought it would be.

And the sequel is great. You should see it as soon as it comes out to rent. Tony Curran as evil crazy dude (I won't tell you who he plays if you haven't seen it) was the perfect chioce. I also loved that...

Select to view spoiler:

Kraven gets what he deserves about 10 minutes in

That just made my day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Monday, March 20, 2006 12:12 PM

NUCLEARDAY

Yeah, I thought Reign of Fire was quite good as well. (Dragons and the post-apocalype? One of those things I wish I'd thought of first :)

'Course for me there's always Serenity. Picked it up as a rental and mostly cause I needed another movie for the 3 for $5 deal. Knew it'd be good, but wasn't planning on it being the life-changing experience it turned out to be ;p

Also, on the subject of vampire movies: Interview with a Vampire was a big suprise for me. (Didn't see Tom Cruise as a good Lestat, but was pleasantly suprised by that one.) Same for Queen of the Damned, too. And the Blade movies, come to think of it. Fun little action romps there... even though Blade's haircut still irks me for some reason. ;p

________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

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Monday, March 20, 2006 12:19 PM

EST120

Quote:
Originally posted by Kayna:
And the sequel is great. You should see it as soon as it comes out to rent. Tony Curran as evil crazy dude (I won't tell you who he plays if you haven't seen it) was the perfect chioce.

Well, I kind of figured that he would be Marcus since at the end of the first movie, Marcus awoke after being exposed to the werewolf blood.

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Monday, March 20, 2006 12:21 PM

MATTCOZ

Quote:
Originally posted by nuclearday:
'Course for me there's always Serenity. Picked it up as a rental and mostly cause I needed another movie for the 3 for $5 deal. Knew it'd be good, but wasn't planning on it being the life-changing experience it turned out to be ;p

I heard a lot about how good Serenity was before I saw it, so it wasn't that big of a surprise. What was the biggest surprise for me was just how damn good the series was when I bought the DVD set. I would watch episodes then just kindof sit there for an hour wondering what the hell was wrong with Fox, watch some more and then repeat.

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Monday, March 20, 2006 12:24 PM

EST120

Quote:
Originally posted by nuclearday:
Yeah, I thought Reign of Fire was quite good as well. (Dragons and the post-apocalype? One of those things I wish I'd thought of first :)

Underrated movie in my opinion. Some parts were kind of stupid (like the big ole party after the kill one dragon, uh, how come that does not attract more dragons?). I thought the Van Zan character was pretty cool: react first, think later. Knows when he has to let someone else show him the way. Bummer what happens to him. :(

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Monday, March 20, 2006 1:20 PM

SICKDUDE

Yeah, I liked Reign of Fire too....

There are a lot of movies that fit this category, but the only one coming to mind is Driven (Sly Stallone). I was expecting something horrid. And it wasn't that bad, IMO. In particular, the 'villain' was quite three-dimensional and actually not too bad a guy when you got to know him. It just seems the movie avoided a lot of character cliches....

"It's a cow."

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Monday, March 20, 2006 1:46 PM

FORDAITH

Went and saw V for Vendetta friday night. Looked like a cheesy gov't hatred movie and rather lackluster from the previews, but seeing as how I'm a sucker for bad movies, I went to see it.

Serenity, I left, with a good feeling, and had things to say.

I left V with my jaw on the floor, still riveting from what I had just seen, what a sick, killer movie. Deffinitly on my DVD purchase list.

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Sunday, March 26, 2006 3:31 PM

SPIRITWOLF

Picked it up at the video store on a whim, nothin else out to watch. Ended up being one of my faveriote. Another two that I did the same for was Boondocks Saints and Four Rooms (First scene was a dud though)

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Sunday, March 26, 2006 3:58 PM

REGINAROADIE

I love those kinds of movies. The ones that when you first look at them you don't think too much of, but when you sit down and actually watch it, it like discovering buried treasure. I find that it's those flicks that end up staying with you the most.

For me, though, I find that the genre that has the "hidden gem" movies are the indies. I remember when I was in Toronto in August of 2004, I went to a ton of movies there that wouldn't come to Regina for a long time. And one of those movies was GARDEN STATE. I had heard about it, seen a few trailers for it, but it didn't register on my radar. I went to see it one night, and it was almost like a holy experience. To go into a flick with no real expectations and end up seeing the movie that'll probably define my generation was one of the biggest highlights of my whole summer.

Another example for me was this flick that came out about this time last year called THE UPSIDE OF ANGER. Same situation. Heard about it, seen the trailer online, didn't think too much of it. Saw it at a matinee on the day that I did my animation project. I walked out of there feeling better than ever with the knowledge that I had just seen the first best movie of the year, and so soon. I actually saw that flick three times in the theatre. Only SERENITY beat that with five.

And actually, my most recent example was on Friday. I went to see that Denzel Washington film INSIDE MAN. Din't think too much of it. Was wondering if Spike Lee sold out. Turns out to be the first really good Hollywood flick of 2006. This is what happens when Hollywood taps indie talent to helm a studio pic with somewhat of a free reign. You make a damn good movie is what you do.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"I think one of the greatest things about modern America is the computerization of medical records. As a volunteer sheriff, I can look up anyone's psychiatric records and their surgical histories. Yeast infections. There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably...because we're down river...from that old bread factory."

Dwight - The Office - 209 - E-mail Surveillance

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Sunday, March 26, 2006 6:11 PM

PRINCESSROHANNEN

I'm gonna get laughed at for this one. Anyone remember "Bring it On!" ? The cheerleader movie starring Kirsten Dunst?

I know, I know. Most of you right now are thinking "bleh!" Well, I wasn't expecting much of this flick either, but it surprised me. Yes, it really is about cheerleaders, but it's not about their hairdos or their popularity or their pimple crises. It's about cheerleaders as atheletes and MAN can those people tumble! It's worth renting the movie just to see the competitive shows. Plus, it's genuinely hilarious.

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Sunday, March 26, 2006 11:29 PM

PALLAS

I actually agree with Bring it On. It was funny and enjoyable. Plus, the songs/chants were catchy ;)

One other for me I can think of is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I wasn't going to go see it because it had Jim Carrey in it. I thought Jim = silly/goofy film. But that turned out to be my number one film of the year.

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Sunday, March 26, 2006 11:57 PM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Interesting topic :D

I have four films that come to mind specifically to your question.

1st The Transporter I hadn't a clue what this flick was about - I was loafing around the DVD store and saw that it was a Luc Besson production - usually when you see a "boast" like that it usually means the fella wasn't too interested in directing the project himself and so hands it to his long suffering protege... Anyway as it turns out, I was thoroughly entertained, and somewhat smitten with the lead actress, but that's by the by... It really is a great modern action film with loads of style and edge to it.

2nd Dog Soldiers A clever british horror made all the more dynamic by the constraints of a tight budget. One of my favourite Werewolf films after An American Werewolf in London. Seriously a good film!

3rd The Eigth DayFrom the description it sounds limp and weepy but because of the genuine performances this one pulls you in and challenges you! Really sweet and handles a difficult subject with sauve.

and 4th I hate to have to admit this but I'm going to anyway. I think sometimes you have to own up to shameless points of weakness in your judgement. However any film when it hits you at the right time can make you enjoy it......
She's all that Yeah I know!!! It surprised me too!!! I have to admit I didn't follow alot of the teen references at first glance and I had to ask my then girlfriend what the hell was going on alot of the time, but even though I KNEW it was going to happen, y'know the 'ugly duckling made pretty thing'- I totally fell for it when the time came and I honest to god did do a double take and mutter an audiable:
"Whoah!" as the girl came down the stairs all 'made up' and 'new'! for her big night out. So lame I know but it did suprise me and I have to admit I did enjoy it, so.....

I know.... Time to lay low for a while.

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

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Monday, March 27, 2006 8:17 PM

MALSGIRL

Stander really surprised me. The previews and the box looked really crappy, but I rented it anyways, because Thomas Jane is cool. It turned out to be a really good, high quality film. Another Thomas Jane movie that surprised me was Deep Blue Sea, OK so it's not mentally challenging but it was much better then I expected.

And I have to agree with you guys who were talking about Reign of Fire, it's a really under rated movie. Come it was fun and plenty of eyecandy to go along with the shiny dragons.

_____________________________

"You will keep a civil tongue in that mouth or I will sew it shut."
~Mal to Jayne

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Saturday, April 22, 2006 2:48 AM

J6NGO1977

Yeh Dog Soldiers is an awesome film. You can tell the director is heavily influenced by the likes of Aliens and American Werewolf. Same director also did The Descent (Like The Cave but better).

A Film that I did not watch for a long while was The Matrix. It was because it had Keanu Reeves in and to me he was 'Bill and Ted' LOL. When I finaly watched it I was blew away.

Pitch Black. I wouldn't watch it because I thought it was just a low budget Aliens clone. Again I was blew away.

Shawshank Redemption. I thought 'boring prison movie'. Again I was blew away. Similar Thought I had about The Green Mile but that just captivated me from start to finish.

Another shocker was LOTR: The Fellowship. I just judged it as a boring D&D Harry Potter type film. How wrong I was :)

Van Helsing. I was right about that it was crap .LOL

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Saturday, April 22, 2006 4:42 AM

REDLAVA

I can only think of a couple right off the bat, even though I know there is a lot of them. These are the ones I thought were bad. Mostly because of endings. The ending will completely make or break the movie for me.

Magnolia (1999) - I am a little hazy on this movie seeing how it was like 3 hours long, but if it is the movie I am thinking of it was horrible. The ending was absoutley retarded. Maybe I missed something about the movie I don't know.

War of the Worlds (2005) - The movie itself wasn't too bad, and actually I enjoyed it...until the end. That is definately one of the worst endings I have ever seen in a movie, Spielberg must have realized "Oh shit this movie is already two hours long and I haven't ended it yet. Here I know I will just make the aliens that are completely impervious to everything die because of

Select to view spoiler:

germs.

Good one Dipshit.

Lord of the Rings (2001) - Before I am keelhauled by everybody I just want to say that I am sure the movie was very good, but I am not a big fan of the "fantasy" movies. I tried to like it, I really did. It is hard enough for me to remember characters names in a regular movie without them being called Waldorf or Gargumel or something like that. The movie just never took off for me, and I must have stared at my clock about a dozen times wondering when it was going to be over.

That is all I have for now, maybe a few good ones later if I can remember.

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Saturday, April 22, 2006 4:55 AM

WHOOPS

I havent been to the cinema of late except for Serenity but the last film i went to see was Lord Of War not hearing any thing about it i thought it wont be that good and i was pleasently suprised and iv bought it on DVD as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Love. You can do all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air you
don't love, she'll shake you off sure as a turnin' of worlds. Love keeps her in
the air when she oughtta fall down. Tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens.
Makes her a home." Mal

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Saturday, April 22, 2006 5:06 AM

DAVESHAYNE

Quote:
Originally posted by Redlava:
War of the Worlds (2005) - The movie itself wasn't too bad, and actually I enjoyed it...until the end. That is definately one of the worst endings I have ever seen in a movie, Spielberg must have realized "Oh shit this movie is already two hours long and I haven't ended it yet. Here I know I will just make the aliens that are completely impervious to everything die because of
Select to view spoiler:
germs.
Good one Dipshit.

You realize that that was from the book don't you? Not to mention central to H. G. Wells' original point.

David

"Not completely as well as the series of Firefly..." - From a review at amazon.de

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Saturday, April 22, 2006 5:17 AM

KAYNA

I love my captain

Thanks Dave. I was just about to point that out too. Of course, I haven't seen War of the WOrlds (I don't like Tom Cruise) so I don't know if it was executed properly but to an H.G. Wells story, it's vital. He used that kind of thing a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Saturday, April 22, 2006 5:39 AM

KAYLEESTHEGREATEST

People used to say that it wass a movie with no story just alot of pretty explosion

Someday the verse will spit in your soup but at least they gave you soup.
one day
one plan
one mission
one army of browncoats
june 23rd serenity day

-Our mission as browncoats is to make us known.

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Saturday, April 22, 2006 10:56 AM

REDLAVA

I have never read H.G. Wells' book so I don't know how it was in there. Spielberg seems like the kind of director that will screw up a story to make it "better." If he would have directed Serenity he would have mucked it up so badly it wouldn't be funny. Like I said I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, up to the end. They spent so much time with the other parts of the movie, like the survival aspect of the human race. It just seemed to me that they completely dismissed the point of the movie with a wave of the hand at the end. I think that it could have been handled much better than it was. That is what I was disappointed in.

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Saturday, April 22, 2006 11:02 AM

EMBERS

Quote:
Originally posted by fordaith:
Went and saw V for Vendetta friday night. still riveting from what I had just seen, what a sick, killer movie.

yesterday I went to see 'American Dreamz' which was advertised as political satire...but it was weak and lame (cute but not satire)
so then I snuck into 'V for Vendetta' and I was blown away:
now HERE is your political satire!
Great cast and very exciting....

(but not as exciting as 'Serenity' IMO)

**********************************************
watch the R. Tam Session vids: http://www.hittarivertam.nu/
and buy the 'Serenity' comics published by Dark Horse
have you checked out this thread?:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=15816

and listen to 'I'm Going To See Serenity':
http://music.podshow.com/music/listeners/artistdetails.php?BandHash=a0
c814e1229742ce77ed4497cbf4631c

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Sunday, April 23, 2006 1:04 AM

SPACEMANSPIFF

Almost ashamed to say this, but...

The Spice Girls movie...uh, Spice World, that's it. I went to see it at a dollar movie with some friends, fully expecting it to be the most horrible thing we'd ever laid eyes on. And while bad, it made me laugh a few times, and was pretty tounge-in-cheek. That movie started our "Theory of Delta-E".

Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?

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