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3/3
This is one of my top all-time favorite movies and here's why. We are drawn into another world, full of magic and wonder - dinosaurs are alive! - but with ever-mounting foreshadowing of trouble in every scene. Things get ugly and out of hand real quick.
At the time, early '90's, Spielberg's CGI was revolutionary. I daresay it's the first movie to every successfully employ computer graphics of this magnitude and the dinosaurs turn out very realistic and scary and a lot of fun to watch. I can't even imagine how long it took computers back then to process all that data.
Michael Creighton's theories are intriguing and backed by enough science to make it good science fiction. Just mix a little dino DNA you find in mosquitoes stuck in amber with frog DNA and bam, you get a new dinosaur. But, as with any Creighton story or Spielberg movie, Jurassic Park was about much more than just the thrill of the chases and the graphics.
For one, there was solid acting here. Sam Neill is a good hero: distant, cold, serious at first, all about science and no nonsense, but comes around in the end, as he gets to know the kids. His American accent comes off a little stiff and proper, but it works. Samuel L. Jackson (wait, he was in this movie?!) must have a clause in all his movies saying he's got to have a great line. Here, it was, "Hold on to your butts." And Jeff Goldblum was basically born to play this role: a smarmy, sarcastic, unkempt, pompous know-it-all who would get on your nerves in real life but who is fun to watch in a movie.
Secondly, the theme music was composed by none other than John Williams of Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter. It is now legendary. We played it in band in middle school.
Finally, there were some deeper questions raised with this movie, questions about the ethics of scientific experiments and exploiting nature in the name of business. Even if we can do something, we need to stop and think if we should or not. Is it a good idea to bring dinosaurs, huge, strong, ferocious animals, back into existence? We learn pretty quick that "life finds a way" and that nature usually wins out over man. As for a little writer/director commentary, the first person to be eaten by a dinosaur is the lawyer, as he sits on the toilet, crying for his mommy.
All in all, Jurassic Park is an unforgettable movie. The best Spielberg scene is when the T-Rex gives a loud roar amongst the ruin of the fossilized bones, as a the Grand Opening banner falls down in the background. Boom.
2/3
THX 1138 was George Lucas' first movie and you can tell by watching it that he was headed in the direction of Star Wars in terms of special effects and thoughts on the future. Compared to other science fiction movies of its time, it is pretty solid.
The story, written by Lucas himself along with a friend, definitely fits into the sci-fi/dystopia genre, similar to stories such as 1984 and The Giver and Anthem etc. The setting is gloomy in its white sterility and all of the characters are subdued and passive (except for our 'awakened' protagonist, of course). Personal freedoms are prohibited and life basically sucks. Like other Western movies and books of this genre that were written amidst the Cold War, this awful future is blamed fairly explicitly on communism. Damn commies. Blame who they will, I'd say the plot in THX 1138 is at times a bit tedious, but is overall compelling. The ending is interesting.
I'm glad that Lucas wrote this to take place in the 25th century because I find it seriously hokey when people predicted such extreme change in society to take place in just a few decades (like in 2001 and Soylent Green, both of which claimed that our present would be radically different- man were they far off).
I dare say that the effects were probably pretty cool back in the early 70's, but today of course they look a little phony and cheesy. Considering what they had to work with way back then, in the Stone Age before computers, they're admirable. Yet, I'm not sure why everybody in the 70's thought all future people were going to surround themselves with hundreds of flashing buttons and wear all white uniforms. In a related thought, Lucas definitely recycles the robotic C3PO-like police officers and moving holographs in Star Wars.
As with many of these old sci-fis, I'm glad that I watched it; it's cool to see how far the movie industry, as well as science fiction thought, has come over the years. (Robert Duvall has also aged and changed a bunch since he did this movie as well.) It both gives me a chance to learn up on film history as well as laugh at their elementary attempts at special effects.
3/3
Avatar was destined to be one of those movies that was 'too big to fail,' but, unlike Wall Street banks, it didn't actually fail. All in all, this movie was a really spectacular occurrence and will turn out to be the jewel in James Cameron's directorial/writing crown, truly his best accomplishment yet.
Yes, there was a mountain's worth of hype building up to its release, but I think it made the movie all the better. Sometimes lots of publicity is only a feeble attempt to glaze over a flimsy movie product, but this wasn't the case here. Well, on the contrary, most of the time, I like seeing movies that I've been excited about seeing for a long time. I've heard people compare Avatar to Star Wars and other life-changing, industry-revolutionizing film experiences that had similar hype; they are worth all of the buzz because they were so well made. Actually, I can't remember the last time I've been to a theater that was so packed. It was really an event.
The CGI/special effects were simply amazing. How does a director make a movie this stunning and beautiful? It was impossible to tell where the live action started and the computers took over, seriously. Pandora and everything on it was so real and awesome that it was sometimes hard to remember it was all fiction. The nature (both the plants and animals) was really neat and the Na'vi themselves were cool. Describing it like this doesn't do it credit, I don't think, but I'm no English major.
I couldn't help reading the larger message of the film that humans can be bad if they're driven only by profits and are too careless to see the good in nature. It was sad that Cameron's future Earth doesn't have any green, yet it was interesting that there's going to be a war with Venezuela and Nigeria.
The Na'vi seemed to be based off of a mix of Native American and African tribal culture. I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with the theory that humanoids from another planet would evolve culturally so similarly to humans. But, it also makes them recognizable and easier to swallow story-wise while at the same time parallelling the tragic history of human nature (i.e. the European destruction of indigenous populations in America and Africa).
Come to think of it, why do the Na'vi have fingernails? Are we supposed to buy that they evolved physically in the same way as humans too? What are the odds that foreign evolution would be so similar and would happen at the same time? I need commentary from a scientist. Also, I'm doubtful that humans will be so advanced (space flight to foreign planets, cryo freezing, curing spinal paralysis etc) in only 130 years yet the same clothing styles are still being worn. Other than these nit picky details, Cameron's Pandora and future were both very creative and I give him major props for thinking up such an awesome setting for this story.
I sort of lament the action/fighting third act. Ebert commented on it too (here), but felt that it was better than some. I mean it was such a cliche way to end it, but I suppose it had to happen. Why take a risk on making the third act unexpected with so much money at stake? I mean, I'll admit that I'd be upset if things didn't turn out in the romantic way (i.e. bad guys beaten, guy gets girl, good lessons learned etc etc). I guess I'm at peace with the ending, but definitely preferred the introduction when we are experiencing the new world from the eyes of our protagonist.
As with any major creative feat, there were many nods to other important films; the not-so subtle hints were fun to pick up on. The gung-ho colonel drinking a mug of coffee as he approaches the attack point in his bomber certainly reminded me of a similar scene in Apocalypse Now (which certainly exposed the many attrocities committed against native populations in the Vietnam War). Sigourney Weaver is an icon and reminds us of the sci-fi revolution that was Alien (and of her voice cameo role 30 years later in Pixar's Wall-E). The main character's adventure reminded me of a young Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves. The list goes on...
All in all, Avatar was really cool, lots of fun, and exciting with a positive message and I'll leave it at that.
3/3
I often tell people that The Matrix is my favorite movie of all times because I think it is; It is really tough for a movie buff like me to be able to pin down that one top top film to call the best, but I think that The Matrix is it for me. So I guess that makes it a pretty big deal. Recently I decided I'd better watch it again so that I could take notes and officially answer why. The following is what I came up with.
First off, The Matrix (1999) was one of the first rated R movies I saw, so it carries all that nostalgic coolness for me, much like how many guys my age feel about Boondock Saints I think. It was a really awesome movie for a 13 year old. The effects are amazing and were really truly revolutionary at the time (Not to mention the sweet music accompanying the effects-- i.e. Rage Against the Machine). The fight scenes where Neo dodges bullets and kills off dozens of bad guys before the dust has time to settle were simply unprecedented and spellbinding. The blend of martial arts and high technology was a unique idea that turned out to be incredible. Plus, this is the role that Keanu Reeves was born to play-- he can be stoic/reflective/pensive without worrying about killing the mood of the movie.
But I like this movie for more reasons than its special effects and heavy metal; now that I am no longer 13 and have a deeper appreciation for the story and the meaning behind it. There is an easy general Christian interpretation for this movie, as my former camp director told us at the religious summer camp I attended in middle school. A few examples: Neo is trapped in a life that isn’t the one intended (like people who haven't been "saved" yet); believing in something more than this life and being freed and becoming incapable of dying (believing in Jesus will save you and give you everlasting life in Heaven); the difference between "being shown the path and walking it" (how it's up to a Christian to walk in the light once he/she's accepted the truth); ‘The One’ will be the savior of humanity. Etc. etc. You don't have to snoop too hard to see these big themes. You can certainly appreciate this movie if you do not buy this interpretation however.
Which leads me to the next reason why I am in love with this movie. There is also a philosophical side to this movie, which Adriano Palma, my Philosophy 101 professor, liked to bring up in class- it's called existentialism. Descartes said that there is no way to tell what our reality actually is—either we are living the way our mind perceives we are, or we are only minds/consciousnesses held within a fake reality or a dream world, under the control of some mad scientist, (or AI machines who want to harvest humans for the electricity their bodies produce). How can we really know that what we perceive around us in our day-to-day lives is reality? Maybe we can't. We can only know that we think (I think, therefore I am/ I exist). The Wachowski Brothers went deep.
The deepness does not stop there, however. The Matrix also questions fate and whether or not we can control our own lives (i.e. the vase scene that represents how Neo cannot escape his own destiny of becoming The One, just like we can't control ours). Whether you agree or not, it's very Oedipus/Minority Report and is stimulating to contemplate. The movie also brings up the power and mystery of love (how nobody can tell you you’re in love, you just know it and how Trinity saves Neo at the end by confessing her love for him etc. etc).
It doesn't hurt that The Matrix is superbly written. It is gripping and the suspense builds as the truth of the Matrix unravels. There's a perfect natural draw towards rooting for Neo; I suppose we all can identify with the desire to be transformed from a cubicle-bound nobody into "The One." Now, Roger Ebert, my favorite professional movie critic, decries the so-called "cliched" 3rd-act fight sequence as a shame (here), but I think that it's one of the best parts of the movie. I can't see any other way to end the story than have Neo fight and defeat the agents, who represent the evil and cold-heartedness of the machines behind the Matrix. It's the fight between good and evil and you can't write your way around that.
Alas finally, I was drawn to The Matrix because of its post-apocalyptic setting and because of its ominous warnings about the dangers of AI. I have become sort of obsessed recently with Apocalypse stories recently considering they're hard to ignore these days. Although I don't believe we're anywhere near achieving AI, we do have reason to question its merits. Funny enough, my religious camp leader and philosophy professor both said that the Wachowski brothers probably didn’t intend for their movie to bring up either the Christian or Descartes’ point of view. But I have a feeling that they knew exactly what they were writing. They knew it was going to be way more than just a summer action blockbuster. And I dig it.
