"Atmospheric".


Lots of movies are described as "atmospheric", but this is one rare movie where you can practically FEEL the clammy heat on your skin, and smell the humidity in the air.


"Vertigo" is another, that's a film where you can feel the chill of San Francisco evenings, and smell the tinge of fog.

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Agreed
You smell Florida

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Interesting point. I agree. Kind of oppressive. Good movie though.
Even though I always found Vertigo to be very overrated, I will give ya that. It really did capture its geographic atmosphere well.

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Oh, the feeling of muggy steamy tropical heat smelling of sea water and jungle rot was definitely meant to be oppressive! Just like the atmosphere in "Vertigo" was literally meant to be chilling.

I wonder why more filmmakers don't put more effort into including that kind of "atmosphere" into their films.

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Lack of talent and art?

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Very likely. And in too many cases, an overreliance on CGI effects and/or gore.

Which really is a shame, giving the audience a feeling of the climate can make a film feel visceral and real, as if you're really there and can feel the hot-damp or cold-foggy air on your skin. It's a way of drawing the viewer into the story through the senses of touch and smell... even though those senses aren't actually being stimulated. It gets a person at gut level in a way that fake blood does not.

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