MovieChat Forums > Instinct (1999) Discussion > So let me get this straight...

So let me get this straight...

posted 19 years ago by ohmyhead
37 replies | jump to latest

*SPOILERS!*

A man beats to death two or three men in a group of armed soldiers, and when they subdue him, they don't BLOW HIS FACE OFF? They what, extradite him to Florida?? 0_o

A criminally insane convict is escorted out of the prison (that apparently can only handle one inmate a day outside) by what appears to be the entire guard force of the prison, to hang out with gorillas...unshackled?

The guards watch baseball with the criminally insane...with their backs turned?

Ethan jumps out of a very high up window without breaking both legs or coughing up his spleen, finds a hole, and then scales a fence? While what seems like the entire staff of guards is watching baseball in the gym with the lunatic murderers?

We don't get to read the message Ethan left the warden for Doctor Idiot?

A convicted murderer and escaped prisoner finds his way back to the Congo or wherever unmolested? To hang out with his gorilla buddies? Who were all killed? Or if he planned to make new friends, what was all that about getting his daughter back? And the flash of her face while Doctor Idiot enjoyed potential pneumonia in the rain on some miscillaneous street? Ugh.

I joined this movie where Theo was getting photos from the daughter, then got Ethan to speak for the first time. Powerful chit, mang. I knew I HAD to watch the rest. But only towards the end did I realize that I no longer liked what I was watching. Had me...then LOST ME!

I don't give a rat's hind parts if this movie appears to some to mirror some Marxist whatever, but I agree with a few others here. This movie had the makings of something great...then fumbled. Fumblayaaaaa. Fumblinooooo. FumbleRAMAAAAA.

And now it's 2am and I am still awake and yakking at you people who rarely if ever talk back. Where's the Rum?

[–] botson 19 years ago

My friend, I hope this is of help to you. I have heard that the film's inspiration comes from a book called 'Ishmael' by Daniel Quinn. Apparently it's very, very good. I for one am going to find a copy to read. Hope you do too.

As for the film I liked it as well, despite the countless hurdles my suspension of disbelief had to cope with. A bit more thought and preparation, that's all it would have taken.

Shame all those involved didn't use enough instinct, bum bum! Ok, where is that rum...?

[–] ohmyhead 19 years ago

Enjoy your book, I myself have no use for what smells like a cult. I just wanted to rail on a film I had just seen. :) Thanks for replying though. \m/\m/

[–] lacrosse91 19 years ago

Cult-
n.

1. a. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.

b. The followers of such a religion or sect.

2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.

3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.

4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.

5. a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.

b. The object of such devotion.

6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.

Well lets see. It isn't a religion so 1, 2 and 3 don't apply. It doesn't cure diseases so there goes 4. It doesn't suggest obsessive devotion to anything so out with number 5. And if the idea that maybe humans were not predestined to live the way our culture does is esoteric then I suppose the book falls into number 6. That idea is designed to be heard the world over and therefore is not esoteric.

These days when we are exhausting limited resources and taking every last acre of the world for "furthering" human development I find it very difficult to believe that we ARE meant to live this way. The book Ishmael is a great read as is its companion book The Story of B. They provoke interesting thoughts and are well worth your time, but if anything out of the ordinary seems like a cult to you perhaps you are better off watching movies and reading books that tell you what to think rather than presenting you with something to consider.

[–] ohmyhead 19 years ago

Thanks for the vocab lesson, and I appreciate the effort you took to school me so.

"They (the books) provoke interesting thoughts and are well worth your time..."

Well, there, I suppose I am the one to decide if it sounds the least bit interesting, then act accordingly.

I think if I am going to get into something new, I'll go with the Raelians. Their females are hot! :D

[–] lerdybines 18 years ago

What is your basis for declaring that the book 'Ishmael' smells like a cult?

"Hey, you should take a look at this book that is very closely related to what we're talking about."

"Sounds like a cult to me."

Logic for the win.

[–] ohmyhead 18 years ago

I know, let's ask Batman.

[–] lerdybines 18 years ago

What does Batman have to do with this?

[–] ohmyhead 18 years ago

I was poking fun at your apparent Batman knowledge.

Ok, I think I'm done here. You win.

*pats your head and gives you a cookie*

Well done.

[–] lerdybines 18 years ago

Seriously, are you on something?

The only way you'd know about my 'Batman knowledge' is by seeing on my message board profile that I post a lot on the Batman Begins board, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand.

I can only assume that you have fallen to your knees with despair in the face of my superior reasoning skills and decided to find some small thing about me that you think you can poke fun at.

Congratulations, now give me my damn cookie.

[–] ohmyhead 18 years ago

Seriously? Yes. As for your cookie, I've decided that since you have such superior reasoning skills, you can jolly-well weasel a cookie out of someone ELSE.

[–] Tribesman 18 years ago

Do you enjoy acting like a jerk?

Everyone in this house needs to calm down and eat some fruit or something.

[–] ohmyhead 18 years ago

Not usually, no. But when folks can't let a ridiclous thread like this one just DIE, then maybe I like to have a little fun. Have some fruit, will ya?

[–] CraigOfAllTrades 18 years ago

Man, I love the IMDB message boards.

[–] ohmyhead 18 years ago

I do too. Sometimes. However, this thread isn't one of those times. :D

[–] Nomade666 18 years ago

what a ass... llllllllooooooooollllllllllll

[–] ohmyhead 18 years ago

Which one? There's a few of us asses in here.

[–] Tadpole_Angel 18 years ago

Batman is a scientist.

-----
Dancing Matt, you're my hero: www.wherethehellismatt.com

[–] crosseyedtokyo 18 years ago

i agree this was a horrible movie in all regards. I wish those monkeys kill all the actors.
.

[–] th1a90 18 years ago

Ohmyhead, I have the same criticism about this movie as you. I also vehemently could not get over the fact that the poachers did not kill him even though he had killed two of their own. The man was completely erratic and violent waving a stick around and would have killed the rest of them. So instead of shooting him on the spot, they subdue him instead? Makes no sense. And people who refute with "suspension of disbelief" are wrong. This was a drama, and realism is important in dramas. On the other hand, a genre that usually requires suspension of disbelief is a Comedy, but like I said this was a drama...wait a minute...I did find this movie hilarious. Maybe it was a comedy after all and does require suspension of disbelief! Ah, you guys were right!

Other annoyances:

--A guard opens up a cell to beat up a prisoner whilst forgetting that he has left a homicidal lunatic unrestrained.

--The rain scene at the end is so pointless and unbelievable. I don't think in real life the daughter would have had that look of understanding she does when she looks out and sees him out in the rain, especially since she was not aware of the realizations Cuba’s character had just made about his life. So her look of empathy is completely out of place. Realistically, she would have had a look which says something along the lines of "wtf are you doing out there in the rain like a crazy person. Have you 'gone ape' too and are here to kill me?" Another thing, I presume that this scene was intended to be a very emotional, pivotal scene, but I couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculously pretentious and phony it was, or the whole movie for that matter.

I hated this movie. It was so manipulative and reeked of desperation for Oscar nominations. Only movie that was more desperate for an Oscar was "Pay it Forward."

[–] Tsavo 18 years ago

*sigh* why do you all even argue, the guys slamming this movie obviously never payed attention to the events in the movie, just ignore them.

[–] ohmyhead 17 years ago

Events aside, the movie deserves slamming for all the points stated. Tons of movies have meaningful content and/or events that are thoughtful or meaningful, but are also filled with ridiculousness. The (my) original post zeroed in on those alone. I don't believe I concentrated any effort on the "meaningfulness" of the film. That would be for another post. If I felt like it.

[–] ohmyhead 17 years ago

hahaha! "Gone Ape". Classic. Sorry I missed this post. Didn't get notified or something. Thanks for your (agreeable) input!

[–] Straticus 16 years ago

Jesus christ man, don't you even recognize sarcasm when you hear it?????

[–] bh64 16 years ago

Is there anything more pathetic than quoting a dictionary. I think there's a club of you people out there who seize on random words and recite all possible definitions to no obvious purpose, other than to see your ramblings on a computer screen. And by club I mean cult.

[–] marcelthemaoist 17 years ago

Neither the book or this movie are Marxist. Actually, it's an anti-Marxist theses if you understand Marxism correctly. You see, Quinn's ideas are based on Tribalist society with a hunter gather like mode of production. Marxists would usually call this "primitive communism". Marxist look at the development of society through something called "historical materialism". Historical materialism shows that primitive communism was a stage that came before slavey and feudalism, which eventually lead to capitalism. The envitable lead is to socialism, which is understood by Leninists as a transitional stage towards modern communism. There is no going back back for Marxists; they would reject such a notion. Marxists also generally recognize all the previous modes of production as a contribution (with both good and bad effects of course) to society. Marxists believe in the use of technology and farm producing, only distributing surplus and commodities equitably and eventually freely throughout society. Quinn is anti-agriarian and argues against any mode of production that produces a surplus. If the movie is different then it deviated from Ishmael.

[–] efs2 17 years ago

ohmyhead, you evil genius.

You have milked a year-and-a-half of entertainment out of a (drunken?) middle-of-the-night rant and never once even came close to stepping over the line?!

Oh, if only you would use your power for good.

Oh, how I wish I could believe or understand that!

[–] ohmyhead 17 years ago

haaahahaha! I've been waiting my entire life for someone to call me an evil genius! Thank you very much. :)

I rarely cross the line. Hell, the way the admins delete comments around here, it would be a wasted effort. I had a reply for Marcelthemaoist all keyed up and ready to launch, but I let it sit overnight. Next day, I read his and my comments again...and uttered aloud, "WTF? Pffffft." *delete*

This is truly the thread that refuses to die. It's like...a zombie, riddled with bullets, but the brain is still intact.

HEAD SHOTS, PEOPLE!!

p.s. And yeah, I was hammered when I posted my little review here. And probably more than a little buzzed for most of the CULT Chat.

hehe "Welcome to Cult Chat. The show that will shave your head and take all of your worldly possessions in the name of Babar The Elephant! Gather up your flowers and fliers and togas and join us here...on Cult Chat."

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] ohmyhead 17 years ago

Heh yeah, that's me. Thoughtless and uncaring. My thoughtlessness was pointing out absurdities in such a wonnnnderful film, and my uncaring comes swooping in regarding your opinion of me.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] ohmyhead 17 years ago

I read plenty of books. Books *I* want to read, not books someone *else* tells me to read. Especially not books recommended by someone who assumes that they know what *I* think about anything other than what I have stated here in writing. And I might even go so far as to dismiss you altogether for being from Alabama. But I won't. Because that would be narrow-minded. And we all know here that I am anything but that.

*borrowing your clearly awesome Jedi powers*

Flash forward five years. I sit here...and continue to respond to those that read some book and found me on IMDb and felt compelled to talk to me because I used the word "cult".

I must use this word more often.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] buddhuchile 17 years ago

although the book Ishmael is a very good book, it is very loosely related to the movie. in the scene where hopkins tells the story about how the gorillas were killed he explains that the soldiers were looking for him and it was his fault that the gorillas were killed. they probably wouldn't kill someone they were instructed to find and "rescue", especially since he's an american.

[–] ohmyhead 17 years ago

THANK YOU for keeping your comment mostly about the movie. As for his American status, in that scene, I just didn't feel like those soldiers were out to NOT kill him. Why find him? Why give him back?

Jeebus, I hardly even remember this movie this post is so old. lol

[–] ohmyhead 17 years ago

Ah, but I didn't go the narrow-minded route! I'm terribly sorry if your trip into my thread where you pushed your opinion on me and its outcome bored you. Perhaps if I had written about something you are passionate about. Oh, I'm sorry. I don't care what you are passionate about. *I* was passionate about how many stupid moves this movie made.

Do yourself a favor. Save your influence for people that know you and might care what you have to say. You will make a terrible cult recruit.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ohmyhead 17 years ago

Sensitive and boring. I'm the total package!

And "you'd understand if you read a book...but I suppose you think every philosophy is just a recipe for a cult. enjoy your life without enlightenment." is hardly 'just a suggestion'.

Well, it's been a lovely slice of heaven meeting you. See you at the library!