MovieChat Forums > The New World (2006) Discussion > FOUR EDITORS...and its some of the badde...

FOUR EDITORS...and its some of the baddest editing ive seen in my life

posted 14 years ago by Film_Bug
98 replies | jump to latest

how the hell does that happen? This movie had 4 editors. this has got to be one of the worst films i've ever seen, and it just boggles my mind how such a riveting story(and quite easy to be told) of Pocahontas can be screwed up in almost every imaginable way. how?
Where the hell did Terrence Malick learn filmmaking? The 1 million jump cuts, incoherent story and mess of action and directing, is just jarringly bad. i don't know how people pass this as a movie?

Some of the photography was nice looking but my god- i would've thought that the story and actually keeping the viewer WANTING to watch the movie would be more important than the fvcking cinematography.
i mean i can list numerous things wrong with the film(something a "LEGENDARY" filmmaker(or so he is called-Terrence Malick):
-constant jump cuts(just amateurish) it almost became laughable at some points
-editing random shots here and there mid-point of story: there were numerous points where characters were standing talking to each other, and then we'd keep on cutting back to shots of indians or the lake or the sky at TOTALLY innapropriate times) it was like the director and editor felt like doing what the hell they wanted OTHER than keeping it consistent and coherent.
-the music by James Horner was godawful. and i am sad to be saying that about one of my favorite composers...but the entire score comprised of nothing but incredibly quiet strings or annoying repetitive themes, that just didn't go anywhere.

THE BIGGEST PROBLEM was the fact that I didn't give a damn about any of these characters. and its totally weird since I've seen this story told numerous times, but each time a new director retells the story, he knows how connect the characters to the audience. Terrence Malick gives us absolutely NO character development on any of the characters. and the romance between John Smith and Pocahontas was one of the most unmotivated, god-awfully executed things ever. you keep wondering why the hell they like each other so much. nothing indicates why they even like each other, or romantically involved. I couldn't even get to Christian Bale as Rolfe. god.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] acb132 11 years ago

It is interesting how two people can react 180 degrees apart. Basically take every single thing you wrote above and flip it and that is how I felt. It was absolutely masterful editing IMO and it's a rare movie that has made me feel more for the characters and even just more in general. Those cuts back to other shots were utterly appropriate. It made incredibly powerful usage of music that got across an incredible sense of wonder of nature, life, love.

Some people need everything to be spelled in direct detail to direct detail and in non-stop, long complex dialogue or otherwise they apparently can't pick it all up or don't care for it or look down upon it. I thought it was a cinematic masterpiece. You seemed to want more of a typical novel. I don't mind that either, but I found this to be extremely powerful and it was awesome the way he took advantage of the fact that this is cinema and not written form.

[–] sturmtiger00 8 years ago

this has got to be one of the worst films i've ever seen

There's always one of these people on EVERY movie board. Seriously? among the 'worst' you've ever seen?? Come on, quit being so dramatic! I've probably watched (or given up on) 1000 or more movies that were 'worse' than this.

[–] robbystoner 8 years ago

But thats the thing. This isn't the story of Pocahontas. Its a story about the meeting of two civilizations. Its a story about initial awe and wonder in the human being replaced by savagery and brutality.

The initial scene of the ships arriving in the new world is still one of the most mesmerizing scenes I have every watched. Have you ever wondered what it might have been like for the two civilizations to first meet? That scene probably gets about as close to that answer as you every will find. It's strange alien ships arriving on a quiet peaceful inlet. No one know what it happening or what to expect.

Can this really be the end..to be stuck inside of mobile
with the Memphis blues again.