MovieChat Forums > Puteri Gunung Ledang (2004) Discussion > High hopes..

High hopes..

posted 20 years ago by TwoStrokesOnWater
41 replies | jump to latest

It seems there is high hopes for this film among Malaysians especially those involved in the industry. Up till now I've never thought that it was possible for Malaysian producers to come up with a decent film and I've always wondered why that is. Is it because of shortage of budget? or is it because of poor equipment? or maybe it's just the incompetency of the filmmakers. Hell, I still don't know but one thing this movie tells me is that it IS possible for a good, decent malay film to be made. So why not continue doing it? Fact is, it does arguably have a much bigger budget, even the producer himself and lead actor says that it is the first big budget movie that has ever been made in Malaysia. So it makes me wonder again.. if big budgets can have outcomes like this, why stick to the low cost, poorly made, copy of every other movie that doesn't attract much attention from their own country's viewers? Honestly, I've only seen the trailer and the video clip by Tiara Jacquelina and both has so far managed to make me amazed at the capability of this movie and I am looking forward to watch the cinematography especially and take the wonder of Malaysian scenery all in. And I too, have high hopes for this feature film.

[–] azarimy 20 years ago

i absolutely agree with you, man!

although i try not to have an expectation too high, i am generally very positive about this movie. i got some friends who did most of the special effects and visual treatments for the movie, and i'd have to say, by the trailer, it looks good. alas i won't be able to watch it in the cinemas, unless they managed to distribute it here in the UK ;). anyway, can't help feeling giddy about this movie...

[–] aries89_tan 20 years ago

Yeah, this is the first time I'm intrested in my country's movie. Not that I'm not patriotic, it's just that most of the Malaysian movies are shown on tv a few months after the release in cinemas.
I think that the number of actors in Malaysia is the factor on why there aren't many RM15 million budget movies. Plus, the cast (as I heard it) sort of destroyed part of the forest in Genting or Cameron Highlands and the endangered species of plants during filming last year. :(

[–] TwoStrokesOnWater 20 years ago

Yeah, i know what you mean. But high hopes this time wouldn't mean as high as to how good the next Star Wars movie or X-Men movie would be, but more to 'higher than i would normally have for malaysian movies' kinda thing. And hey, it's great that you have friends involved in this movie! Are they new to the scene?or are they like veterans already or sumthin? How'd you manage to catch the trailer then? I'm sure they will release the vcd for this movie...
Still waiting..

My name is Daria and while the world is upsidedown, I am upright. Always.

[–] azarimy 20 years ago

i wouldnt compare this to star wars or x-men or something... probably best if we compare with robin hood (kevin costner or something... as if! anyway, let's keep it positive :D

nah, my friends not really new in the visual graphics industry, but this is the first large scale production that they've ever involved in. he did the color-keying and also some visual effects in the movie. he refused to say anything in particular, maybe it goes with the job or something.

i've found the trailer here:

http://www.pglthemovie.com

[–] aries89_tan 20 years ago

Yeah! It's opening this Tuesday! But I'm going on the weekends if I can to avoid the crowd. I've read a review and the main thing it focused on was on how slow the movie was. Nevertheless, it does say that the chemistry between Gusti Puteri and Hang Tuah is good.

[–] defclubmix 20 years ago

Can't wait to watch it. This movie will open the eyes of Malaysians why we must do such film as this. Not just gasping and complaining why there's no malaysian in Black Hawk Down. To be really heard, we must stand and shout!

[–] TwoStrokesOnWater 20 years ago

Hey, i totally forgot about that Black Hawk Down thing. Man, those ppl who complain are real whiners.. c'mon, it's an AMERICAN made movie..so, it focuses on what the AMERICANS did there...point of the movie wasn't about Malaysians role in it.
So, the movie opens today!! How'd everyone find it?? I've yet to watch it but soon..very soon.

Oh and.. SELAMAT HARI MERDEKA!!!

My name is Daria and while the world is upsidedown, I am upright. Always.

[–] kiefy 20 years ago

i have watched the film today..it's quite okayy laa..not that its not that good...the cinematography was quite good, showing the beautiful landscape of malaysia.but one think thats annoys me as a landscape architect is the palm oil plantations sets as the backgropund of the palace.macam kantoi gak la.Oil palms or kelapa sawit exists as plantations, u know,ladang, it will never grows in wild. but who cares?orang puteh tak perasan punyer.hehe.the acting..hmmm..i really like the king.sultan mahmud.i think the actor(i cant remember his name)shines i this movie.overall, i give it 8/10.Malaysia Boleh!

[–] SharpBlur 20 years ago

Alex Komang acting was good too. He's like Jim Carey + Robert Deniro. Look at his facial expression! Anyway I watched the movie today and the reason why some of the scene looked too short was because of the *beep* FINAS(malaysia cencorship board) Those useless paid-for-nothing fuckers had choped off so many scenes including the village attack scene and Hang Jebat cameo by Sidi Oraza.Probably trying to get the film to fail because their self made film (Paloh) was a flop consider it was a big budget.Cant wait to get the Dvd(Provided it didnt get censored too!)

[–] amir-22 20 years ago

This film was passed 100% uncut by the censorship board, which anyway has nothing to do with Finas. Proof of this is the fact that the version shown overseas is the same length as the version shown in Malaysia, unlike censored movies such as JOGHO and SPINNING GASING.

[–] azarimy 20 years ago

how'd u know it's cut? i havent read anything on that. care to share a link?

anyway, i'm gonna try to bust my ass to venice. probably i'll catch a glimpse of the real uncut version of the movie. well... that's a big IF...

i'd still wanna stress out that the big budget mostly goes to the promotion, not the movie itself. throw away the promotions overseas, i think it costs just a wee bit higher than paloh or embun or any haslamian movies.

[–] SharpBlur 20 years ago

Azarimy you probably live outside Malaysia or inside a cave to know that EVERY SINGLE LOCAL-MADE MOVIE HAD AT LEAST A SCENE CUT OFF BY THOSE *beep* NOSY ASS FINAS!
Bah just wait for the dvd version or watch it outside Malaysia and you'll know the differences.

[–] azarimy 20 years ago

what's up your ass?

if u would kindly reread my post, i was ASKING for where u read it, coz the only sources that i have over here is the internet. i wasnt patronizing u, or criticizing your opinion!

[–] ladyheart321 20 years ago

hang on guys...azarimy,what the hell is goin' on with u and the SharpBlur? Did u two just have a small quarrel? Pls excuse me if u all think I bother and try to speak up between u both. I've been reading all these posts since yesterday so umm azarimy,i've never seen your post again since the last you posted/replied to SharpBlur...by the way azarimy,where're you from buddy? (",)

P/s: Has anyone ever watched the what..oh yeah.."pUteri Gunung Ledang" yet? well If there's anybody willing and kindly..Let's make a deal,would ya mind telling me some stories about Puteri gUnUng LeDang? I think Malaysian people are nicer and friendly to have a conversation,right?

[–] azarimy 20 years ago

hello ladyheart. not sure what's going on, but i believe it's just a misunderstanding. ofcourse it's easy to misintepret written conversation when u cant make out the pronounciation. it's cool.

i'm from KL. currently in london.

[–] defclubmix 20 years ago

i'm also wondering where u heard that news. i thot finas passed it 100% without any censorship. tiara herself said this in berita harian. or maybe u meant the scene was not included because the editor had cut it out or sumthing.

[–] antonia3 20 years ago

eh hello, go back and study history la...where got Jebat during the Gunung Ledang incident? he oredi mati la!!! baca la Hikayat Hang Tuah untuk informasi terbaru.

[–] sdfrsdfr 20 years ago

dunno why everybody is saying this is a start for malaysian cinema etc etc as if malaysia don have film industry.. in fact how many hang tuah movies were there already... i remember one p ramlee one and another one also klasik (the one where they sing the 'tali lenggang' song..) .. in fact a lot of the p ramlee movies still can watch over and over again.. like bujang lapok or (jin shamsudin?) mat bond.. malaysian cinema has been around for long time! i also remmber there was this 'ranjau sepanjang jalan' (or something by shanon ahmd) that was very good i tot... recently i remember got some good one on the art film circuit ... some drama here and there.. (forgot the director) ...

the big deal about PGL is that it cost 16M RM... as usual... quality these days equate to big budget, epic , love story like titanic lah. we don't have to be a hollywood, some cheaper intimate drama will sometime have more quality than epic type. i wonder whether they will make money with PGL... seem like might lose money. it 3 hour show so only 4 show a day... say 1M m'sian go wathc it, x 10RM = 10M. still cannot cover. haven't calculate the marketing etc cost. if PGL run in theatre less than 1 month, gone already for sure.

having said all that.. i am waiting to watch PGL ... will wait till crowds die down.

[–] defclubmix 20 years ago

sdfrsdfr, just buy the ticket on wednesday next week. i guess the crowd will be lesser and the price is rm7 some more.

yes, i agree with you there is a film industry in malaysia. but what i do think we have problem is mostly coming from script aspect. the screenwriters should go back to school and learn how to write a GOOD script. i guess in malaysia we don't have much of rewriting. it's really sad to see some good money being thrown at these bad scripts, hence we see like syukur 21.

[–] chatfromthefuture 20 years ago

When we talk about movies, we usually talk about movie genre. Whether it's drama, comedy, horror, epic., etc. As of now, in Malaysia there are two movie genres...Aziz M. Osman and Yusoff Haslam.

[–] azarimy 20 years ago

ah.. dont forget shuhaimi baba. her style doesnt belong to those two ;)

[–] TwoStrokesOnWater 20 years ago

So it's the scriptwriters then? I think there are many people out there with good ideas but the thing with us is to us, our entertainment industry is going nowhere. Mostly 'cos of the piracy and to add to that the low quality spent making the music or filming a movie. So much so that we never dream of having a future investing ourselves in these industries locally.

Take Datuk Michelle Yeoh for instance.. she's internationally acclaimed now, and she did start of as Miss Malaysia but she's entirely based in Hong Kong doing Hong Kong movies. Also, many other popular local chinese singers are popular because they are based in Taiwan or the likes.. and meanwhile, our local scene is barely surviving leading to more up and coming artist (speaking about chinese artists) to head off towards other countries to make a start.

My name is Daria and while the world is upsidedown, I am upright. Always.

[–] windingup2 20 years ago

OK just saw PGL last night and I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised. I was already expecting the beautiful cinematography and authentic details, etc., because, well, with RM16 million we shouldnt expect any less. So yes it contained lots of gratuitous scenic artsy shots, the large battle scenes and not forgetting the almost believable CGI of the exterior of the Sultan's palace.

But what really got me 2 thumbs up was the exquisite script. A large portion of the dialog between the main characters (Tuah, Gusti Putri, her brother, and in particular Dato Bendahara) are in what I would describe as beautifully constructed classical Malay poetry. A joy to listen to. Even the English sub-titles were very cleverly translated.

I think this film will garner its most positive critiques from the more literate sort, and hence that is why I predict it will do well at the venice Film Festival.

[–] Nezz 20 years ago

This movie deserves atleast a nomination at the Oscars.

It is better to be the best among the best rather than the best among the worst.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] jmcgarmott 19 years ago

Not a chance. The director has fallen in love with the scenes in the film so much that not enough editing is done causing a really really slow-paced movie. Plus, the story is not really matured enough - though more matured than most Malaysian productions and Hollywood productions you see. Besides, House Of Flying Daggers is competing as well.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] sdfrsdfr 20 years ago

>>OK just saw PGL last night and I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised. I was already expecting the beautiful cinematography and authentic details, etc., because, well, with RM16 million we shouldnt expect any less. So yes it contained lots of gratuitous scenic artsy shots, the large battle scenes and not forgetting the almost believable CGI of the exterior of the Sultan's palace.
<<<

large battle scenes? where??
CGI exterior.. hmm. that's not CGI man. Heard they built the set up from scratch!!!

[–] sdfrsdfr 20 years ago

i just saw it yesterday at 1 utama... manage to get ticket.. man.. is the cinema sound system screwed up or??? some of the crowd scenes... cannot hear the dialog.. too soft! i think it's the theatre. about the movie, tech credits very standard... but the story no focus lah. is it about duty? love? politics? errr... i think tun teja is prettier than PGL lah. Yes, i agree with you. the most important is screenplay.

[–] windingup2 20 years ago

Large battle scenes - dont compare with LOTR lah. 20 horses considered large already! hehe

The CGI "palace" - they built from scratch? Only the first floor looked real to me. The second (and third?) floors which you see behind the first floor entrance had a very CGI look to it.

[–] kismet79 20 years ago

after reading a few reviews here.. i think i'm getting kinda excited to watch the movie.. im trying to get tickets for this weekend at OneUtama, wahh.. !!

ohh btw, if i am no mistaken, the sultan is played by adlin ARr, he is AR badul younger brother

of course tun teja(sofea jane) is more beautiful, she is a pan-asian, where as tiara, is an asian rojak only.. but i agree, a new talented, younger actress should have played the role of puteri gunung ledang... but where can we find one ?? tiara's credibility should not be questioned, she did bag best actress award for ringgit kassorga... it's just that she doesnt really have the right look/age for it..

anyway, she was aiming for an all start cast righte ??

[–] TwoStrokesOnWater 20 years ago

I think Tiara was just right as PGL..i thought Hang Tuah would be portrayed by a younger man...not that i'm questioning M Nasir's credibility. So, I guess since i think Hang Tuah should've been younger, but he's not..and you think PGL should be younger as well and she's not either...then, the cast was just right although not perfect.

My name is Daria and while the world is upsidedown, I am upright. Always.

[–] azarimy 20 years ago

that's true. i think we have been spoonfed by too many young hero/heroins in our movies, up to a point it's very hard to accept anyone post-30 years old :D.

i think PGL's casts is refreshing. atleast they take the talented ones, not those superficial "look-at-me-i'm-beautiful" kind of actors hahhaha

[–] kismet79 20 years ago

hang tuah lacks the ardour of a lover, hehehe.... i mean during the dance he look like he just look at Gusti Putri, not 'really looked' where as Gusti Putri practically throws herself at him, with the flower splashing act... but i think he manage to cover it, when he dance back to gusti putri, when she was flirt/dance at him... (I was quite surprise, with his sudden dance act though, hahah) i think the scene is very romantic...

the dialogs are beautifully translatted, and the malay version choice of words, are well written too, i just hope there are more dialog, for a better understanding of a character feeling.. sabri yunus was entertaining, but radhi khalid was under used

i think adlin should watch a few oldies movies abt sultan mahmud, he is basically OK, but he can improve, his speech style lacks the regality of a sultan...

rahim razali is great, he manage to makes me wonder whether he is at the sultan/Hang tuah site (bak menarik rambut dlm tepung, tepung jgn kasi tumpah, rambut jgn putus) but i guess thats what the bendahara job descriptions are, not too contradict the sultan, but instead cajol him and at the same time, fact should be delivered significantly/carefully.. (as not to offence the sultan)

I dont really feel like the movie is dragging or something.. in fact i enjoy it, but i think a few scenes was a bit melompat-lompat...

ohh and i really go woWW(I guess the whole cinema do) at the telephaty session between Gusti Putri and his brother... I guess in every myth, there should be some mystical force right ??

i was very touch by this movie, it did makes me sniffed a bit towards the end, when the lovelorn hang tuah, runs to mount ledang, and try to beg Gusti Putri to show herself, or a sign, that she forgives him.... makes me wants to believe that it has a happy ending, cause the two lovers was not ever seen afterwards...

[–] SharpBlur 20 years ago

Hey Kismet79 you know what spoil is? you just did that >.<.

[–] kismet79 20 years ago

ooppss.. i guess i did, didnt i? but i thought most people who participate in the forum,has already seen the movie.. aiyark.. very sorry .. indeed :) :P

[–] gaudygoddess 20 years ago

Just heard from some insiders as to why PGL didn't garner any attention at Venice. The subtitles and the translations were just too bad or the Europeans didn't get it.

Hopefully they would do something about it to get into the best foreign film caterogy for the Oscars

[–] aries89_tan 20 years ago

-Hopefully they would do something about it to get into the best foreign film caterogy for the Oscars-
I read about that in the newspaper, so I hope that it'll at least get the tinsiest nomination. I am surprised at why didn't this movie get any awards at any festivals. Pontianak got that award for best actress so why didn't PGL get any?

[–] aries89_tan 20 years ago

Hey, guess what people-I just read another paper and it stated that PGL is going to be viewed by the jurors of Academy Awards, or whatever they're calling them.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] aries89_tan 19 years ago

Correction: Rentap is in the Form 2 sejarah textbook, according to the latest edition.