MovieChat Forums > 13 Tzameti (2006) Discussion > This movie should have been like a porno...

This movie should have been like a porno.

posted 16 years ago by killerparties
5 replies | jump to latest

I was psyched to see this movie. It was one of the most intense trailers I've ever seen. Maybe the high expectations were what led to the ultimate disappointment.

I felt like this movie basically started out simply as an idea for the game. That entire section of the film was some of the most tension I've ever seen captured on screen. They were magnificent - my stomach was churning, I was on the edge of my seat. It was inspired filmmaking.

My qualms with the movie? Well, I got the impression that the writers took this really magnificent idea for a game, and sort of forced this plot onto it. The movie didn't really get interesting until the game started, and I think the movie could have (and should have) ended 10-15 minutes earlier.

A while back, I read a review for Zack Snyder's remake of Dawn of the Dead comparing the movie to a porno. In DotD, you had maybe 5-6 minutes of extremely basic character introduction for the character played by Sarah Polley. She's at work, she goes home, showers with her husband, they go to bed. It all happens really quick, and then we cut to the morning, and without any explanation, most of the population has turned into zombies. There are hints that this is the Apocalypse ("When Hell is full, the dead will walk the Earth") but basically, there is never an explanation for WHY this happened. It's just "Let's throw some characters into some zombie action." The explanation WHY is the least important part, and so it doesn't even bother to try. Why the porno comparison? You have something like 5-6 minutes of two characters in some situation, and suddenly, for no real reason, they start screwing, and that's the movie. The reason WHY they're screwing is the least important part - the viewer just wants to see some hot sex action.

What am I getting at? This movie would have been much more entertaining if it had followed this structure. Give us five minutes or so introducing Sebastian, and give us the barest bones. He's a kid, he needs money, he finds this envelope that he's not supposed to have. Cut to him being handed a gun and turn the game into a feature film. End it with the final duel. The "game" was the only entertaining part of the movie for me - like I said earlier, some of the most tension I've ever seen captured on film - and I got the feeling it was the part the writer/director was interested in making the most. That's what THAT part of the film is never a dull moment. The rest - not so much.

God is nowhere, God is now here

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kausix777 15 years ago

There was enough introduction - he was poor, he wouldn't get paid for his latest work because his employer died. Basically, you might have wanted a "narrative" introduction. But this is cinema - communicating things in the way it was done here is also another way of communicating.

[–] JimmyZappa 11 years ago

There was enough introduction - he was poor, he wouldn't get paid for his latest work because his employer died.

All of which was cliché, uninteresting, and took away from the main draw of the movie which was the russian roulette play. It should've cut to the chase in about 10-15 minutes tops, not 40. And strengthen the relationships between the main character and the other opponents, which could've made the game even more suspenseful. I really didn't care who died or not, cause they were basically faceless.

I also think the filmmaker had a pretty cool idea and really tried to write a whole movie around it, but I think he failed.

Stuff like this reminds me of "Movie Poop Shoot.com" from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

[–] Ralyyy 13 years ago

Well i think that was what it basically is. I don't know what you think they could have cut off. That was the shortest credible explanation there could have been.

We need to start off with someone normal and show how he can be put in such a situation. If he'd just found the envelope on the street, he wouldn't have gone to the place, and obviously they're not going to elaborate on the thing it in the letter.

[–] jedan-covek 12 years ago

It's called exploitation flick - basically, a softporn. You must be a 70s lover :D