MovieChat Forums > Subject Two (2006) Discussion > The haters wouldn't know greatness if it...

The haters wouldn't know greatness if it bit them in the ass.


This film was terrific. In much the same way that if people has saw "ringu" before seeing "The Ring" they would have dismissed it or hated it, there is enough talent and inspiration in this movie to keep hollywood copycats busy for a long time.

Take the casting, there are a grand total of five people in the movie. There is no conventional plot conflict and resolution. No madmen taunting people only to be revealed as someone you met in the first scene.

No fright music to make people jump in their seats. You don't know what's going to happen, what direction the film is going, what direction it's going to take. In order to watch this film you have to be prepared for anything. Because it doesn't follow a formula or try and exist inside a genre. By loosing the trappings of a horror movie it is truly free to exist inside the bounds of your imagination.

I found myself wondering if it was going to go in a zombie direction. Would our white eyed newly risen lab subject decide after the third death that brains should be on the menu? Or would the actual act of being dead and being alive, cause problems that would be unexpected in a horror film about the dead?

What happens when that zombie that you bring back slowly goes insane as his nervous system breaks down?

How would you cope with the knowledge that you feel dead inside, you can't feel anything at all and you can't die. To know that you will exist forever, without even the feeling of a chill? Numb to the world in a way that a human mind is not equiped to deal with?

They make a mention of lewis and clark going out into the unknown, making the map up as they go. And in a real way that is a metaphor for this brilliant film. It is creepy, disturbing, and it lingers in your mind, all for the right reasons. It is something new.

If I was going to compare it to something I would compare it to Cube. That was a nother modern horror movie that went in a new direction and tried something new and brilliant.

To the people who liked this movie, it is one of the greats.

To the people that hated it....They didn't make this movie for you so go blow M. Shalam.



Kodack

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This film was awful, i dont even feel the need to rant on and on about how crap it was because it just IS AWFUL!

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[deleted]

An answer...ANY answer to the list of questions you proposed would have been interesting. Instead, the movie simply proposes them but refuses to explore them.

kodack said: "They didn't make this movie for you"
I really wish movie makers would specify exactly WHO they made the movie for. Some kind of notice before the movie: "If you liked Unbreakable, get out of the theater, we are too good for your f -king money."

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Well lets see...Not advertised....not widely available in the theaters....spreads through word of mouth of people who liked the movie......

MMmmm....Yeah, they didn't make this movie for the haters..IF they had then how would they attract them to the movie if everyone who saw it hated it?



Kodack

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I enjoyed this move - I gave it 8 out of 10. The acting was pretty good IMO. The story was a fresh example of the age old Frankenstein story (atleast not one I have ever seen). The films visuals and scenery were great (sometimes breathtaking). The biggest thing that got me to enjoy this film (other than Courtney's gorgeous baby blue eyes) was the atmosphere. The music, scenery and whole mood of the film up there in all that bitter cold and loneliness pulled me in. Also, learning that the film was made on such a small budget but was this impressive made me give it such a high grade.

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You must be either smoking alot of crack with all that crap you said there, or blowing someone in that 5 man crew. It was a below average movie. The most impressive thing about the movie besides the credits was the scenery. Hah

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You wouldn't know a good movie if it bit you on the ass. I have my opinion and I'd be willing to wager I have watched a lot more movies than you. And movies like this stand out for their creativity and the way that you can't stop thinking about the movie when it's done.

Again, this movie is not advertised or promoted much in the conventional sense. It's hard for the average movie goer to stumble upon something like this accidently.

Most people who have seen it, sought it out willingly because of something they read or word of mouth. So I'm not sure how someone with such poor taste, and the ineptitude to attack my opinion without stating much more than "it was below average", would even view a film that wasn't mainstream.



If you hate this movie, nothing I say is going to change your mind. There is no use arguing with a fool. But I pitty you.





Kodack

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I got the movie from a McDonald's movie rental machine. The premise looked interesting and I'd seen almost all of the other movies that particular store rental system offered.

I don't know how much more mainstream you can get than McDonalds.

And people's opinions on movies shouldn't be qualified by how many movies they've seen. If that were true then no one would question anything a movie critic said.

I thought this movie was boring and stayed to much on the surface of the possibilities of the premise. Plus it looked like it was about to turn into a gay porno at any minute...the people I watched it with couldn't stop laughing.

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"the people I watched it with couldn't stop laughing. "

Drugs will do that to you.

So what possibilities are you talking about?

"I have a sudden craving for brains. RRAararraggghaghrrr!!! BRAINS!!!!!!!"

And then he proceeds to chase the doctor through the woods for an hour until the doctor finally figures out a way to stop the undead menace using his wood working skills and a pocket knife?



Kodack

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You two chidlren take this way too seriously. I mean grow up and lets move beyond name calling and other pre-adolescent behaviors.

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[deleted]

Good movie...I enjoyed it quite a bit and would recommend it to people.



Admire those that are seeking the truth, and run from those that claim they have found it!

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Wow, you are silly people aren't you! Arguing over a movie like this. Lol. Any ways, I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like the film. It was slow at times and some people like fast paced movies more than others. I agree with FCA1975. I liked the movie a lot and I think it very original. The Colorado scenery was breathtaking, the plot was diverse, the acting was well for more unexperienced actors. And all together, for such a low budget film, it was great. You have to remember, when you rent a movie from "redbox" (mcdonalds rentals) that you haven't seen advertised or in any theatres, it's not going to be the best. (i rented the movie from there too.) It was a film that the filmakers had fun with and simply put into a filmfestival. And yes, some scenes seemed akward, but sometimes you need to be mature and not think about it sexualy. I would recomend the movie for people who are mature and patient and who I think have respect for all movie types.

Awesome movie =)

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"Chalk it up to an anti intellectual age. Half the U.S. prefers an almost paleolithic creation myth to evolution, and are only a few steps ahead of the flat earthers. With stunted cognitive faculties like that, you can't really expect them to appreciate what is in effect an old-style "naturalistic" science fiction piece.

The film was good, it's just that aspects that made it good went right over a good many viewer's heads. I think we can chalk up the current dearth of hard scifi and the glut of fantasy and space opera to these trends in viewership. People don't like to think about evolution, the War in Iraq, or anything else. If it isn't spoon fed, it's too much effort. If it isn't something they'd like to believe or contemplate, then it must be wrong somehow. Matters are so bad that I seriously believe that a film like 2001 A Space Odyssay would flop if it had been released today; to preclude any moronic observations, let's stipulate that such a release would be with an updated year in the title, say, 2101 A Space Odyssey."

You could have saved lots of time if you would have just wrote- "Only intellectuals enjoyed Subject 2, all others are morons."

I think I will pass on the film since it seems one of the requirements for enjoying it is arrogance.

Leslie was the one covering people in apple butter.I was just an innocent on-licker

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I just finished watching this and then read this board. I agree with Kodach on all counts. There were alot of very REAL moments in this film that I never saw in many good films I've watched this year alone. I just read this was made on only $23,000, please tell me I'm hallucinating! Right? Just imagine what this talented group could create with half the costume budget of a movie like MI3, probably a masterpiece. Just my opinion but I do still buy movie tickets and I'm going to watch this particular group because I have alot of FAITH in them.

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This movie is for mature thinkers. It is not an adolescent gore fest. This movie raises serious questions. The ending serves to perpetuate the theory that man doesn't or won't learn from his mistakes. It was deep and psychologically disturbing on many levels. It is a shame most of you can't realize the quality of this film.


Oh, bugger!!!:)

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i always find it astounding how radical people can get when discussing matters of taste...

i must admit, i found the film insanely boring, but watched it twice, because i thought maybe i had missed something the first time around. i hadnt.
as has been stated quite a few times, its premise is quite intriguing, but the overall execution was just lacking substance and wasnt well thought through.
as for the much praised performances, imho they were above average but far from great...

what i really dont understand is how people can see greatness in a mediocre (at best) film. like i said, the premise has merit and i applaud the makers of the film for attempting what they did, but to ascribe any measure of excellence to it is ludicrous, imo. im sure im not alone in claiming, this movie could have been much better, had the idea and the implied consequences been explored in more depth.

anyways, im not here to bash the film, i didnt think it was terrible. incredibly boring yes, but not terrible. nevertheless, it was very far from great.

regards,
M.

ps: the fact that it was low budget and was made with a skeleton crew doesnt make the film better. granted, it makes making a really great film that much harder, but not impossible...

I'm not much of a chef - Doc (Ethan)

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There is little use in persuading peoples taste.

I have watched this film a few times, with enough time going by that the last viewing was some what of a rediscovery. And it holds up to my original assertions now almost a year later.

I am sure that the game of chess is boring to most people, from a spectator stand point. But to people who follow the devil in the details, they can also be interesting to behold how other peoples minds work.

This film has slow pacing, very few conflicts, and a subdued climax. Exactly the way real life would play out. By adopting those tactics, and long music absent shots of our characters just existing, they lend this fictional story a very real 'nes' about it.

Back to the chess game argument, it's not so much what you are looking at on the screen that draws me in, it is what the film is showing and what I am seeing. It raises some poignant and intense ethical and philosophical questions about science, life, death, and our fellow man. It's the "between the lines" moments in the film that make me love it, and the way they delivered it.

Everybody has thought about dying, or living forever and in this story we learn that those are just the easy things to think about. Nobody stops to think about what would happen to your mind, how the world would change when you are numb to the world. Is being human and our human condition only the result of the pleasures and pains that sensation give us?

If science gives us the tools to do something that fundamentally changes our lives, should we always use it or should we really think long and hard about what we are doing and why. We are entering an age where we can literally translate our dreams to reality. Science may soon give us a kind of immortality, and allow people to change their bodies in ways that make this movie seem tame. But acting on dreams without thoughts can be dangerous.


I realize my initial posts were belligerent and conceited in tone but I have had some time to reflect.
Kodack

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And movies like this stand out for their creativity and the way that you can't stop thinking about the movie when it's done.

All I could think about was what a waste of time it was-- IN MY OWN OPINON, which I am ALLOWED to have, just as you are.

Most people who have seen it, sought it out willingly because of something they read or word of mouth.

How do you know that? I always see random, unknown movies on the shelf that I will sometimes give a go. I didn't go to a lot of trouble to 'seek it out.'

If you hate this movie, nothing I say is going to change your mind. There is no use arguing with a fool. But I pitty you.

Just because someone doesn't agree with you, there's no need to insult them like that. The problem with a lot of people on imdb is that they think if someone doesn't like a movie that they personally think is the *beep* they right away resort to calling everyone who didn't like it unintelligent (or in your case, a fool). With this movie alone there have been various posts saying people didn't 'get' this movie because it's 'smart' and 'real.' In my own opinon, it's not any of those things. It had a good idea but it wasn't well-executed-- IMO.

This movie is for mature thinkers. It is not an adolescent gore fest.

I wasn't expecting an adolescent gore fest. I honestly don't think there's even much to think about with this movie, either. It became too repetitive and just... boring. To say it bored me doesn't mean I was in anyway expecting a 'gore fest.' It just means I have a different opinon and I'm allowed to express it. So people, you can believe this movie is the best thing you've ever seen but don't insult those who don't agree.

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