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Batty67's Replies
Excellent book, River of Pain. There WERE some marines in the station (maybe a dozen) BTW, but since they were never (ever) mentioned in the movie, I think they were added for backstory/lore. As noted above, the Colonists (and some marines I believe) rushed back out to check out the alien ship, despite knowing about the danger/parasite, and even though they are CAREFUL, they (of course) bring back another dozen of so infected colonists. Thye detach, most escape, and now there are 7-8 full sizen Aliens abducting colonists and bringing them back to the alien ship that still had scores of eggs (plenty). At some point an alien evolves into a queen...there you go.
When the movie came out, as an U.S. Army officer cadet at the time, I was mega-annoyed with the "officer is incompetent and indecisive" cliche. I mean, he does act bravely later in the action, albeit when he's not in charge. But it has come to pass in lore that Gorman was either picked or approved because of his inexperience. Junior lieutenants have to get actual experience leading and in combat. So, with time, it's all good. Such a great movie.
Like other clever and successful shows, the writers ran out of steam in terms of creativity, but they milked at least one, possibly two more seasons than it needed. Still, it was mostly entertaining most of the time...
I never commented on whether it was a rip-off or Wicker Man or not. There are oodles of direct visual clues all over the environment and backdrops (check it out on Youtube for example). Given their existence, careful movie watchers are likely to spot them and hold their interest more, making this slow-paced movie interesting. In contrast, given these clues are unlikely to be spotted by bored/casual (i.e., non-careful movie watchers), I agreed that the movie can easily be deemed to be boring. I think it is a good, not great, film.
In general, I'd say the chemistry is very hit or miss, and mostly miss. It does seem to pop-up sporadically, when specifically intended, otherwise it is lacking. Not to the point of "harming" the show, but definitly meh most of the time.
I agree that the movie is SLOW, plodding at times, but the payoff for careful movie watchers is great. If you are not interested early on, and/or do not carefully follow the narrative (and especially the abundent clues in the environment and backdrops), the movie can definitely be described as boring.
Agreed. Need to rewatch the movie. But, I find Hereditary much more re-watchable. I mean, I have a much deeper appreciation of Midsommar, but let's face it...it IS slow.
Disagree somewhat acidraindrop. Mark is an idiotic douchbag. I mean, there are plenty of well-meaning, enjoyable idiots. He's both an idiot AND a total dick.
As for Christian, I think he was mostly weak and self-centered. Definitely at least a partial douchebag, but not an awful person. All of them were teeribly isolated, manipulated, and drugged by murdering cultists who had done this sort of thing MANY times.
Dani is a tragic (but not heroic) character, absolutely RIPE to be love-bombed and absorbed by the cult. Of course, most people would be super-weak in those circumstances. In the end, besides Mark, none of them are totally unsympathetic. Again, very solid movie and premise. I preferred Heriditary far more, which I'd call an "A" movie. Midsommar is more like a "B."
Well, I guess it's relative. It is a cruel way to go, but I don't get the sense that Christian's sacrificial death was "applied" in a particularly personal manner. Sort of like, "well, we got a schedule to keep, so time to sew you into a bear suit and immolate you.". OTOH, I got the sense that the death of the pee tree guy was enjoyed on some level as payback.
Sure is gosh darn it.
I don't think Christian was the biggest douche. It was Mark for sure (wins a prize for it). Actually, I think Christian is almost entirely painted as a dick because he wanted to split with Dani and felt he could not. It shows SOME (not a lot) quality he did not break up with her earlier, but her parents were just killed in a murder-homicide. It would be beyond brutal to break up with someone in that state. Of course, he probably should have much earlier. He just sort of goes along to get along, making him WEAK. I think he was made villainous by the writing and fans who feel Dani was heroic. They were all duped and either joined the cult, or were sacrificed by them. And they are not entirely unsympathetic = good to great writing.
Fair points. Their not immediately pulling a "right, we're out of here" after the suicide and face smashing was not realistic. The thesis thing for one was, maybe, but two. Complaints aside, I really liked the concept and production. Better than most movies these days.
Agreed. They needed sacrifices but would have been happy to accept new members. But they've been doing this a LONG time, so they'd likely detect fakers pretty fast, and it would be a tough sell.
It is mid-summer in Sweden. If one of the "guests" got creeped out and left super-early, they might have let them go.
Otherwise, the cult members are not super human and did not have night vision. A person quickly and quietly leaving in the middle of the night could go very far before being notices. I did not get the sense that they would be set upon by skilled trackers. And with some water and food, I suspect they'd find a semi-major road within 6 hours of walking. So, escape was very possible, but they are strangers in an increasingly strange land, don't speak the language, and are very isolated.
It was a reasonable observation and question. It DOES start slow and might seem boring, but it well worth the time and espcially yields returns for careful observers.
I think, like all groups, some individuals might enjoy the horrifying practices more than others. As for overt cruelty, I think the guy who peed on their tree might have been on the receiving end of some cruelty. I don't think Christian's fate was particularly cruel per se, but damn it was horrific.
My post was 2 years ago modica, I've since revised my opinion about the lack of coherence to some extent, but not this thread. That's because I have other things to do....
Made it to the end as in, died...Yes. Nobody human was going to survive. Ironically, he died instantly and with no suffering, Perhaps he was the lucky one...?
True. But that part of the show was well done, successfully hiding he lost his job over her. As for Grant's character, and as I've said elsewhere, once he was established to be a liar, anything that came out of his mouth was (rightfully) highly suspect.
Interesting. I thought about that too, briefly. But it was in the heat of the moment. And we he rapidly hit her 8-9 more times...after confirming she was dead, that was that.
It is meaningful that he lost his extremely lucrative job (probably 500k+ year) because he was not discrete in his romance with Elena, and hid it from Grace. So, clearly, he was also infatuated with her and for a long time. A compulsive liar weaving lie after lie until it fell apart.