PRAF68_EU
-
Posts
4588 -
Joined
-
Quote:Here is a hint: it's not in for the story, it's in for the world-building.Originally Posted by Mr. DJ
There's nothing special about Dances with Wolves in Space...er...Avatar.
Star Wars also has a very simple and unoriginal story. -
Quote:Apart from the two Batman* films and the first Superman, there are none which are comparable as films to a top ten (or top 20) of SF films.Originally Posted by Lucky666
Both Nolan Batman movies, Kick-***, the first two Spiderman movies, first two superman movies With Christopher Reeve, First two X-men movies and X-men first class. There's probably only another 10 that are actually good that I could name off hand though so I get your point.
Sure, the X-men films are okay as thowaway popcorn flicks, but they simply aren't in the same league as The Day the Earth Stood Still (original), Forbidden Planet, Avatar or Star Wars.
*Some would include Burton's Batman films, but they score higher with the non-fanbase (Burton's Batman Returns is a favourate of Mrs PRAF, who doesn't like the Nolan films). I might throw in the Hellboy films, personally.
Superman II suffers a bit as it's FX haven't aged as well as some of the other films mentioned. -
Quote:You aren't comparing like with like. Avengers has an almost perfect score on "pure entertainment" but completely fails on the "makes you think" "carries a message" and "requires you to engage higher thought processes" scales.Originally Posted by docbuzzard
Avengers may well be the best superhero movie of all time (it's certainly in the running). Serenity doesn't happen to be close to the top Science Fiction movies of all time.
And I would certainly put Serenity in the top 10 of Science Fiction movies of all time scale. Which is more impressive when you remember that there are far more science fiction movies in existence than there are Superhero movies. You would be pushed to compile a "top ten" of superhero movies and actually have 10 good movies in it. -
Quote:I think they actually say they are "travelling beyond the rim", thus acknowledging the tragic deaths of the actors, without changing the continuity.Originally Posted by Nericus
Yeah I've been hearing that, which is why I've been hesitant to watch it.
However I did check on Wikipedia and if correct, the Lost Tales takes place during the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Alliance.
So okay, I get that Centauri Prime's Drakh infestation should be resolved and that Vir is the Emperor following the deaths of Londo and G'kar.
But now we hit a continuity snag, If the Lost Tales states that Dr. Franklin is dead, then how come he's there 10 years later at Sheridan's farewell dinner? He did examine Sheridan and determined that the energy Lorien put into him was running out of power but he had no idea how to treat it or recharge Sheridan. -
Quote:Given that he is supposed to stand for traditional American ideals, wouldn't one of those be the Work Ethic? Isn't he going to think "I really aught to have a job" even if he has got sufficient funds?Originally Posted by Nericus
Correct, though as I recall sometime after he was thawed out in the comics, the military crunched the numbers and figured out how much back pay he was owed. It was quite a significant sum as I recall.
-
Quote:Not very good I'm afraid.Originally Posted by Nericus
Good to know, I haven't seen the Lost Tales yet.
-
Quote:It's established that both characters are dead in "The Lost Tales".Originally Posted by Nericus
They can always say that Dr. Franklin is busy in Earthdome Medical doing the cross species disease research project that he started in S5 for the Alliance. As for G'Kar, JMS did state that when Andreas died so did G"kar, and that's fine. He could still be flying around the galaxy helping Lyta cope with the loss of Byron, or again they could still do the fall of Centauri Prime, mention G"kar in it and then add in the remastered footage of him and Londo killing each other.
-
Quote:Very true. Which was what Firefly didn't get. Minimal marketing, and not enough time to build an audience. It's never even been shown on UK free-to-view.Originally Posted by TrueMetal
Maybe, but for something to be remembered people have to know about it first.
But it still managed decent DVD sales.
People have mentioned films like the Godfather, but what they forget is it wasn't an original IP - it was a famous novel first.
You can't put something completely original (and intelligent) on people and expect them to get it straight away. You have to give them time to learn to understand it.
I do think the opening episode should have had a bit more explanation - I think Joss over-estimated the average TV viewer there. -
Quote:Playing angel's advocate, since anyone can use it, they can expect to sell more units, which should keep the cost down...Originally Posted by Chase_Arcanum
Playing devil's advocate: that pool set would be available to all characters, all archetypes, all builds, all the time. That's incredibly more versatile than a set you choose once at the start of character creation and never get to 'spec out of/into. That adds quite a bit of value despite having fewer powers. Also keep in mind that many full 9-power sets usually have one or two really specialized or situational powers that won't be taking up a slot in the pools (buildup, taunt, tier-9 situational powers, etc) and the actual functional difference is even smaller.
-
Quote:Not really consistent with my observations, but I guess YMMV.Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
Very frequently that enemy that goes down in 3 hits will go down in 2 hits with the damage from the aura.
It has occurred to me that with Control in the Hybid slot, DA looks very interesting... -
Quote:What I want to see is a Hulk movie that doesn't entirely revolve around Banner's "condition".Originally Posted by SuperOz
No cousins until we get a Hulk movie that actually performs as a movie, I think.
And Red Hulk won't fly, but the Leader was beautifully set up in Norton's movie. Logical extension of that movie.
S.
Less angst, and make sure the Hulk is the solution, not the problem.
And no Red Hulk. The Leader is much better. -
Quote:Quality isn't the same as popular. The greatest computer game ever is Planescape: Torment, but it was a financial flop. Why? Because 1)Marketing was poor, and 2) It was too sophisticated for the average rube.Originally Posted by SuperOz
Serenity isn't better than Avengers. Honestly, I wish people would take off their fanboy blinkers and just acknowledge some stuff works better than others. If Firefly's setting was going to take off, it just would've. The movie would've done better also, studio interference or no. It's not a knock on the film, but I can see Joss making the transition from television to movies, and it is a significant one.
And we all know CoH is a much better game than the one with 11 million subs.
The Avengers is a great entertainment movie, but it is never more than that. Serenity is sharper, more insightful, and carries a message.
Castle is entertaining, but it has an intellectual level somewhat below the A-Team. If you can't spot who done it in the first 5 minutes you are probably the household pet.Quote:It's like saying somehow that Nathan Fillion made a bad career move in taking Castle, but I don't hear anyone criticising him because the show doesn't have Whedon involved in it.
Sure, it pays Fillon's bills, but it's not going to be remembered in 10 years. -
I'm curious about the two stalker only powers in Bio Armor: Improved Mitosis (could be a self heal, instead of a healing aura, like WP), and Genetic Corruption (sounds like a debuff, replaces damage aura?)
-
Watchmen would be the obvious choice.
-
Quote:But a lot of people are under the delusion that escapist science fiction and fantasy are for children, and don't go through the doors and discover they enjoy it without them.Originally Posted by Golden Girl
I'm pretty sure movies like The Godfather trilogy and Schindler's List count as reasonably "grown up", and they managed to do well at the box office.
Quote:The Avengers shows that Whedon is much better working with established material, rather than his own vanity projects.
Rubbish.
Serenity is a way better movie than Avengers. Even the critics liked it. It's only difficulty was getting people though the doors in the first place.
(My wife also found some of the accents difficult to understand). -
Quote:A writer needs to be able to realistically convey the beliefs of the character, even if they do not share them.Originally Posted by Paladiamors
Er, what? No. You're off base. If anything, that was one of the most Captain America-ish things he said in the entire movie. It was really more of an homage then anything else.
-
Quote:The director interview talks about the story being about "the Origin of Peter Parker" and a search to discover the truth about why "he was abandoned by his mother and father".Originally Posted by BrandX
I see. I thought that was more of a "This is fate." type of speech.
The vibe I'm getting was that Peter Parker was a genetic experiment, in which Curt Connors was involved. Hence, I'm concerned that (human form) Curt Connors is going to be evil in this movie.
"You know what was special about that spider that bit you? NOTHING!"
Ok, so I made that last line up, aint I a stinker? -
Quote:One of the reasons for keeping Coulson alive would be to set up conflict for the next A-movie. If his death brought them together, then discovering they where deceived should drive them apart. So A2 will have to find some other way to bring them back together.Originally Posted by Father Xmas
Again, even if he was killed, Coulson wasn't Jossed. Jossing if very specific and it's not just a popular character dieing. It's suddenly dieing right after something good happens. Tara in Buffy Jossed but not Anya. Wash in Serenity Jossed, but not Book. The character is there one moment, SNAP, gone.
Coulson lingered, taunted his "killer" and shot him well after the fatal blow was delivered and even hung on long enough to chat up Fury when he arrived minutes later.
Of course all the scenarios chatted up here would make total sense from LMD to life saving surgery. Also kudos to Caemgen on the "Shield has a great medical plan." as his opening line upon his reappearance, brilliant.
The blade appeared to have gone though his left lung. Which could certainly be fixed with surgery. -
Quote:I think one of the things Avengers has going for it is it has no need to tell an origin story (ok, so there is a bit of Black Widow origin story in there, but that's only 2 minutes). That means they could just get straight on with the action.Originally Posted by White Hot Flash
Wondering how much of an impact the previous Iron Man/Thor/Hulk/CA movies in the recent past had on the Avengers' box office numbers. If Marvel had made the decision to simply make an Avengers movie first, and then spin off separate movies, like they did with X-Men, would the hype have been this high?
The Avengers script would have looked a lot different, and possibly have suffered from too much backstory for so many characters before it really got going. Might have had to make two movies at least just to tell the story they've told so far between all the individual movies.
Oh, and the Serenity movie? That's better than any Star Wars movie apart from episodes IV and V. But a lot of adults originally got into Star Wars because they took their kids (same with Avengers). Serenity was way to grown-up to do well on the mass market. Although now would be a good time for a DVD re-release, with Whedon's name in bigger letters. Never know, we may get more now. -
Well, evidence that Scott watched Doctor Who is interesting, given that "The Ark in Space" came out in 1975, and "Alien" in 1979.
-
Quote:Scott didn't right the script, but the story outline was his. He may well have come up with the character names. If he didn't, and it is a co-incidence, then I would expect him to have notice...Originally Posted by Lachlin
Considering Scott did not write Prometheus, any shout out would have come from Spaihts or Lindelof.
I usually do a google search on character names that I plan on using in my writing, anyway. -
Quote:"Dr" Elizabeth Shaw is a much less probable co-incidence than just Elizabeth Shaw on it own.Originally Posted by Lothic
Unless Ridley ever admits to a direct shout-out I could easily see this going either way. Like you say he might have been subconsciously aware of the name from watching Dr. Who or he might have really liked that Dr. Who character and specifically reused the name. After all the name "Elizabeth Shaw" is not the most unique or unusual name out there - I could easily see someone independently coming up with it just like I could come up with "John Smith". Sometimes coincidences are just that... coincidental.
-
Quote:This. If you have something that does a point of damage to every mob you ever fight over the course of the game, it's inevitable that it's all going to add up to a lot of damage. However, how often does that damage actually contribute to the DEFEAT of the mob? Chances are that a mob that goes down in three hits will go down in three hits with or without the damage done by the aura.*shrugs* I've read this many of times but tend to ask just how much that damage actually matters. Like I said, if the foe does quickly, in a few hits, just how much damage goes off before the enemy is dead? Getting off a tier 1's amount of damage in the time it takes to defeat the foe *IF* they stay in range is considered 'huge'?Quote:
Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
Yes.
City of Data has proven that a damage aura is a huge chunk of your total damage output. -
Quote:It's what I think, based on what characters say in the trailer, and a few comments from the director.Originally Posted by BrandX
I haven't read any leaks on it, is that what this one is saying, or is that just what you think?
"You think what happened to you was an accident?!" -
Quote:I think what we have here is Wheldon subverting his own trope. He knows that he has a reputation for killing off popular characters, so he is only going to pretend this time, knowing that his reputation will make it convincing.Originally Posted by Caemgen
Tony Stark: "But... But you're dead..."
Agent Coulson: "Shield has a great medical plan."
At least that's how I envision the explanation going if he is brought back.
I think it's significant Coulson does not die on screen, we only hear it announced by Fury over the intercom. And he says he is "gone", which could be a euphemism for "dead", but could also be equivocation. And Fury is well established as a ruthless manipulative M-F.