The Road

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Empire Admin -> The Road (4/1/2010 7:55:46 AM)
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Gazdance -> RE: BEST FILM IN AGES (4/1/2010 10:23:21 PM)
I really liked The Road. I was going to say enjoyed but it was really hard to enjoy a film so bleak. As an adaptation of the book it is superb. Excellent performance and one of the most terrifying depictions of a post apocalyptic world ever seen. 4/5.

dolphinboy1984 -> RE: (6/1/2010 7:37:39 PM)
I have had the same problem in Luton. Like you, I have a Cineworld card but will have to travel unreasonably farther. Moving to Bristol soon so, hopefully, the problem will cease.

MI Cruise -> RE: The Road (9/1/2010 12:11:58 AM)
This is actually a 2009 movie even though it's coming out 8 days into the new year over here. I cant relly decide which one to watch, Daybreakers or this, I know Daybreakers is not as good as this in fact maybe no where near however it is a 2010 movie. meh I might just watch both this weekend and then watch both Up in the Air and Book of Eli next week. now thats going to burn a hole in my pocket!

Alabama -> RE: The Road (9/1/2010 12:24:14 AM)
Wow. Takes bleak and harrowing to new levels; a remarkable piece of cinema from fantastic source material. The bond between Viggo and the boy is so believably strong if Nine nicks the oscars from this I'm going to be really pissed off! [:D]

captainrentboy -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 11:38:32 AM)
Saw this last night and it's definitely not a film I can say I 'enjoyed' watching, 'twas good though, although sadly not as fantastic as I was expecting, I much preferred the book. The performances throughout were of course great, even Theron and I'm not normally her biggest fan. Cinematography wise it was also brilliant, the bleak and ruined landscapes looked pretty much how I imagined them whilst reading the book. But that's where it ends, parts of the story were chopped down where I didn't think it should've been, especially when there are only a handful of actual 'events' that happen other than the two sitting in the rain talking and other parts were far less emotionally hard hitting than I thought they would be. I'd give it a 3/5, but be warned it really is one depressing lil film [:)]

PaulieC79 -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 12:20:27 PM)
Saw it yesterday. Bleak and depressing certainly. The cinematography is stunning. The performances are outstanding. I did feel it fell a bit flat though. The book is a moving piece of writing, very harrowing and chilling and in places immensely tense. I felt the film lost the tension (yes, even the cellar scene didn't have me totally gripped) and a couple of times Hillcoat got them out of a situation by fading to black. Perhaps I need to both read the book and see the film again. It certainly has me still thinking about it though and changing my views everytime I do, which to me means it was at least a thoughtful piece for film-making.

hatebox -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 1:47:43 PM)
My reaction to this film was the same as Watchmen - about as well-realized as an adaptation of the source material could be, but ultimately a little pointless. You got nothing more from the film that wasn't already present in the novel. At best I suppose people who are too damn lazy to ever read get to appreciate it...

adambatman82 -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 1:50:46 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MI Cruise This is actually a 2009 movie even though it's coming out 8 days into the new year over here. I cant relly decide which one to watch, Daybreakers or this, I know Daybreakers is not as good as this in fact maybe no where near however it is a 2010 movie. meh I might just watch both this weekend and then watch both Up in the Air and Book of Eli next week. now thats going to burn a hole in my pocket! What has that got to do with anything? On a related note, I saw The Road on Friday and really enjoyed it.

captainrentboy -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 3:20:40 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: PaulieC79 I did feel it fell a bit flat though. The book is a moving piece of writing, very harrowing and chilling and in places immensely tense. I felt the film lost the tension (yes, even the cellar scene didn't have me totally gripped). I thought the same, I'd read in a few reviews that the cellar scene was particularly grim, but it was all over in too much of a hurry to actually affect me that much. Another thing that was actually unintentionally amusing for me were Guy Pearce's rotten false nashers, he could barely close his mouth over them when he's in the background of a scene.[:D]

adambatman82 -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 4:11:35 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: captainrentboy quote: ORIGINAL: PaulieC79 I did feel it fell a bit flat though. The book is a moving piece of writing, very harrowing and chilling and in places immensely tense. I felt the film lost the tension (yes, even the cellar scene didn't have me totally gripped). I thought the same, I'd read in a few reviews that the cellar scene was particularly grim, but it was all over in too much of a hurry to actually affect me that much. I totally disagree, the cellar scene really did strike a chord with me. I haven't read the book, and entered the film not having even seen the trailer, so didn't know what to expect in the cellar scene.

Death_Row_Marv -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 5:22:57 PM)
This film is based on the 2006 novel by Cormac McCarthy which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize . McCarthy also having wrote the novel that the Oscar-winning film No Country For Old Men was based. Set an unspecified amount of years(approximately 10) after an unknown event has caused the end of the most life on Earth. If follows a nameless father and son as they travel to the coast in hope of finding civilisation. The film starts us with Viggo Mortensen and his heavily pregnant wife Charlize Theron during the first day of the end of the world and with various flashbacks during the first hour of the film show us how the relationship slowly breaks down between them and the son played by Kodi Smit-McPhee. The Road is just that, a road movie set in a chilling and bleak post apocalyptic world. As father and son journey south they come across a few rag tag survivors from a lonely old man who called himself Eli to a group of cannibals holding people like cattle ready for slaughter. Food is getting rare as crops are dying and aniamls dying. However the focus of the film is the relationship between the two and what the father is willing to do to ensure the survival and well-being of his offspring. Viggo is as outstanding as ever, the weight of the world on his shoulders and it does show throughout the film, But the real stand out is the son. Kodi makes this character believable and the relationship with the dad real. Doing this drags the audience through the hell that these two people go through. The films main theme as about how humans would survive if faced with the end of the world. Would we give in, mentally collapse and die. Would we strive to get through life following the moral code that held when laws governed the world, trying to do what was right but survive. Or lastly would we do what ever it took to survive, killing and hunting the weak to live. The film does look at all these three options in differing degrees however the audience is left for themself to decide how they would live if such a thing would happen to us. Director John Hillcoat does a fantastic job at creating a world seemingly without hope yet it is not a depressing film as we see the son bring a ray of sunlight to the darkness around him. He tells a grown up and adult story in an adult and grown up way. He does not patronise the audience by trying to explain everything and anything. The voice over narration is excellent and helps explain the plot and what is going on in this world in a way that is not heavy handed. The acting is superb, the direction first class and while some may be put off by the deliberate pacing this is one of the powerful works of modern cinema I have seen in a few years. We are only two weeks into the year but this will undoubtedly be in the top 5 films I see this year.

Wilbert -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 6:11:58 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: PaulieC79 I felt the film lost the tension (yes, even the cellar scene didn't have me totally gripped) You want a film where you know exactly what's going to happen next because you've read the book to still keep up the tension? A little unrealistic, no?

hatebox -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 6:25:31 PM)
I prefer the Kubrick/Hitchcock method of adapting a novel - take the base elements and make the rest your own. A lot of people often say ''the film was so different from the source material I don't know why they bothered to make it''. I'm usually the opposite, if it's so close to the source material I find it a rather futile excercise. In this case, everything about the film (decent score aside) was almost precisely as I imagined it would have been from reading the novel. I don't want that, I want something else - something I couldn't predict, be it visually or narratively. That said, the person I saw it with hadn't read the book, probably never will, and enjoyed it. Maybe that's the film's reason to exist.

fletch666 -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 6:36:06 PM)
Wow, what stunning film. Phenomenally bleak but filled with so much hope as well. Excellent performances from Viggo and Kodi, definitely the potential for oscars

robwillphill -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 7:04:09 PM)
After 2012, 9, and all the other rubbish end-of-the-world films we have seen in 2009, it is refreshing to see such a stunning film. Although bleak, this has a lot of heart and hope with some fantastic performances from Mortensen and Kodi. I can only dream that Roland Emmerich's next doomsday film will be as good as this... no chance. 9/10

Dr Lenera -> RE: The Road (10/1/2010 8:39:08 PM)
Well here's a really downbeat, in fact downright miserable film experience that is nonetheless quite compelling and continues the promise Jonh Hillcott showed with The Proposition. It fits into the subgenre of post apocalyptic thrillers such as Mad Max, Doomsday and A Boy And His Dog but is really quite different from most others. It mostly eschews action, humour and even plot to tell a very episodic tale of a father and his son journeying on the 'road' and encoutering various perils such as theives, cannibals and falling trees. You know from the early scenes of the boy talking about killing himself and the 'hero's' wife going outside their house to kill herself that this is not a happy film, in fact it's really rather depressing, but riveting with it and kudos to the studio for allowing Hillcott to make the film the way he wanted. Viggo Mortensen and Kodi McPhee are superb and their relationship is touching and moving without lapsing into easy sentimentality. I've heard the film omits some nasty images from the book and I expected it to be more brutal but the world it depicts is very convincing. This is not easy viewing and many people will really dislike this film but it does end on a note of hope and is a really praiseworthy effort by all concerned.

David Somerset -> RE: The Road (11/1/2010 9:38:22 AM)
The Road is worth seeing to watch a true legend at the peak of his mighty powers. Viggo Mortensen is so convincing in all his roles that I genuinely believe he has, during his life, actually been chief weapons officer on a submarine, an American hitman, a Russian hitman, a German literature professor, a mythological warrior king and a post-apocalyptic survivor with a soft spot for shopping trolleys and an aversion to razors. However the rest of The Road is mostly two hours of unswervingly bleak grimness and desperation, which isn�t what I was after on my day off. If I�d wanted unswervingly bleak grimness and desperation I�d have gone into work. Boom boom!

tftrman -> RE: The Road (11/1/2010 12:42:09 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: David Somerset However the rest of The Road is mostly two hours of unswervingly bleak grimness and desperation, which isn't what I was after on my day off. If I'd wanted unswervingly bleak grimness and desperation I'd have gone into work. Boom boom! I take it you haven't read the book? I've yet to see the film but I can't imagine it scales the same levels of bleakness as the book. Got to try and get to the cinema this week to watch this.

Snake-Eyes -> RE: The Road (11/1/2010 3:06:21 PM)
Good Film, solid performances by Mortensen and the kid Smit-McPhee but damn, it's depressing! I like the ol' post-apocalyptic films but this was too grim! BOOK OF ELI seems more my cuppa tea.

Jackie Boy -> RE: The Road (11/1/2010 3:52:15 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: tftrman quote: ORIGINAL: David Somerset However the rest of The Road is mostly two hours of unswervingly bleak grimness and desperation, which isn't what I was after on my day off. If I'd wanted unswervingly bleak grimness and desperation I'd have gone into work. Boom boom! I take it you haven't read the book? I've yet to see the film but I can't imagine it scales the same levels of bleakness as the book. Got to try and get to the cinema this week to watch this. Don't worry, it doesn't. A couple of the more disturbing scenes were ommitted, & a couple of others were toned down a little, which was the very reason why i was able to sit through it. It's still pretty harrowing though.

Rob -> RE: The Road (11/1/2010 4:32:43 PM)
I thought it was stunning. I loved the book and this is as good as an adaptation as I could have hoped for. The cinematography and production design were flawless and the acting was absolutely first rate.

demoncleaner -> RE: The Road (13/1/2010 12:16:58 AM)
Very impressive and highly effecting film. This one I'm sure will stay with me for some time. It's not just the premise of cataclysm in the world that's arresting but the verite portrayal of bare subsistence that had my moral barometer in a tiz. The Road may evoke guilty consideration of contemporary homelessness, or a resurgent threat of an economic apocalypse a la the Great Depression. The fact that the "Event� is unspecified offers a disconcerting catalogue of reason for why humanity is not very nice and deserves a global kicking. If the cause was war or ecological negligence McCarthy's tale of aftermath is the shoe that fits all. That's not to say that the film is preachy on any of those strands. Hillcoat's adaptation understands the zen Conrad approach this novelist takes to narrative. A little trippy, always observant, though strangely disconnected from events beyond the heart-felt nucleus of father and son. To understand that is to appreciate why the film never indulges in anything as conspicuous as a set-piece, delivers no real answers and worse than that, never seems to ask any questions from the plot. Instead there's a central question which is pretty primal - and its broad simplicity straddles both philosophy and anthropology. What is the value of survival when this is the world you inherit? Charlize Theron's character is arguably there to make this gambit highly explicit but I don't think the audience can get exhausted by that quandary when its worked so well in a film that envelopes its characters in hopelessness but still yields a sense of both warmth and optimism in Mortensen's unflinching commitment to protect. By the end The Road is a well of substance in spite of its somewhat listless feel, the humanity creeps up on you and its a credit to the admirable acting talent and John Hillcoat's measured direction that achieves that. After seeing this I really hope Ridley Scott finally relinquishes the Rights and ambition to film Blood Meridian and hands it over to Mr Hillcoat. And that's saying something!

relativelyrelative -> RE: oh my god (13/1/2010 11:02:53 AM)
....Are we all watching the same film? Because that's not what I saw; granted, I haven't read the book, but the film seems so ineffectively translated from page to script that it was nothing more than a jumbled mess. And that little shit was annoying as all hell.

sephiroth7 -> RE: oh my god (13/1/2010 11:54:31 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: relativelyrelative ....Are we all watching the same film? Because that's not what I saw; granted, I haven't read the book, but the film seems so ineffectively translated from page to script that it was nothing more than a jumbled mess. And that little shit was annoying as all hell. Well I have read the book and while I loved the story I despised the writing. I always felt it'd make a fantastic film and for me that's exactly what it was. Not a day brightener by any means but very effective IMO. [sm=zwinker25.gif]

demoncleaner -> RE: oh my god (13/1/2010 12:04:43 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: relativelyrelative ....Are we all watching the same film? Because that's not what I saw; granted, I haven't read the book, but the film seems so ineffectively translated from page to script that it was nothing more than a jumbled mess. And that little shit was annoying as all hell. I�d like to think that the film�s stately, considered pace is for the avoidance of all doubt that it is anything but a mess. In actual fact, it�s so above-board and bereft of trickery that the viewer has plenty of time to see it commit to potential mistakes. I personally didn�t see any. It�s true that episodes and emerging characters seem to flitter away into nothingness once their behind the central pairing, making it slightly difficult to engage with a solid through-line in the narrative. But that�s the picaresque tradition of the road movie and there�s nothing wrong with that. That�s how Barry Lyndon or Apocalypse Now (to name but two) function and there�s nowt wrong with them. I also have to take issue with the notion that Smit-McPhee was annoying. Na�ve kids in movies always have the capacity to be irritating and considering that his character is doubly na�ve it�s an incredible achievement that he is consistently empathethic and most importantly worth all this aggro, since he�s central to the entire survivalist motive. If his performance fails then the whole film falls apart. He really should be at the forefront of any Oscar talk that goes on in connection with this film.

boove -> RE: oh my god (13/1/2010 5:52:34 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: relativelyrelative ....Are we all watching the same film? Because that's not what I saw; granted, I haven't read the book, but the film seems so ineffectively translated from page to script that it was nothing more than a jumbled mess. And that little shit was annoying as all hell. you are not alone!! !!!!!!!!!SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!! i went with my girlfriend and my friend and we all thought it was rubbish (my friend and i often have differing opinions when it comes to films). girlfriend did think it was a bit tense but me and my mate could not connect with it at all. really boring and just UTTERLY pointless. none of the scenes had any real relevance or they just seemed stupid. why did they not spend an extra twenty seconds running from the group of men on the bus instead of hiding where they will find them? why, when he thought he heard a dog did they not just stay hidden in the REALLY WELL HIDDEN hole instead of going outside WHERE SOMEONE WILL SEE YOU. and then, when it turns out that there appears to be no one or a dog, why did they not go BACK INSIDE the REALLY WELL HIDDEN hole stocked with food... why did the people from the house not search beyond their porch to see if someone was around considering the lock on their basement was smashed? there are many more things but i can not be bothered to go into them right now. we found it uninvolving, boring, and pointless. the flashback sequences were useless at making us connect with the characters as well. really disappointed as i had been looking forward to this film for a long time.

boove -> RE: oh my god (13/1/2010 5:58:26 PM)
!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER!!!!!!!!! OH YEAH! one other major problem. the first scene (i think) shows the mother pregnant and the troubles are clearly already upon them. 10 years later and the boy has obviously grown up through this whole mad event...why the HELL is he not more hard by the point we join them in the story. he looks at dead bodies like they are something new which they clearly wouldnt have been by that stage in his life. its so utterly unbelievable.

krudler -> RE: oh my god (13/1/2010 6:27:04 PM)
I enjoyed it but as other people have pointed out, the kid is a whiny little shit considering he was born into a life of hardship, he wants to help people at the expense of their own safety and survival, where has he learnt these morals from? The father character has no problems screwing people over if they look at him funny and is all about their survival so its not from there, and his mother had zero faith in surviving as well so where did the kid get the sudden urge to help everyone else?

Deviation -> RE: oh my god (13/1/2010 9:38:11 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: krudler I enjoyed it but as other people have pointed out, the kid is a whiny little shit considering he was born into a life of hardship, he wants to help people at the expense of their own safety and survival, where has he learnt these morals from? The father character has no problems screwing people over if they look at him funny and is all about their survival so its not from there, and his mother had zero faith in surviving as well so where did the kid get the sudden urge to help everyone else? Haven't seen the film (so this point is poor but the book is a favorite of mine) but could it be that that before leaving for the voyage South the Kid was mostly taken care and spoiled by the father in a home (away from the cruelty of the wilderness)? Then the situation became so unbearable that they had to leave their dwelling. And while the father kept doing horrible things, he tried to keep a kid as innocent as possible. The values could have been taught by the father in order not to the son fall into savagery like the others (to have something to give him hope). Of course this is just an assumption on a film I am dying to see, so I could be very off the mark. Shit I am already defensive about it. [:D]

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