Weekend Numbers: GOTG - 94M (PG 180) [25.5M Sunday (Spatula) Cancel the Godzilla legs!]

[eXtacy]

It's true though.  If this wasn't a marvel film, it would be snickered at.

 

That's it I'am just going to bath in your delicious tears, mmmmmmmm tasty

[Jandrew]

It's true though.  If this wasn't a marvel film, it would be snickered at.

It couldve been ABC Family's Guardians of the Galaxy and I still wouldve loved it.

[Mango]

It was snickered at when it was announced. Even by fans.

 

It was still being snickered at by some a few days ago.

[kitik]

It's true though.  If this wasn't a marvel film, it would be snickered at.

 

Did you really feel the strong need to say that for the 20th time?

[baumer]

It was snickered at when it was announced. Even by fans.

 

Interesting point.  

 

[Deep Wang]

No, not because they both involved kung fu, but because in KB1, humans could walk on walls and the ceiling and so on, where as in MR, the reason they could defy gravity is because they were in the Matrix. Some tiny detail Quentin forgot about. And don't patronize me with your feeble attempts at a ruse. I know enough about film to know that the Matrix owes a lot to the Asian film industry.Jesus Christ, it's like I'm playing cards with my brothers kids.

I know it's been awhile since I've seen Kill Bill, but at what point did anyone walk on the walls or ceilings? Because I don't remember that at all. You're probably just referring to some subtle wire work in the movie.

[baumer]

Did you really feel the strong need to say that for the 20th time?

 

That was my third time.

[baumer]

I know it's been awhile since I've seen Kill Bill, but at what point did anyone walk on the walls or ceilings?Because I don't remember that at all. You're probably just referring to some subtle wire work in the movie.

 

Watch it again.  

[ThePieMan]

Comedies are safe. As for big budget, EOT's gross put a dent in the original potential pipeline, but hopefully Interstellar can rise the stock back up. Lucy also opened well for an R-rated original. I havent completely lost faith, but I dont see the sequel and remake craze slowing done, just them shoving more original movies in-between them.

EOT was also based on a comic, a japanese manga called all you need is kill.

[Chewy]

I'm not trying to be cynical at all, because I don't think it's an inherent negative. Heck, just look at my general love of AVATAR, a movie which is practically a remix of the greatest hits of Golden Age space romances.

 

I just think it's important to point out the building blocks and genre history that a movie is using and give credit where credit is due. Give Marvel credit for a fun new mix on things, but realize where it all came from and what influenced them.

 

I guess it just comes naturally 

 

Anyway I agree with your overall point, that it's definitely not "completely new, never before seen" and all that jazz. The first thing Gunn talks about in any interview is how he wanted to make a movie that hearkened back to the pulp material he grew up on

[kitik]

Couldn't you say this for any franchise? What if the prequels weren't Star Wars films?

 

If Inception was the precise exact same film, but it said "directed by Michael Bay" on it, I can assure you everyone would think less of it, it would be rated lower on all the rating sites, and Nolaniets would be telling us TF4 was the second coming.

[kitik]

Watch it again.  

 

 

thanks Neo

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Okay, let me lay this out there. And I'm by no means trying to knock the film, or anyone who loves it (for all I know, I will too).

 

But even those who love it are calling it "a tribute to ANH" or "an homage to ANH" or "inspired by SW" or "Groot and Raccoon are the new Chewy/Han".... how is that "nowhere near anything I've ever seen"?

 

Space opera's been around since the 1920s. It was refined and popularized to the point where people started getting tired of it (in the '50s). Comics, novels, magazines, serialized adventures (movies and TV), Buck Rogers, etc. Everywhere.

 

Then the genre came back in the '70s with Star Wars. And everyone jumped back on the bandwagon. BSG, Buck Rogers (again!), countless crappy SW ripoffs, and so forth. You even had brilliant comedic variations: The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy.

 

In the '90s, it returned to TV. Babylon 5, Farscape, Lexx, countless anime versions, etc. 

 

In the 2000s, SW returned again. In the late 2000s, AVATAR restarted a subset of space opera which resulted in several of (floptastic) Golden Age space romances.

 

How is GOTG "unique" or "original" or "unlike anything else"?

 

It's a variation on a well-established exceedingly-over-produced field that -- by its own definition, practically -- is playing sort of like a greatest hits remix of movies that've come before it.

 

edit: I'm not even going into the countless SF novels and serialized adventures that have gone leaps and bounds past GOTG in terms of originality or bizarre, unique fun within the same genre.

 

 

Yes, but this is no carbon copy of any of those and I'd say only SW would come close to bringing this level of quality, emotional resonance and humor to the genre. In that way, I've never seen anything like it. I'm not saying it's wholly original, not even close, I'm saying it gave me a feeling(that I'm hooked on, btw) I haven't felt from any of the films you mentioned(save SW). Hitchhikers Guide(Which I loved) was quirky and message filled, nothing like this film. And the 80s SW rip offs/homages always got lost in their own worlds/plots and would lose focus on keeping emotional interest at times.

 

And I've never seen "Babylon 5, Farscape, Lexx, countless anime versions, etc" so I'm not sure how to compare it to those.

 

So when I say "This is something I've never seen before", I'm focusing more on how the story resonates with little touches none of the films you mentioned took. For example(for those who saw it):

 

The mix tape thing. On the surface it may seem silly, but I was a kid in the 80s and my mom made mix tapes for me. And they were pretty special. And would be more when it was the only present you had from her after her death.

 

See the film, Tele, maybe you'll understand what I mean.

[ecstasy]

True.  But it's my opinion that it is true.

 

Well I don't see anything wrong with the movie. Sure it's corny but it was fun and it was great to look at and be in that world. It's a Marvel movie. And if people like the movie because it's a Marvel movie then so be it. But there is no way to tell whether or not somebody likes it because it's Marvel or if it's because they actually like it. That's saying millions of people are under some kind of spell. I find that notion ridiculous. People like what they like and if Marvel movies are what they like then that's that.

 

eta: Now people showing up because it's a Marvel movie well that's different and I can agree with that.

Edited August 2, 2014 by ECSTASY

[ecstasy]

It was snickered at when it was announced. Even by fans.

 

LOL so true.

[Dementeleus]

I guess it just comes naturally 

 

Anyway I agree with your overall point, that it's definitely not "completely new, never before seen" and all that jazz. The first thing Gunn talks about in any interview is how he wanted to make a movie that hearkened back to the pulp material he grew up on

 

That's great! Hopefully GOTG fans will seek out some of that original pulp stuff, because it's great. And because since movies are like 70-odd years behind SF literature (when it comes to big blockbusters anyway), that old stuff will feel fresh and vibrant.

[kitik]

Can't really argue with any of this but if you follow this train of thought then we never get anything unique. Everything's a greatest hits or a mixture of existing genres and tones and ideas and concepts to create something slightly different

 

 

I believe the old saying is that there are only 7 stories, and everything we get is just a variation on them.

[BadAtGender]

The path to truth is a narrow one, and many miss the road because they're too busy bitching about fights at night.

 

(Hopefully GOTG is as good as PR.)

 

I don't think it is, but it's still fun.

[Chewy]

If Inception was the precise exact same film, but it said "directed by Michael Bay" on it, I can assure you everyone would think less of it, it would be rated lower on all the rating sites, and Nolaniets would be telling us TF4 was the second coming.

 

Yeah exactly, the people involved and the material in question will always, even in a minor way, affect a viewer's perception of material. I don't see why that's inherently a bad thing, as long as you recognize it's the case

Edited August 2, 2014 by Chewy

[Dementeleus]

Yes, but this is no carbon copy of any of those and I'd say only SW would come close to bringing this level of quality, emotional resonance and humor to the genre. In that way, I've never seen anything like it. I'm not saying it's wholly original, not even close, I'm saying it gave me a feeling(that I'm hooked on, btw) I haven't felt from any of the films you mentioned(save SW). Hitchhikers Guide(Which I loved) was quirky and message filled, nothing like this film. And the 80s SW rip offs/homages always got lost in their own worlds/plots and would lose focus on keeping emotional interest at times.

 

And I've never seen "Babylon 5, Farscape, Lexx, countless anime versions, etc" so I'm not sure how to compare it to those.

 

So when I say "This is something I've never seen before", I'm focusing more on how the story resonates with little touches none of the films you mentioned took. For example(for those who saw it):

 

The mix tape thing. On the surface it may seem silly, but I was a kid in the 80s and my mom made mix tapes for me. And they were pretty special. And would be more when it was the only present you had from her after her death.

 

See the film, Tele, maybe you'll understand what I mean.

 

I'm not going to read your spoiler, because I *do* plan on seeing it. But I still think your post reeks of hyperbole.