Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets | July 21, 2017 | FLOP OF THE YEAR

[GoldenEye]

I watched it yesterday. Great visual design that worths seeing on a big sceen, although nothing groundbreaking that I didn't see before. The CGI was a little obvious but it didn't bother me and the aliens that were made practically looked great. From the design it was obvious the movie comes from the same place The Fifth Element came from.

The movie falls in the script. The world building is good and I loved the opening credits scene, but the plot is weak and the constant divergences hurt the main story line. The biggest problem of the movie is the dialogs, especially between Valerian and Laureline, which were terrible. The dialogs regarding the relashionship between them was cliched and very heavy handed. However, while Valerian is an unlikable character in general, Laureline is great when she's by herself and the best thing in the movie after the visual design. Good work by Cara Delevingne. The movie indeed should have been called Laureline and the City of a Thousand Planets.

All in all it's a mediocre film but worths watching if you want to see some cool science fiction visuals.

[Harley]

6 hours ago, Emperor Tele-Limai said:

 

Well, it's been talked about plenty in this thread, but basically you presell distribution to foreign territories. So Besson and Co approached many distribution companies, armed with the script, the attached talent, promo reels, concept art, etc and companies bought the rights to distribute in various territories. That money was used as collateral to secure bank loans to cover almost all the production cost. If the movie does well, everyone wins. If it does poorly, many companies lose money but not to an overwhelming degree. And most importantly, the movie gets made. 

Actually Besson neglected to mention that Lambert was deeply involved in getting financing for the movie before he died.  Besson can claim Europacorp won't take a hit for this all he wants but time will tell if he is just bs'ing.

Edited July 22, 2017 by Harley

[ddddeeee]

This is the best score of the year (so far).

[Jack]

Story is better than expected, well planned and thought out, a little simple mystery here and there, good drama, good act from Cara. CG is mostly cartoon-ish, dark, or too vibrant. Sound is good. Overall, it's enjoyable, but everything looks messy and is not convincing at all.

Edited July 22, 2017 by Jack

[Blankments]

Well one of my kids at camp was excited for this because Rihanna so at least some kids want to see it even if it's bombing

[ClaudeManhattan]

Jupiter Ascending 2, only worse 

[Harley]

1 hour ago, Blankments said:

Well one of my kids at camp was excited for this because Rihanna so at least some kids want to see it even if it's bombing

[Daxtreme]

I honestly have no idea why people thought the chemistry between Valerian and Laureline sucked. I thought it was great

[ZeeSoh]

Armond White gave this a fresh on RT 

 

"Imagine Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, etc. rolled up in one but corralled by a good director with impish humor."

[Daxtreme]

4 minutes ago, ZeeSoh said:

Armond White gave this a fresh on RT 

 

" corralled by a good director with impish humor."

Agreed.

 

Lord of the Rings, The Matrix though...? What the hell did he watch? Certainly not Valerian. And no, 5 seconds of slow-mo doesn't qualify your movie as being inspired by The Matrix.

 

If that was the case, Wonder Woman would be a direct sequel to The Matrix Revolutions

[Morieris]

I can't believe Armond White is finally on the winning side #BelieveInValerian 

[GrimFandango]

Ok, so I was thinking about seeing this a 2nd time, but like I said in my review and prior comments, I didn't know if I could handle the acting and dialogue again.

 

However, my neighbor and his 15 year old stopped by and invited me to see it with them, so I said sure. I didn't want to influence their experience, so I didn't tell them I'd already seen it or anything at all...

 

You know what? I liked it A LOT better the second time around. The theater was nearly full, and some people were REALLY digging the movie. There was a lot of laughter at all the right parts, and outright guffaws and woots, especially from kids. It occurred to me then: this is a great kids movie.  If you're faced with taking kids to see DM3, Cars3, Transformers, or whatever, take them to this movie--really.

 

My neighbor is not nearly as critical of movies as I am, and he frickin' loved it. His 15 year old really liked it too (huge X box gamer kid), and he kept saying during the movie "Those sentry droids are so cool!"

 

I'm going to update my initial review, because it actually does hold up well to a second viewing. I've decided I'll take my spouse later this week, so that will be my third time. I may see it once more after that--it's grown on me that much despite my initial criticisms.

 

I"m convinced this will be a cult film, 100%. It may even approach the stature of The 5th Element--granted the acting is not as good, but conceptually, graphically and inventiveness-wise, this is several times the 5th element in those areas (I rewatched The 5th Element last night, so I'm comparing directly instead of a purely nostalgic perspective).

 

Anyways, I hope beyond hope that despite its flaws and the critical pounding that it's taken, that there are enough people that will see it, enjoy it and spread the word. And again, encourage the kids to watch it because this movie is a perfect extension of the video-game/sfx world kids are exposed to so much, and this film is inspirational in it's own weird way.

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by GrimFandango

[AlsoMe]

So basically John Carter 2017 then. Its a movie full of clique, because the original novel invented them, it has no stars in it, cost a fortune, and no one really cares.

 

Movie quality aside, I feel like this would have done better with an actual star involved. The 2 leads are not stars, one isnt even an actor really.

[DlAMONDZ]

John Carter is an underrated classic. Valerian isn't

[That One Girl]

16 minutes ago, DlAMONDZ said:

John Carter is an underrated classic. Valerian isn't

 

How can you call something a "classic" when it came out 5 fucking years ago?

 

Valerian and John Carter can't really even start to be considered classics until 25-30 years from now, and even then it'll depend on how their reception holds up.

[AniNate]

10 years I think is the acceptable mark for dubbing a movie a "classic". But with both movies being made by auteurs with fanbases they probably aren't going to be forgotten.

[FDWhitey]

I saw the movie last night... it was ok. The CGI was very good and the aliens were realistic. 

 

I agree is should have been called Laureline and the City of a Thousand Planets!!! She should get her own movie, lol!

 

Does anyone know where I can find the part in the movie where Laureline describes what Love is to Valerian???

[Lake]

Loved this movie.  Went with family and they did too. The only reason to watch is for the amazing art / CGI, which outweighs the rest.

 

Dane & Cara were extremely off-putting and I almost recoiled at all their scenes and lines. When the last scene rolled around, it was grotesque.

[Mr Impossible]

Any overseas numbers? Biggest foreign market released as of right now is Germany. 

Edited July 23, 2017 by Mr Impossible

[DlAMONDZ]

209m budget? Really? lmao

 

Whoever okay'd this wanted to get fired. That's the only explanation