Passengers | Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence | Dec 21, 2016 | Trailer pg 70

[misafeco]

18 minutes ago, Frozen said:

 

There is literally nothing to compare it to, sadly. There is no other sci-fi movie that has come out at Christmas and gotten terrible reviews. This sinking ship is in a league of its own.

I don't think P will have much worse legs. At least not until January. After that we'll see.

 

Thu and Fri aren't that bad compared to opening day. Maybe the WOM is decent.

[babz06]

Other comparisons for Passengers:

Tron Legacy: (Dec 17. 2010)

51 RT

44m OW/172m DOM (3.9x)

Mediocre reviews, however, it was the only sci-fi offering that year and it's biggest competition was Little Fockers and True Grit. Also opened on a Friday, not a Wednesday. 

 

The Day the Earth Stood Still (Dec 12. 2008)

21 RT

30.4m OW/ 79.3m DOM (2.6x)

As you can see this had terrible reviews and a poor Christmas multiple. Competition was Marley & Me, Yes Man, Valkyrie, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Also opened on Friday. 

 

 

 

[straggler]

3 hours ago, The Futurist said:

The script is one of the most famous non produced script in HOLLYWOOD of the last few years, lots of people thought it was terrific and have been raving about it.

 

Movie gets done.

 

Most criticized aspect of the movie :

 

the script and each of its narrative choice.

 

 

Again I thought the film was solid and thought provoking. The frustration is that there were very minor tweaks that a good director and screenwriter could have corrected with a couple of scenes and improvised dialogue. For example have an introduction like Planet of the Apes where Heston is speaking into the recorder. All they needed was to start the film with Jim and Aurora's selection interviews. That would have established the characters, their goals, their dreams. Then add a scene where Aurora starts to come to terms with Jim and her situation. That's it. It is not a bad film, but what it took to be a much better film was hanging right there and the powers that be whiffed on it. I think that frustration made the reviews harsher than warranted.

 

I wonder if there will be a director's cut?      

[amelin]

5 hours ago, straggler said:

To me the main issue was not the plot point everyone got upset about but that the script is underwritten.

 

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it did not set up the ending well enough. Just one scene where Aurora confronts Jim and starts to reconcile with him. That would have set up the emotional pay off at the end. I'll put on my screenwriter hat:

 

Fade In: Jim awakens in his bed, looks up, sees Aurora sitting in a chair watching him in silence.

Jim starts to speak...

Aurora-"Don't say anything. I don't want to hear it. Just don't. I want to tell you something. I have been thinking about it these last few weeks and have decided something."

Jim, more awake. stares at her intently.

Aurora-"I just wanted to say I will never forgive you but I don't hate you, if that makes any sense. I guess I can imagine what it would have been like to wake up and be alone on this ship. How desperate that made you. I cannot forgive you but I understand. Just walking around the ship these last few weeks I realized something, that no matter how much I hated you, you being here was the only thing that kept me from going mad. Just knowing another person was there, even someone I despised. I was angry at myself initially, that I was letting you off the hook. And I kept thinking about the meaning of hell, and I could not come up with anything more diabolical than being comdemned to life in some luxury coffin with the man who condemned me being my only companion. This is hell in a way. But then I thought maybe I deserve this. I mean 5000 people chose to take this journey, to leave everything they know and love behind forever, but did any of them have as pathetic a reason as me? I was watching the videos of all my family and friends saying goodbye and I stopped being angry at you. I started hating myself. I left it all behind and abandoned everyone I knew to write a book. A freaking book. That's it. It's incredible. And I realized something. Who am I to judge you after what I did to myself, what I did to my loved ones, for nothing more than mere vanity, for fame? If this is hell then it is merely where I belong."

Aurora stops talking. Jim watches silently.

Aurora-"Anyway, I don't hate you. You are all I have left. Quite a life."

Gets up. Walks out

Fade out.   

     

 

 

Something like that. 

 

I loved the movie, but I definitely felt the third act needed something along those lines.

 

Spoiler

If she'd taken that first step toward forgiveness, the reconciliation would have resonated more.

 

I guess a lot of people feel the premise deserved a more serious film that dug deeper. I would have liked that too, but I still really enjoyed this movie for what it was.

Edited December 25, 2016 by amelin

[trifle]

Quote

How Realistic Is the Interstellar Ship from 'Passengers'?

 

... Is there anything remotely realistic about this spaceship? Space.com posed that question to several space travel experts, as well as Guy Hendrix Dyas, the film's production designer. Dyas looked at the history of movie spaceships (including the vehicles from the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" universes) in his quest to come up with something unique for the new film.

The ship's design

The Avalon has three long, thin modules that wrap around a common center and spin (sort of like stripes on a barbershop pole). Dyas said he based that design on sycamore seeds. It appears that the spin also provides the ship with artificial gravity, similar to fictional ships in the movies "Interstellar" and "2001: A Space Odyssey." The ship is powered by eight nuclear fusion reactors, Dyas said, and can run autonomously, healing most systems even with the crew asleep (as seen in the film). 

 

The ship's immense structure is about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) in length, and Dyas said he imagines that it was assembled in space over decades. The film takes place at an indeterminate point in the future, Dyas said, but he assumed that by the time the ship was being built, humans would have the ability to mine some of the materials from nearby asteroids or the moon to save on transportation costs.....

 

Essentially, this made me think of a far kinder and gentler Tele :p

[HesAPooka]

Pratt has no boxoffice drawing power, and Lawrence has a little draw at the boxoffice. All their success has been built around built in audience projects, and ensemble casts.

[DAJK]

6 minutes ago, HesAPooka said:

Pratt has no boxoffice drawing power, and Lawrence has a little draw at the boxoffice. All their success has been built around built in audience projects, and ensemble casts.

Not this again  can we just create a Jlaw thread please? I agree that these convos are fine to have, but there basically isn't even a passengers thread at all anymore 

[HesAPooka]

7 minutes ago, DAJK said:

Not this again  can we just create a Jlaw thread please? I agree that these convos are fine to have, but there basically isn't even a passengers thread at all anymore 

haven't seen the movie yet so I cant comment on how it is, but can't I comment on why I think the movie bombed? Honestly with good reviews I saw his bombing as well.

[trifle]

4 minutes ago, HesAPooka said:

haven't seen the movie yet so I cant comment on how it is, but can't I comment on why I think the movie bombed? Honestly with good reviews I saw his bombing as well.

 

Well, I disagree with both of your last posts, but this discussion only goes in circles, and I've had it a number of times before.  You might want to see it, though. It's a fun watch.

[HesAPooka]

I'll watch it eventually just not something I'd watch in theaters.

[robertman2]

If this had good reviews and WOM, I don't believe it would have bombed

[MovieMan89]

Saw it and I totally get the bad reviews now. This is the kind of movie that exists solely because Hollywood wanted a movie about two sexy stars in a sexy sleek setting together. Zero substance, zero unpredictability, zero reason to see it unless you are new to this whole "movies" thing. 

[Halba]

looks terrible. both pratt and lawrence are not sole non-franchise box office draws.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Halba

[trifle]

2 hours ago, MovieMan89 said:

Saw it and I totally get the bad reviews now. This is the kind of movie that exists solely because Hollywood wanted a movie about two sexy stars in a sexy sleek setting together. Zero substance, zero unpredictability, zero reason to see it unless you are new to this whole "movies" thing. 

 

Well, except that whole plot point that seems to have terrorized certain critics.  That's maybe a bit different.

 

And it is visually spectacular.

2 hours ago, Halba said:

looks terrible. both pratt and lawrence are not sole non-franchise box office draws.

 

On the other hand, it was tracking pretty well based on them alone until the reviews came in trashing it.

[elcaballero]

2 hours ago, robertman2 said:

If this had good reviews and WOM, I don't believe it would have bombed

Yeah, those two things tend to help a movie do well. 

[MovieMan89]

8 minutes ago, trifle said:

 

Well, except that whole plot point that seems to have terrorized certain critics.  That's maybe a bit different.

Spoiler

Did they ever expect J Law to not forgive Pratt though? The script made it painfully obvious that's the direction it was going in. 

 

[trifle]

3 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

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Did they ever expect J Law to not forgive Pratt though? The script made it painfully obvious that's the direction it was going in. 

 

Spoiler

You said two different things. 1) it was predictable.  Not many romances are not predictable and WHETHER she forgave him wasn't the point but the question of what would you do as him, or as her?  and 2) it had nothing new.  It had something new. Imho/  It was the moral question in the context of a more typical romance/thriller which just happened to be visually spectacular and extremely well executed.  The question and first 2/3 of the movie made it different.  The ending was too rushed/eager to tie things up.  Overall, I really liked the movie, and twitter mostly seems to as well.  Audience ratings are rising everywhere from the first trashing of the movie.

 

 

[straggler]

2 hours ago, Halba said:

looks terrible. both pratt and lawrence are not sole non-franchise box office draws.

So who is the magical, mystical actor who can make a film immune to a crtical mobbing in this type of film, especially in the age of RT where an ugly score comes up the moment you google a film? When you find this person let us know. 

 

[straggler]

8 hours ago, amelin said:

 

I loved the movie, but I definitely felt the third act needed something along those lines.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

If she'd taken that first step toward forgiveness, the reconciliation would have resonated more.

 

I guess a lot of people feel the premise deserved a more serious film that dug deeper. I would have liked that too, but I still really enjoyed this movie for what it was.

The fixes to this film were so blatantly obvious that I am almost convinced that what happened here is an example of studio meddling. Sony does not exactly have a good track record, and desperation is a bad mindset when releasing a film. I will reserve judgment until I read the original script. But it was right there. Open the movie with the selection interviews pre-flight. Especially set up Aurora as a restless soul who is searching for meaning so acutely that she is willing to abandon her life, her family and her friends. And then add a scene where she starts to reconcile and where she recognizes how her own choices and restlessness helped bring her to this point, like fate. So then when her emotions change at the end and when she makes her final decision, it would resonate strongly. Was there an earlier cut of this film and did someone see it?    

[MovieMan89]

37 minutes ago, trifle said:

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You said two different things. 1) it was predictable.  Not many romances are not predictable and WHETHER she forgave him wasn't the point but the question of what would you do as him, or as her?  and 2) it had nothing new.  It had something new. Imho/  It was the moral question in the context of a more typical romance/thriller which just happened to be visually spectacular and extremely well executed.  The question and first 2/3 of the movie made it different.  The ending was too rushed/eager to tie things up.  Overall, I really liked the movie, and twitter mostly seems to as well.  Audience ratings are rising everywhere from the first trashing of the movie.

 

 

Spoiler

Honestly I think it would have worked better as just a straight up romance where the main drama is in figuring out how to repair the malfunctioning ship. That's what the movie felt like anyways, except with an added moral dilemma tacked on to give it some kind of edge. But the execution of that plot point was sloppy and predictable. If they want to make a film that exists mainly as a date night vehicle for two A listers, then they should've just straight up done that. Wouldn't have been original at all, but probably would have worked out better in the end. Because the moral dilemma still didn't make the film original due to its cliche execution.