V for Vendetta

DrNuyenVanFaulk

For all you comic book afficionados who are afraid to see the film:

Saw the film last night. I was such a huge fan of the comic that I was expecting James "live-action Street Fighter II" McTeigue to defecate on my precious memories of this superb super hero.

But it turns out that it's actually pretty good.

They left out some big elements, and what they replaced them with are some pretty good ideas. And most of what they took directly for the comic, I think, they brought to the screen perfectly.

But I will say this, and it will be a real test for you to overcome if you want to see the film: Can you withstand the Benny Hill-esque scene! LoLz!

Really, it's good. Moore's ideas and writing come through in big waves of brilliance, and you cant help but feel that without relying on his penmanship heavily, the film would be a dud.

0utshined

On my way to see it this afternoon.

I want this film to be good so bad, glad you had a positive experience.

BLITZ_Molloy

I can't comprehend how this is getting such good reviews and ratings. It was bloody awful. Felt like the Matrix Revolutions all over again. Tons of bad dialogue, very little action, and an overwhelming sense that everybody involved thought the movie was alot cleverer than it was.

They did that Spiderman thing of hammering you over the head with the films message over and over. Yes, I fell asleep in the middle section for 20 minutes but I heard you the other 6 times you said "With great power comes great responsibility". I'm not a ****ing idiot.

Give me the similarly themed Equilibrium over this ****e any day. It managed to say alot more in half the running time.

Nevyn

They took away the political context and that will have ruined it.
I will see it eventually but V for Vendetta is an instensily poltical set of comics
and tampering with that will have simply ruined it.

Hugh Hefner

Thaedydal wrote:

They took away the political context and that will have ruined it.
I will see it eventually but V for Vendetta is an instensily poltical set of comics
and tampering with that will have simply ruined it.

What do you mean? There was a lot of politics in the film. I haven't read the comics but unless they had a famous, political quote on every page I'm not sure what you mean.

Memnoch

the film was very political, subtle references to the things that are going on around us and in our lives today very well done. The film talks about important issues such as liberty, accountablity and even addresses 9/11 and other such incidents.

BLITZ_Molloy

Yeah, the political references were very subtle. It touched on lots of thought provoking subjects. Reminded me alot of Collateral Damage in that respect. Not afraid to shirk away from the important issues.

Wacker

I loved the comic too. I liked the movie. I didn't love it, but it was better than I expected. Pretty faithful to the source material, at least more than I thought it would be having heard that Alan Moore wanted nothing to do with it and received no royalty monies.

Victor

Saw it last night. Whatshername wasn't a believeable character until the took her out behind the chemical sheds and shot her. Well maybe just that scene with her pert nipples.

For a film set in the future, it had way to many 1970s connotations (riot footage, home interiors) and the opening fight looked like something belonging to a Sherlock Holmes story.

Final fight scene - why didn't they just run away?

Some great effects, but some mistakes also

For a story with so many links, it left the audience with too many questions.

I suspect the finale got standing ovations in South Armagh.

BlitzKrieg

my friend (who is actually english) applauded

the explosion of big ben

...he's big into his anarchism me thinks. Course this being cambridge the rest of the cinema didnt think so and latched onto my accent when i was telling him the shut up.



Enjoyed the film, but i felt a bit let down by the finale fight and i dont know why but a political statement where the people watch someone overthrow the government bugged me and i cant put my finger on why. reminded me of fox news and micheal moore documentaries.

_Turismo4

Heading to see it this week and from the trailer I’ve seen on tele I’m really looking forward it..hope im not tell down..

Kingp35

Just to warn people there may be unavoidable spoilers ahead.

Having read other threads about the movie on various sites I want to raise this question with boards members: Do you consider V to be a terrorist or a Patriot?

V is essentially committing acts of violence in order to influenec society which is terrorism. But some may also consider him a Patriot as he is trying to free his country from a totalitarian government. Im not sure if its possible to be considered both as surely terrorists are going about it the rong way.

I think its an interesting discussion. What do you guys think?

maquiladora

10/10.
A masterpiece of bewilderingly perfect dialogue, outstanding casting, jawdropping photography and masterful editing and pace. One of the first great films in the new era of cinema.

Hugh Hefner

Kingp35 wrote:

Having read other threads about the movie on various sites I want to raise this question with boards members: Do you consider V to be a terrorist or a Patriot?

V is essentially committing acts of violence in order to influenec society which is terrorism. But some may also consider him a Patriot as he is trying to free his country from a totalitarian government. Im not sure if its possible to be considered both as surely terrorists are going about it the rong way.

No, terrorism is the incitement and use of terror in order to push an agenda. This "incitement and use" is usually done through acts of violence, but it is certainly not necessary.

None of V's stunts are done to scare any member of the public, so in that way he is not at all a terrorist. However, he is trying to scare the government officials. So, yes, her could be defined as a terrorist, but a very patriotic one indeed.

Kingp35

Well according to dictionary.com the definition of terrorism is:
"The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."

To me this means that a terrorist uses unlawful violence in order to influence society and governments so it could be argued that V is definitely a terrorist. But then again he wants to and does do an extremely good thing for his country in the end which obviously makes him a Patriot. Again is it possible to be both?

This is just one reason that I love this movie, it throws some very interesting questions at you.

BlitzKrieg

But then again he wants to and does do an extremely good thing for his country in the end which obviously makes him a Patriot

and another good question is...did he actually do a good thing in the end? There is now a huge political vaccum, the state is in chaos and for all we know an even worse political group will come to power.

but remember not the event but the man.

YeatsCounty

I have to say that I really enjoyed this film. Everything linked up nicely. The only really disappointing aspect for me was Natalie Portman's performance. She didn't seem to me to be dead inside, her character didn't seem real to me.

BlitzKrieg wrote:

and another good question is...did he actually do a good thing in the end? There is now a huge political vaccum, the state is in chaos and for all we know an even worse political group will come to power.

but remember not the event but the man.

I was thinking the same thing at the end.

Sure, with

the destruction of the Houses of Parliament and the murder of Sutler, the totalitarian government has fallen and the poeple are now free again. And yes, the people rose as one with V to do this. The scene at the end when the people in Trafalgar Square take off their masks seemed to me to indicate that today was a day for celebration, where the people acted as one.....but tomorrow would see the return of partisan politics and who knows where this might lead?

Kingp35

BlitzKrieg wrote:

and another good question is...did he actually do a good thing in the end? There is now a huge political vaccum, the state is in chaos and for all we know an even worse political group will come to power.

but remember not the event but the man.

Yeah thats an interesting point all right. But the one thing is does is give the people the chance to put in place a government of their choice but of course there is always the chance of someone else rising to power that will not be good for the country.

ObeyGiant

"People should not be afraid of their governments, goverments should be afraid of their people." The end of the movie shows people completely unafraid of their governments (or even the soldiers with guns). Whoever does assume power after the end of the movie does so knowing that its people are willing to fight and die for their freedom.

Hydrosylator

I loved the film from start to finish, even if it did almost lose me towards the end, the bit with all the people with the stuff, you know what I mean.

Me and three friends went to see it. Two of my friends hadn't read the comic, one enjoyed the other didn't. Me and the other lad both had, I loved it and he hated it. But his argument was that if you're going to make a film of something, it should be the exact same. That's ****ing stupid if you ask me, because a) He loves loads of films that veer wildly from their source material and b) Alan Moore himself says his comics are written to be impossible to make as films, so it shouldnb't be possible to make V for Vendetta by my friends logic.

Me and my friend both think all other films of Moore comics are ****. But I'm a lot more political than he is, and as such was thrilled to be watching such a genuinely revolutionary story on the big screen. Finally, to kill some arguments I've heard on the part of people who haven't even seen the film but read the comic:
It's <i>just</i> as political as the comic
The action is in keeping with the original story and not overblown or over-slick(in the comic he's basically a super-ninja)
The dialogue is so close to the comic in places that it risks losing the audience, rather than being dumbed down.

With response to BLITZ_Molloy's post: blame the people who made the trailer if you got too much talk and not enough action. As for the film being clever or not, I think the smartest thing about it is how simple it really is.

BrenC

Im a fan of the graphic novel and having recently read it, its very fresh in my mind, BUT i thought the film was great. Theres no other way to bring it to screen. A lot of the comic is in the movie, and most of the themes are there too. The acting was great and the style was very nice.
Also I loved the synching of the action with the classical music(Tchaikovsky) in parts, masterful stroke.

I give it 9/10

Owen

I saw this in Time Square last Sat night, and unfortunately, watching it with an American audience was appauling. Cat calls, whistles, and laughs - many many laughs at points in the movie that weren't even funny.

It's another Matrix movie, same directors, same endless Hugo Weaving dialogue scenes, and overdone action sequences.

Not impressed.

Owen.

jdwals

Saw this last night and have to say it was a very good movie. Hugo Weaving does a great job. So good in fact that not once did I think of Agent Smith in the Matrix. Normally I hear his voice and can't get Smith out of my head but none of that in this film.
It takes thinly veiled pops at the US and does make you think could things get that far for real?
My own thinking on that is yes, it could. Conspirecy buffs will love it.
Go see it!

Catullus

I really loved this! The night I saw it the French were going nuts against their government for changing labour laws so it really was a case of governments being afraid of their people!
I really liked the way someone cultured for once wasn't the villain. Here's a guy who collects Van Eycks, quotes Hamlet and I daresay has quite a stock of vino and comes out of it to the good, kudos. Now where do I get one of those cool masks???

Galvia

BlitzKrieg wrote:

reminded me of fox news and micheal moore documentaries.

What a humourous comparison!

BlitzKrieg

it is...


my reasoning behind it appears flawed though. I felt that the ending very much approved arm chair politics in that the people watched and someone else did all the work for them. And they felt that just by witnessing they have done their part. always appears very lazy to me. Hence my comparison to micheal moore and fox news. That the viewer is propelled on by the filmmaker's politics and are essentially told their position and at the end when they turn off the tv or leave the cinema, they feel like they have done their part in the defence of the USA or the fight against Bush. When in reality they have done nothig but sit at the side and nod in agreement.

Now in V for Vendetta, i found the ending ushured a similar feeling in me despite it being unfounded.

in fact there were both riots and later the march through the military which is more then enough of a active participation for the common man in politics

Still dont know why it still makes me feel uneasy...

Fysh

It was a good enough action flick, but I have to laugh hollowly at the people who think it has intelligent and deep points to make about current western politics.

The politics of the film are oversimplified; a significant amount of time is spent demonstrating that the fear- and faith-based policies of the incumbent government are bad and oppressive of the people, but no viable alternative is presented.

(I should mention for those who haven't read it that this is addressed in the original Graphic Novel, wherein V spends quite some time expositing his position as an anarchist against the notion of a centralised and bureaucratic government. There is also discussion about the fact that putting power in the hands of the people does not guarantee them a good government, which the film could have benefitted from although it would have made the ending more ambiguous).

Overall I thought as an adaptation of the comic it could have been worse (eg that hatchet job of a movie Constantine), but it would have been better with more exposition of what V stands for rather than just what he opposes.