Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Discuss the latest about the second Silent Hill Movie

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DistantJ
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by DistantJ »

The Travis and Murphy bus cameos had dual purposes.

Firstly, to make Silent Hill fans smile. Worked for me. Secondly, each had a purpose in context of the story, which meant it worked for people who haven't played the games too. Both of these cameos have a purpose in the storytelling, which is how I believe a cameo should be.

Travis' purpose was to show that Heather is embracing who she really is and is no longer on the run. She hitchhikes with a stranger who tells her his name, to whom she introduces herself as Sharon. To anybody who doesn't know who Travis is, that scene is for that purpose.

The prison bus (which, by the way, isn't necessarily Murphy, it's a more vague reference than Travis was) then enters Silent Hill and the fog and ash reappears, along with the music "Promise (Reprise)" from the first film to show that, despite the Alessa ordeal being over, the town continues to haunt people who enter it for whatever reason. To anybody not knowing Downpour, the approaching bus says "more newcomers to the place of lost souls, this will continue".

So both of them are the way I like cameos and nods to be, something which the film needed, and the writer said "might as well make it this character". Heather needs a way to leave Silent Hill and to reveal that she now considers herself Sharon (after the "what are names anyway" line earlier on), why not have Travis do his thing? We need to show that Silent Hill will continue to haunt people, particularly those who have done bad... Why not demonstrate this using a prison bus, to get a nod to Downpour in at the same time?

That being said, I certainly hope that the Travis cameo leads to something. I don't know how they'd manage to retcon Travis into it since you clearly see Gucci performing Travis' job of rescuing Alessa from the fire in the first film, but I would love to see an Origins adaptation to complete the trilogy.
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lewisia08
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by lewisia08 »

Like you mention, if this incorporates Travis into the story then great. I assume it was just a quick reference though. I did really enjoy origins. Which was strange because I did notice its flaws and the fact that it isn't the best one by any means. There's just something about it that I really loved. I think the opening scene in the house fire is one that will stick by me.
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DistantJ
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by DistantJ »

Nah, Travis' scene was there to give Heather somebody to introduce herself to as "Sharon". That's why he even said his name - it wasn't just a "HI IM TRAVIS YOU MAY RECOGNISE ME FROM SUCH GAMES AS...", he told her his name so that she would tell him hers. It's this movie's equivalent of SH3's "Cheryl, the name my father gave me" line.
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lewisia08
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by lewisia08 »

Also. what was up with that old man on the bus. That was probably the scariest part of the film for me lol.
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DistantJ
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by DistantJ »

Hahah! I loved that. A cute little joke transition. Heather says something about wondering if she is going crazy, and it cuts to a person who is actually "crazy" (likely with dementia). It also served as a bridge between Heather's dreams/visions and reality, since the old man was playing with a Robbie the Rabbit doll, which was from Heather's dream. Harry/Chris said the exact same words to Heather that morning as he did in her dream, then he gave her the outfit she wore in the dream, and finally seeing this old man playing with the rabbit doll from her dream was what lead her to ask Vincent what he believes about dreams and reality, this question along with the demented old man on the bus was what then got them talking about Vincent's uncle Leonard, which was foreshadowing for later.
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lewisia08
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by lewisia08 »

I need to rewatch and reanalyze the events in true Silent Hill fashion. There's so much deepness to even small intricate details.

But yeah. That old man with his high pitch squeaking was quite bizarre. Although they have sort of set up a future movie with the Harry and his wife setting. I really think number 4 would make a great concept for a movie. I think someone pointed out that it has kind of been done before. That isolation in Henry's apartment with a portal to another world would be great.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by DistantJ »

I mean in my opinion it was a pretty deep film if you take it in visually rather than just expect the dialogue to spoonfeed it all to you, but others on here have accused me of reading too far between the lines. Personally I believe that there was a lot of meaning to the film and I didn't have to look too far to find it.

It'd be nice to give Chris/Harry a story trying to find Rose. After the first film I'd really like to see the two reunited. So long as it treated it as an original story for Chris and Rose, NOT a lame shoehorned in Silent Hill 2 adaptation.

I love Silent Hill 4's concept, but I don't think I'd want a movie of it because I think it's already been done better than an SH4 adaptation would with the film 1408. You should give it a shot, it's based on the Stephen King novel that supposedly inspired SH4, and it takes some inspiration from SH4 as well.

More than anything else though I'd love to see them follow through with the Travis cameo and complete Alessa's story with an Origins adaptation (if they can somehow retcon him into the burning where officer Gucci played Travis' role in the first film's flashback).
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lewisia08
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by lewisia08 »

Ill check that film out mate. I know what you mean. With Silent Hill things should be studied under a magnifying glass. Only problem with this is I do feel like when you study it for all these little details, a lot of the time the things you notice will be coincidence rather than added on purpose. Same goes for people that read into paintings and the meanings behind them. These can be perceived in a 1000 different ways.

I would love to believe that all these tiny references or details are actually added with purpose. On the other hand one of the beautifies of silent hill is the way it really makes you think about the story and how you fit the missing pieces of the jigsaw together. There's so much theory that it allows for huge discussion.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by DistantJ »

It's true, but a lot of the stuff I found in Revelation I found to be pretty obvious, to be honest.

If you enjoy piecing a story together out of small details, I'd highly recommend checking out the film Mulholland Drive. It all seems pretty straightforward up until the line "Silencio" when everything suddenly goes batshit insane and yet if you watch it a couple more times and spot all the clues, suddenly the story all comes together. It's awesome.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by lewisia08 »

Thanks for the recommendations mate. Ill check both of them out :)
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by Yuki »

DistantJ wrote:The Travis and Murphy bus cameos had dual purposes.

Firstly, to make Silent Hill fans smile. Worked for me. Secondly, each had a purpose in context of the story, which meant it worked for people who haven't played the games too. Both of these cameos have a purpose in the storytelling, which is how I believe a cameo should be.

Travis' purpose was to show that Heather is embracing who she really is and is no longer on the run. She hitchhikes with a stranger who tells her his name, to whom she introduces herself as Sharon. To anybody who doesn't know who Travis is, that scene is for that purpose.
I love the purpose of the Travis scene, because frankly, I don't see anything wrong with them introducing some random dude; swapping names with someone who picked you up makes complete sense.

That being said, I don't quite agree with the Downpour thing--I LOVE the idea that the town is a place for lost souls, more in-line with the game's world while still being its own canon, but since the police were involved in the game earlier I find it odd for them to be bringing in a police bus for a single girl.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by DistantJ »

Perhaps it's so they can grab a whole bunch of the cult members?
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by The Adversary »

>since the police were involved in the game earlier I find it odd for them to be bringing in a police bus for a single girl.<
That's not what the police are doing. It's just like in SILENT HILL: DOWNPOUR: prisoners are being transported through the town.

Of course, that alone doesn't make sense, either, but whatever.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by AuraTwilight »

Going through the town is the quickest route to Brahms, yo.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by The Adversary »

The town is closed off to the public and to traffic. Remember that whole coal fire beneath the town?
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Yuki
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by Yuki »

The Adversary wrote:>since the police were involved in the game earlier I find it odd for them to be bringing in a police bus for a single girl.<
That's not what the police are doing. It's just like in SILENT HILL: DOWNPOUR: prisoners are being transported through the town.

Of course, that alone doesn't make sense, either, but whatever.
Except, narratively, that makes no sense. The only police presence in the film is that of the squad chasing their murder suspect: Heather. Logic dictates, then, that the plot thread of the police that's abandoned partway through the movie is continued in showing them rushing to the town; ergo, Heather is just barely escaping them. Having a police bus makes no sense.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by The Adversary »

However, it's clearly nothing more than a reference to SILENT HILL: DOWNPOUR. The narrative at this point, being an allusion to the latest game, is irrelevant. A prison bus wouldn't be sent to apprehend a lone suspect.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by mikefile »

As much as it regards the police squad, the director was surely aiming for a Downpour nod. However, for those who aren't familiar with Downpour could have easily mistaken the scene as a belated police intervention, typical for ironic ending scenes in many films. For the first three seconds I thought it was actually the police from before, investigating the murder thing, but when I saw the bus, the light bulb appeared even though I haven't played the game yet. In fact, at the sight of the police cars I heard some folks sneering and a guy next to me commenting: "You're a bit late, my dearies", thus handing me the evidence that they misinterpreted.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by DistantJ »

To anybody not familiar with Downpour, that scene pretty much serves as 'and more people will enter Silent Hill, and it'll keep on going'. But yeah, I can see where it could be (perhaps intentionally) confused with the police arriving late. I can't see any reason the sirens would be on if they were just escorting a bus.
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Re: Ending & Setting up for sequel [SPOILERS].

Post by lewisia08 »

My understanding was that bar the Alessa storyline, anyone can go to Silent Hill due to them having a sin and live out their torment. (James, Eddie and Anglea) etc. My logic is a bit messed up. Just a lot of the reasons of why people are at silent hill differ and I am not sure what the actual answer is for each story.
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