We are lucky

Discuss the original 2006 movie.

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

We are lucky

Post by rm2kking »

Look at the Silent Hill movie. It's great! It captures the feel and look of the games perfectly, and most importantly, it captures the very essence of what Silent Hill is. This is rare at best for videogame movies. Look at Resident Evil; While not really a bad movie per say, it was quite unlike the game. The sequels just go downhill from there. Other examples include Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros (though I do like that one), and ANYTHING directed by Uwe Boll. Street fighter was just an excuse to make another Van Damme movie, and Mario Bros was sci-fi!! SCI-FI!!!
About the only other decent one was Mortal Kombat (but the second one is maybe the worst movie ever).

I tell you, we are damn lucky to have had a director who knew what the hell he was doing; a director who is just as big a fan of Silent Hill as any of us. This movie was in good hands, and the result of this is a cinematic experience rivaled only by the actual games. The monsters, the sets, the actors- Everything; perfect.
Video Gamer
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1323
Joined: 12 Jan 2008
Location: Minnesota

Post by Video Gamer »

Too bad the script sucked ass.
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

Agreed. But the movie doesn't suffer too much from it.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
Naughty Nurses
Gravedigger
Posts: 516
Joined: 19 Jul 2008
Gender: Male

Post by Naughty Nurses »

^I don't think so either, really, there's a lot of things that can be written off. I mean, there are parts that are just laughable, and I've gotten to the point now where I have to skip the entire church seen at the end, it's truly atrocious. I think the look and feel were pulled off really well, I was pretty happy with it. Truly though, my biggest problem, other than the church scene, was with the girl they cast as Anna, I laughed every second that she was on the screen.
I think we were pretty lucky, too. If you compare it to other video game based movies, Silent Hill looks like Oscar material. The most recent I can think of was Max Payne, it was just...terrible.
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

Yeah well see how normal you'd be if you were born and raised in the Otherworld, lol.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
JKristine35
Subway Guard
Posts: 1684
Joined: 12 May 2008
Location: Houston, Tx.
Contact:

Post by JKristine35 »

Yeah, there's nothing wrong at all with Tanya Allen's acting, it appears the problem most people have with Anna is that she's mentally retarded and some people either think it's funny or attribute it to bad acting. The only parts of the movie I found bad were the dialogue and Dark Alessa in the burned out church. Really, if this movie hadn't been so freaking good I'd never have played any of the games. Silent Hill was just perfect in so many areas.
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

Indeed it was. It utilized Akira Yamaoka's music perfectly, and the Dark World sequences were stunningly horrific. And I loved seeing my two favorite monsters, the lying figure and Pyramid Head, in live action. Christoph Gans kicks ass.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
Naughty Nurses
Gravedigger
Posts: 516
Joined: 19 Jul 2008
Gender: Male

Post by Naughty Nurses »

^^How did you come to the conclusion that she's mentally retarded? I'm being serious, I just thought she was a terrible actress who was overplaying her part.
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

I don't think shes retarded, except maybe in the sense that her growing up in the Otherworld has retarded her development of a normal personality. You know those kids who live their whole lives in an attic or basement or something? When the police finally find them, their lack of contact with the outside world renders them somewhat equivalent to a mentally retarded person. Most of them never fully recover. This seemed to be the case with Anna.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
JKristine35
Subway Guard
Posts: 1684
Joined: 12 May 2008
Location: Houston, Tx.
Contact:

Post by JKristine35 »

Naughty Nurses wrote:^^How did you come to the conclusion that she's mentally retarded? I'm being serious, I just thought she was a terrible actress who was overplaying her part.
Because she talks very slowly, with a curve on the side of her mouth the actress does not possess. She also follows Rose and Cybil around like a lost child and speaks in short, straightforward statements, suggesting she doesn't have the capacity to do more. The actress doesn't talk like that at all in real life.
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

See my above post, the scenario I've presented is the likely cause of her retardation.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
JKristine35
Subway Guard
Posts: 1684
Joined: 12 May 2008
Location: Houston, Tx.
Contact:

Post by JKristine35 »

Either way, she's definitely slow and acts very child-like. I've seen Tanya Allen in other things and she doesn't talk or act like that, meaning her character was meant to be that way. I think Gans' intent was to show us the ill effects of being raised in a fanatical cult.
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

Thats what I gathered from it. Tanya's regular voice doesn't even sound much like Anna's.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
Naughty Nurses
Gravedigger
Posts: 516
Joined: 19 Jul 2008
Gender: Male

Post by Naughty Nurses »

Hmmm, I guess that makes sense, but I don't think it's a good sign when they make some play mentally retarded in a movie and it simply comes off as terrible acting. =/
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

Granted I did have to think about why the hell she would sound like that. But then again Silent Hill is supposed to make you think.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
JKristine35
Subway Guard
Posts: 1684
Joined: 12 May 2008
Location: Houston, Tx.
Contact:

Post by JKristine35 »

Really, I never even thought of it as bad acting, I just saw her as being slow from the minute she said 'Anna. My name is Anna.' and was surprised others thought it was bad acting. But to each his own, I guess.
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

Well considering her living conditions (living life in constant fear, seeing your friends and family being picked off one by one by grotesque monstrosities, constantly fleeing the Darkness, where your only solace is found in a group of crazy overzealous freaks huddling together in a church and being taught how to live your shell of a life by a megalomaniacal psychopath), her demeanor and/or mental condition only makes sense. Shes been enduring constant trauma since her birth.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
JKristine35
Subway Guard
Posts: 1684
Joined: 12 May 2008
Location: Houston, Tx.
Contact:

Post by JKristine35 »

Plus it's possible her mother was pregnant with her at the time of Alessa's burning, smoke inhalation, getting jarred while her mom fled the church, etc. could have begun affecting her even before she ever left the womb.
User avatar
rm2kking
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 1766
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Gender: Male
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Post by rm2kking »

True. Well in any case it's clear that theres something wrong with her head, not just bad acting.
Image
I dreamed I lay in a dark valley and all around me were the titanic forms of archangels. I heard distant voices and I knew these supernatural warriors were chanting a litany...
"We are the Warriors at the End of Time. We are the lost, the last, the unkind. We are the Warriors on the Edge of Time and we're tired, we're tired... We're tired of making love..."
User avatar
Silent Evil
Cafe5to2 Waitress
Posts: 250
Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Gender: Male
Location: Sacramento, CA
Contact:

Post by Silent Evil »

rm2kking wrote:Look at the Silent Hill movie. It's great!
I...............disagree with you wholheartedly sir on every one of your points. However, you are entitled to your opinion and I know you aren't alone in your admiration of the film adaptation, but I will try to make my points as clear and succinct as I can.

Watching the film as a biased, non-objective SH fan, I could quibble about stupid little nitpicky things like changing the main character from a man to a woman, changing the names(Cheryl is now Sharon), the dikey Cybil haircut, the change in monster designs(PH especially) or the showy in-your-face CGI peeling effects of the Otherworld transformation, etc. etc...

Basically, those are small potato things that overall don't really have an effect on the quality of what is ultimately more important in any movie - plot, story and characters.

BUT, thanks to the aforementioned piss-poor script, the plot is incoherent, inconsistent and full of holes...the story seems arbitrary lacking any emotional pay-off, and the characterizations are generic and non-existant. All those little, minor problems I might have had with a film are only magnified by an otherwise unfulfilling and unsatisfying story and lackluster characters.

I also tried to get into the head of a non-fan watching this as well, and I can't imagine any of them would find it any less incoherent or easy to follow. I think a film adapted from a comic book or novel or video game, like this one, should be able to appeal to and work for average movie-goers who aren't fans of the source material as well as the hardcore fans alike. This film fails on both accounts.
rm2kking wrote:I tell you, we are damn lucky to have had a director who knew what the hell he was doing; a director who is just as big a fan of Silent Hill as any of us.
I read all the interviews that Christophe Gans(the director) did prior to the film and I admit, he talked a good game. He clearly sounded like he was a big fan of the series, particularly SH2, and knew what makes it tick in order to make it work as a film. Which makes it ALL the more baffling how he could make such an incomprehensible mess of a film adaptiation of a game series he so obviously loved and seemed to understand so well. And you're right Video Gamer, Avary deserves part of the blame for the script, though he and Gans were in cahoots in writing it me thinks.

I even saw that film he did Brotherhood of the Wolf, just to see what I could expect from his directing style before watching the SH film, which I actually enjoyed very much and found it visually arresting. He did an OK job with the visual style of the SH film, but I didn't feel he pushed it far enough to emulate the quality of the artistry seen in the games.

And don't even get me started on the redesigns of the monsters for the film. :roll:
rm2kking wrote:It captures the feel and look of the games perfectly, and most importantly, it captures the very essence of what Silent Hill is.
Really? Now this was supposed to be an adaptation of the first SH game, right?

Where was the Flauros? Where was Dr. Kaufmann? Samael? Where was the subplot about the white claudia drug that would've given an emotional meaning to Lisa's presence in the film, which was relegated to nothing more than a cameo and really a no-nothing part. All those great elements from the game were replaced by what, Anna and a cult of crazy Christian townies led by Alice Krige? They honestly thought that this would be better than the game's wonderfully Lynchian story and characters, yeah ok whatever. As confounding and confusing as the plot in SH1 can be, at least it's ambiguous in an intriguing way.

Maybe the most perplexing change to me, and the one that angers me most is, why change Dahlia from the evil antagonist that she is in the game to a good guy in the movie? Why not make her the leader of the cult instead of needlessly invent a new character to do this in Christabella?

It really served no purpose to me to change Dahlia's role from bad to good, but maybe that's just me. :?
rm2kking wrote:This movie was in good hands, and the result of this is a cinematic experience rivaled only by the actual games. The monsters, the sets, the actors- Everything; perfect.

Nope, I think it was terribly misguided and mishandled. In the right hands it could've been the best and most perfect video game film adaptation yet. Instead, a great missed opportunity.........very disappointing. The games offer a more cinematic SH experience and are actually, genuinely scary.

Well I think I've ranted long enough about my disdain for the movie, it's actually the first time I've been able to vent on it so I thank you for that. I could probably go on for a hundred more pages about what I did not like, but I'll just leave it at that for now.

Proceed with your rebuttal, if you dare...
Image
Follow me on: deviantART | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
Post Reply