FF2 DVD Director and Producer commentary...

[phoenixflight]

Please see this thread for FF3 info...

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?p=12818483#post12818483


FF2 commentary...
Tim talks about WETA doing the CGI work for Silver Surfer (as he compares it to Golem and King Kong) and Laurence doing the voice of Silver Surfer.

Galactus...
Laurence actually wanted to voice Galactus, however Tim and company were not envisioning the big "G" as a humanoid that would ever need to speak...

Towards the end fight scene in Shanghai (when we first see Galactus), Tim states that they never planned on bringing him to life as we know him (as in the comics) in 'human' form...
"...the main reason was that there are plans to produce a Silver Surfer 1 movie and if he gave up everything in this movie then that movie wouldn't have much to go on, and knowing that I wasn't going to do it that early, I wanted to keep it fairly open for interpretation by the director that would do that one..."

"They decided to cover him in clouds".

 

[Storm22]

An chance of posting some DVD menu screencaps?

 

[phoenixflight]

I would if I could...or even knew how to do it.

The version that I have is the 'barebones' one-disk. There are no extras, just the Director and Producer commentary...a pretty boring edition, however I got this version now because I loved the movie and wanted to see it again (non-bootlegged). I will be buying the 2-disk set and I will give this one away to a friend or something.

 

[phoenixflight]

In reference to Dr. Doom...

It was difficult to film around Julian's schedule (with him working on Nip/Tuck), as they had plans for him to have a bigger role in this film. They even thought of having him keep on the mask and cape (so another actor could stand in Julian's place), however, Tim and company thought that it would not 'look' right (not fitting in to the modern feel of the movie).

Tim had other ideas about making Dr. Doom look human...
He initially thought of Dr. Doom developing some sort of synthetic skin that he would wear. And even earlier on, he was going to have Doom be a Doombot (with Dr. Doom pulling all the strings back in Latveria). The reveal of the Doombot would have come out of a fight that the F4 would have had with Doom and Thing would have put his hand through his face...

 

[phoenixflight]

Nick Fury not General Hager...

Tim wanted Nick Fury rather than General Hager working with FF to solve the mystery of the Silver Surfer. They wouldn't give it to him because they plan on doing a "S.H.I.E.L.D" movie?!?

 

[Storm22]

What's the picture and audio quality of the movie like?

 

[phoenixflight]

I am now listening to the producer, writer and film editors commentary.

The overall take on the film editors of me seems really displeased with the final product. They generally sound disappointed with the special effects portion more than anything else (as well as the studio -- based on their comments). Several times throughout the film both film editors indicate that they and Tim when reviewing the effects for some scenes were very unhappy with the end results they saw. They continued to edit it down to what we finally get in the movie, some very watered down special effects moments.

They also commented on the Doug Jones Laurence Fishburne voice change. They left that Laurence was really good, they seemed to like Doug's voice for the Surfer more.

I then chose to listen to the Surfer's voice in both Spanish and French (soundtracks available on the DVD). The spanish voice dubbing sounds really cool...very deep and powerful voice.

 

[phoenixflight]

What's the picture and audio quality of the movie like?

The 1-disk does not have dts, only 5.1 surround sound, but still sounds cool. There are some minor sounds that I did not pick up when watching the movie in theaters, that I can now hear...for instance Ben's rocky body sounding like gravel rubbing together.

The picture quality is pretty good. Surfer still looks the best throughout the entire film compared to all the other special effects moments, which at times seems to fluctuate [FONT=&quot][/FONT]from really cool to bad.

 

[phoenixflight]

Both Avi Arad and Don Payne state several times that their goals were never to show us the 616 Galactus. Those plans (and visuals) are left for the Silver Surfer movie, which they speak about several times.

They seem to be pushing that agenda.

 

[highguard]

They had no intention of showing us Galactus??????, Tim story said in a myspace blog they had not made a final decision on Galactus as late as 5 months before the premiere.

What is this?

Man I guess that is Hollywood for you.

 

[cronosred]

Both Avi Arad and Don Payne state several times that their goals were never to show us the 616 Galactus. Those plans (and visuals) are left for the Silver Surfer movie, which they speak about several times.

They seem to be pushing that agenda.

And thats what I feel really held this movie back, the studio was far more interested in having this movie be a launching pad for a Silver Surfer spin-off then concentrating on making this the best FF2 they could.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

They had no intention of showing us Galactus??????, Tim story said in a myspace blog they had not made a final decision on Galactus as late as 5 months before the premiere.

What is this?

Man I guess that is Hollywood for you.

That's the annoying thing. I suspected from the beginning of this project that they'd hold back for exactly the reason he says - So that they wouldn't be locked into a design for 5 seconds of screen time in this film.

If they had come out and clearly stated that from the beginning and gave that reasoning, I think there would have been a lot fewer pissed off people.

If we knew, a year before release, that we simply wouldn't see Galactus in this film, I think most of us would have been good with that, but the FOX execs and Avi Arad kept telling us we'd be seeing Galactus, so that was a huge disappointment.

 

[Mercurius]

That's the annoying thing. I suspected from the beginning of this project that they'd hold back for exactly the reason he says - So that they wouldn't be locked into a design for 5 seconds of screen time in this film.

If they had come out and clearly stated that from the beginning and gave that reasoning, I think there would have been a lot fewer pissed off people.

If we knew, a year before release, that we simply wouldn't see Galactus in this film, I think most of us would have been good with that, but the FOX execs and Avi Arad kept telling us we'd be seeing Galactus, so that was a huge disappointment.

As I stated before, this is simply called a LIE, and those so-called "ideas" for Doctor Doom, coming from Story, are just the utmost crap possible.

I hope it is quite clear now the kind of farce these two movies are.

Again: restart the franchise. From scratch for God's sake.

 

[highguard]

........

If they had come out and clearly stated that from the beginning and gave that reasoning, I think there would have been a lot fewer pissed off people.

........... but the FOX execs and Avi Arad kept telling us we'd be seeing Galactus, so that was a huge disappointment.

Yeah they led us along like sheep, man what is wrong with those people don't they understand how that makes them look. They made less money because of this type of shilling.

...........

Again: restart the franchise. From scratch for God's sake.

Ah Mercurius I feel the pain as do you but a restart would be five years off. A sequel to FF2 is probably 3 years off, it may suck what they did, but I at least want one more movie with this cast. They are like family now. I want to complete a trilogy with them, four if I could get two movies in back to back years.

Yeah I know what you will say, I am too accepting of the farce this studio pulled and you would be right, but waddugonnado, 3 yrs vs 5 yrs, I am weak I will take at least one more.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Yeah they led us along like sheep, man what is wrong with those people don't they understand how that makes them look. They made less money because of this type of shilling.



Ah Mercurius I feel the pain as do you but a restart would be five years off. A sequel to FF2 is probably 3 years off, it may suck what they did, but I at least want one more movie with this cast. They are like family now. I want to complete a trilogy with them, four if I could get two movies in back to back years.

Yeah I know what you will say, I am too accepting of the farce this studio pulled and you would be right, but waddugonnado, 3 yrs vs 5 yrs, I am weak I will take at least one more.

Yes but in 5 years we could get a really GOOD FF movie as opposed to what is likely going to be another rushed, 90 min movie that will dissapoint.

 

[Kelly]

But you never know.....I think some of us are willing to give it a chance. I think its a chance that will never happen, but I hope for the chance nonetheless....

 

[GoblinScrier]

In reference to Dr. Doom...

It was difficult to film around Julian's schedule (with him working on Nip/Tuck), as they had plans for him to have a bigger role in this film. They even thought of having him keep on the mask and cape (so another actor could stand in Julian's place), however, Tim and company thought that it would not 'look' right (not fitting in to the modern feel of the movie).

Tim had other ideas about making Dr. Doom look human...
He initially thought of Dr. Doom developing some sort of synthetic skin that he would wear. And even earlier on, he was going to have Doom be a Doombot (with Dr. Doom pulling all the strings back in Latveria). The reveal of the Doombot would have come out of a fight that the F4 would have had with Doom and Thing would have put his hand through his face...

I would have liked the idea of the Doom we knew being a Doombot and the real deal is running the show from Castle Doom in Latveria...maybe such events can transpire IF Fantastic 4 Three happens

 

[Fantastic-Boy]

Thanks man!

 

[highguard]

^^ Yeah thanks....... and all of us like Albafan says are willing to have hope for a better film if they do FF3.

However they really have to forget about this by the numbers thing they are doing where they review the exit polls and then feed story some bull about what he needs to do with the film.

Geez Tim have some spine. Tell them that a 90 minute, watered down FF is the last thing this franchise needs now.

I mean can you really not give us a big budget 120 million movie that is at least 2 hours long and has substance.

I hear you cut a scene with Ben and Alicia about meeting her father because of time. You guys are insane, if you could pare it down to half an hour you probably would.

Tell me...... did that work out for you guys. Are Fox suits so sensitive they can't see the forest from the trees. I don't think that really worked out for you guys. Ok it was a nice try but think about it. See we still have hope that you all will see the light.

Some of us are still asking for another film with the same cast.

Tim Story, you let me down man, you really did, how are you going to show your face after this......... or was this it, was this the plan B. You all pulled the wool over our eyes and got out of town.

You took a calculated risk and it did not pay off. You did not get huge Kiddie crowds and insulted a lot of your supporters with the subterfuge. Now just listen and go back to the drawing boards.

We may be hard on you guys but that is usually because we hang with a lot of the fans and we are fans too and have a feel for the material.

That is all we want, a really good movie. Try harder.

 

[dark_b]

Please see this thread for FF3 info...

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?p=12818483#post12818483


FF2 commentary...
Tim talks about WETA doing the CGI work for Silver Surfer (as he compares it to Golem and King Kong) and Laurence doing the voice of Silver Surfer.

Galactus...
Laurence actually wanted to voice Galactus, however Tim and company were not envisioning the big "G" as a humanoid that would ever need to speak...

Towards the end fight scene in Shanghai (when we first see Galactus), Tim states that they never planned on bringing him to life as we know him (as in the comics) in 'human' form...
"...the main reason was that there are plans to produce a Silver Surfer 1 movie and if he gave up everything in this movie then that movie wouldn't have much to go on, and knowing that I wasn't going to do it that early, I wanted to keep it fairly open for interpretation by the director that would do that one..."

"They decided to cover him in clouds".

thats a lie. doug jones did everything. SS was not CGI in close ups when he speaks. it is more then 50% doug jones in the suit.

he he t:

i am just joking

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

But you never know.....I think some of us are willing to give it a chance. I think its a chance that will never happen, but I hope for the chance nonetheless....

Considering that there has never been a truly satisfactory 3rd entry in a SH franchise in my eyes, i wont be holding my breath thankyou, as long as Fox is the studio, this franchise will continue to be nothing beyond average IMO.

 

[Mercurius]

Ah Mercurius I feel the pain as do you but a restart would be five years off. A sequel to FF2 is probably 3 years off, it may suck what they did, but I at least want one more movie with this cast. They are like family now. I want to complete a trilogy with them, four if I could get two movies in back to back years.

Yeah I know what you will say, I am too accepting of the farce this studio pulled and you would be right, but waddugonnado, 3 yrs vs 5 yrs, I am weak I will take at least one more.

I understand what you say. We always want our characters to show up again.

Trust me, I liked very much every second of the Surfer onscreen. But on the other hand, everything else was so lame!

I didn't like the casting (a huge mistake apart from Chiklis), but in good-will I watched the first one and I didn't like it. I thought: "Well, let's see what he can do. Let's give the fellow a second chance".

Now he proves he doesn't KNOW enough about the FF, and he is also lying shamelessly about the movie premises.

I want a GOOD FF movie. If it takes five years, be it. Enough of Story. Restart.

 

[YJ1]

That's the annoying thing. I suspected from the beginning of this project that they'd hold back for exactly the reason he says - So that they wouldn't be locked into a design for 5 seconds of screen time in this film.

If they had come out and clearly stated that from the beginning and gave that reasoning, I think there would have been a lot fewer pissed off people.

If we knew, a year before release, that we simply wouldn't see Galactus in this film, I think most of us would have been good with that, but the FOX execs and Avi Arad kept telling us we'd be seeing Galactus, so that was a huge disappointment.

Well said. That was a HUGE mistake on their part. Trying to promote blind anticipation for the film by misleading diehard fans just creates poor word of mouth later. Since a movie's box office is so front loaded nowadays, they may take that trade off but it's just a cheap tactic. I can understand the juggling act. If fans start whining before the film is out, it generates bad buzz and may hurt the opening. Still, there's no need to piss off diehards in this case. Like Willie said, being truthful here wouldn't have mattered in the least. General movie audiences couldn't care less but true fans just feel lied to.

 

[highguard]

^^ You said it man, a huge mistake. They disrespected us big time. Worse they disrespected themselves, cause now everyone knows that they have very little integrity.

 

[YJ1]

^^ You said it man, a huge mistake. They disrespected us big time. Worse they disrespected themselves, cause now everyone knows that they have very little integrity.

The real question is, will you believe them in the future? How many times will they cry wolf and does it matter? The writers of X3 themselves made some bold, tantalizing statements and I believed them all. I liked X3 for what it was but they clearly mislead the fans. This Galactus stuff was all an intentional lie. Likewise, I liked FF: ROTSS but Avi and company clearly mislead the fans. Maybe one should just abandon the hype and forgo any expectations.