Interstellar - Part 4

[BatLobster]

A great twist can have a lasting impact though. Think of everyone who first found out Vader was Luke's father in a darkened movie theater. They'll always remember that feeling of shock and utter disbelief and it makes them love TESB even more for it.

It's not that it's only about twists, but going on the journey along with the characters can enrich the whole experience.

 

[slumcat]

Maybe for you it does. For me, if that is all it takes to ruin a movie then the movie was crap to begin with.

I agree with the general sentiment and I would say this - IMO the worst films ever made are twist movies. I find them incredibly cheap and juvenile.

Barely any of the truly great movies have these so called "twist endings".

I detest such movies - Shutter Island, Prestige, etc. etc. which are basically just hogwash designed around some ridiculous twist.

A great movie will be a great movie on the strength of its script, its direction, its performances and its general technical mastery, not some absurd switcheroo.

 

[kedrell]

I can enjoy the twist in a movie if done well but in order for me to like the film it definitely needs more than just to rely on said twist to make an impression.

 

[kedrell]

I agree with the general sentiment and I would say this - IMO the worst films ever made are twist movies. I find them incredibly cheap and juvenile.

Barely any of the truly great movies have these so called "twist endings".

I detest such movies - Shutter Island, Prestige, etc. etc. which are basically just hogwash designed around some ridiculous twist.

A great movie will be a great movie on the strength of its script, its direction, its performances and its general technical mastery, not some absurd switcheroo.

I agree and those are aspects that can't be spoiled.

 

[BatLobster]

A great twist ending isn't there purely for shock value, it puts everything before it in a new context that enriches it. Memento is a perfect example of such an ending.

The Prestige isn't really a twist ending...it's a highly telegraphed revelation that you're meant to start putting together long before they confirm it...and once they do, it's merely and Act 3 reinforcement of the theme of obsession and willing to give up everything out of dedication to the craft.

Don't confuse a cheap shock value twist for organic, earned twists that actually make the story better. Not every movies needs one, most don't, but they can certainly be effective narrative tools when properly employed.

Twist or no twist, I still think going into a movie clean is the best way to experience it for the first time. I don't want to know more than the protagonist does, I want to be on the journey with them. The first viewing is the one chance to enjoy that experience. Of course after that the movie has to stand on its own, but it's the specialness of that first viewing that always resonates with me.

 

[Travesty]

I would definitely put The Prestige as a twist ending. You are talking about

Spoiler

the twins, right?

But anyways, I like twists in movies if they're done right. Movies like Empire Strikes Back, The Prestige, Fight Club and the Sixth Sense all had great twists. But then there's movies that have embarrassingly bad twists, that I definitely think hurt the movie, like Shutter Island, TDKR, and most M Night movies. It really depends on the execution of the twist.

I just hope Nolan doesn't try to pack a bunch of twists in this movie, cause I hated all of them in TDKR, and I think that's because they were kinda obvious, and there were too many of them. But I like his twists in Memento, BB and The Prestige. We'll see....

 

[BatLobster]

Spoiler

Yes, the twins. But it's made they're pretty obvious about the fact that Fallon is Bordon's twin throughout the movie, that was something I put together pretty quickly midway through my first viewing. What the ending did was reveal the depth of their dedication and the fact that they actually shared one life. So I consider it a semi-twist. It's an obvious twist that has a deeper layer to it that you may or may not realize until the end.

I'd also say there's a difference between an actual twist ending and Act 3 surprises/revelations. When I think "twist ending", I tend to think of one BIG revelation that turns the entire movie on its head. The Usual Suspects is another perfect example of that kind of twist done right.

 

[redfirebird2008]

I just hope Nolan doesn't try to pack a bunch of twists in this movie, cause I hated all of them in TDKR, and I think that's because they were kinda obvious, and there were too many of them.

Maybe to someone who followed the production closely on this website. But there was a dude near me in the theater who was genuinely shocked by the Talia twist. I assume he hadn't seen any of the stuff on the Internet about the movie prior to watching it.

 

[Travesty]

Maybe to someone who followed the production closely on this website. But there was a dude near me in the theater who was genuinely shocked by the Talia twist. I assume he hadn't seen any of the stuff on the Internet about the movie prior to watching it.

I heard people in my theater who were shocked, too. But I think some people were more confused than anything. I heard someone next to me go, "ohhhhhh, wait...who is Ras al Ghul again?".

I guess he never saw BB.

 

[redfirebird2008]

I heard people in my theater who were shocked, too. But I think some people were more confused than anything. I heard someone next to me go, "ohhhhhh, wait...who is Ras al Ghul again?".

I guess he never saw BB.

You laugh, but I think there are a lot of them out there. Pretty sad IMHO. BB is the best of the trilogy and got the least amount of attention from the general audience.

 

[slumcat]

Nolan has this great affinity to end his movies which twists or zingers which I find terrible. It is an extremely inelegant writing device. Twists or surprises are only good when they are designed to illuminate and not to shock.

I see the top fanboy favorite movies on IMDB - and I see a pattern there - many are twist movies - Shawshank, Usual Suspects, Inception, Fight Club. These movies definitely spawn popularity if nothing else. Which might encourage film-makers to use such devices in their movies to please a certain demographic.

 

[Tim_Riggins]

Let's not kid ourselves, the G.A is precisely what it's called, the big majority of those people are movie noobs who just go see movies to be entertained, it's easy to forget amongst geeks & movie geeks, but I see it all the time.

It's kind of mean & maybe a bit arrogant, but yeah.....

 

[Octoberist]

I agree with the general sentiment and I would say this - IMO the worst films ever made are twist movies. I find them incredibly cheap and juvenile.

Barely any of the truly great movies have these so called "twist endings".

I detest such movies - Shutter Island, Prestige, etc. etc. which are basically just hogwash designed around some ridiculous twist.

A great movie will be a great movie on the strength of its script, its direction, its performances and its general technical mastery, not some absurd switcheroo.

think twists can be a detriment to certain films, but you are painting in very broad strokes too.

Hitchcock has done it a number of times. Is Spellbound and Psycho detestable? Fight Club or Se7en?

 

[redhawk23]

I agree with the general sentiment and I would say this - IMO the worst films ever made are twist movies. I find them incredibly cheap and juvenile.

Barely any of the truly great movies have these so called "twist endings".

I detest such movies - Shutter Island, Prestige, etc. etc. which are basically just hogwash designed around some ridiculous twist.

A great movie will be a great movie on the strength of its script, its direction, its performances and its general technical mastery, not some absurd switcheroo.

All of which help make The Prestige entertaining even on multiple viewings.

 

[redhawk23]

Wait, the Shawshank Redemption has a twist ending? That's news.

Also Inception's ending isn't a twist, its just ambiguous.

 

[BatLobster]

Sorry slumcat, I guess the being that most of us are cretins with no taste or culture whatsoever, we're totally fooled by all those yucky "inelegant" twist endings.

And if you don't see how the endings of Memento and Prestige DO illuminate the themes, then you're plain missing it. And yeah, I don't consider Shawshank or Inception to have twist endings at all.

Apparently any attempt to have some sort of punchy reveal in the third act is automatically pandering to the LCD...

 

[redfirebird2008]

All of which help make The Prestige entertaining even on multiple viewings.

Yep. I could not care less about the twists in the film. The story, characters, acting, direction, and cinematography all have a lot of repeat value for me.

 

[slumcat]

Sorry slumcat, I guess the being that most of us are cretins with no taste or culture whatsoever, we're totally fooled by all those yucky "inelegant" twist endings.

Are we representing people here? Presenting opinions of factions? Talk about yourself mate. We are all talking individually here, expressing individual opinions held only by us.

And that's all these are. A point of view by a person. It is neither aggrandizing nor offending, just what a person thinks. As everything else on this board is.

EDIT: We are all expressing our preferences here, that much is obvious though it has to be made explicit numerous times. I personally favor restraint over anything else in film-making so twists don't sit well with me.

 

[Travesty]

Wait, the Shawshank Redemption has a twist ending? That's news.

Yeah, the twist was that

Spoiler

he was breaking out.

 

[BatLobster]

slumact, I've seen enough of your posts about Nolan and his fans to know what your attitude is. This being the Interstellar thread, there are surely plenty of Nolan fans here. So yeah, I'm pretty comfortable speaking for some others here who also don't enjoy the snobbery. It's your opinion, and that's fine...I'm just speaking on behalf of a bunch of people here who aren't fans of your opinions.

 

[Octoberist]

Are we representing people here? Presenting opinions of factions? Talk about yourself mate. We are all talking individually here, expressing individual opinions held only by us.

And that's all these are. A point of view by a person. It is neither aggrandizing nor offending, just what a person thinks. As everything else on this board is.

EDIT: We are all expressing our preferences here, that much is obvious though it has to be made explicit numerous times. I personally favor restraint over anything else in film-making so twists don't sit well with me.

I still think your 'twist' opinion is invalid.

It's like saying all movies with voice overs suck, when there's plenty out there that are good. Once my friend said that movies with an unlikable/morally corrupt protagonist suck; that and they're unrelatable. Godfather? Taxi Driver? There Will Be Blood? A Christmas Carol?

 

[slumcat]

slumact, I've seen enough of your posts about Nolan and his fans to know what your attitude is. This being the Interstellar thread, there are surely plenty of Nolan fans here. So yeah, I'm pretty comfortable speaking for some others here who also don't enjoy the snobbery.

Suit yourself mate. And if others are comfortable being spoken for, what can I say.

Generally speaking, I find this one of the troubling aspects of fanboy culture, where I feel I am not conversing with individuals but a crowd consisting of everyone have the same thought. Like almost an "opinion by committee". The individual element seems lost to me, it is almost confounding how individuality can be lost in this mass of crowd.

But by all means go ahead with this blanket representation if you feel it adequately represents the numerous viewpoints that individuals would otherwise have.

 

[BatLobster]

It's a two-way street though. I don't enjoy being painted with a broad brush as much as you don't like feeling pressured to "conform". Nor do I enjoy the implication that I like something only because it's pandering to me or that I haven't watched enough obscure films to appreciate true cinema...which is an argument I've seen you make before.

If you value restraint over everything and dislike twists, fine. Great. We all have different tastes. When you essentially imply that fans of a certain thing are tasteless sheep, that's when you run into conflict with folks like me who don't take well to that kind of attitude.

 

[The Shape]

 

[redhawk23]

Yep. I could not care less about the twists in the film. The story, characters, acting, direction, and cinematography all have a lot of repeat value for me.

Also randomly Andy Serkis for a few minutes.