The Dark Knight Rises The Christopher Nolan Thread

[Sharkboy]

Im a bit iffy where i stand on Cameron, I do think he deserves alot of the praise he gets, and sure he can be a bit *****ey and up himself, but hey at least he's not david o russel.

 

[Rocketman]

I love Terminator 2 and True Lies.
I'm very iffy on The Terminator and Aliens.
I was not impressed by The Abyss.
I think Titanic and Avatar are absolutely dreadful.

Cameron is a special effects guru first, a director second, and a writer third, and you can tell. Style over substance here.

 

[Doc Samson]

I love Terminator 2 and True Lies.
I'm very iffy on The Terminator and Aliens.
I was not impressed by The Abyss.
I think Titanic and Avatar are absolutely dreadful.

Cameron is a special effects guru first, a director second, and a writer third, and you can tell. Style over substance here.

The first Terminator is easily the best movie he's ever made, IMO. The tension in that movie is pretty much unsurpassed in any action/sci-fi film I've ever seen.

 

[Ken-Kaniff]

I love Terminator 2 and True Lies.
I'm very iffy on The Terminator and Aliens.

I think Titanic and Avatar are absolutely dreadful.

I wouldn't say Avatar was dreadful, but definetly overrated. Titanic was a huge disappointment for me, because it was just a Drama/Romance movie. Mostly a ROMANCE!

But T1 & T2 were fantastic! Absolutely astonishing work on those! The fact that you are iffy about T1 is a matter of taste, but undoubtly it was executed in a fantastic way!

 

[Nevincer]

The first Terminator is easily the best movie he's ever made, IMO. The tension in that movie is pretty much unsurpassed in any action/sci-fi film I've ever seen.

Agreed, I don't understand why people underrate The Terminator. it's a bit slow at points and definitely reflects it's age too, but it's still brilliant for what it was as well as how it introduced the concept. T2 would by no means have been as cool without the strenghs of it's predecessor.

Btw, the tension felt during the scene where the Terminator crashes his car through the police building and begins the shootout is exactly the grim atmosphere I want to feel with Bane. An unstoppable physical menace.

 

[AnneFan]

Agreed, I don't understand why people underrate The Terminator. it's a bit slow at points and definitely reflects it's age too, but it's still brilliant for what it was as well as how it introduced the concept. T2 would by no means have been as cool without the strenghs of it's predecessor.

Btw, the tension felt during the scene where the Terminator crashes his car through the police building and begins the shootout is exactly the grim atmosphere I want to feel with Bane. An unstoppable physical menace.

Indeed. The first Terminator film is no slouch. It's lean and mean. I find the dated effects charming to be honest. They're not really convincing but that doesn't mean they are ineffective. And as you say, it’s got the element of terror. It's scary. You can feel the soullessness of the Terminator creature, and the living flesh upon metal adds to the eeriness. It feels like something that deserves to be called a ‘terminator’.

 

[Sharkboy]

I know im in the minority here, but i actually prefer terminator 1 to t2. I enjoy t2's traditional action sci fi blockbuster style with brains. But it's the mood, atmosphere and simplicity of the first terminator that really gets me. From the fantastic 80's synth score to the neo noir look of LA. Don't get me wrong t2 is amazing, but i just feel terminator 1 is a more passionate showing from Cameron.

 

[Blue Sugar]

Cameron you say? Probably my favorite writer-director ever.

The Terminator and T2 are both masterpieces.

Aliens is amazing and expands greatly on my favorite film ever.

The Abyss is just damn cool with some great acting.

True Lies is a nice and fun action-film, but easily his weakest film.

Titanic is awesome. Only "tough guys" hate on classic romance. It looks incredible and also got suspense in plenty.

Avatar is visual brilliance with a heart the size and warmth of the sun. Few films have helped me escape reality as much as this one.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

The first Terminator is easily the best movie he's ever made, IMO. The tension in that movie is pretty much unsurpassed in any action/sci-fi film I've ever seen.

It's crazy how the drama in T1 echoes the drama in T2 - they are, structurally, the same story with the same beats. I think that's why I love watching them both together

But yes, Cameron is great and all but he is overrated. Though he does get credit for being a really original and imaginative thinker in Hollywood's mainstream. I like that he experiements with his movies. That's a good thing. The actual films, however, are okay. He's a weird guy to follow though - I love all his films, but not to the point of salivating awesomeness.

Terminator was his best work, there's no doubt about that. And Avatar... no. Compare that with Inception, stories that border on similar themes, and Inception is easily the better film.

 

[TDK Joker]

I like James Cameron. I do, I like Avatar, but like many have said, it is overrated. It won all the Oscars it deserved to win. A lot of comparisons have been made with "Pocahontas" and "Dances with Wolves". But the film I think it is most similar to is "Atlantis The Lost Empire", you know, the Disney film with Michael J Fox voicing Milo Thatch. When I watched it after Avatar I was dumbfounded how similar it was. Check it out yourself and see.
But, yeah, i still really like James Cameron.

 

[jacobed]

I love Terminator 2 and True Lies.
I'm very iffy on The Terminator and Aliens.
I was not impressed by The Abyss.
I think Titanic and Avatar are absolutely dreadful.

Cameron is a special effects guru first, a director second, and a writer third, and you can tell. Style over substance here.

I agree with you 100%

 

[Gianakin_]

As long as Cameron doesn't write his own stuff, I'll be there to watch his movies. That means I'll see him in 2020, if then.

 

[Ramsay Snow]

...I like Avatar, but like many have said, it is overrated.

I like Avatar too, but personally I don't care if it's overrated or underrated - that doesn't bother me and it definitely doesn't come in the way of my enjoyment of a movie.

 

[slimshady247]

Why are we talking about James Cameron in a Christopher Nolan thread? LOL.

I enjoyed Avatar for what it was. Nothing less, nothing more.

 

[El Payaso]

...yet hasn't even been nominated once for an oscar. Insane.

Not insane at all. That is one of the the Academy's longest and most beloved traditions. Ignore true talent even until the actor/director's dead if you feel like it. Nominate roles only because they're mentally impaired. Classic Academy crap. Nothing new under the sun.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

I like James Cameron. I do, I like Avatar, but like many have said, it is overrated. It won all the Oscars it deserved to win. A lot of comparisons have been made with "Pocahontas" and "Dances with Wolves". But the film I think it is most similar to is "Atlantis The Lost Empire", you know, the Disney film with Michael J Fox voicing Milo Thatch. When I watched it after Avatar I was dumbfounded how similar it was. Check it out yourself and see.
But, yeah, i still really like James Cameron.

I was just thinking about watching that with my kid cousin and frankly, there are much better animated features than that as well. Avatar, storywise, is actually a let-down and very, very unoriginal if you bring in post-colonial themes. Coppola's Apocalypse Now did a number on it that, at least for me, has yet to be topped by Hollywood. But that's in terms of storytelling. It's utter bananas how Avatar is interpreted among Indian audiences as an extension of Hindu mythology (which makes the post-colonial edge that much more blatant).

It is, however, an amazing work of CGI/3D film. I hate the way 3D is misused, in teh hands of a proper director the tech can do things that people would remember for the rest of their lives...

...

positively.

Why are we talking about James Cameron in a Christopher Nolan thread? LOL.

I enjoyed Avatar for what it was. Nothing less, nothing more.

It's the same mentality that Bane is apparently bringing to Gotham City coem TDKR - bring down the big dog

 

[Nevincer]

Not insane at all. That is one of the the Academy's longest and most beloved traditions. Ignore true talent even until the actor/director's dead if you feel like it. Nominate roles only because they're mentally impaired. Classic Academy crap. Nothing new under the sun.

Yup. Pretty much hit the nail on the head, there.

 

[KRIM]

Regardless, it's still funny that people would still recognize the prestige of the award once it is rewarded to those they think deserve it. To only dismiss their worth when it is granted to another team, is counterproductive.

 

[RED_Rider]

On topic of Academy vs Nolan and Dark Knight, I saw this sad yet true comment on Awards Daily (Not my words but goddamn they are true):

In an ideal world, this would sweep the 2012 Oscars as Ben Hur, Titanic and Return of the King before it. But it’s far from an ideal world. It will spawn resentment in the Academy membership, because their outrageous and scandalous snub of the 2008 sequel forced AMPAS to go to a 10-nominee best picture field. It will make a Fort Knox like mint at the boxoffice, flirt with 90+ on RT and MetaCritic, and get the usual door prize nominations of art direction, VFX and sound, if that. Nolan will be snubbed 2x (director and screenplay) to continue the Academy’s inexplicable personal disrespect of the man. It is illogical to think this plays out any other way that what’s mentioned beforehand. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s something we have to accept.

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2011/11/oscar-2013-nolan-hardy-on-the-dark-knight-rises/

 

[RED_Rider]

Sorry about the double post . My connection is really mess up.

 

[Rocketman]

All I know is:

Memento should've been nominated for Best Picture.
Nolan should've won for writing Memento's screenplay.

The Prestige should've been nominated for Best Picture.
Jonathan and Chris should've been nominated for Best Screenplay.

The Dark Knight should've been nominated for Best Picture.

Inception should've won for Best Screenplay (Nolan).
Nolan should've been nominated for Best Director (and should've won).
I'll even go farther and say that Inception should've won Best Picture.

All of these points are valid at the VERY least. These things should've obviously happened, and it's very noticeable (and suspicious) that they didn't happen. I can only conclude that there's an agenda by the academy against Nolan. Why that is, we may never know.

 

[The Chris]

I agree with everything said. It's just a shame really. I wonder what they don't like about him. If it was just the superhero thing that would be something, but it's a Nolan thing. I love the King's Speech, but was it really better directed than Inception? Not to me.

Even if TDKR is one of the greatest movies ever made, I still don't expect the academy to recognize it. They're so close minded and out of touch it's pathetic. We'll nominate the reader and the blind side but not The Dark Knight. That's ridiculous.

 

[RED_Rider]

It's definitely a Nolan thing and not just simple superhero hate. Last year academy was obviously in love with the mostly mediocre King's Speech and that led "Why the **** didn't Fincher and Social Network get the Oscars that belonged to them" situation. Their love for King's Speech explains Inception and Nolan not winning any "main" oscar but the problem is, Nolan didn't even get a nomination. He hasn't gotten any.

Now consider the freaking Director's Guild (DGA), which has nominated him more than twice. Now do the math... the answer is: The snobs at Academy don't like Nolan. They like dumbed down sentimental movies about privileged people struggling with simplest of problems. Also, no uber layer and deeply intelligent movies like Inception or Social Network please. Those kinds of films confuse the poor elder majority of AMPA members.

 

[the amazing fro]

It's only a bloody award at the end of the day. Just a meaningless pat on the back by the industry and a nice looking gold statue you can put on your mantelpiece. If Nolan never wins an oscar it doesn't mean a damn thing. The measure of an artist is their body of work and not how many awards they have won.The Kings Speech, Social Network and Inception are all great movies regardless of what won Best Picture or Best Director. Perhaps the greatest director of all time (well in my opinion he is), Stanley Kubrick has never won an Oscar. Hasn't hurt his legacy none.

 

[NolanOrgasm]

All I know is, Nolan makes me orgasm.