Skyline (grading & discussion)

[Gojira]

I haven't seen it yet and despite the negative reviews I am still going to give it a shot. I am expecting a mindless action film with good special affects. I am a special affects junkie and I think it will be worth a viewing. Plus I'm pretty easy to please and I love these types of movies.

 

[Trekker4747]

I haven't seen it yet and despite the negative reviews I am still going to give it a shot. I am expecting a mindless action film with good special affects. I am a special affects junkie and I think it will be worth a viewing. Plus I'm pretty easy to please and I love these types of movies.

Mindless and special effects are all you'll get. The movie is very light on "action."

 

[JacksonArcher]

And considering the movies budget was around $10m and that it made around $11m domestically this weekend a sequel would probably be financially worthwhile for the studio and/or investors. Ugh. Is all I'll say.

I was surprised at how quickly and how cheaply this movie was made. Apparently they shot it all in L.A. in February of this year and then wrapped filming in March -- and all in the co-director Greg Strause's condo apartment for $500,000 -- and the rest of the budget came from spending money on special effects.

The directors are purportedly very eager to do Skyline 2 and will apparently make the movie with their own money and shop it around to distributors if that's what it takes-- which is kind of worrisome since the first film is allegedly so bad. I think it's great how cheap you can do movies these days-- but the downside is that not all of those earnest, modestly budgeted attempts will be any good. I'm hoping this doesn't give studios and filmmakers the incentive to make even more bad movies but on a far lesser budget and scale (and consequently much more frequently), but that seems almost inevitable now.

 

[marillion]

Count me in as yet another who was looking forward to this but will now, at best, wait for netflix.. maybe.. .

Damn.. Oh well.. Now my anticipation for Tron: Legacy is just that much more ramped up.. The wife and kids are jonesing for Harry Potter this weekend, so I guess I know what I'll be doing. I'm looking forward to it, but really, Tron is the only thing I'm geeking over right now.

 

[kdalton_69]

It's amazing how the Strauss brothers' effects shop worked on Battle:Los Angeles and then coincidentally made a rushed movie of no plot but decent effects with essentially the same plot and put it in the market two months before the first movie is released.

These guys should be working for the Chinese pirating video.

 

[bigdaddy]

The effects in the movie are very, very good. As realistic as can be seen although I think the explosions had a fake/too orange look to them many explosions had in the mid/late-90s with the early days of CGI. But the explosion when a nuke detonates is pretty awesome.

This movie and "District 9" I think shows how great effects can look on a low budget. Unfortunately a bit more money needed to be spent on story and plot.

You bring up the very good point. CGI is a ripoff. $200 million dollar movies are almost 100% CGI (Star Wars Prequels, King Kong 2003 and IJ4) and frankly at times the CGI looks like a cartoon!

Yet these small companies realize there is a market for cheap, amazing CGI, and it looks better than the big budget things. I love that. This movie, no matter how bad it is, looks amazing and cost $10m, Moon cost $5m and District 9 cost $30m and just shows that sci-fi can be done for cheap, and 2/3 of the movies are good.

 

[bullethead]

This movie and "District 9" I think shows how great effects can look on a low budget. Unfortunately a bit more money needed to be spent on story and plot. The actors themselves, heck, are okay. There's even some decent elements of "plot" there but it's all wasted or injected with bullshit. If the "Brothers Strause" are going to give themselves such a pretentious name like that they better fucking deliver. They can deliver effects, awesome, but considering their two major directorial outings (one of the AVP movies and now Skyline) are major nut-shots with a poison-tainted mace they can't get away with such stuff.

They need to write better, more interesting, stories. But, fuck, it's never a good sign when a movie is not screened for critics.

I don't think the Bros. Straus had any hand in writing this. But you are right about more money needing to be invested on the writing. It honestly should not be hard to find talent capable of putting out decent scripts from the numerous film schools in America instead of going through hordes of scripts. Things are bad when the guy who wrote Armageddon is allowed to write scripts just because he wrote one movie that made tons of money despite the fact that the script probably wasn't one of the things that contributed to its success.

 

[Candlelight]

I liked Armageddon!

 

[Admiral2]

Not so much.


Not even Scottie Thompson running around in tank tops can compensate for the horrendously stupid ending.

I'm not sure a better ending would've really saved this (even though the ending was incredibly lame). The whole movie was just wasted junk.

Okay, but a better ending couldn't have done more damage. There needed to be improvement somewhere along the line so I didn't feel like I wasted a ten spot on the ticket.

About the only coolest part was the aerial battle between the military and the aliens followed by one of the better movie representations of a nuke going off.

Those were pretty cool.

But, just, ugh.

Agreed. I saw trouble coming when they started the movie with pretty people partying.

If they kept Scottie Thompson in the boy-shorts I might be inclined to rate this movie better.

She would have to have been butt nekkid through half of it for me to give it a higher rating.

So the landlord/building attendant guy who wanted to stay in the condo. What was his plan to stay in there after the nuke going off (radiation) and, you know, the fact that they had no water!

I was wondering about both those things, but it's not like Boyfriend's plan worked out the two times he tried. They were f****d, and nobody in the cast had the sense to see it.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The trailers for this were kind of neat but the reviews make it sound like something I should just watch when I'm very, very bored some Sunday evening.

 

[The Wormhole]

Due to a mistake on the theatre's part back in the summer, I was able to obtain a free pass to see any movie (even ones which aren't supposed to allow passes). I used that pass to see this movie. All I can say is I'm thankful I didn't pay to see this.

First off, let me state that when it comes to movies, I have very low standards. It's very easy to please me. I think Nemesis is one of the better Star Trek movies. I'll praise the Star Wars prequels. I thought Jonah Hex had entertainment value for fuck's sake.

But Skyline is pure shit.

I first became aware of this movie a few months back when I saw the trailer. Alien ships hovering over cities, scooping up bodies? I was intrigued. Then I saw the TV commercials which primarily feature the fighter jets attacking the ships, and I thought this might be fun. I knew very little about the plot, aside from it being about a group of friends who witness an alien invasion after a night's partying, which did sound a bit too Cloverfield to me. And until now, I didn't read any reviews.

But, damn this movie is truly terrible. I'm very confused about what happens when you stare into the alien light? You burn up while you're compelled to walk into it? Won't those at a distance burn up before they arrived? And just what the hell do the aliens want? To take our brains out to power their umm...crafts? What does this accomplish? And is everyone still aware of their former lives, or is Jared a special exception? If so, why? Is it related to his special transformation?

What was the point to Jared's mysterious transformation, anyway? It didn't really seem to give him an edge in fighting the aliens, nor does it prevent the aliens from attacking him. It just is, then he gets scooped up, but is able to continue fighting the aliens after having his brain transplanted. Not that it matters, because the movie is now over.

Even before we get into all that, the movie suffers from bad melodramatic relationship issues, which serve no real purpose to the plot other than to waste time and show these people had lives. And then, the bulk of the movie is basically people in an apartment arguing over what to do. Let's stay in the apartment, where it's safe. Oh no, the aliens can attack us, let's flee. Oh no, the aliens attack us, let's stay in the apartment where it's safe. We can't stay here forever, let's flee. No because the aliens will attack. But the aliens are attacking anyway. Also, the aliens sure are intent on not damaging buildings. Most buildings are remain standing, the only noticeable damage is when the helicopter crashes into the apartment builidng. That was kind of odd.

We had a cool few minutes with the fighter jets attacking and the soldiers making their stand on the rooftops, and the females are nice eyecandy. But otherwise this movie really is a waste of time.

One final note, does anyone else think it's racially offensive that the only black character in the movie is a gun-toting badass party animal who cheats on his girlfriend and is the first main character to die?

 

[Stiletto]

My wife liked it, I had a hard time faking that it wasn't bad. Ug!

Still, an $11mil opening for a $10mil movie, not bad.

 

[Ethros]

About the only coolest part was the aerial battle between the military and the aliens followed by one of the better movie representations of a nuke going off.

Just out of curiousity and perhaps ignorance about nuclear bombs, why is that?
What's the difference?

 

[Trekker4747]

What was the point to Jared's mysterious transformation, anyway? It didn't really seem to give him an edge in fighting the aliens, nor does it prevent the aliens from attacking him. It just is, then he gets scooped up, but is able to continue fighting the aliens after having his brain transplanted. Not that it matters, because the movie is now over.

It seemed to be the light "lured people in" the effects of the light aren't clear on why it's happening but it just seems to be superficial since it reverses itself when the person gets out of the light. But the creature/craft takes the person's body and takes their brain, presumably for reproductive purposes.

In the spaceship the collected bodies' brains were used for the new alien bodies. Jared was able to retain his individuality, presumably, due to the resistance he built-up from being exposed to, and recovering from, the light so much.

About the only coolest part was the aerial battle between the military and the aliens followed by one of the better movie representations of a nuke going off.

Just out of curiousity and perhaps ignorance about nuclear bombs, why is that?
What's the difference?

The enormous, long, flash of bright light, the delay of the sound of the explosion. There was just something awesome about it.

 

[od0_ital]

... One final note, does anyone else think it's racially offensive that the only black character in the movie is a gun-toting badass party animal who cheats on his girlfriend and is the first main character to die?

Second main character - the mistress/assistant/photograher/whatever the hell she was died when the alien stomped the convertible. He died shortly after.

 

[Ethros]

^ Yeah as mentioned before, that whole car sequence was just spoiled by the trailers showing the clip of the car getting stomped. Totally ruined the suspense

 

[The Wormhole]

... One final note, does anyone else think it's racially offensive that the only black character in the movie is a gun-toting badass party animal who cheats on his girlfriend and is the first main character to die?

Second main character - the mistress/assistant/photograher/whatever the hell she was died when the alien stomped the convertible. He died shortly after.

Okay, I should have said among the first to die, since it was in the very same scene.

 

[Gojira]

We start off at night in an Los Angeles

^

That in and of itself is the first mistake. Nothing good can come from that.

As far as the rest... I have no desire to see this. I might have been inclined to enjoy it on no more than a "B-movie" level, but after seeing it compared to the utter shitstink that was Cloverfield, I think I'll pass.

I finally saw Skyline and given the fact I also loved Cloverfield, no wonder I liked it.

It is a good B science fiction movie. Mindless fun.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, watching a bunch of characters you hate complain and bitch in an apartment for 2 hours while all of the action happens outside is so much fun. And then there's the peek-a-boo ending. Oy! This movie is a wreck.

And it's not a "B-Movie", B-Movies don't exist anymore. It used to be back in the day you'd pay 50c, a $1 or whatever to go see a movie and you could pretty much sit there all day if you wanted to and people did this because theaters were one of the few places that were air-conditioned.

So you'd have the "A-Movie" which was the big-ticket, draw people in, movie and then the "B-Movie" that was played next that was usually some piece of crap that someone hacked together just to give people something entertaining going on while they sat there not sweating and likely making out.

Today the concept of a "B-Movie" is mostly dead since not only are millions spent to make many movies but you only can watch one movie at a time. Skyline had a pretty good budget, if modest compared to other wide releases, and special effects that aren't the quality you'd normally find in a "B-Movie." (Accepting that today "B-Movie" is a term for a piece of crap that's "fun to watch.)

You're, naturally, welcome to your opinion but I disagree with the concept that this was a "B-Movie" as it was marketed as a big alien/sci-fi/action-thriller not some piece-of-shit thrown out there to fill in the gap between to major movie seasons. (Between Winter and Spring.)

It doesn't even compare to Cloverfield which at least had slightly more interesting characters and had them in the action sequences. Nope, in Skyline we pretty much just watched a bunch of assholes argue in an apartment for two hours.

Even when the water is shut off and a nuclear bomb just went off outside a few blocks away they still decide to stay in the apartment. Whatever.

And that ending, ugh!!!!!

Who thought that was a good idea?!

 

[Gojira]

Yeah, watching a bunch of characters you hate complain and bitch in an apartment for 2 hours while all of the action happens outside is so much fun. And then there's the peek-a-boo ending. Oy! This movie is a wreck.

Well, I didn't hate the characters so that did make a difference.

And it's not a "B-Movie", B-Movies don't exist anymore. It used to be back in the day you'd pay 50c, a $1 or whatever to go see a movie and you could pretty much sit there all day if you wanted to and people did this because theaters were one of the few places that were air-conditioned.

So you'd have the "A-Movie" which was the big-ticket, draw people in, movie and then the "B-Movie" that was played next that was usually some piece of crap that someone hacked together just to give people something entertaining going on while they sat there not sweating and likely making out.

Today the concept of a "B-Movie" is mostly dead since not only are millions spent to make many movies but you only can watch one movie at a time. Skyline had a pretty good budget, if modest compared to other wide releases, and special effects that aren't the quality you'd normally find in a "B-Movie." (Accepting that today "B-Movie" is a term for a piece of crap that's "fun to watch.)

Skyline had a production budget of 10 million dollars. for a science fiction movie, or any movie, that is a small budget. That is why I consider it a B movie even though I do agree that they don't technically exist, well at least not the way they used to as you described. But as with all things in our language terms tend to change meaning over time so I personally consider a B movie as being a low budget film.

You're, naturally, welcome to your opinion but I disagree with the concept that this was a "B-Movie" as it was marketed as a big alien/sci-fi/action-thriller not some piece-of-shit thrown out there to fill in the gap between to major movie seasons. (Between Winter and Spring.)

The important thing to remember is liking or disliking a movie is subjective opinion. While I did like the movie I do realize that my opinion isn't something everyone needs to agree with. Not one person's opinion about a film should be the standard by which all other opinions should be weighed.

It doesn't even compare to Cloverfield which at least had slightly more interesting characters and had them in the action sequences. Nope, in Skyline we pretty much just watched a bunch of assholes argue in an apartment for two hours.

I thought there was more action in this movie than in Cloverfield (which I really liked) You saw the monster briefly scattered throughout the film. But in Skyline the aliens were featured a good deal of the time.

Even when the water is shut off and a nuclear bomb just went off outside a few blocks away they still decide to stay in the apartment. Whatever.

And that ending, ugh!!!!!

Who thought that was a good idea?!

Hmmm..a nuclear bomb goes off so there must be a ton of radioactive fall out, plus invincible aliens trying to hunt you down. It makes sense to stay in the apartment!