Tomorrowland 5-22-15

[Mr Light]

I really liked Prometheus, and didn't have any major problems with it. I knew going in it wasn't a literal Alien prequel and more about the Space Jockeys, which I was absolutely fascinated by.

 

[JD]

I've had mixed feelings about some Scott's stuff, but Alien was probably one of my favorites, and the trailers for Prometheus looked absolutely awesome. I did like Cowboys and Aliens, I loved Lost from pilot to finale and loved STID, so there is a lot of stuff that Lindelof was involved with that I like more than most people. I think Tomorrowland is the first thing he's been involved with where I've actually agreed with most other people. I think I'll try to stay optimistic about Prometheus.

 

[Snaploud]

Thanks to everyone who like my alt ending idea. It came to me as I pondered how to fix two issues I have with the movie. 1) the movie fails to really show us the real tomorrowland. We get flashbacks and glimpses but we have to wait 3/4 of the way through to see the real tomorrowland and when we do see it, it is wasteland. So, my ending would show us a lot more of the real tomorrowland, the amazing techs, what the people are like, the values etc... 2) I feel like the movie deals with the question of what a makes a utopia too superfically. Is technology enough to create a utopia? My ending seeks to examine those questions a bit deeper by showing the "police state" side of tomorrowland and the ideological divide, to show that technology is not enough to make a perfect society.

I think you could also adapt your alt-ending to counter one of the many criticisms against the film: elitism. It may be that the scientists, while great at building revolutionary gadgets, were ill-equipped to create a functional society without resorting to Big Brother technology. The best and brightest wouldn't just be coming back to Earth out of a sense of altruism. They would be coming back because they realize the scientists need the rest of humanity just as much as the rest of humanity needs these scientists.

Of course, you might have to tweak the cast a bit. Casey would need some friends of the non-scientist type who could show their value in fighting against Big Brother technology in tomorrowland.

 

[Romulan_spy]

I think you could also adapt your alt-ending to counter one of the many criticisms against the film: elitism. It may be that the scientists, while great at building revolutionary gadgets, were ill-equipped to create a functional society without resorting to Big Brother technology. The best and brightest wouldn't just be coming back to Earth out of a sense of altruism. They would be coming back because they realize the scientists need the rest of humanity just as much as the rest of humanity needs these scientists.

Yes! I really like that a lot.

 

[JD]

Prometheus, for all its MANY faults (that I won't get into again here), is a gorgeous looking picture with an ominous tone that doesn't relent. If you're a fan of Ridley Scott's work or the Alien franchise, you should definitely see it. It's not a bad film so much as it is immensely disappointing given the amount of excitement there was that Scott was returning to the Alien universe again. It's better than any Alien/AvP universe films that followed the first three (I'd put it on par with the third), IMO, though I should say that it's primarily about the Space Jockeys/Engineers instead of the Aliens so I'm not misleading. The Aliens barely feature, and in significantly altered ways.

I certainly wouldn't put it in the same category as Tomorrowland, despite Lindelof's involvement in both. Tomorrowland really doesn't have much in the way of redeeming factors at all, and is utterly forgettable. Prometheus has a ton of structural/logical problems and characters who behave erratically, but it's memorable, the scenery and production design is amazing, and it has some excellent performances.

I really liked Prometheus, and didn't have any major problems with it. I knew going in it wasn't a literal Alien prequel and more about the Space Jockeys, which I was absolutely fascinated by.

After our conversation I moved Prometheus up on Netflix disc queue and I just finished about 20 minutes ago. I posted my thoughts in the movies old review thread. I will say here that I definitely enjoyed it more than Tomorrowland.

 

[jadcox@mindspring.com]

I actually came up with a possible alternate ending that I think would have been better than the ending we got. In my alt ending, when our main characters land on tomorrowland in the apollo capsule, they don't find a wasted place. Instead, they find a technologically marvelous place a lot like the pin vision that Casey saw. We get to see a lot of tomorrowland. We see limitless clean energy, safe automated transportation, amazing virtual reality entertainment, educational system that is tailored to each person's personality in real-time, etc... Casey wonders why these technologies are not shared with Earth in order to make a difference. Frank explains that during his stay, an ideological rift occurred in Tomorrowland. One camp wanted to share the technology to help earth. He was exiled because he supported that camp. The other camp, led by Governor Nix, believed that Earth was inevitably doomed, so tomorrowland should focus inward, keep its tech to itself and make sure it continues to prosper. Casey agrees with the first camp and starts speaking up. We see that tomorrowland has a darker side. People are relunctant to speak their mind. Flying drones spy on everyone. Nix has a police state hold on tomorrowland. Everyone is happy as long as they agree with Nix. Frank, Casey and Athena meet up with the underground, those who agree with the first camp that technology should be shared, and they lead a revolt against Nix. After a struggle, Nix is defeated and tomorrowland ceases to be a police state and much of the amazing technology is introduced to earth, albeit slowly so as not to shock people. We see clips of TED talks, and someone looking like Elon Musk introducing the next Tesla product.

I'd have liked to see this sort of portrayal as well.

Ditto. Nice thinking.

 

[Snaploud]

I think you could also adapt your alt-ending to counter one of the many criticisms against the film: elitism. It may be that the scientists, while great at building revolutionary gadgets, were ill-equipped to create a functional society without resorting to Big Brother technology. The best and brightest wouldn't just be coming back to Earth out of a sense of altruism. They would be coming back because they realize the scientists need the rest of humanity just as much as the rest of humanity needs these scientists.

Yes! I really like that a lot.

Thanks, Romulan_spy.

 

[Gaith]

If you have relentless optimism, you can invent jetpacks and micro-nuclear weapons (they literally saved the day with a nuke, which is an odd message for a Disney film, and especially one that treats unrestricted nuclear war like it's still a very likely end of the world scenario)

And don't forget the heroic child suicide bomber!


Yes.


Let's just let that sink in a moment.


The writers of this movie, who had the budget and freedom to write just about any ending they could think of, decided to finish with a heroic child suicide bomber.


Oh, and after two-plus hours of pretty much only white people talking and doing stuff, we get an international montage that looks like a UNICEF commercial. (And guess what happened to the movie's first and only significant black person? If you guessed "decapitation", congrats, and have a cookie!) Well, I say "Nice try, assholes!" You can't give me two hours of white people (including a British mentor and a British villain, how very original and imaginative), and then pat yourself on the back for diversity, while an Asian dude literally just mutely stands there, waiting for Clooney to wrap up his big inspirational speech so he can to push a button.


So, what does the movie give us, besides a basically all-white cast? Pretty much non-stop violence. The movie has about as many quiet scenes as Fury Road. But wars are bad, kids, mmkay? Hey, did you see all these Star Wars props in the sci-fi shop? Let's show them again and again to make sure you kiddies notice 'em. Speaking of which, there's a new Star Wars TV show and movie coming out! Lots of bright, cheerful, happy war for ya there! War is just awesome so long as it's not happening to you at home! That's not at all a problematic takeaway in an era of drone warfare!


(And yes, this totally is another Brad Bird Ayn Rand love letter.)


Hey, Brad, you listening? ... Your movie sucks balls, and richly deserves its failure. It is bad, and you should feel bad for having made it.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

If you have relentless optimism, you can invent jetpacks and micro-nuclear weapons (they literally saved the day with a nuke, which is an odd message for a Disney film, and especially one that treats unrestricted nuclear war like it's still a very likely end of the world scenario)

And don't forget the heroic child suicide bomber!


Yes.


Let's just let that sink in a moment.


The writers of this movie, who had the budget and freedom to write just about any ending they could think of, decided to finish with a heroic child suicide bomber.

TOASTER TOASTER TOASTER

Let this be a lesson to us all. We are ripe for manipulation that the toaster, the TOASTER FFS actually "feels".

Sociopaths can do "feeling" too, when it benefits.

That was a toaster serving the programming. What will further the recruitment mission that the toaster was created for? What will further Tomorrowland if not the destruction of Tomorrowland so that new people can make it a success?

 

[The Wormhole]

Hey, did you see all these Star Wars props in the sci-fi shop? Let's show them again and again to make sure you kiddies notice 'em. Speaking of which, there's a new Star Wars TV show and movie coming out!

Man, that scene was annoying. I just wanted to scream "yes, Disney, we get it! You own Star Wars now!"

 

[Starscream2112]

The Lost in Space Robot was there as well. You don't think Disney is ...nah

 

[Gaith]

I also liked the part in which the super-duper-genius girl, only moments after smacking into a real-world wall (something she also did earlier), manages to fall down the stairs of her own house. As soon as she kept moving after hitting the wall in her dad's room (and just why did the dad take the pin out of his coat pocket and put it in a bedside drawer?), I was actually worried that she'd fall down the stairs, and then groaned when she actually did.