Solid Snake

Jesus...17 years. I'm only 26. Fuck...years add up, man. Fuck....17 years?!

Why So Blu?

Yeah, I saw the Stallone version in theaters with my mom and younger siblings 17 years ago. Time flies.

Solid Snake

I MUST OWN THE CD! So yeah...aside from online sources brought my way...to physically own a copy...it's an import. How odd.

RocShemp

I just watched this today and loved every minute of it. Yes, it's a similar premise to The Raid. However, unlike that absolute bore, this had a truly menacing villain, two leads I actually cared about (and had actual personalities) and was whole lot of fun from start to finish. Unfortunately, the 3D (except for some of the So-Mo sequences) was so subtle it was practically non-existant. Even the depth felt weak. However, thanks to it being in 3D, they couldn't indulge in shakycam and even the dark scenes (save for a few minor shots) were properly lit. The colour palette was aslo very natural, which is a refreshing change for a gritty action movie.

The score was fantastic but I kept wondering how it'd feel with the rejected DROKK score. It'd be awesome if the BD allowed you to listen to it with either score as I feel the Carpenter-esque rejected score would give the film a totally different vibe. That said, I must own both scores.

Overall, a definite day one purchase for me.

PopcornTreeCt

Unfortunately?? That's how it should be!

RocShemp

Don't get me wrong. I prefer depth to pop-out effects. However, the 3D was also lacking in depth. Most shots felt incredibly flat. It felt like I was watching a 2D movie most of the time. So no, that's not "how it should be".

Jules Winfield

Only on DVDTalk can The Raid be called a bore. I don't get it. Preferred to Dredd? Okay. A bore? Relax, guys. You can like Dredd and like other movies as well.

Why So Blu?

Not a bore, but Dredd IS the better film. The Raid rocks, as well. The Raid will probably be in my top 10 of the year.

Troy Stiffler

Ehhh. Never saw The Raid. But when a movie lacks emotional attachment, it can be a total bore - regardless of how loud and violent it is. If you don't have some basic emotional attachment, you're relying solely on the genre audience. For instance, The Raid may only appeal to people looking for a violent building-siege cop movie. But I'm just talking out of my ass. I haven't see The Raid yet.

To me, that's why Transformers 2 is such a bore and Barry Lyndon is never so.

RocShemp

You pretty much nailed my issue with The Raid, troystiffler. I didn't care about any of the characters or at least find them remotely interesting (since some good films have unlikeable characters as their leads). Add to that the repetitive and overlong action sequences, it was a recipe for boredom. It didn't even have a good villain.

Dredd, on paper, seems like it's cut from the same cloth as The Raid. However, Dredd is actually engaging, the action sequences are varied and never really outstay their welcome, and Ma-Ma was actually one hell of a villain. Anderson and Dredd made for compelling leads (albeit not really fleshed out) and I was actually rooting for them throughout the film. All of this added to a film that kept my interest and kept me entertained.

PopcornTreeCt

I sorta agree but I really liked how it was used in this film.

DonnachaOne

As did I. And I recorded my thoughts on a tape I sent to my cousin in England.

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PopcornTreeCt

About the movie... I was pretty impressed with Lena Heady. When I realized it was her, which wasn't until after her introductory scene, I was expecting another 300/GoT type performance but she was able to play it evil without going there.

Jules Winfield

The Raid has a great villain! It just so happens that he's the henchman(and he looks like Al Leong's son to me.) They needed two guys and a 30 minute fight scene to beat him!Basically, what you feel about Dredd, transfer that over to how I feel about The Raid. I think the action is way more intense though and actually felt some danger. I never believed for a second that Dredd and Andersen were in trouble. The action IS varied in The Raid. In Dredd, its shoot, shoot, shoot. In The Raid, it's shoot, kick, punch, knives, etc. i did like the gore in Dredd though even if most of it was computer generated.Where we differ though is that I liked Dredd and you didn't like The Raid. I just liked The Raid better.

RocShemp

Yeah, the henchman did look like a junior Al Leong.

RichC2

I agree with the earlier assessments of The Raid, the action was well executed but overlong and the overall movie itself was tremendously boring. I fell asleep the first couple times I tried to watch it, wasn't even remotely tired at the time so it may be one of those unintended, excellent consequences. I'm curious to see what the director will do next since he obviously has action sequence chops, but he does need a script with better characters, bad guys, dialog, pacing, and plot.

I blame the terrible advertising for the poor box office of Dredd 3D. The TV ads left absolutely no impression at all. This is the ad that I saw repeatedly for the flick:

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It's about as generic looking as you can get.

Jules Winfield

The Expendables 3: The Raid henchman is taking over a small country and raping school children and The Expendables come in and kill him. Al Leong is furious that his son has been murdered, calls in favors and gets help from all the evil organizations his henchmenned in over the years to fund a villainous team, the EX-expendables. Team consists of Tiny Zeus Lister, Alan Rickman(the brains), The Rock(Not known too much for bad guys but what the hell), William Zabka(demolitions expert or some shit), Danny Trejo, Jean Claude Van Damme(evil twin), and Steven Seagal(who gets killed first because he's fat and so Solid Snake can see it five times). 300 hundred million dollar opening weekend. Put in Karl Urban as a newbie so that Stallone can stare at him as Urban tries to call the shots in one scene so Stallone can say " Stop stealing my role!" or something like that.

RocShemp

Honestly, I would watch this. Especially if they re-enact the Rock's fake-out death from Doom ("I'm not supposed to die!!!") but make it real and have it happen in the first 10 minutes (after he's mowed down hundreds of soldiers).

Seriously, you're joke premise (and cast) would be loads of fun.

Solid Snake

Huh...I'd actually really enjoy that premise.

Jules Winfield

I do like the cast and premise a bit. Don't really think they should be called the ex-Expendables though and don't condone the raping of children. Also Urban bit was a joke but could see that exact scenario play out if Urban joined since its the type of cheesy humor that oozed out of E2.

RocShemp

I somehow missed the child raping bit in your post but the Urban stuff could definitely work. Just have Stallone constantly complain "hey, that's my job" or some such variant. Have Urban even become best bro's with Statham to further make Stallone upset.

DJariya

Just saw this today and absolutely loved it.

This version kicks so much ass. It's 98 minutes straight of hardcore R-rated violence with a shit load of bloody deaths. It blows away the version starring Stallone (although I do own that version on DVD as it does have a cheese factor)

Even though we never saw his full face and his dialogue was minimal, I thought Urban was perfectly cast as Dredd and IMO he sold the character perfectly without making it a caricature like Stallone.

I also thought the techno-type score was awesome and worked very well with all the action scenes and shootouts.

Lena Headey was a great villain. This was a case where less was indeed more. Keeping the movie in one central location IMO added to the tension and kept things interesting.

I would love to see a sequel to this.

Day 1 BD purchase from me. Hopefully the audio commentary will feature the director and Urban.

Matthew Chmiel

Thanks assholes for overhyping this.

I came in expecting the violent second coming of Christ and ended up walking out going, "Meh."

It's a solid film and should be doing better at the box office, but I believe The Raid did the concept better.

Supermallet

Oh, you didn't hear? Jesus DID come back...and then Dredd judged him.

Matthew Chmiel

Jesus never should've touched Dredd's gun. Now he has two holes in his hand.