wlj

This is one of those movies that i want to like so badly. It is a cult classic and so many people adore it. I am on my 3rd viewing. My 2nd viewing was around 10 years ago. I am watching The Final Cut this time around. It has taken me 2 days just to get to the halfway point. I am going to push through the last half tonight. At first I was like "hey, i think i am going to like it this time!" Not long after me saying that "oh yeah, nope i still don't like it". The movie is so cool to look at, but it is sooooooooooooo boring and slow as goddamit. Maybe in the last half something will click and I will like it, but I am not going to hold my breath.


What am I doing wrong?

Hokeyboy

Here's the fun part: you don't have to force yourself to like what many other people love. Even if it's adored by millions and critically regarded as a cinematic classic

Often it's interesting to see why informed viewers (critics, historians, even rank-and-file bloggers) profess such a strong admiration or devotion to a particular film, but otherwise, pass and move on. I stopped trying to "get" Magnolia a long time ago and am happy with pronouncing it as the overpraised steaming buttload that it is. Say that out loud in any film forum and people will gawk at you like you just wiped your ass with the original manuscript for "Catcher In The Rye". Which is probably the best thing you can do with piece of tripe, too...

fumanstan

I've mentioned it before, but the first time I saw Blade Runner I was bored as hell. I saw it again a couple years later and ended up enjoying it a lot more, appreciating the visuals and slower pace. I don't really know what changed, if it was just my mood at the time.

Mr. Flix

Nothing. Saw it once more than 10 years ago and never need to see it again. It was fine, I suppose, but struck me as rather dated and nothing special.

RocShemp

For me this has always been more of a mood piece. The premise is interesting but the plot isn't truly fleshed out. It's more about the almost ethereal feeling as you watch it and witness someone deemed less than human (Roy Batty) cling desperately to his brief life.

mndtrp

I like the movie, but don't find it as awesome as a lot of other people. I'm not really concerned how other people compare to what I find enjoyable.

RocShemp

I despise both Magnolia and "Catcher in the Rye" . I am surprised to find that I am not alone.

TGM

I always thought it was slow and plodding. I understand it's a sci-fi classic, but I can rattle off at least 100 scifi movies I've enjoyed more.

wlj

You would think since the character is something called a "Bladerunner" he would do alot of cool stuff. however he is just a detective basically

Timber

Not even the best running moving of the 80's

The Running Man > Bladerunner

Seriously though I'm not a huge fan. It's one of those movies that I think I should like, and I want to like but it just didn't grab me upon first viewing. I do think it's one of those movies that if I watched multiple times my appreciation for it would grow.

OldBoy

yeah, i wasn't enthralled with it at first, but it has since left an impression and i now highly regard it in my personal collections...

Ash Ketchum

This. You have to be in the right frame of mind for it. Sometimes you're on the same wavelength, sometimes you're not. And with some films you just can't ever be on the same wavelength. Like me (and Hokeyboy and RocShemp) with MAGNOLIA.

On the other hand, I didn't read "Catcher in the Rye" until I was 49--and loved it. Why had nobody turned me onto it when I was a teenager?

kefrank

I love Blade Runner, but I don't think it's worth forcing yourself to try to connect with a movie that you just don't connect with simply because some consider it a classic.

Case in point, I can acknowledge the technical merits of Citizen Kane, but I just don't connect with that movie on any level and have no desire to watch it again. And I'm ok with that.

watson503

I saw Blade Runner in the theater as a kid, I liked it but it was never a huge favorite of mine. Still need to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which it is based on and watch it again.

Abob Teff

You're doing it wrong ...

Maxflier

I was bored out of my skull when I watched it, once is enough for me.

EctoCooler

You have ADHD. That or you're simply not used to the slow pace. Could be the the generational thing. No biggie.

EctoCooler

There's your problem. You're just looking for "cool stuff". It's not meant to be a sci-fi actioner/thriller.

EctoCooler

Nonsense.

Nick Danger

I like film noir, I like pulp novels, I like science fiction, I like eerieness and the fantastic, and I like visual extravaganzas (even if the plot is weak). So Bladerunner is right up my alley.

Do you like Akira, The City of Lost Children, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Fifth Element, The Matrix, and Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner? I do. You might not.

rocket1312

I think some of you are really overvaluing Magnolia's place in film history.

As for Blade Runner, I was bored to tears the first time I saw it. Actually, I think I fell asleep. I saw it for the second time 15 or so years later. I certainly appreciated it more the second time, but I wasn't necessarily enjoying it either. Still, over the course of the 2 hours, it started to get under my skin. As soon as it was over I had a nagging desire to see it again. I still have yet to see it for the third time, but I have a feeling it's one of those ones that will continue to grow on me. I think it helps to have some interest/background in film noir to really appreciate it.

mwbmis

I watched the theatrical cut on VHS back in the 80s and didn't get it. Watched it in college in the early 90s when it was rereleased theatrically, and while I appreciated it more I still found it "overrated". Watched the director's cut a few more times on VHS through the years after that and thought roughly the same thing.

Picked up the five disc set shortly after I converted to Blu-Ray, and watched the final cut, and the movie finally clicked with me, and I thought it was a masterpiece.

DaveyJoe

Yep, you just need to watch the movie 4 or 5 more times and you'll get it.

tasha99

Always loved Blade Runner and had to go out and read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep right after seeing it the first time. But I like film noir and slow, moody movies. You don't have to.

I will confess to not enjoying Titanic, a film almost everyone I know in real life thinks was great. I think there will always be movies that other people like but just fall flat to an individual person.

Hokeyboy

While I don't think the movie needs 4 or 5 viewings, some movies' appeal are rarely visible upon first viewing. My favorite movie of all time is Brazil and I freakin' *DESPISED* it when I saw it in theaters at age 15. Of course this was 1986 and at the time my favorite movies were "Back To The Future", "Star Wars", and "The Octagon".

I didn't see "Brazil" again until college and I sorta liked it and found it intriguing. Upon viewing it a third time a few weeks later, I fell madly in love with the thing, and still am.

Also: I always very much liked, respected, and admired Citizen Kane on its own, but it's a film I never really *loved* until I saw it projected on the big screen during one of those "See the Classics at the Theater" experiences. Wow. That made all the difference in the world. I went bugfork nuts over that experience.

Also: porn