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Brainless Brad! Pitt's dumbed-down zombie film World War Z faces box-office disaster
dailymail ^ | 20 June 2013 | By Chris Tookey

Posted on 06/21/2013 3:03:29 PM PDT by dennisw

So, after all the hype and rumours of disaster, what’s World War Z like? Well, even though it’s directed by Marc Forster, it reminded me of the action films made by Roland Emmerich, which range from the nearly sublime (Independence Day) to the totally ridiculous (10,000 BC).

It’s slap-bang in the middle of that quality spectrum, round about the level of Godzilla.

Movies don’t come bigger than this, and zombie flicks usually come a lot smaller. In Shaun Of The Dead, the undead had to content themselves with snacking on a handful of British actors in a deserted pub. Here it’s the future of humanity that’s at stake. This time, instead of Simon Pegg, Brad Pitt is available to save us, and the skies are soon full of crashing helicopters, screaming jets and stunt people being sucked out of aircraft.

The film is impressive in its big set pieces. The initial panic on the streets of Philadelphia is thrilling, as is the fall of Jerusalem to the undead horde and an airborne sequence that might easily have been called Zombies On A Plane.

But the film is horrifyingly feeble when it comes to characterisation. All we know about Pitt’s Gerry is that he loves his family, but no one has given this hero any exceptional qualities. The same goes for the other characters: as uninteresting a lot as I’ve seen in a disaster movie.

We never know why the powers-that-be at the United Nations think so highly of Gerry. He’s resourceful, but doesn’t seem particularly brave, bright or knowledgeable. It is a central weakness that, without any particular expertise, he solves the mystery of how to fight the zombies before anyone else.

Negative reaction: The last 40 minutes of the film where rewritten and reshot

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: bradpitt; worldwarzzzzzzzz
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To: dennisw; windcliff

Maybe they should have called the movie “World War ZZZZZZZ” as in a snooze fest.


21 posted on 06/21/2013 3:29:02 PM PDT by I Drive Too Fast
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To: Durbin

Are you talking about Godzilla with Matthew Broderick? Yeah that one was really good. I really didn’t understand why that got so panned. It got a little stupid in parts (did we really need Matthew Broderrick showing his Broadway chops by singing “Singing in the rain?), but that Godzilla was epic.


22 posted on 06/21/2013 3:30:29 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (Someday our schools will teach the difference between "lose" and "loose")
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To: Pharmboy

Most of the actors/actresses (Apocalypto) were natives or native enough or Indian enough heritage to pull it off. They had natural acting ability.

It is brilliant and Mel Gibson’s best work..... Well the first two Mad Max movies were great


23 posted on 06/21/2013 3:34:25 PM PDT by dennisw (too much of a good thing is a bad thing - Joe Pine)
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To: dennisw

I just started reading the book. Haven’t seen the movie.


24 posted on 06/21/2013 3:39:24 PM PDT by GSWarrior (When someone points at the moon, don't stare at his finger.)
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To: Zhang Fei
"Torture porn" lol! I LOVED that movie! There is no movie like that. It's the ultimate chase flick. I felt Gibson was taking a jab at Islam with the beheadings as well, because if you noticed when they are doing those beheadings and the eclipse happens, he does a shot of the sky and he has the crescent moon with the star, very obvious which I though was brilliant. Watch it again if you get a chance, it's obvious as hell when they look up.

To me he is the best director going, but he's severely bipolar. One of the REAL bipolars out there, not one these Hollywood drug addicts who use it as an excuse by doctor shopping. And he never blamed all those outbursts he had on being bipolar which of course nobody ever mentions.

25 posted on 06/21/2013 3:39:51 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (Someday our schools will teach the difference between "lose" and "loose")
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda
They had a script, it's an international Bestseller by Max Brooks. The plot was outstanding - minimal special effects required.

2 years after an epidemic that nearly wiped mankind off the face of the earth, a UN writer has collected some of the stories of the survivors from all over the world. Tales of human nature, insights into other cultures, of Government bureaucracy, corruption and denials that almost cost our very existence against a relentless foe. A foe that never runs, has no concept of fear or mercy; a foe that never sleeps, never feels pain, remorse, fatigue, heat or cold - and how humanity came back from the brink.

It's a foolproof script ... but leave it to Hollywood to wreck a story that has won acclaim all on it's own. I have read the book several times - there are lessons to be learned in that book; lessons about what governments WILL do, for self-preservation, what greed will do, how greed and corruption will work together without a thought to consequence. Zombies? They are just the antagonist - the REAL enemy is the living.

26 posted on 06/21/2013 3:42:12 PM PDT by Hodar (A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.- Burroughs)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda
"Torture porn" lol!

The reviewer is a moron who seems to believe that if he pretends something doesn't exist, it never did.

27 posted on 06/21/2013 3:44:17 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

Wow...was there another Superman movie released this summer? Because what you’re describing couldn’t have been “Man of Steel.” That movie sucked big time.


28 posted on 06/21/2013 4:00:18 PM PDT by Stingray (Stand for the truth or you'll fall for anything.)
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To: dennisw

Just saw WWZ wife and I both liked it.Had sleepy horror movie feel to it,more realistic than most movies weve seen.Other than glorifying the UN and WHO we felt it was scary in a realistic way.I reccomend it.


29 posted on 06/21/2013 4:01:30 PM PDT by Craftmore
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To: dennisw

I’m looking forward to Copperhead. Not sure of the release date, probably over the 4th since it’s about the Civil War - I’m thinking in honor of Gettysburg.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404555/


30 posted on 06/21/2013 4:01:34 PM PDT by FrdmLvr (culture, language, borders)
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To: cherry

It’s the perfect movie, eating popcorn when its snowing out side on a Saturday afternoon. ;-)


31 posted on 06/21/2013 4:03:54 PM PDT by svcw (If you are dead when your heart stops, why aren't you alive when it starts.)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

I thought “Apocalypto” was an absorbing, exciting, and amazing film.

I was immensely impressed by the courage and tenacity of the Woman GIVING BIRTH in a huge pit that was rapidly filling with water...YIKES!!!!

And I had NO trouble following the Nahuatl dialogue and subtitles. There was so much action that the story was obvious without the subs.

Just a note regarding the demographics...I am female, part American Indian, and a Senior Citizen! LOL!

I caught the “eclipse thing” too.

Islam was as much a pain in the a$$ then as it is now.


32 posted on 06/21/2013 4:08:47 PM PDT by left that other site (You Shall Know the Truth, and the Truth Shall Set You Free...John 8:32)
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To: dennisw
I haven't seen this movie, but it looks interesting.


33 posted on 06/21/2013 4:08:56 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The monsters are due on Maple Street)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda
"Are you talking about Godzilla with Matthew Broderick? Yeah that one was really good. I really didn’t understand why that got so panned. It got a little stupid in parts (did we really need Matthew Broderrick showing his Broadway chops by singing “Singing in the rain?), but that Godzilla was epic."

You're joking, right?!

If they had named the monster Iguanadon instead of Godzilla, I could have saved the money I spent taking my family to see it.

34 posted on 06/21/2013 4:10:26 PM PDT by Waryone (Trust the Lord not your own understanding. Acknowledge Him. He will direct your path.)
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To: dennisw

I’m waiting for ZOMBIES VS. VAMPIRES.


35 posted on 06/21/2013 4:11:05 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The monsters are due on Maple Street)
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To: UCANSEE2
If that is Olympus has Fallen then wait until it turns up in the bargain bin. The plot had holes you could drive a truck through.
36 posted on 06/21/2013 4:16:03 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Revenge is a dish best served with pinto beans and muffins)
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To: Durbin
But I liked Independence Day

That was hokey as all get out! But I love hokey and I loved the movie too.......I suspect I'm going to like WW-Z.....

When it comes to Zombie movies, I'm thinking zombies, killings and survival, not character development or oscar nominations...........

37 posted on 06/21/2013 4:16:34 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (This space for rent)
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To: dennisw

The only thing which saved Independence Day was a likable cast.


38 posted on 06/21/2013 4:19:33 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: Hot Tabasco

“When it comes to Zombie movies, I’m thinking zombies, killings and survival, not character development or oscar nominations”

I’m a fan of The Walking Dead. Pretty sure WW Z won’t come close. But I’m still interested.


39 posted on 06/21/2013 4:21:25 PM PDT by Durbin
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To: FrdmLvr

“Copperhead” is terrific. Directed by Ron Maxwell, who directed the classic “Gettysburg.”


40 posted on 06/21/2013 4:29:32 PM PDT by karnage
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