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| Posted By | Discussion Topic: Brotherhood of the Wolf... | ||||
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...And now the battle between us and them has begun. JYD-4-LIFE. | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 11:35 AM |    | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: May. 00  | From the preview that they are showing on tv, this movie looks like a French, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which isn't a bad thing. Throw in some a horror theme and this may be a damn good movie. Has anybody heard any non-critic buzz about this movie and whether it would be worth a look...Ikea, I'm looking in your direction now I am the game, you don't want to play me i am control, no way you can shake me i am heavy debts, no way you can pay me i am the pain ,and i know you can't take me | ||||
| Maynard | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 11:47 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Jan. 01 | Well, this movie really looks pretty cool. I personally haven't heard anything about it until they started showing the trailers. But from those, it looks like it may be interesting. | ||||
| JIMMYSNUKA | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 11:51 AM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Nov. 00 | Here is a review for ya, The year is 1765. The place is France. And ol’ King Louis XV, try as he might, isn’t quite as beloved by his people as he’d like to be; there are whispers of Revolution carried on the wind. In one rural part of the country, the reason is pretty simple—a giant evil wolf demon is killing scores of women and children. Luckily for rural France, an old town notable and his Native American sidekick just arrived in town with a big bunch of guns, mad Martial Arts skillz, and a whole lot of women, children, and honor to defend. C’est l’heure de ass-whoop le loup de démon, Voltaire once said. Don’t try to slap a genre label on Brotherhood of the Wolf. It’s 37% Horror, 23% Historical Drama, 20% Martial Arts Action, 9% Conspiracy/Thriller, 7% Period Romance, 4% Other, and 100% Unique. What starts off feeling like a pure action-horror flick with a bewildering olde-tyme French setting quickly reveals itself to be much more than that, as wolf attacks give way to complex courtly conspiracies, bizarre love triangles, and true-feeling tales of friendship…with extended periods of kung-fu stuntmanship. It's a grand, unsettling clash between Braveheart, Jaws, Mortal Kombat, and Barry Lyndon somewhere in the vineyards outside Avignon. Samuel Le Bihan plays Fronsac, a surgeon/scientist with pre-Revolutionary medical notions and a solid background in witnessing the horrors or war. Mark Dacascos plays Mani, Fronsac’s Iroquois blood brother and travelling compatriot. The crux of the drama rests on the strength of their bond; the crux of the action rests on their athletic skills. Luckily, both actors do both jobs quite convincingly. The rest of the cast is just as convincing in their respective roles. The troupe of town elders just look perfect, with the kind of wizened faces and cartoonish expressive features you’d expect in a lineup of comic conspirators…though anyone who knows their archetypes will be able to spot the villain a kilometre away. Brotherhood's scenes of violence can get pretty brutal. Early on, a young girl is dashed against some rocks in a scene that echoes the opening attack scene in Jaws. The movie wisely refrains from showing the "creature" for more than and hour, offering only teases and glimpses while letting the aftermath and clever framing do most of the talking, and it’s here where the film is most effectively frightening. Once the enemy is shown in all its “glory,†however (it oscillates between being an awful B-movie CGI puppetoon and a kinda nifty Muppet from the Jim Henson Creature Shop), no longer is it particularly terrifying. Then it's just kinda...weird. Sure, cheesiness is easy to forgive in a low-budget independent French film—but I’m left wondering why they had to show the beast at all (or as much as they did)—and how much more effective it would have been if kept mostly in shadow, like Ridley Scott’s Alien. The martial arts scenes are hit-and-miss…mostly hit, thankfully. Some are excellent, especially one late bit of inspired, savage vengeance that takes place in a dank, creepy dungeon conveniently filled with plenty of handy ass-kicking props. Earlier scenes, however, get confusing and cluttered, as Mark Dacascos’ impressive martial arts skill is lost in a flurry of Attention Deficit Disorder editing techniques. You can actually see Christopher Gans’ directorial skill increase as the film goes on. Brotherhood’s wild variance is both a blessing and a curse. If you’re like me, you’ll revel in the variety, quietly awed by how well so many incongruent genres have been mashed together. If you’re like others in the audience, you’ll find it uneven, and be bored by the conspiracy scenes and enamored of the wolf scenes, or vice-versa. Looking back, Brotherhood reminds me of Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, a movie I loved right up until the end when Tim’s rushed “reveal†flatly killed half of what was cool about the film. Brotherhood, thankfully, doesn’t have that problem at all. So don’t the French language or the subtitles or the fact that the monster is kinda goofy-lookin’ keep you from trekking to your local art theater to see Brotherhood of the Wolf. It’s a unique, fun, and full movie experience. As an added bonus, you can later tell your friends that you saw something called Le Pacte Des Loups, and that you actually enjoyed it. Can’t beat that with a stick.  | ||||
| skitchr4u G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S. Xtreme Skiing Assualt Force | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 11:58 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Dec. 00 | sounds like a movie i can get into. any idea of a release date? | ||||
| JIMMYSNUKA | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 12:02 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Nov. 00 | quote: January 11th. | ||||
| DoughBoy | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 12:05 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | i hope that the movie isn't as long as the review! | ||||
| Roger | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 3:28 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00 | Definately worth seeing. Subtitles or not, the movie was pretty fucking good. Got 3 1/2 stars too if you care. "One girl, I drove through three states wearing her head as a hat." ~ Garland 'The Marietta Mangler' Greene "Hand me the keys, you cocksucker!" "In English, please?" "Excuse me?" "In English." "Hand me the fucking keys, you cocksucker, what the fuck?" "French, gay, whatever," Anthony said. | ||||
| *~*BeckyDC*~* Teh TWATWAFFLE Y's teh EGGROLL!!! | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 3:32 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Sep. 01 | I never saw Crouching Tiger...but I hear this movie's good. I like the preview that I saw.. AIM | E-Mail Me | ||||
| IkeaBoy P.L.F. Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal I will die a traitor's death | posted on 01-14-2002 @ 3:33 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Sep. 00 | I saw the previews for this awhile ago and I've heard good reviews and am planning to see this in theaters sometime this week. And Anthony just gave it thumbs up.  "It appears my wee wee has been strucken with rigor mortis." | ||||
| skitchr4u G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S. Xtreme Skiing Assualt Force | posted on 01-15-2002 @ 3:20 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Dec. 00 | thanks snuka, but i can't find it playing anywhre near me. is it going to be a limited release, or will it be mass released at a later date? | ||||
| JIMMYSNUKA | posted on 01-15-2002 @ 3:29 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Nov. 00 | It is suppose to be in wide release this friday. | ||||
| DasDoomper | posted on 01-15-2002 @ 3:43 PM | | |||
| Psychopath Registered: Jun. 01 | quote: I don't think I can take over two hours of French people, especially if I have to read subtitles. I'm gona wait for Pay Per View, it's cheaper. DasDoomper  | ||||
| IkeaBoy P.L.F. Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal I will die a traitor's death | posted on 01-15-2002 @ 4:30 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Sep. 00 | it's plying around the block from me but the $10 irks me "It appears my wee wee has been strucken with rigor mortis." | ||||
| LunaBabe Ok, I know this is all a ploy, but, I'll play anyway. Dylan? BAH! I've heard BETTER! JYD-4-LIFE 'Shrooomer | posted on 01-15-2002 @ 9:56 PM | | |||
| O&A Board Regular Registered: Jun. 01 | I just saw the commercial for this tonight. It looks like my type of movie. | ||||
| IkeaBoy P.L.F. Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal I will die a traitor's death | posted on 01-31-2002 @ 2:26 AM | | |||
| O&A Board Veteran Registered: Sep. 00 | saw it tonight, it was a bit long but definitely fucking enjoyable. great action sequences, well made, stylish, NICE "It appears my wee wee has been strucken with rigor mortis." | ||||
| TigerTat | posted on 01-31-2002 @ 8:01 AM | | |||
| Hanger-On Registered: Dec. 01 | quote: An evil wolf demon? We surrender! -- France.  | ||||
Displaying 1-16 of 16 messages in this thread. |