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V For Vendetta (PICS)

 
  

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Jack The Bodiless
10:19 / 21.07.05
Nonsense. They weren't nearly tall enough. Just didn't make sense to me. I mean, why even bother? Also, J. Martin Stanislavsky is practically a midget. Are we really supposed to believe he even wrote all those scripts? I mean, REALLY! It beggars belief!

I know I've mentioned this in another thread, but does anyone else reckon the English tabloid media (obviously that includes the Express, the Mail and the Heat style mags) will crucify this film if it shows a terrorist hero setting off bombs in London?
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
12:31 / 21.07.05
I've decided I'm way way hot for short shaven hair Natalie:

Oh my god, the elfen cuteness
 
 
Alex's Grandma
13:10 / 21.07.05
J the B;

Yep.

Does anyone know if they're still going ahead with the November 5th release date ?
 
 
Sax
13:58 / 21.07.05
V for VILE!
Movie "hero" is London bomber

By Hugh Janus
Daily Mail Staff

The families of victims of the London bombings were delivered a kick in the teeth today as a film which glamorises terrorism went on general release.
V for Vendetta, based on a comic published by DC, the home of children's favourites Superman and Batman, features as its hero a masked terrorist who plots to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
Conservative MP Tim Pobbly-Om said: "Anyone who pays money to see this film is practically supporting terrorism. It should be banned outright and all those involved in it shown photographs of the carnage those cowardly bombers caused on July 7."
The original comic was written by Alan Moore, a bearded Satanist from Northampton who also produced a comic about Jack the Ripper.

Etc.

At least, that's what I'd do.
 
 
Sensual Cobra
14:04 / 21.07.05
Weirdly Stalinist "mask banners" from the official site.

According to the synopsis, "Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known only as “V.” Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and guerilla marketing, V ignites a merchandising revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and the dissatisfaction of lives lived without Guy Fawkes-branded apparel. As Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself – and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring fashionable footwear and media synergy back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption."
 
 
Bastard Tweed
18:50 / 21.07.05
I always suspected but I never knew . . .



The best defence against fascist tyranny is in fact CAPITALISM!
 
 
Malio
22:08 / 22.07.05
Trailer is now up.
 
 
Jack Fear
22:20 / 22.07.05
Trailer's up. (Quicktime)

And fuck me if it actually doesn't look pretty good.

V's terrifying, inhuman speed is intact, and the voice is commanding without indulging in a cod-Brian Blessed boom. Everybody looks plenty tall, too.

Hits all the key themes: "Behind my mask is not a face of flesh and blood, but an idea—and ideas are bulletproof": the complicity and silent assent of the people—"If your government was responsible for the death of 100,000 people, would you really wanna know about it?" Nice, nice, nice.

Some of the fascist-England imagery a bit too obviously Nazi-inspired—I mean, yeah, I know it was Nazi-esque in the comic too, but a bit more believably subtle than the strutting blackshirts and frothingly fuhreresque John Hurt in the trailer—but still, it works pretty well.

Interesting things revealed by frame-by-frame analysis: the brief flash of yellow banners in the wind would seem to be from the "Valerie" flashback—there's what appears to be a butch/femme dyke couple kissing amid the billowing fabric—and it uts immediately to Natalie/Evey clutching Valerie's leetter and weeping. Nice stratgy, to make the prewar flashbacks bright and saturated, in contrast to the dingy, washed-out present.

Also, the figure painting the V symbol on the signboard would appear to be the bespectacled girl from the corresponding scene in the comic—but she's wearing the cloak and the Guy Fawkes mask (with her specs on over it—bless).

I dunno—the people putting trailer together, at least, seem to get it. All those wonky script reviews aside, I'm actually getting glimmerings of hope for this...
 
 
Hieronymus
22:34 / 22.07.05
Damn, it does look good, doesn't it?

So long as they keep Valerie's letter intact and pretty much in full, we'll be pals.
 
 
nedrichards is confused
06:06 / 23.07.05
Bullet time knife throwing, a fine plan. I just fear that this may be the only watchable two minutes in the entire film. I'd love to be proved wrong though.
 
 
Benny the Ball
07:40 / 23.07.05
As said above, the trailer has been cut very well. Maybe the film will be made in the edit - a script is just a script is just a script afterall, and we can all bitch and moan about it, but a good director can cut the film to iron out the problems. I'm loving the rose image, that looks great.
 
 
Spaniel
12:47 / 23.07.05
I'm not sure that scripts are quite so unimportant, Benny.

Rich Johnston's V script review is worth a read.
 
 
Benny the Ball
13:35 / 23.07.05
Not so much unimportant, Boboss, as only as good as the interpretation of the director when it comes to what we see up on the screen. The trailer makes what has been filmed look at lot better than most of those writting about it so far have said, but so far all those writting about it have only read the script. Yeah, you can tell a bad script from a good one, but a good director can make a good film from an okay script. So far, we a) haven't seen anything else by this director as it is his first film (benefit of the doubt, this isn't the man who directed Van Helsing or Resident Evil (both proven directors who, for my money, are awful at their craft) for example) b) the source material is my favourite graphic story of all time, so, naturally I have some clear ideas of how I think it should look and what's important to the story, but that's my opinion. This director could have equally strong ideas, which differ from mine - doesn't make them bad, just different. c) I liked the Matrix films (yes plural, the last was the weakest in my opinion) and as such I feel that although again the producers of this film may differ in what is important, the group making this film aren't affraid to put things on film that many other people would shy away from (long dialogue scenes) and as such make bigger films with a little more guts than the heavily produced, toy-line, big return, happy-meal happy other groups.

I just feel that the trailer has hit a lot of good notes, for me, and made me want to see a film that I would have been wanting to see anyway more than any of the gripes that have been risen about the script so far have made me not want to watch.
 
 
Spaniel
16:59 / 23.07.05
Benny, you really don't need to explain that directors can improve upon the script they're given. I'm just concerned because, if Johnston's review is on the money, they've cut out key themes, and all the tricksy directing and editing in the world won't be able to put 'em back in.
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
17:02 / 23.07.05
that was completely surprising. i was pretty read for this to be cringe inducing (even with my new found appreciation of bald Natalie), but hell...that was pretty nice. didn't see anything that i really detested. i wish V's voice was more effected (more reverb or something, maybe). He doesn't sound like Smith, but it does sound similar to Elrond's cadence.

the Evey in the rain scene looked nice.

seems like it will be worth seeing, even if it does have that (ugh) army of V's at the end.
 
 
Benny the Ball
17:08 / 23.07.05
Boboss, yeah I see what you mean, having read the Gutters piece. However, they were never going to make the V I thought of, unless they let me do it as a five part BBC drama, so I'm kind of resigned to just accepting this as your mans version of it. Still, go on, admit it, the trailer is good.
 
 
Triplets
20:37 / 23.07.05
The only thing that grated was "Knife Time".

Trailers tho, they can be tricky...
 
 
Triplets
20:45 / 23.07.05
This, however, is fantastigreat

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
 
 
invisible_al
22:10 / 23.07.05
You know it doesn't look that bad, they've pretty much nailed some of the iconic scenes, the interrogator in shadow, the above figure of V walking out of the fire, the scenes of two people kissing amoung the yellow flags. Knife-Time hmmmm well it's not looking half as bad as I'd thought, but that is damming with faint praise. Ok trailer is looking good, consider my hope level to have shifted up a notch from zero .
 
 
Billuccho!
22:43 / 23.07.05
For a bastardization of a Moore work, this looks watchable!
 
 
Keith, like a scientist
05:19 / 24.07.05
i love that shot of V in the flames. i even love how they've "comic-ized" by making him completely sexless. haha.
 
 
Krug
08:20 / 24.07.05
Looks fucking stupid.

The actual line was "Did you think to kill me? There is no flesh and blood within this cloak to kill. There is only an idea. And ideas are bulletproof."

Don't rewrite Alan Moore motherfuckers!

And don't have Hugo Weaving read out the dialog.

Stylised rape of one of the best comics, I don't normally care about comic adaptations and avoid comicbook films but I love VFV like no other.

And I thought Rich Johnston's script review prepared me for it.
 
 
Benny the Ball
09:08 / 24.07.05
Shut up, look at the knives spinning, look at the big explosions, just look at it man!

Okay, when a creative team takes over on a comic book that you don't like, most people would stop buying the book, right? But why is there this whole film is sacrosant, they've ruined my favourite book ever nonsense with comic book adaptaions. It's just an inturpretation. For me League of E G the film was the equivolent of having Rob Leifield or Todd McFarlane do a few issues of the book - this film of VfV looks like Chuck Dixon or Brian Azzrello's take on the book - it'll be different, yeah, but I'll wait until I've seen it until I tell you if I like it as a film. Nothing, nothing can take away how great the book is, how fantastically well crafted a stroy it is, it doesn't stop existing once the film comes out.
 
 
Spaniel
09:55 / 24.07.05
Oh, I agree. Based on this evidence the film might be enjoyable enough, but it won't be the V I love. That's not to say, however, that I ever expected it to be. This is Hollywood. afterall.
 
 
Jack Fear
12:20 / 24.07.05
The actual line was "Did you think to kill me? There is no flesh and blood within this cloak to kill. There is only an idea. And ideas are bulletproof."

How do you keep your knives so sharp, to split those hairs so fine?
 
 
Sax
12:07 / 25.07.05
I must say, the film looks fucking great from that trailer.

Although "Knife Time" sounds like a Channel 5 cookery show.
 
 
FinderWolf
16:56 / 25.07.05
>> Portman's 'Vendetta' To Keep London Explosion Storylines

from Variety:

Producers of Natalie Portman's forthcoming film V For Vendetta have refused to edit out scenes of bombings on the London Underground train network, despite the recent terrorist attacks in the British capital. Fifty-five people were killed and over 700 injured when a double-decker bus and three trains were blown apart by suicide bombers on July 7. Last week, one person was injured during four failed terror attacks on different underground railway lines and a bus in east London. In V For Vendetta, a futuristic London is the target of a terrorist attacks and sees the tube lines destroyed by bombings. Executive producer Joel Silver says, "It's a great time for this movie. It's a controversial film and it's a controversial time. It's going to make people think." Fellow producer David Lloyd adds, "In terms of what happened in London it's important to try and understand what leads people to terrorism. There should be lots of movies made about terrorists." Director James McTiegue explains, "Terrorism is one of those themes that never really goes away."
 
 
Triplets
17:08 / 25.07.05
YES!
 
 
Jack Fear
17:58 / 25.07.05
Most interesting aspect of that article for me: David Lloyd is actually co-producing the movie?!?

Edited to add: not according to the IMDb, he ain't. Shoddy reporting, I'd guess.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
22:36 / 25.07.05
I'm not at all convinced by the trailer, but I'm not sure that it's not just because it doesn't look like it looks in my head - I think I was expecting something with a grainy, murky look, like a mid-80s BBC political drama. Edge of Darkness, basically. Not something so glossy and so very... Hollywood. The slow-mo knife throwing just adds to that whole 'effects-laden roller-coaster thrill-ride extravaganza' bit.

Daft, I know, but it's just not at all what I wanted from this, even if it is only a trailer.

Also have to say that the overly obvious Nazi imagery - yr blackshirts, yr Hurt-as-Hitler - screams of a lack of subtlety that strikes me as far more worrying than Jack believes it to be. Totally removes any sense that this is something that could realistically be happening here and now. The destruction of civil liberties should be a death by degrees - I suppose that I might be happier with it if the completed film provides some backstory that shows the country slowly getting eaten from the inside over a period of time leading up to the (movie timeline's) current day.
 
 
Liger Null
22:42 / 25.07.05
So long as it's not the "England loses WW2" backstory. Was that ever cleared up?
 
 
Our Lady Has Left the Building
09:54 / 26.07.05
It's the 'English accents' that scare me.

"Lawks! It's that perishin' V fella!"
 
 
Withiel: DALI'S ROTTWEILER
10:45 / 26.07.05
Was the Nazi angle ever that subtle, though? Given that there's at least one panel of the fascists marching along in some sort of uniform, with flags showing an angular logo (an SS-style lightning bolt, I think) in a circle. Also the concentration camps and cabaret clubs. Obviously, it's more nuanced than that, but I suppose that playing the Leader as a more obvious Bad Person might be in order to make it certain viewers are on the right side. After all, V's a terrorist, and some people might read the post-nuclear fascist takeover as reasonable given the circumstances or some bollocks like that.
 
 
Tom Coates
12:45 / 28.07.05


Circulating around the internet today...
 
 
Triplets
15:02 / 28.07.05
"Did you think to kill me? There is no flesh and blood within this work shirt to kill..."

Aw crap, I'm rewriting Alan Moore again.
 
  

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