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Post by trashcanman on Aug 2, 2014 11:01:15 GMT 2
SO I just watched last year's The Purge. What a flick. And what massive franchise potential. The concept is that near-future America staves off economic and social collapse with an annual night where all crime is legalized. Rich people barricade themselves in their homes with massive security systems or break out state of the art hunting gear and join in the fun by slaughtering those who can't afford proper shelter. It's pretty much fucking great.
The first film was really small in scope. Basically about one family trying to defend their home from a psychotic mob who are after a homeless man hiding in their house. But the sequel looks to take us to the streets.
This just came out a few weeks ago and I'm hoping to catch it before it leaves theaters. And if I'm lucky I'll get to check off my bucket list wish of going to Universal Studios Halloween this year, where they will have a Purge themed live attraction. The first film was extremely refreshing (shocking considering Michael Bay is a producer) and I can see no immediate limit to the stories that could be told in this scenario. It's classic social horror with a dystopian twist and I hope it maintains this level of quality for alll the yearly Purge to come.
Anyone else seen this or am I the last one to the party?
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Post by Ben on Aug 2, 2014 18:12:07 GMT 2
I thought the first one looked great when the trailers launched. I got all excited for it and was planning to see it, but then a good pal of mine (one of the select few people who I trust to give me a fair and accurate assessment of all things cinema-related) saw it and told me they completely wasted all of its potential. His main beef was that the characters didn't behave anything like real people would behave, instead doing the things they do simply to move the story along to where the writers wanted to take it. I can't stand movies like that, so I held off watching it.
Despite that, I thought the trailer for the second one looked a lot more promising. I've been debating whether or not to go, but I'm thinking I'll wait until it's out on DVD and then tackle both of them at once. The concept of The Purge definitely gets an A+ from me.
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Post by trashcanman on Aug 2, 2014 19:02:57 GMT 2
That's actually true what your friend said, but that's kind of a horror movie staple so I let it slide. When the dude's like, "a bunch of masked psychos are coming to rape and kill us all...we should split up and wander around aimlessly in the dark instead of hide or find a defensible position together" my eyes rolled, but what the hell. Plus, the idea that the economy could be saved by killing all the poor people is classic Bay. But overall there was a lot of unexpected craziness and a general tone that made it really fucking enjoyable for me so long as you are just expecting a cool horror movie and not a flawless masterpiece.
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Post by Ben on Aug 3, 2014 2:07:45 GMT 2
I'm an elitist douchebag when it comes to horror films, so I'm sure it'll rub me the wrong way to some degree, but it's definitely on The List. The concept is too good for anyone to totally fuck it up. Also, just from the trailers I get this vibe that the franchise will continue to get more and more gory and disturbing as it progresses. I bet by the fourth film there'll be a lengthy brutal rape scene a la Last House on the Left (I'm perhaps naively assuming they haven't gone there yet) until the franchise completely devolves into "torture porn."
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Post by Ben on Aug 18, 2014 17:21:18 GMT 2
I recently tackled both Purge films in one night. The first one had a few great scenes I really appreciated. The main fight sequence with Ethan Hawke was pretty fucking badass, and I also enjoyed how they kicked off the chaos with the boyfriend and the random dude from outside.
That said, what the hell was with some of the characters? Everyone splits up, Ethan Hawke neglects to arm everybody, they're all super bipolar about how they feel about the random dude, and how the hell are they all in the same building yet no one can hear or see anything going on elsewhere in the house? The neighbors were really contrived with their brainwashed "it's our RIGHT to Purge!" mantra, and the number of times a "good guy" was saved at the last possible second was insane. I enjoyed it for the most part, but yeesh. What a mess at times.
The recent sequel, on the other hand, was a whole lot better. I enjoyed just about everything about it. I'll be seeing the next one, certainly.
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Post by trashcanman on Aug 18, 2014 22:10:50 GMT 2
I think it was a mess intentionally because of the overall anarchy theme. You're talking about people who have one night a year to do any horrific thing they want and an entire year to plan those things out. It's central to their entire society the way that patriotism and religion is in real life America so I felt like the way everyone was behaving on hair triggers and celebrating these horrific acts that everybody credits with saving their country was really interesting. It's got to play on your mind, especially on the night in question. But yeah, the whole family splitting up thing was just pure horror movie stupidity. I meant to see the new one, but circumstances continually conspire to keep me away from the theater so I guess I'll have to wait until the DVD comes out. Still planning on getting to Universal Studios to see their live Purge Halloween attraction, though.
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Post by Ben on Aug 19, 2014 23:10:55 GMT 2
You're going to love the sequel, especially since it explores the various societal dynamics you're talking about a lot more in depth. That's all I can say without spoiling anything major.
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