[Movies] Guardians of the Galaxy

Bowielee

Bowielee

ThatNickGuy said:
I don't know if it was Whedon or someone else, but they confirmed that the Tesseract was, indeed, one of the Infinity Gems. It was also confirmed when it was shown in GotG, when The Collector was talking about them.
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He means that in the comics, the cosmic cube is not one of the infinity gems, so the movies aren't being slavish to the comic version of what the gems are.
 
Charlie Don't Surf

Charlie Don't Surf

I can't remember anything about the villains other than that I thought it was the guy from Thor 2 for a good portion of the movie

It also suffered from being too long and having the exact same third act climax as the last 5-6 Marvel movies

I still liked it overall and it was streets ahead of The Avengers, though
 
IronBrig4

IronBrig4

This isn't a gripe, but more like an observation. Quill's mix tape must be indestructible. He was listening to it in 1988 and had played it regularly for 26 years. Well, I'm assuming regularly because Quill had memorized many of the lyrics. I remember cassettes degraded in quality when used constantly. Awesome Mix Vol. 1 would have lasted for MAYBE ten years before his Walkman ate it.
 
ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

IronBrig4 said:
This isn't a gripe, but more like an observation. Quill's mix tape must be indestructible. He was listening to it in 1988 and had played it regularly for 26 years. Well, I'm assuming regularly because Quill had memorized many of the lyrics. I remember cassettes degraded in quality when used constantly. Awesome Mix Vol. 1 would have lasted for MAYBE ten years before his Walkman ate it.
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He is part of a highly advanced galactic community. Do you think his ship came standard with a tape player? Do you think his Walkman had a 27 year battery installed?

Seems pretty obvious to me that even if the alien races don't utilize things like tape players, they have the technology to restore or improve such tech to be better then previous. Otherwise things like the ship tape deck and the ability to keep his Walkman charged would be impossible.
The Nova Corps even repaired his ship at the end, tape player and all.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Charlie Don't Surf said:
I can't remember anything about the villains other than that I thought it was the guy from Thor 2 for a good portion of the movie

It also suffered from being too long and having the exact same third act climax as the last 5-6 Marvel movies

I still liked it overall and it was streets ahead of The Avengers, though
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What is it you have against Avengers, anyway? You've slagged it over and over but I don't think I've ever heard your reasoning.
 
Espy

Espy

ThatNickGuy said:
What is it you have against Avengers, anyway? You've slagged it over and over but I don't think I've ever heard your reasoning.
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I can't speak for him but I think there are several issues with The Avengers. It doesn't feel cinematic (compare it's kind of bland overall look to the fantastic world of the GotG, I mean, man, they created a freaking universe we got to play around in! And it looked good!) and I think Whedon played it very safe in general with, well, just about everything. It never took any risks, it felt like it was made in corporate Marvel film 101 class. It barely even felt like Whedon.

So I guess I want more of the real Whedon and less corporate Marvel in the next one. Gunn showed that a really good director can go crazy with the right film and make something amazing. Guardians is easily the best Marvel movie to date IMO. My wife and I saw it last night and we laughed like crazy, which we definitely needed after this week.


Edit: I'll add this, The Avengers was not a "bad" movie at all. It just wasn't as good as it should have been. I'm hoping the second one remedies that and we see something as awesome as GotG.
 
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Dave

Dave

Staff member
I think Avengers gets a bit worse each time you see it. But I think that GotG will get better.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Yeah, I don't get how anyone could dislike Avengers. It's fun, quotable, every character gets a chance to shine in their own way, and the last 45 minutes are arguably the best action sequences in any superhero movie.

I also don't see how you don't see Whedon's hand all over it, @Espy. He balances all the characters on the team in a way that none are forgotten, their interactions with each other are fantastic, which is a stable of any Whedon project, it's incredibly quotable as I just said, and there are bits of incredibly well-timed comedy either in one-liners or slapstick moments that are all staples of Whedon's writing. I mean, come on, how can you not love the running gag he called "Knock the Asgardian Out of Frame"?

I also don't see how you could call it playing it safe. The movie's existence was the risk. It was the ballsiest maneuver ever in Hollywood blockbuster history. No one had ever tried to take multiple characters from different movies and put them all together in a movie, with tying elements across all of them. It was a ballsy play that a lot of people didn't think would work, and yet they not only succeeded, but knocked it out of the park. And the train is STILL going, where they've yet to really have a financial bomb among all the movies. Incredible Hulk was probably the most disappointing compared to the rest, but it was still successful.

It's not without it's faults, though, don't get me wrong. Really, none of the Marvel movies are without faults. But it's still a huge endeavour that wound up being greatly entertaining.
 
IronBrig4

IronBrig4

ScytheRexx said:
He is part of a highly advanced galactic community. Do you think his ship came standard with a tape player? Do you think his Walkman had a 27 year battery installed?

Seems pretty obvious to me that even if the alien races don't utilize things like tape players, they have the technology to restore or improve such tech to be better then previous. Otherwise things like the ship tape deck and the ability to keep his Walkman charged would be impossible.
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And the tape player even has the fake wood paneling. Yeah, I think an interstellar civilization could rig up something like that. Like I said, it's not a gripe. It's like wondering how Banner's pants stay on when he hulks out.
 
ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

Bowielee said:
Or, you know, they could always swing by earth and get a new one from a rummage sale or something.
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I thought it was implied he had not been back to Earth since his abduction. Why half the references he makes is to 80s culture (Ninja Turtles, John Stamos, etc.). If he could just swing by Earth at any point he wanted he likely wouldn't have been holding on to the same walkman for 27 years.

Like I said, the way I see it, he likely use the walkman as a basis and had some alien developer rig in the system on his ship. It makes more sense since they would have to tie it into whatever alien power supply they are using. He likely also uses an alien power cell rigging into the walkman by this point to keep it operational.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

It's pretty much established that the universe at large knows about us, and via Agents of SHIELD, it's made clear that they have been to earth outside of GoTG. Wouldn't be too far fetched for there to be some sort of earther market.
 
ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

Bowielee said:
It's pretty much established that the universe at large knows about us, and via Agents of SHIELD, it's made clear that they have been to earth outside of GoTG. Wouldn't be too far fetched for there to be some sort of earther market.
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I think that is a bit of a stretch. Agents of SHIELD only implied a single dead kree, which could have been from anything from a crash landing to a random renegade like Rhonan. All the other alien tech used was based on the Chitari after Avengers, or in the case of Coulson's gun, The Destroyer (AKA Asgardian)

The fact the aliens don't even call it Earth (They call it Terra) makes me think that it's considered an off-limits world.
Might be one of the reasons Peter's dad abandoned them when he realized his presence on the planet put them in danger. I mean think about it, unless he is an outlaw himself, why else would he hire the Ravagers of all people to collect Peter? Why not send a less scrupulous group to do the job? Might be because the Ravagers didn't care about any no-fly zone.
P.S. the more I think about it, the more I think "Terra" might be off-limits due to it's designation as one of the "Nine Realms". It makes sense since all the planets that are part of the Nine Realms have been shown to be generally free from intergalactic intervention and some even downright primitive. Groups like the Nova Corps probably just don't want to piss off the Asgardians.
 
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Adam

Adam

Saw it. It was okay. Third act was the strongest for a Marvel movie in a long time. Groot and Rocket, as I predicted, stole the show completely.

Unfortunately missed the pre-titles scene so lost some emotional connection to the tape. Overall not a bad movie but Winter Soldier remains my favourite. But that's with heavy Cap bias.
 
Charlie Don't Surf

Charlie Don't Surf

There is no "hipster dislike" of The Avengers, it's pretty much just me. I more or less agree with Espy's take above. I'll give you for better or worse, Whedon's words/script came through, but direction was another bland, uninteresting mess. Also it seemed like the actors were sleepwalking through most of the not-quips-parts. He managed to make Robert Downey Jr. uninteresting.

ThatNickGuy said:
The movie's existence was the risk. It was the ballsiest maneuver ever in Hollywood blockbuster history.
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I have to disagree. I thought it was incredibly safe to make a $200M special effects movie starring 3-4 of the highest-drawing actors alive with about 10 hours' worth of trailers playing for it over the last 5 years. Sequels are the definition of safe.

Guardians was a much huger risk, taking characters not even hinted at in previous movies onto the big screen with mostly unknown actors (exception of Zoe Saldana) filling out the frame. And less than 10 years of comic book history to draw on.
 
CynicismKills

CynicismKills

Plus the movie had almost no media push that folks who weren't in the comic scene would have seen until what, early this year? It went from invisible to being everywhere.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Watched it this weekend, quite liked it. Completely made me eat crow about my earlier skepticism over the raccoon.

However... worst credits scene in an MCU movie to date!
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Charlie Don't Surf said:
Guardians was a much huger risk, taking characters not even hinted at in previous movies onto the big screen with mostly unknown actors (exception of Zoe Saldana) filling out the frame. And less than 10 years of comic book history to draw on.
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The difference is that they took essentially a Pixar route: they'd built up good will with their audience, so many audience members were in purely because it flew under the Marvel banner. Hell, I've talked to people at work who were only familiar with said Marvel banner, so were willing to see it on that basis alone.

Was it risky? Absolutely. But it's clearly paying off. Literally.

And the GotG property has been around since the 60s. The current version that they're basing the movie on is about 10 years old, but the name itself has been around for a lot longer than 10 years. Not to mention that all the characters have been around much longer than 10 years. Groot debuted in 1960. Many were pulled out of obscurity from the relaunched comic, but still.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

bhamv3 said:
However... worst credits scene in an MCU movie to date!
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Really? I thought it was best.

What could be even ballsier than doing an entire movie around a team of heroes most people never heard of, dealing with subject matter that is much beloved by fans but not exactly mainstream content? How about making the stinger feature a character that is kind of a joke in the Marvel universe and was the star of a TERRIBLE movie?

In my mind, the only thing that could have made it better is if the DVD extra short film has Agent Coulson and him and Coulson's like "Jesus ... I told you to never come back to Earth." Like he is the one guy who just really rubs him the wrong way and Coulson can't deal with him. He can deal with gods, aliens, angry billionaires... but THIS is where things get just too weird to handle.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

I had planned on seeing this tomorrow, but friends want me to go see it with them next Saturday, and swore me to an oath that the first time I see it, it would be with them.

So now I have to try to avoid this thread for a week, because the temptation to click on spoilers is too strong.
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

10am showings are great when you're coming off an overnight shift. But they absolutely SUCK when a movie like this starts and there's a grand total of three people in the entire auditorium. No vibe from the audience to give the movie that little extra kick.

Dancing baby Groot! :sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

Before the movie I was singing hooked on a feeling out loud and Nick wouldn't stand next to me.

After the movie we were singing it arm in arm.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

IronBrig4 said:
This isn't a gripe, but more like an observation. Quill's mix tape must be indestructible. He was listening to it in 1988 and had played it regularly for 26 years. Well, I'm assuming regularly because Quill had memorized many of the lyrics. I remember cassettes degraded in quality when used constantly. Awesome Mix Vol. 1 would have lasted for MAYBE ten years before his Walkman ate it.
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Also:
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--Patrick
 
Espy

Espy

And remember @ThatNickGuy, I didn't say I disliked it, I just said I didn't think it was as a good a movie as I had hoped it would be. It wasn't, in any way, a bad movie. It just wasn't as memorable as GotG, at least to me. It felt like a very safe, corporate led project where we got almost nothing of Whedon's normal energy and direction, which I suspect is because he had a ton of people managing him and how things were done, given the amount of cash pumped in to the film.

I'll probably rewatch it before the next one so we will see if it's gotten better or worse when I get around to it. Who knows, maybe it will be better than I remember.
 
phil

phil

After thinking about it for a few days I think my only real complaints about the movie would be:

1) On my 2nd viewing I sat way to the left of my row in the theater. This might make it an issue with the theater itself but my worry is that it might be one of those audio things that might show up on the DVD when it comes out, but that time Drax's jokes were WAY too quiet to really hear. This is disappointing because his jokes were by far my favorite.

"Nothing goes over my head! My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it,"
2) Rocket's confessional/character development scene at the bar felt a little...I dunno...forced? I like that they're exploring that side of Rocket and making him an actual character than a gimmick. For instance, the subtle ways they made Groot more human with him giving the flower to the girl, releasing the illuminating seedlings, making sure Drax was secured and comfortable in the Groot-ball were all better ways of making that kind of character personable than just getting him drunk and having him spill his guts.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

phil said:
After thinking about it for a few days I think my only real complaints about the movie would be:

1) On my 2nd viewing I sat way to the left of my row in the theater. This might make it an issue with the theater itself but my worry is that it might be one of those audio things that might show up on the DVD when it comes out, but that time Drax's jokes were WAY too quiet to really hear. This is disappointing because his jokes were by far my favorite.

"Nothing goes over my head! My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it,"
2) Rocket's confessional/character development scene at the bar felt a little...I dunno...forced? I like that they're exploring that side of Rocket and making him an actual character than a gimmick. For instance, the subtle ways they made Groot more human with him giving the flower to the girl, releasing the illuminating seedlings, making sure Drax was secured and comfortable in the Groot-ball were all better ways of making that kind of character personable than just getting him drunk and having him spill his guts.
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Different kinds of characters. Rocket was much more in your face. Plus, he was crazy drunk, so a drunken confession felt completely in place and in character to me.

I was surprised by the amount of great Groot moments we had like the ones you listed, though.
 
Far

Far

My one gripe with the movie was Nebula. In a film where everyone shines, a mediocre character just doesn't cut it, especially when compared to the other villains. She wasn't bad but she didn't sing like the others.
 
filmfanatic

filmfanatic

James Gunn has written a thank-you note on his Facebook page to the public that has been seeing and enjoying Guardians of the Galaxy. Here is his message.

Thanks to all of you who saw (and are seeing) Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend, from the bottom of my heart. The Guardians are a group of oddballs, outcasts, and geeks. The movie is for anyone who ever felt cast aside, left out, or different. It’s for all of us who don’t belong. This movie belongs to you. And, today, I think we’re doing okay.

I am of course happy with all the film has accomplished box-office-wise. But what touches me the most is that the film I told the folks at Marvel I wanted to make two years ago is the film that you’re seeing in theaters today – it’s that so many of you seem to be directly EXPERIENCING the film I INTENDED. The cast, the producers, the crew, and I felt like we were making something special while we were making it. But it is very rare that a director’s INTENTIONS in creating a film, or a scene, or a character, or a line of dialogue are, seemingly, specifically what is experienced by an audience (not to mention critics!), and that seems to be what has happened here. You have allowed a talking raccoon – for a moment, a minute, or a day – to make you a little more human. And for that, I am profoundly grateful.

If I relied on myself to implement these intentions, the film would be a shambling mess. But instead, I had a wonderful cast, genius producers, an incredibly brave studio, sublimely talented visual effects artists, great editors, and the best damn crew of mostly-British bastards to actually implement these intentions for me. Where I had a good idea they would, through alchemy, transform it into a great one. Many of you involved are friends of mine on Facebook. Many of you will read this somewhere else. I love you all.
You may remember me posting here a couple weeks ago how sad I was to be finishing up the film, that I was having trouble letting go of Rocket, and that I was going to miss him. But seeing him (and Groot, and the rest of the team) embraced by the world like they have been, to be UNDERSTOOD, makes it a wonderful letting go. It’s like giving a foster pet up for adoption to the most wonderful parents in the world.

And, of course, I’m not really saying goodbye as, while many of you have been enjoying the film, I’ve spent this weekend hard at work on the sequel. I couldn’t help myself! The results are nice but it’s really the creative process I love and that keeps me going. I’m on fire with this thing! The Guardians have so many hardships and heartaches and triumphs ahead of them, and I can’t wait to share them with all of you.

Onto week two…

Love, James
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