Heck! I just saw the weirdest sci-fi / cyberpunk movie, EVER!

[Viking Bastard]

I'm still waiting for it to reach Icelandic shores. Cinema, video, whatever.

I mean, we just had a French Film Festival here where fifteen somewhat recent
films were premiered. Where was this frickin' movie?!? Out of these fifteen movies,
elleven were about people in somekinda emotional Hallmark crisis. Couldn't stick
one damn sci-fi/fantasy movie in there? Or something Luc Besson produced? It's
this kinda film snobberry that gives french movies a bad name!

Grr!

I'm a big fan of the books.

 

[Turanil]

If the DVD is not available on amazon.com, it is available on amazon.fr However it will cost you a lot if you live in the US. Note that there is an English version inside the DVD; but on the other hand you need to be able to read Zone-2 DVDs.

 

[Turanil]

Before any of you goes out of his way and spends around 40$ (shipment included) to get it, know that I have put selected pictures here. One of the strange thing about this film is a merging of anime characters (not only backgrounds) with real characters. Otherwise, the scenario is weird and less action (read: few gunfights) than US action movies.

 

[Tanager]

I remember hearing about this when it was released to theaters. It was pretty much panned by every reviewer I read, ranging from the mainstream to the alternative press. Although one critic began his review along the lines of "Immortal is an awful movie. But it's awful in an awesome way." I've yet to see a single positive review of it, even from fans of Enki Bilal's graphic novel.

Sure looks pretty though.

 

[Villano]

I remember hearing about this when it was released to theaters. It was pretty much panned by every reviewer I read, ranging from the mainstream to the alternative press. Although one critic began his review along the lines of "Immortal is an awful movie. But it's awful in an awesome way." I've yet to see a single positive review of it, even from fans of Enki Bilal's graphic novel.

Sure looks pretty though.

I've only read two reviews of it and both were negative. One was by a person who wasn't familiar with the comic it was based upon (and he didn't understand anything that was going on), and another was by a fan of the comic (who said it took a lot of liberties with the story). So, fans don't really like it and the average joe doesn't either.

The review by the comic fan had a picture of one of the CGI characters. I think he was supposed to be a cop of some kind. Anyway, he looked like he stepped out of a PS2 (very odd and cartoony looking). I really can't see him interacting with a normal person and not having it look bad. I'd post a link so you could see it, but I can't find the site anymore.

On a related note, I was looking forward to the French made Blueberry movie, but that's supposedly incredibly bad (they make the reviews of Catwoman look like high praise). And we complain about bad American made comic adaptions!

 

[Viking Bastard]

...and another was by a fan of the comic (who said it took a lot of liberties with the story)...

Which is extra funny because the movie is directed by the comic book's creator.

 

[Zappo]

I've watched this movie several times. It's really good! But it's also really weird. The plot has cyberpunk, Egyptian gods, aliens and detectives, all in the same movie, and it still makes sense.

The CGI isn't top-notch and a few of the models look like they were rendered with a Playstation, but after the second viewing I started to wonder whether this may be intentional. It looks a bit like the most complex characters are also those that get the best CGI (with the protagonists being actors), almost as if their psychological "realism" is matched by realism on screen. That isn't equal with screen time either; the worst drawn character is the town governor, who is quite important in the plot but is also a mean little man in the grand scheme of things. As a result, he looks like something out of a 90s videogame. Or I could just be trying to arbitrarily justify a flaw.

At the time when I saw the film, I hadn't read the comic, but I had no trouble following the movie. Just pay attention; the plot does make sense. Just because it has stunning CGI visuals (yes, they are much better than the characters), it doesn't mean that it hasn't depth.

Don't expect a popcorn action flick, on pain of disappointment. Immortals has a lot of plot to expose, and little time to waste on shootings.

The plot has nothing to do with the comic. But that is irrelevant; the characters are clearly the same, not only in aspect but also in behaviour and attitude. They are just interacting in different ways, because they are in different circumstances. The themes are much similar too, as is the setting's mood and style.

 

[Turanil]

On a related note, I was looking forward to the French made Blueberry movie, but that's supposedly incredibly bad (they make the reviews of Catwoman look like high praise). And we complain about bad American made comic adaptions!

The Blueberry movie has absolutely nothing to do with the comic, granted. Nonetheless, it is far much better than Catwoman. What is really excellent with this Blueberry movie are the visuals. However the scenario is rather mundane, where they had the opportunity for a great story. As a result I was slightly disappointed by this film (and add to this too much of CGI visuals in the end of the story).