Mel Gibson and the Crop Circles, what a crap!

[Piratecat]

Sorry, it's silly however you look at it.

Nah. It makes perfect sense once you realize that they're nudists.

I also find it very odd that people on a D&D board complain about the lack of realism with an alien movie.

Actually, it's not the realism; it's the internal consistency of logic. Why make a finely crafted movie with a big honking plot hole that brutalizes suspension of disbelief? There's a subtle distinction here, and I'm fine with an unrealistic movie that is internally consistent.

 

[Morrus]

Actually, it's not the realism; it's the internal consistency of logic. Why make a finely crafted movie with a big honking plot hole that brutalizes suspension of disbelief? There's a subtle distinction here, and I'm fine with an unrealistic movie that is internally consistent.

Ah, you put it better than I could!

 

[Darthjaye]

Every planet mankind has sent probes to is 100% covered in something which kills them.

I just don't understand how it is impossible to believe an alien race would land on a planet that has deadly stuff all over in order to rape and pillage. WHY is that so stunning a thing to believe, if the notion of aliens is acceptable? Space pirates go to dangerous places man. That's all the aliens were, space pirates going into a deadly place to grab some loot at the spots marked with a big X...or the alien version of a big X.

Well, it's the not using the advanced technology that they employed to get to the stars that confounds most here. Complete lack of protection of any kind mixed with a lack of any sort of ranged technology makes this movie silly beyond belief. Someone from earth lands on another planet to "rape and pillage" you damn well bet they are toting a big gun of some sort. It's doubtful someone would plan a massive worldwide invasion and only ship knives along. Could be their weapons didn't work in our atmosphere but that's kinda stretching it.

Or to put it in a shorter form...what PC said.

 

[Bront]

This movie ruined M. Night for me as well. Unfortunately by most accounts "The Villiage" is even WORSE...

Yes, yes it was.

Signs wasn't what it appeared to be. It sold itself as an alien sci-fi movie, and was actualy closer to a suspense/self descovery movie.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The question I want to ask: Why did they use a metapher for a metaphor in that story? Wouldn't it have been easier to just use demons in the first place?
It certainly wouldn't have hurt the story, and it removed most of the "internally stupid" things of the movie.

Hey, it could even have worked with the aliens, if they just let Mel "bless" the water or something like that. Though it still doesn't make sense to use the crop circles.

But, well, let's be fair, a bit of the so-called "fan-wanking" might be in order:
1) Water hurts alien:
Indeed, the water is blessed by the ex-priest (and possibly all other peoples that found their belief during the attack)
2) Crop Circles used as landing help:
Actually, they aren't. They are just a warning from god. The aliens just notice the unusual markings and consider analysing it (maybe they are even familiar to them, because this isn't the first time they fight against gods children, be it on Earth or anywhere else)
3) Alien equipment:
Uh, I am a bit at loss here. Maybe they weren't naked, their skin was actually body armor (maybe like Shadowrun Dermal Plating). They didn't use ranged weapons because ... god disabled them?

Oh, I have seen and done better fanwanking. Maybe that's a sign that it doesn't work for this movie... Maybe I am just not trying hard enough, because I really didn't like these weak spots of the movie. (The rest of the storyline might have been okay)

 

[Mark Chance]

Okay, I can accept the fact it is really a religious minded movie about faith and demons, which I really didn't notice.

Then you really ought to pay more attention. It was patently obvious the story wasn't about alien invaders, but rather was about how Mel Gibson's character lost and then regained his faith in God, about how there are no coincidences, but rather that everything hinges together in a pattern that only makes sense in the light of faith, et cetera.

Every single one of M. Night's movies have been remarkably well-written, acted, and conceived, and that includes The Village, which wasn't a movie about a village with monsters but rather was about the loss of original innocence and the futility of all utopian visions.

IOW: It's all a metaphor.

 

[Turanil]

Then you really ought to pay more attention. It was patently obvious the story wasn't about alien invaders, but rather was about how Mel Gibson's character lost and then regained his faith in God, about how there are no coincidences, but rather that everything hinges together in a pattern that only makes sense in the light of faith, et cetera.

I disagree. I am interested in sci-fi movies, and crop circles actually scream sci-fi, as they have been dealt about in the media as either oaxes or a message from the aliens out there. So we can rightly expect something sci-fi. On the other hand, if from first sight it was to be a movie about a priest and demons, I could expect it to be about faith (or more probably about horror). So I went and watched that movie, and discovered that it had very little to do with crop circles at all, despite what it pretended. Fortunately I saw it on TV, but if I had bought it as a DVD I would feel deceived.

In any case I could watch an enjoy a movie about loosing and regaining faith. But Signs, IMO, is a crap.

 

[Piratecat]

I liked it. If I want realistic science fiction I'll go watch a Michael Moore or Al Gore documentary.

I know you're new here, Dimwhit, so it's worth reminding you that we don't allow political references.

(And dimwhit thinks, "I'm not new here!")

(And Piratecat thinks, "So you should know better!")

 

[hong]

The analogy would be men disembarking on the moon without a space suit. Somewhat notably, it hasn't happened.

That's just what they want you to think.

 

[Umbran]

They're aliens. They're only "demons" in metaphor. If you're saying that the aliens are merely an analogy (which I accept as a valid viewpoint, although I'm not sure I totally subscribe to it), then that analogy has to make sense.

Well, think a minute - how do we know they are aliens? Really, how?

We assume they are aliens because they match the tropes that we call "alien". But who set up those tropes? Someone looking at actual evidence? When did we get proof that aliens make crop circles? Or is that just an assumption.

It is the old bait-and-switch. MKS uses them all the time - in every movie, there's at least one major element that isn't what it appears to be. This is why he's actually formulaic...

Spoilers for many movies:

Spoiler

In Sixth Sense, you think Willis is a living man, but he isn't. In Unbreakable, you think Glass is a mentor, but he isn't. In The Village, you think there's a monster, but there isn't. In Signs, you think there are aliens, but there aren't...