Watched this movie for about the 1000th time, It has loads of my favourite actors: Ron Perlman, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris and a very young looking Jude Law ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
also Rachel Weisz's character is badass {:
I am not really a big war movie person - But I am a big history buff and while this film is nowhere near historically accurate (No way Stalingard had so many Snipers just hopping about all over the place) I do enjoy it as it is not often that the people of the ex-soviet union countries get their thanks for their contribution in the war despite their shaky start.
PS. excuse my use of meme faces, It's all I have seen today - my friend keeps sending them to me...
Watched this movie for about the 1000th time, It has loads of my favourite actors: Ron Perlman, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris and a very young looking Jude Law ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
also Rachel Weisz's character is badass {:
I am not really a big war movie person - But I am a big history buff and while this film is nowhere near historically accurate (No way Stalingard had so many Snipers just hopping about all over the place) I do enjoy it as it is not often that the people of the ex-soviet union countries get their thanks for their contribution in the war despite their shaky start.
PS. excuse my use of meme faces, It's all I have seen today - my friend keeps sending them to me...
One of my favorite movies about war and snipers. I've seen it many many times too, Ed Harris is awesome in this one. Yes, it's not exactly accurate about the snipers back then, or for example how Vaszilij shot the German sniper (I have a book about snipers and it has some parts of the diaries of many snipers, Vasilij's included), but it still is an awesome movie. One of my favorite scenes was when he used the sound of the bombs to mask his shots. Truly awesome that. That reminds me! I need to get meself a copy in Blu-ray lol.
Currently researching the jump from Feudal to Westernised Japan for a bit of fun.
While in no way accurate I do love this movie - Despite my dislike of Tom Cruise.
The clash of culture makes the film very interesting.
So I started working backwards - Starting with the Boshin War and found out that the story is true... Sort of:
Wiki - Jules Brunet
A good Podcast on the story
Youtube Video with the footnotes
Kasimoto's inspiration
While in no way accurate I do love this movie - Despite my dislike of Tom Cruise.
The clash of culture makes the film very interesting.
So I started working backwards - Starting with the Boshin War and found out that the story is true... Sort of:
Wiki - Jules Brunet
A good Podcast on the story
Youtube Video with the footnotes
Kasimoto's inspiration
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I've been trying to continue watching Vikings recently as I love the actors in it (and the guy who wrote the Vikings theme song is the same guy who wrote Dragon Age Inquisition's entire sound track - how cool is that?! ) but I'm not really enjoying the 2nd series as much as the 1st.
I don't like the change in Floki's character and it upsets me that Lagertha is stuck with that loser while Ragnar goes off to fight in England.
I can't really complain though since... I mean this is history right? I can't really expect them to re-write it to make a happy ending
I can't really complain though since... I mean this is history right? I can't really expect them to re-write it to make a happy ending
Still my single favourite piece of WW2 media - It's so great to see, like with Enemy at the Gates, production companies breaking away from the 'Valiant, chiseled chinned, American soldiers killing very stereotypical angry looking bald men shouting 'Schnell'." as a representation of the second world war.
It also maturely touches on the Holocaust, the writers didn't make it insensitive or too overt.
This is a must watch if you interested in the period at all.
I've been trying to continue watching Vikings recently as I love the actors in it (and the guy who wrote the Vikings theme song is the same guy who wrote Dragon Age Inquisition's entire sound track - how cool is that?! ) but I'm not really enjoying the 2nd series as much as the 1st.
I don't like the change in Floki's character and it upsets me that Lagertha is stuck with that loser while Ragnar goes off to fight in England.
I can't really complain though since... I mean this is history right? I can't really expect them to re-write it to make a happy ending
Vikings really picks up in Season 3 - I liked Season 2 however it is the weakest of the three.
I love Fever Ray - I've only just started DAI I'll have to give the soundtrack a full listen too.
Keep up with Vikings, I personally like it more than GoT - Where most of the characters I like are either dead or get very little screen time...
(Tywin, Lady Olenna, the Blackfish etc.)
Oh okay that's good! I'll keep going then and hopefully as long as I don't binge watch it, I shouldn't get too tired of it.
The sound track for DA:I is awesome, but the Trespasser DLC has some of the best music Bioware has ever had, it even beats ME3's Leaving Earth imo.
Yeah I am very over GoT. I enjoyed most of the books (4th book was absolutely awful though) but the TV show has just become increasingly gory and sexualised for no apparent reason other than shock value. The writers of the TV show seem to lack GRRM's self awareness of cliches and so the shows have just been going downhill since series 2.
I mean this is history right?
I don't like the change in Floki's character and it upsets me that Lagertha is stuck with that loser while Ragnar goes off to fight in England.
I can't really complain though since... I mean this is history right? I can't really expect them to re-write it to make a happy ending
Well, I'm sure you realise no show or movie ever accurately portrays History, unless the focus is deliberately kept narrow like the development of an invention, or a conflict with a well defined start & end, or an important persons prime functioning years focused on their contribution, with perhaps a little love-story or other crowd-pleaser tacked on. Once you start broadening the topic in time & space it gets exponentially more difficult, with more angles & opinions to cover or else the final product can come over simplistic. Any movie/show that was a serious attempt at imparting actual historical knowledge in any degree beyond essentials & impressions would need to open with a historical primer at least 30 mins long (hey if LoTR:TFoTR can do it...) to bring the audience into a mindset sympathetic with the peoples of the time in question. Thats the biggest problem in such endeavor, effectively enabling a modern audience to see the world from a perspective of a time very different than our own.
As for Vikings, I like the show myself, it does seem like it dipped in season 2 - perhaps as they reset some storylines / character trajectories once they realised they would be renewed. While it seems to be telling a narrative well within the comfort zone of well-established academia, theres been nothing so far that really breaks out of the simplistic narrative that is itself exemplary of the generally known history of any similar subject. In season 1 the monks were their traditional pathetic selves, pure victims, & the Norse appeared from nowhere with superb ship technology, and were primarily brutal. In season 2 they fell into the old conceit of making the Saxons appear like their countrymen of 600 years later (highly monarchist, big city, lots of peasants... none of which are very accurate), and some of the tensions in season 3 - which are obviously going to be the bones of the show from now - are also overblown, and a tad "corny".
But thats what we have to expect from such edutainment... exagerrated truths, overlooked perspectives, and unmentioned complexities are the necessary sacrifices to have the ability to impart something of the greater truth.
Vikings manages to get the good stuff in too though, developing -Ragnars- economic & political motivation of going a'Vikingr not just for the loot, showing the culture shock caused bynot knowing your neighbours and suddenly having them and all their weird practices on your doorstep, and - something I was very pleased to notice - a recognisable weight given to the words characters say... i.e. oaths are taken seriously.
Ragnar btw is considered "semi-Legendary", what this means is there are no contemporary documents or evidence that proves he existed, only naturally elevated tales, but that he did exist is quite safely assumed due to the fact of his descendants such as the Uí Ímair.
Thank you for your comment
I admit I never studied the Vikings much at school (I read a history book on them but it was back when I was a child) so I just assumed that they were following history.
The thing that I liked about Vikings was that it was based on some historical fact (if history can even be considered factual) but it wasn't a show that glorified sexual violence against women (something that has made me despise GoT - the books had a narrative complex enough that meant they did not do this, but the show writers of the TV show are incompetent and have no idea how to write with GRRM's subtleties.)
And I have to say, the more I learn about Lagertha the more I like her. In the TV show, I think Ragnar's actor is the reason he is such a great character. A lesser actor might not have been able to do such a good job, but the actor they have is brilliant. I am surprised he has not done more acting, since he is very talented and I had no idea he was Australian until i googled him. I thought he was a genuine Danish person.
I admit I never studied the Vikings much at school (I read a history book on them but it was back when I was a child) so I just assumed that they were following history.
The thing that I liked about Vikings was that it was based on some historical fact (if history can even be considered factual) but it wasn't a show that glorified sexual violence against women (something that has made me despise GoT - the books had a narrative complex enough that meant they did not do this, but the show writers of the TV show are incompetent and have no idea how to write with GRRM's subtleties.)
And I have to say, the more I learn about Lagertha the more I like her. In the TV show, I think Ragnar's actor is the reason he is such a great character. A lesser actor might not have been able to do such a good job, but the actor they have is brilliant. I am surprised he has not done more acting, since he is very talented and I had no idea he was Australian until i googled him. I thought he was a genuine Danish person.
Excellent post, I wholeheartedly agree with the lot of it and I'm only quoting this part to emphasise the wisdom of these particular words. I actually extra'd on the early seasons of GoT, quitting early in season 3 due to the treatment of some of the Actors (girls expected - pressured even - to strip , without prior warning & their informed choice which is just standard good practice in the industry). Of course the series has increased almost to farcical levels the titillation moments, which absolutely are ham-fisted attempts to gloss over narrative failures.
Check these websites for a Viking primer: Viking Auslug Lady. Vikings in Ireland, with Maps !
Mhm. Apparently, the trailer had major spoilers in it, but I haven't seen it (not that I'm all that concerned about spoilers). Avoid it, if you're at all interested and sensitive to spoilers.
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Looks promising. It seems Ridley's muse returned to him once again. I was a tad bit disappointed in how "Exodus" became a long and featureless epitome. Someone probably wasn't happen to be passionate enough with an idea of recreation of that chunk of human history. Although I must admit that "mental hooks" worked alright in it. Give him props for that.
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I am wondering what to see next week with my girlfriend - The Martian or Sicario. Will probably see both anyway.With music like this probably not. But I still have hope.