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Babylon A.D. Anyone?

Anyone seen this film starring Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh?

It gets compared to [I]Children of Men[/I] with Clive Owen and Michael Caine, which to my own surprise, I didn't like quite as much as [I][URL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364970/"]Babylon A.D.[/URL][/I] I found CoM quite overrated for its cinematography and overall story. There's something about English movie making that makes it less appealing to me. Maybe it has to do with the bang for the buck ratio. ;) They don't know how to blow up stuff real good on the British Isles ([I]Quantum of Solace[/I], yeah right...). :D Even if you had to summarize both movies in a single sentence, you wouldn't end up with the same plot, so I do not agree with BAD (hehe, unfortunate acronym...) being a copy of CoM.

In the end it's a matter of taste of course. Vin Diesel IMHO is a somewhat underrated actor, I liked him quite a bit in [I]Chronicles of Riddick[/I] and he's getting the job done here. People have complained about the ending. It's somewhat of an anticlimax and it left me somewhat unsatisfied as well. Apparently the director was forced to cut 20 minutes of the movie and unfortunately it shows. The low IMDb rating is a bit harsh but it is a flawed gem nonetheless.

I'd love to see a director's cut of the movie, as it introduces a few interesting concepts. I can't help it, I'm just a sucker for dark movies in the vein of [I]Blade Runner[/I] and [I]The Sixth Day.[/I]

Comments

  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    It's funny, we just watched Pitch Black and Riddick again last night, and i have to be honest, i really like Vin Diesel. i dunno what it is about him, but i just enjoy the hell out of watching him act.
  • JohnnyOnTheSpotJohnnyOnTheSpot Banned by request
    I actually like his comedy too The Pacifier was pretty funny.
  • vin diesel > chuck norris & mr. t


    Vin Diesel invented black. In fact, he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.

    (pitch black on tv right now.. yay!)
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    I'd quite like to catch it at some point, but maybe I'll wait for the directors cut then
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Vin Diesel seems to have a lot of hatred flowing his way with so much of the online community for some reason. Glad to see it isn't here. He certainly has some terrible movies, but he's got a pile of decent (or better) bits and pieces that make for some solid entertainment. It's sort of like "The Rock" and his apparent presence in everything. The man has actually demonstrated some level of talent and manages to provide solid entertainment value (most of the time).

    Don't each of them also have a pair of awful family films that everyone loathes?
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    I've enjoyed the movies I've seen him in (which now that I think about it, is probably just Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick).

    It amuses me that he's the last person you expect to find out to be a D&D addict.

    Worf
  • StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
    [QUOTE=ShadowDancer;177737]I'd quite like to catch it at some point, but maybe I'll wait for the directors cut then[/QUOTE]

    I don't know if they'll release a director's cut of [I]Babylon A.D.[/I] anytime soon. It's an ok movie, but you don't have to go out of your way to see it. The whole build-up at the beginning doesn't really pay off at the end. It's entertaining but don't expect anything deep or thought provoking. Not that it makes much sense to begin with, if anything I'd call it a tech demo on scifi film making. :D

    There are quite a lot of movies that waste so much potential. I would put movies like [I]Aeon Flux[/I] (rated slightly higher), [I]Ultraviolet[/I] (rated much lower), [I]Red Planet[/I] (rating identical) in the same category of films.

    Don't try to understand, just watch, or don't.

    I want to see more B5 stuff, so I even put up with movies that are only related by their title. :D

    [QUOTE=WORF;177743]It amuses me that he's the last person you expect to find out to be a D&D addict.[/QUOTE]

    That is indeed something you wouldn't expect him to be. :D
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    I've found out a lot of things about Vin that i wouldnt have expected, like the fact that he lobbied extremely hard to get Dame Judy Dench to play the elemental in Riddick, his love of DnD, and Warcraft as well. He actually seems like a pretty intelegent guy.
  • StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
    You wouldn't expect the lead guitarist of Queen, Brian May, to be an astrophysicist either, but he his. :D
  • JohnnyOnTheSpotJohnnyOnTheSpot Banned by request
    [url]http://iminyourface.ytmnd.com/[/url]
  • Babylon A.D. was chosen as the sixth worst film of the year by the [url=http://www.nypost.com/photos/galleries/entertainment/pp_20081201_top_ten_worst_movies/photo05.htm]New York Post[/url]... although I wouldn't say the list is entirely without bias, because Rambo is number 8.
  • StingrayStingray Elite Ranger
    [I]Babylon A.D.[/I] won't win any awards, if that's what you are hinting at. :D

    It's not as bad as they make it sound. I haven't seen [I]Rambo[/I] yet... don't know if I should.

    [I]Battlefield Earth[/I] isn't as bad either. I would even go so far, many of those who bash it haven't really seen it.

    If you want to watch a scifi movie that really disappoints, go watch [I]Sunshine.[/I] The first half is fine, the rest is forgettable. Oddly enough, Michelle Yeoh is also in it.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    If you ever dropped by IRC, you'd proably have encountered our general dissatisfaction with Sunshine. The strong characters in the first half made it a rather enjoyable film. A great score certainly helped, too. Then came the arbitrary twist about 80% of the way through.
  • MundaneMundane Elite Ranger
    Babylon A.D is better than the IMDB score, but yeah..the ending feels rushed. And Sunshine....hehe.....no comment on that one :)
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Sunshine was just pointless. They spent the first half building up good characters and then just totally shot itself in the head with a totally ridiculous twist and ending.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    Battlefield earth is a horrific adaptation of what is actually a good novel (if you can get past the thinly veiled scientology references)

    As for the New York Post, it's a hack rag, the NY Post lines more bird cages in NY than any other newspaper.
  • Data CrystalData Crystal Pencil Artist
    I like Vin Diesel and Chronicles of Riddick is one of the best, turn-the-brain-off and enjoy the "ohhh, cool" -effects to date.

    I just recently watched Babylon A.D., and although the first half of the movie is pretty decent stuff, the rest of the movie just flop the whole thing. Towards the end it lacks the climactic battle of epic proportions, things are demystified and I found myself wanting. When the Terminator -pun kicks in in the end, I was left thinking: "They're serious, that's it?". :p

    I'd give it 2 stars out of 5. :I
  • Lord RefaLord Refa Creepy, but in a good way
    Am I the only one who actually enjoyed the whole movie? Sunshine that is.

    Sure.. I think it would have been better to end it before the ending they left with.. and the apparently super powered attacker changed into normal.. but hell.. I enjoyed it all.

    Plus, it had titties.

    edit: I really enjoy boobies..
  • JohnnyOnTheSpotJohnnyOnTheSpot Banned by request
    Sunshine had no titties! >_<

    I liked it though despite the ending having religious overtones. heh

    Reminds me of when I used to sleep in the basement to ditch school.

    I'd have the same dream every time I slept down there.

    Id wake up in the basement go upstairs look out the front door and the sun would turn to ash but there was still light.

    After 9/11 I never had the dream again.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    Just another way 9/11 has effected every day life.
  • Lord RefaLord Refa Creepy, but in a good way
    damn.. I'm pretty sure it had some tits.. Have to check again. Even if it was just a glance of sideways nipple...

    Or maybe I was distracted by my choice of movie watching companion..
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