One where every scene makes you think, okay, this is the turning point. It’s all been building up to this. Now everything’s really getting started.
Including the final one.
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I just saw “Mongol” last night, and it almost literally did this. It had a great rhythm to the plot, and it was structured so that you honestly couldn’t tell when the turning point would hit. And it ends on “now everything’s really getting started” (as it’s the first of a trilogy). I was reminded of your description of Dragon Quest while watching it — the thing about going out, trying again, a bit stronger this time, etc.
Certain parts dragged. And the film just jumped over some things that it would have been helpful/interesting to see — or at least have some sort of montage to summarize — but overall a worthwhile film.
Hot Fuzz was a lot like that. And yes, it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen! Several times!
hmm, not a bad definition. i kind of felt this way through most of the dark knight, although to be honest after a while the constant twists and turns started to wear on me.
I was just watching The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly again, partially with the back of my head, while I was working.
Nothing in that movie feels obligatory. Every scene is setting something up, or putting a new twist on something that’s been set up. By a third of the way in, it feels like one epiphany after another.
Okay, so the characters are established. Now it’s really started. Now their rivalry has set in. And it all follows from here. Now the outside world has started to intrude. And that’s the real turning point. Wait, now they’ve teamed up. This is going to be a moment to remember…
This reminded me that I still haven’t seen TG,TB,&TU, and that I wanted to see it right, by watching the whole Dollars trilogy, to see the context and development.
Just watched Fistful of Dollars last night, and I can say this line of reasoning totally applies there, too.
Yeah, the earlier movies are good too, yet they get better really quickly. You can see how much more money he had for Few Dollars More, and how much he’d learned from the first movie. So by the time of GB&U, Leone was really on all cylinders.
i felt this way with save the green planet, except it was “its all been building up to this, this has to be the end” EVERY SCENE
You can see how much more money he had for Few Dollars More
I’m sure I’m far from the first to laugh at the irony there.
I’ve watched them all now, and yes, the progress in complexity and ambition is clear. Oddly, the feeling of “this is where things really start”, was more muted for me with GB&U, because it was much less clear on where, exactly, things were going. From the outset, the focus was more clearly on the journey, on the twists it takes in getting there. The anticipation for things “getting started” was consequently less pronounced compared to the good guys vs bad guys simplicity of the earlier two. Another way of stating this is: it’s harder to get worked up over turning points when you’re not sure where you’re going.
GB&U is hands-down the best film, no doubt, but it’s great strengths do slightly weaken it under this definition.
I see what you mean.
Rewatching, with a mind to the themes and how they build up, fixes this a bit. It really is quite elegant how things are established and then build.