RAH Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I'm surprised this wasn't here. Actually, just today I was lending my DVD to a friend who hadn't seen it before. I find it very difficult to think of a movie that has affected me this much in a very long time. Not through tears or staged drama... Just the basic drive of the character, the message that is getting across. The insight that captures on such a great scale. We've all dreamed of abandoning everything for a while and just taking off. I'm guessing on this board, more people than usual have done that, but in general, it remains as a fantasy for most of us. I'm not even going to touch on the story, I just wanted to talk about my personal impressions on it, regardless of what happens. If you haven't seen this, you are missing one great flick. 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p(sy)ayam Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 TBH, i was really disappointed with this. When it was released and just after watching the trailer I was sure I'm gonna love it, but I didn't. I love being in nature and I do a lot of camping and backpacking, so I thought I would relate to the main character, but I found him very boring and weak, if you will. He didn't go into the wild because of his love to nature but he was rather escaping from his folks and friends (oh no, he didn't have one )!!! He didn't know shit about survival, he didn't have any gear, etc. and he burnt all his money (he could buy few books you know)!! He killed the damn moose but didn't know how to preserve the meat. I mean, c'mon, even I know how to do in that case!!!!!!! When he was in the wild instead of enjoying his time and becoming one with nature he was thinking about stupid stuff. The last plot says it all; he didn't enjoy his life living a normal life, and he didn't enjoy it in nature either! He was regretting going into the wild if you ask me. He died because of his stupidity, running away from his social problems. He didn't learn anything life changing from his experience. He was the same stupid person after all these great adventures. Moreover, while this movie could have been an eye candy, showing beautiful landscapes (and music), Sean Penn was more interested in main character. All said, this wasn't a bad movie, but I had sky high expectations when I went to theater and I was disappointed. 6/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 TBH, i was really disappointed with this. When it was released and just after watching the trailer I was sure I'm gonna love it, but I didn't. I love being in nature and I do a lot of camping and backpacking, so I thought I would relate to the main character, but I found him very boring and weak, if you will. He didn't go into the wild because of his love to nature but he was rather escaping from his folks and friends (oh no, he didn't have one )!!! He didn't know shit about survival, he didn't have any gear, etc. and he burnt all his money (he could buy few books you know)!! He killed the damn moose but didn't know how to preserve the meat. I mean, c'mon, even I know how to do in that case!!!!!!! When he was in the wild instead of enjoying his time and becoming one with nature he was thinking about stupid stuff. The last plot says it all; he didn't enjoy his life living a normal life, and he didn't enjoy it in nature either! He was regretting going into the wild if you ask me. He died because of his stupidity, running away from his social problems. He didn't learn anything life changing from his experience. He was the same stupid person after all these great adventures. Moreover, while this movie could have been an eye candy, showing beautiful landscapes (and music), Sean Penn was more interested in main character. All said, this wasn't a bad movie, but I had sky high expectations when I went to theater and I was disappointed. 6/10 I agree with this all. I also thought that everything that guy was doing was really un-intelligent. If he really wanted to escape his life he could at least prepare himself to live in the conditions he chose. He acted like a child who was angry on his parents and tried to make some bullshit harm just to pay more attention to his ever-growing EGO. That's the story only, but the production of the movie was great, all the scenes were very beautiful. And i thought of this - if the movie evoked so many emotions in me while watching, well Sean Penn made this movie work. It hooked me. And actors were great too. So 9/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I found this movie fantastic! p(sy)ayam and yerg have some strong points, but I didn't watch this movie as a survival guide or a 'love for nature' film. This was obviously a statement against modern societies and how they 'robotized' human beings into beings filled with stress, lust for money and success. And eventually abstention from everything natural. (I hope abstention is the right word) I'm with RAH, great movie! Kudos on the soundtrack, photography and Penn's direction too. 8.5/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I guess that it's not very usefull to comment on the carachter and the storyline because it was BIOGRAPHICAL!! They didn't make up a fictional carachter, they simply followed and existing human's story and tragic ending. And I guess that we're all so used to the "typical" Hollywood happy-end stories that we tend to forget that real life isn't like that. This was real life, not some artificial sugar-coated Hollywood story... Other than that, it was a good movie, but not exceptional IMO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p(sy)ayam Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I guess that it's not very usefull to comment on the carachter and the storyline because it was BIOGRAPHICAL!! They didn't make up a fictional carachter, they simply followed and existing human's story and tragic ending. And I guess that we're all so used to the "typical" Hollywood happy-end stories that we tend to forget that real life isn't like that. This was real life, not some artificial sugar-coated Hollywood story... Other than that, it was a good movie, but not exceptional IMO... true. but not everyone's life story worth making a movie IMO. I'm pretty sure (in fact, i've read about few) there are people who went into the wild to learn about themselves, to become a new person, or achieve something instead of running away from their failed social life (in a most childish way possible). Also, when you are condensing a book to a 2 hr movie you have to decide which parts to include and which ones to exclude and basically just show your own point of view on the story. i didn't like sean penn's point of view!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 true. but not everyone's life story worth making a movie IMO. I'm pretty sure (in fact, i've read about few) there are people who went into the wild to learn about themselves, to become a new person, or achieve something instead of running away from their failed social life (in a most childish way possible). Also, when you are condensing a book to a 2 hr movie you have to decide which parts to include and which ones to exclude and basically just show your own point of view on the story. i didn't like sean penn's point of view!!!! I don't think he run away from his social life because of fear or discourage to achieve something. IMO he did it cause he felt that a modern society is not a place for him. Can you blame him? All he wanted was pure freedom, a place away from stress, stereotypes, careers and money. I don't know if he really loved nature, but a wild forest is the only place of freedom left in our world, so by default he chose this place. Also the idea of going unprepared in a place like this and eventually die from this is one of the movie's main points, how humans are lost any contact with true nature and it's impossible for them to return in a pure natural way of living. Now I don't think either that he died smarter or something, but his purpose was not to discover himself or learn something, but to live in total freedom. Also choosing a life like this he knew that he will live alone without any friends or love, but that was a sacrifice that every human has to made to live in total freedom IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 I tend to agree with Ormion, I don't think he ran away from anything, quite the contrary, he had his whole life ahead, he had graduated university, he was a smart kid. Obviously, family problems play a part in the whole thing, but it is not the primary motivator. I guess I should read the book to really see what was meant to be conveyed through it, but what i got was not what (p(sy)ayam got at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I think freedom appears not in the places but in our minds. I think the main charecter was so angry on the society because it didn't give him that freedom HE wanted - he was really selfish. He wasn't thinking about others - he was thinking only about himself. If he tried to think a bit more about people surrounding him he would have found freedom anywhere he was. You feel free where you are in peace with yourself and OTHERS. Social life can be amazing if we really take care of people we love - it stimulates freedom and not the escapism. IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exotic Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 There will always be a flip side to the perception of a certain given situation, which is what i love about analyzing movies or anything else for that matter. I think freedom appears not in the places but in our minds. I think the main charecter was so angry on the society because it didn't give him that freedom HE wanted - he was really selfish. He wasn't thinking about others - he was thinking only about himself. If he tried to think a bit more about people surrounding him he would have found freedom anywhere he was. You feel free where you are in peace with yourself and OTHERS. Social life can be amazing if we really take care of people we love - it stimulates freedom and not the escapism. IMO Different strokes for different folks? social life can be pretty bothersome no matter how close the bond and deep the love, aren't there times when you crave for your own little private space , times when you want to run away from your worldly duties , material possessions and not have anything to do with another human being.. and then there are other days when one wants to have as much contact with the material world as they can and enjoy the closeness of being with loved ones . Maybe he just got fed up doing the latter and wanted to explore and enjoy the spoils of pure unadulterated natural life with no strings attached. It was not that he was selfish but that unconditional love which he was after more than anything else, not the one where there are expectations and hence unhappiness I also tend to agree with lemmiwinks here , cant really judge the character coz its biographical. the director was limited by that fact and wanted to tell the story as per the book with obviously a little modification according to the way the story pans out on screen ( the actors + various other real life situations while making the movie) and the directors own vision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 social life can be pretty bothersome no matter how close the bond and deep the love, aren't there times when you crave for your own little private space , times when you want to run away from my worldly duties , material possessions and not have anything to do with another human being.. and then there are other days when one wants to have as much contact with the material world as they can and enjoy the closeness of being with loved ones . Maybe he just got fed up doing the latter and wanted to explore and enjoy the spoils of pure unadulterated natural life with no strings attached. It was not that he was selfish but that unconditional love which he was after more than anything else, not the one where there are expectations and hence unhappiness Please ask yourself why this happens - why sometimes we want this and then we want that and then we again want this and so on and on. The answer is - because we are always unhappy of the situation we're in - and if we appear in sort of perfect situation we eventually become bored of it too. It changes all the time. But we also have to think not only of our comfort but what other people need. This is a very tricky situation and the guy from the movie was just paranoid of all the social rules. He was weak - and weakness can't make you happy. The more weak you are - the more selfish you are. The movie itself was great - and yes even the story was great - it shows a true nature of human unstable mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Please ask yourself why this happens - why sometimes we want this and then we want that and then we again want this and so on and on. The answer is - because we are always unhappy of the situation we're in - and if we appear in sort of perfect situation we eventually become bored of it too. It changes all the time. But we also have to think not only of our comfort but what other people need. This is a very tricky situation and the guy from the movie was just paranoid of all the social rules. He was weak - and weakness can't make you happy. The more weak you are - the more selfish you are. The movie itself was great - and yes even the story was great - it shows a true nature of human unstable mind. yep that is the best description I've read about this movie until now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exotic Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Another point the movie was trying to make is that man should be left to make his own rules and live by whatever makes him happy , not according to social dictates and norms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Another point the movie was trying to make is that man should be left to make his own rules and live by whatever makes him happy , not according to social dictates and norms. That's the whole point of the movie IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 very boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I love it! Easily the best movie of 2008! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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