Merzbow Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 10 minutes ago, JNLister said: Biggest weakness is that they don't always nail the difference between "winning the world title in a wrestling match is a work" and "being made world champion in the business is a competitive activity". Did Fritz know the difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarlettChad Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Great movie. Cried at the end. A lot  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted February 9 Paid Members Share Posted February 9 (edited) Just left the cinema. Thought it was fab. Had everything I want in a movie - tragedy, wrestling & Lily James with a southern accent. If anything, I thought movie Fritz wasn't enough of a cunt to do the real thing justice. And as Lister said, it's one of those wrestling movies where wrestling is a work, except when it isn't. Oh yeah, and like Lister I thought "if I could travel anywhere in space & time right now it'd be the Dallas Sportatorium on a Saturday night when the von Erich boys were booked against the Freebirds" Especially if Lily James was waiting outside with a southern accent. Edited February 9 by Statto Freebirds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulf ist Gut Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) Watched at the BFI preview last night - I thought it was very good, casting was excellent aside from the RIc Flair who was a bit tame in his promo delivery. I didn't spot the wrestler cameos but was pleasantly surprised to see Abi from ER playing Doris. The pacing felt a bit off and rushed in the second half (I wonder whether it would have worked better as a TV series in that respect to let the various tragedies build) but otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable evening, helped by the fact there was a good mix of genders in the screening so the lighter moments got some laughter (Fritz ranking the boys, Kevin's first meeting with Pam) and at the more touching bits (redacted to avoid being too spoilery) getting a similarly nice response rather than just silence. EDIT: Also agree with what others have said about outside the Sportatorium - Don't Fear The Reaper was the perfect soundtrack and you felt like you missed out on something amazing as a modern day wrestling fan.  Edited February 9 by Ulf ist Gut Missed a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted February 9 Paid Members Share Posted February 9 Myself and the wonderful @Onyx2 just came out from a viewing at my local cineplex. Packed crowd which was pleasant for a film of this nature (and not by a load of young women who I thought would turn out for the Efron). Thought it was really well done considering trying to cut years of drama and tragedy into 132 minutes. I found the wrestling to be a tad disappointing due the closeness it was filmed in and the shaky cam. Thought Zac Efron did a good job as the lead and always love watching my man crush Jeremy Allen White. A film I enjoyed in almost equal measure to how  it made me sad at what the industry does, or can do, to wrestlers, especially with a cunt Dad pulling the strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted February 10 Paid Members Share Posted February 10 1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said: Â I found the wrestling to be a tad disappointing due the closeness it was filmed in and the shaky cam. TBF, that's pretty accurate to the World Class production style. I did love how, despite the timeline inaccuracies, there were a lot of little touches of authenticity that were nice treats for wrestling fans despite being unnecessary to the plot, like Harley Race's ring gear or Buddy Roberts having his post-hair match headgear. And the outside of the Sportatorium in particular was spot on to the point that if it hadn't been demolished, you'd assume it had been filmed there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 10 Paid Members Share Posted February 10 17 hours ago, JNLister said: Biggest weakness is that they don't always nail the difference between "winning the world title in a wrestling match is a work" and "being made world champion in the business is a competitive activity". I haven't seen the film yet, but was talking to friends who had seen it, and that was their main criticism, and I think it comes down to directors not really knowing how to tell stories within the framework of a wrestling match without treating it as real; Cassandro was similar in basically presenting wrestling as real, and trying to tell years' worth of story across one match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarlettChad Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 The song j wanna "Live that way forever" is gonna be on my playlist for ages. Amazing.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCJ Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Exceeded my expectations. Not many people in my local cinema watching (but then that’s normal - it’s a very expensive Odeon). Thought the acting was superb, even if some of the cast members didn’t look a lot like the people they were portraying. Thought they covered the story well during a fairly limited amount of time (I agree that an extra hour would’ve been nice as others pointed out). Overall though, I thought the film was a great watch. It’s up there with the best pro wrestling films I’ve seen. I know that Kevin Von Erich was on a podcast around the time of the US release and seemed very happy with the film which to me speaks volumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Punk Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Saw it on Sunday and it was a fantastic film with just one exception, the dude playing "Ric Flair" was awful. Me and someone behind me noticed the MJF cameo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 14 Paid Members Share Posted February 14 Just been. A very good film, although the Ric Flair casting was shite, and I also have difficulty with them cutting out Chris. I get the whole running time thing, but this seems a bit harsh, given how tragic he was as well. Mind you, the friend I went with is a civilian, and he found it unrelentingly depressing, and couldn't believe it when I mentioned afterwards that they'd missed out Chris and their uncle. So maybe they just thought it would be just too much for the audience, emotionally speaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyGraham Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 15 hours ago, Carbomb said: Just been. A very good film, although the Ric Flair casting was shite, and I also have difficulty with them cutting out Chris. I get the whole running time thing, but this seems a bit harsh, given how tragic he was as well. Mind you, the friend I went with is a civilian, and he found it unrelentingly depressing, and couldn't believe it when I mentioned afterwards that they'd missed out Chris and their uncle. So maybe they just thought it would be just too much for the audience, emotionally speaking. David's daughter as well from what I understand. You'd need a season of TV to fully dramatise the Von Erich's/ World Class in the 80's but when you factor in everything else with Gino Hernandez amongst other things that's a relentlessly downbeat proposition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 16 hours ago, Carbomb said: I also have difficulty with them cutting out Chris. I get the whole running time thing, but this seems a bit harsh, given how tragic he was as well. I agree, but the Director said he wasn't sure if an audience could deal with yet more tragedy. Thought it was a very well done film. Not sure how they fumbled the Ric Flair casting, I mean what was that all about but everyone else was superb. It seems to have done really well financially as well and the word of mouth is very strong. A shame it wasn't released earlier in the US as it may have had a shot at a few Oscar noms. Was nice to see a story like that treated in the way it was. Really impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted February 16 Paid Members Share Posted February 16 20 hours ago, Factotum said: I agree, but the Director said he wasn't sure if an audience could deal with yet more tragedy. Thought it was a very well done film. Not sure how they fumbled the Ric Flair casting, I mean what was that all about but everyone else was superb. It seems to have done really well financially as well and the word of mouth is very strong. A shame it wasn't released earlier in the US as it may have had a shot at a few Oscar noms. Was nice to see a story like that treated in the way it was. Really impressed. It was released in the US specifically for Oscar season, as was The Wrestler, but it didn’t seem to catch in the same way (and it was a pretty tough year for competition tbf). Looks like it’s had a digital release in the US so it’s now discoverable to those who sail the seas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Just now, Hannibal Scorch said: It was released in the US specifically for Oscar season, as was The Wrestler, but it didn’t seem to catch in the same way (and it was a pretty tough year for competition tbf) It was too late for a real push as it is very much a word of mouth film. Had it come out earlier there could have been real momentum behind it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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