My sister is both a Marvel and Waititi fan so she dragged me to Ragnarok.
It’s not a bad picture but just like all the others in this seemingly unending cycle seems to exist only to overwhelm audiences with mere glimmers of life amidst the same frameworks time and time again. And with each pass the framework becomes weaker and weaker.
Apparently they based this around the idea behind the Planet Hulk storyline but the real problem is that you essentially have two movies not glued together but simply chopped in tatters and forcibly attached. The film continually stops again and again for the sake of the other plot line, or a joke or simply for a trailer moment. It never truly is allowed to build up its own steam and achieve any significance that will allow it to last longer than five minutes in the head of anyone who sees it.
It also gave me an insanely passionate desire to watch Flash Gordon with my receiver set to maximum. At the very least that film knows and admits what it is. Ragnarok cannot and will not do this.
Ultimately Ragnarok is yet another time passer that seems to swallow whole the creative person they plucked to be in charge.
2 balls out of 4.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a much better film btw.
Blade Runner: DC Laserdisc
followed by Criterion IC
I’ve been watching BR again and again trying to forget 2049. I still sadly haven’t forgotten it. However I did notice that there are some mixing differences between the international and director’s cut! (Mainly dynamic range, EQ, and the ability to hear many more details in the DC mix.)
OT.com ball rating score: Mastery of Balls.
Saving Private Ryan
I’ve never been a big fan of this at all but figured it had been long enough and had recently found the rare LD version.
It’s really quite a dull picture outside of the battle sequences.
2 balls out of four.
The Fifth Element
I always forget how enjoyable this film is, remember when watching it, and am then reminded at just how unfulfilling the story and setting winds up becoming.
I’ve made my peace with this film and enjoy it for what it is-yet can’t help but feel as if it were short of greatness.
The Pioneer rot free LD pressing is a reference disc for the format with a good ac3 track.
3.5 balls out of 4.