The Road trailer

[the shutdown man]

//http://moviechopshop.com/2009/05/14/holy-shit-its-a-trailer-for-the-road/


It's good to finally see a trailer for this, although I'd agree with pretty much everything said on that page; The trailer seems to be a bit of a case of misadvertising (assuming they've stuck to the book, which by all accounts they have), a little too action-y. Still, it looks impressive.

[Goaty]

Looks good, would like see it, please no spoilers here!

but does it looks like current Walking Dead...?

[Buttonman]

I'd say that this book along with Paul Auster's 'True Tales of American Life' is my favourite of the last ten years so I'm looking forward to, and dreading the film in equal measure. It does look like they are selling it as an action picture and Gawd knows where the explosions come from, but given the talent involved I'll give it a chance.

Nice to see Omar back kicking and it looks like the 'house of food' is being kept. The wife character seems to be getting an unreasonably large amount of coverage but I guess Charlize is a draw. Hope I don't end up hating it and wish that they'd done it on a micro budget which would have worked fine. Plenty of post apocalyptic places they could shoot for free!

[the shutdown man]

It's a while since I read the book, but there were a couple of explosions, weren't there? Small ones?  Maybe not...As for Charlize, I think they just need to give the impression that there's at least one female character in it for marketing reasons. You know how those PR people are.

The one thing that's bugging me is the shots of news coverage of the disaster. We're not supposed to know what it is, dammit.

[Richmond Clements]

Looks impressive.

The one thing that's bugging me is the shots of news coverage of the disaster. We're not supposed to know what it is, dammit.

That's what I was thinking too.

Nice to see that actor fella (who I can't be bothered looking up and finding out the name of) who shot Wild Bill in Deadwood breaking out of the weasly shitbag role...

[the shutdown man]

Actually I've just been reading elsewhere (mainly comments on message boards from people who have seen an early preview) that those clips were just added for the trailer, so it may not be  much of an issue. Also, Charlize's role, while it has been beefed up slightly for the film is still quite small, those bits in the trailer are more or less the bulk of her scenes.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Looks just like the book to me.

The book was the least enjoyable thing I have ever enjoyed.

[I, Cosh]

I went to see the film tonight. I think I'm the only person in the civilised world who wasn't impressed with the book. I was continually thinking "So what?" throughout it. However there was enough potential in the material and I loved The Proposition and old Viggo's always worth a watch, so off I went.

Powerful stuff. It has all the intensity and emotional power that everyone else seems to have got from the book but which passed me by. Perhaps not one for a first date. Although I once took a girl to see Nil by Mouth so it's up to you really.

[JOE SOAP]

Powerful stuff. It has all the intensity and emotional power that everyone else seems to have got from the book but which passed me by. Perhaps not one for a first date. Although I once took a girl to see Nil by Mouth so it's up to you really.

I'd say there was Nil by Mouth afterwards.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Also one of my favourite books of the last ten years.  I saw the film last week. Outstanding performance from Viggo and the kid (as well as all the other actors involved), but...

[spoiler]I really think they could have done more to emulate some of the more dramatic imagery of the book.  In the book, the landscape really seems to be made entirely of ash and soot, and it really brings home the idea that pretty much everything that used to grow is dead.  In the film, there seems to be plenty of grass, trees and so on, even if they are all varying shades of grey.

There are also some really spectacular (if incredibly bleak) scenes in the book that I would have thought were crying out to be expressed through film, but I was a bit disappointed to see they'd been left out.  Things like the corpse-strewn cities, the solidified melted glass
pouring down buildings, and most importantly the cannibal army:  The hundreds of red-scarfed men with chained up slaves and catamites really made me realise how dangerous and different the post-apocalyptic world had become.  Perfect for film, surely, but left out completely.

I'll admit that maybe transferring the idea of the cotton masks that they wear in the book would have been a bad idea as regards obscuring the expressions of the actors.

All in all, I couldn't fault the script or performances, though felt the production design was a bit lacking.[/spoiler]

P.S.

I'd say there was Nil by Mouth afterwards.

WHAMMO!

[Eric Plumrose]

Saw this last week, along with SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL (coincidently, another film focusing on a father-son relationship except, in the latter's case, they're having to survive Ian Dury).

Not having read the novel, I've no idea how the film compares but I found it surprisingly uplifting, which made it something of a slight disappointment. While the post-apocalyptic desolation is realized brilliantly, the miserablism is at times undermined by that very relationship at the film's core; often opting for a 'touching' sentimentalism, whereas a harsh, desperate triteness would've been far more effective (for me, at least).

But yeah, definitely worth a look. And, with the exception of Charlize, the cameos are almost unregonizable.

[Gavin_Leahy_Block]

Saw it earlier last week and taught it was just as moving as the novel, I may have had to hold back a tear at one point. It was quite depressing, but since it's the end of the world why wouldn't it be, but the father and son relationship keeps it somewhat uplifting. The effects and scenery were also very effective and contributed greatly to the story, these effects from what I heat largely done without the use of CGI, .

[the shutdown man]

I loved it too. I thought the boy was played particularly well as a character that genuinely had no concept of what the world was like before the disaster. In one scene he responds to a line from the man (which would sound normal if you heard it today, although I've forgotten exactly what it was) with a blank stare and a shrug of the shoulders. I thought it was a nice touch, and there were others like it that really made the character.

[JayzusB.Christ]

the cameos are almost unregonizable.

True, [spoiler]it's a long time since Mike ditched his old Erinsborough pals for his new 'Uni mates' in Melbourne. Now look where it's got him - snaggle-toothed on a beach full of dead people.[/spoiler]

[ThryllSeekyr]

What the deal with your forum picture, Jaysus.

I thought the moving eyes were always better.