Jump to content

Corvinus85

Members
  • Posts

    15,112
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Corvinus85

  1. I don't know how Villenueve intended to show the folding of space. But even if stargates were used, someone still needed to set them up and then use them without computers. So "navigators" would still be needed. However the dialogue in Part 1 clearly indicates the Spacing Guild was a thing. Not sure why they were thrown to the side in Part 2.
  2. Yes, another great episode. The relationship between Torunaga and Blackthorne is developing nicely. Maybe a nitpick I second Ran on some of the fighting scenes. It feels like not all the Japanese actors got enough training with swords or spears. Sanada, of course, knows his stuff.
  3. The laser thing is really more about the shields. If a laser hits a shield it produces a violent reaction that can explode a lot of ground, often killing the shooter too. In the deep desert people don't use shields, though, because of the worms, so why don't they use lasers and guns more? Well, it's because it's unpredictable when someone uses a shield and when they don't, and while shield can be spotted because they create a blur, it's hard to see them from a distance especially against the desert background. The Harkonnen do seem comfortable in using firearms against the Fremen though, as we see that team at the beginning of the movie were armed with las guns. The Fremen, OTOH, are less well armed. The ship blasting the sietch happened in the book but the baron's line about good old fashioned artillery was an homage to how the Harkonnen destroyed a large part of the Atreides army in the book during their surprise attack.
  4. Yeah there are lore reasons for these issues discussed in the book which the movie fails to cover. It would have been nice if Villenueve would have made time to add more of the politics at play but it would have made the movie really long. In fact I think some of them should've made it in the first movie, like the existence of nuclear missiles.
  5. Ah internet, never change. Stilgar has become a meme.
  6. I mentioned this before in my spoiler review, but I wish they would have shown the intersection of a laser with a shield. The movie had a lot of show don't tell moments, but they skipped this one. I wonder if people who haven't read the books are wondering why so many people are using las guns (and there way more this time than in Part 1) but at the same time they still fight more often with swords and knives.
  7. So basically any info that would come to the Japanese would be from the guys who have an interest to keep their commercial operations a secret from their enemies in Europe, which is the point that the show was trying to make.
  8. I'm six episodes into Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It's good but I'm not quite as enthralled by it as others who've posted about it here were. I've been watching Constellation on AppleTV and caught up to the last episode last night. It's intriguing and Noomi Rapace and Jonathan Banks are pretty good. I hope it sticks the landing with its weird plot. The last episode certainly revealed a lot of what I've already been suspecting.
  9. Yeah, Blackthorne said 70 years ago, which means that he was technically talking about Zaragoza, which only served to define the eastern boundary of influence between Spain and Portugal. Interestingly, the more famous Treaty of Tordesillas was in 1494, and at that time there were no Protestants. I suppose Zaragoza served as another reminder to the rest of Europe what Spain and Portugal had done, and by then Protestantism had risen and there were open conflicts. So maybe it can be interpreted that in Blacthorne's mind that stands as the main treaty. That is certainly what Blackthorne accuses the priest of, but at the same time Torunaga and others don't really react when he tells them he's from another country who is at war with Portugal. So they seemed to know that there had to be other countries, they just weren't aware of their power and influence. And again, there was an embargo on Japanese goods imposed by China. And I'm not sure how much knowledge could Japanese society gain about Europe from Japanese pirates operating near China.
  10. Won't be total where I live but I saw the one from a few years ago that passed through the middle of the US.
  11. Tell that to 80s action movies. "I'll be back!"
  12. I would think Japan really was fairly isolated from Europe in terms of knowledge, too. They might have known in general terms about Europeans, possibly had knowledge of the 'Romans' and such, but would not have known specifics about the various nations. The Japanese pirates only operated in the western Pacific and the adjacent seas and, in fact, because of them the Chinese had imposed a trade embargo with Japan, which means no other merchants would have been able to use Chinese routes to make contact with Japan. So the Portuguese were welcomed to a certain degree by the Japanese because they became a bridge of commerce with China. Europe had limited knowledge of Japan, too, up until the Portuguese and the Spanish arrived. For example, Marco Polo's account of Japan was mostly BS because he never went there, and it was based on stuff he might have learned in Mongol-ruled China (who had no love for the Japanese) Regarding the show, all characters are made up but inspired loosely by real people. There was no Minowara family that once ruled Japan as shoguns etc. But the various historical backgrounds are correct, like the treaties Blackthorne referenced between Spain and Portugal. And these two nations, being at war with England, and the fact that Europe is on the cusp of the 30 year war, would have had ample reason to try to hide their commercial connections in the Far East. I think Torunaga was clever. He likely suspected something was coming his way since 1) he successfully delayed the vote on his fate and 2) Blackthorne was really agitating the Christian powers. Him switching rooms with Blackthorne was strategic, as he now knows who the assassin came for. Unclear if Blackthorne's quarters were better guards outside by his men, considering how quickly Blackthorne bolted out of there and no one stopped him.
  13. I am one of those people. I've never watched any of the Godfather movies, Goodfellas, Casino, and same with TV shows like The Sopranos or Peaky Blinders. I watched The Departed and hated the story, I thought The Irishman was OK and yes a it's well done movie apart from the de-aging stuff. The only gangster related movie I've watched more than once and enjoy is The Untouchables, because there are clear good guys in it and it's based on real events with Capone getting his comeuppance in the end. And you can add movies and TV shows about drug cartels for the stuff I don't care for. Breaking Bad is the sole exception, and even that one was a one time viewing for me.
  14. Nah, this difference does not exist. Well I disagree. This movie is a time commitment and not everyone would have been able to watch it right away.
  15. There was bait in Rodrigo's statement, you shouldn't have taken it. I couldn't quite remember that, thanks. The movie simplified it, especially since they didn't actually reveal that part.
  16. Like the Reader who prefers his history to be written in ink, I prefer the visual and sound effects of a movie to safely stay behind the screen.
  17. Yes they are, but the movie does just throw them in without much setup. As the book explains everyone has nukes, but also why no one uses them.
  18. 8.5/10 for me. Easily as good as Part 1 with significant chunks of the movie being way better than anything in Part 1, but some aspects where it falls short on. I was surprised by how many changes to the book this one had compared to Part 1, some good changes, others disappointing because of omissions. Visually the movie is stunning, it has a richer color palette than Part 1, a great soundtrack, the acting is top notch, and the scale of it borders on the frightening. I didn't really buy Walken as the Padishah Emperor, but Chalamet, Ferguson, Zendaya, and Bardem were excellent, and the rest were solid. The two movies together do make for the best Dune adaptation so far. What I liked Disappointments And lastly, theater experience 5/10. Seats were comfy, sound was good, the audience was small, which allowed me to hear the two people who fell asleep, some guy who was snoring loudly, and a kid with their lighter snore just a few seats away. sigh
  19. Ancient Greek storytellers shake their heads sadly
  20. RIP Richard Lewis. https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/richard-lewis-dead-comedian-curb-your-enthusiasm-1235925744/
×
×
  • Create New...