BS: Cold Mountain

Subject: BS: Cold Mountain
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 03:01 PM

Anybody in the UK want a UK format DVD of this load of crap, only the first 10 minutes watched, far too violent.
First UK catter to PM me with their home address can have it FOC.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: greg stephens
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 03:15 PM

Have PMed you. The movie as a whole was crap, but fairly rivetting crap I have to say. The BIG version of "And am I born to die" during the initial massacre was a truly thrilling marrying of traditional music to a theatrical image, and a lot of the small group old-timey stuff was very interesting, especially seeing young Mr White Stripe doing his stuff. The extraordinarily evocative American scenery was doubly powerful having been filmed in Romania....art is often infinitely more accurate than life. Of the performance of the two stars noting need be said. Oh all right, I'll say something. In the immortal words of Sir JOhn from Hull, they were rubbish.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: Teresa
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 03:19 PM

This is the only instance in which I've bought the soundtrack and hadn't bothered to see the movie. :>

T

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 03:43 PM

Sold to a Mr greg stephens. Although how he can slate it, and want it at the same time puzzles me. Myself I can't stand violence, and when it got to somebody staggering round groaning for ages, with a bayonet wound in his stomach, was more than I could stomach.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: greg stephens
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 03:47 PM

I want it for the same reason you'll be glad to receive the CD of mine I'm going to send you in return. Some bits are good. Some bits are crap.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: greg stephens
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 03:50 PM

Another reason I want it: I've never owned a DVD. I'm really looking forward to it. I dont have anything to play it on, but I'll look at it, and stroke it.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 03:51 PM

Touche' Monsewer.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: GUEST,greg stephens
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 03:58 PM

FOR SALE:

DVD "Cold Mountain" slightly used excellent condition, one careful owner. Will not be available for 2/3 days - but worth the wait.

First OFFER over £20 secures the deal.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 04:30 PM

Disagree. The first few minutes were violent, but in context that seemed justified. It wasn't the kind of flash-bang pretend violence were used to in movies, where noone who matters gets seriously damaged. It had the same kind of numbing shock effect as the start of Private Ryan. Whether that's a good thing I'm not at all sure - but if you are going to have battle scenes in films they ought to be shocking and confusing, or they are lies.

Nicole Kidman was pretty dire, but the rest of the cast were pretty good, I thought. And there was some lovely music.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: GUEST,SueB
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 04:30 PM

Thank God I'm not the only one who thought that movie was mediocre and who wasn't impressed by Nicole Kidman in it!

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: Little Hawk
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 04:36 PM

It was neither a very poor nor a very good movie. About a 6.5 or 7 out of 10, I'd say. Same goes for Nicole Kidman's acting. Not a disaster, not a triumph either, just sort of adequate.

I would like to see a really good film about Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Gods and Generals was okay, but I'd like to see one better than that.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 05:21 PM

Re: Cold Mountain, I'm with McGrath.

IMNSHO and FTR, Shrek 2 is a far better film.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 05:28 PM

Dances with Wolves was another civil war film that had a gruesome opening which was appropriate to the context of the plot.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: Sam L
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 05:44 PM

I don't mind violence where it fits but here's my review.

Cold Mountain--
The heroic story of one white man's enduring self-interest, against the backdrop of the civil war. It doesn't take much to see that things like slavery and national unity don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world of star-crossed lovers who know each other about as well as I know that elegant cashier down at the Dairy Mart. Some good acting and stuff.

The thing that has stayed with me after the movie is how Kidman or whoever she was supposed to be "freed" her slaves, or got rid of them somehow, from a big farm she didn't know how to run, and to what? To stay at a motel for a while until they found jobs? As what? Actors in a civil war movie? Slim chances, it seems.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: GUEST,Martian Gibbon
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 06:37 PM

greg

"First OFFER over £20 secures the deal"

Offer - £20.01

I'm not normally a betting person!

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 06:44 PM

Since you can buy in the shops for under £18...

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: GUEST,Martian Gibbon
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 06:49 PM

Thanks for that McGrath.

I had $dollars$ in mind, you UK guys trying to pull a fast one, as they say possibly maybe.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: frogprince
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 06:58 PM

I'm about with Little Hawk on my over-all rating of the movie. But I had just seen a documentary on the battle at the opening, and that came off as an exceptional dead-on recreation of the actual event, with the attack bungled, for reasons the movie didn't really get into, and turning into a grizzly, needless bloodbath.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: GUEST,peedeecee
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 07:34 PM

I've refused to see the film, on the basis of trailers, on the advice of friends whose taste I trust, and on the basis of reviews. But this leaves a slight problem.

PLEASE PLEASE READ THE BOOK!! This is another instance in which a truly wonderful book is slashed/thrashed/trashed by being made into a film. Please ignore the movie and read an excellent, unforgettable book that should have been treated better.

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: pdq
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 07:37 PM

"Cold Mountain"...sounds like a great name for a beer company!

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: Teresa
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 08:03 PM

I will happily read the book and listen to the movie soundtrack, along with other fine music. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: bbc
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 10:18 PM

I read the book & then saw the movie. The movie wasn't the best I've ever seen, but it certainly wasn't the worst. I thought it was worth seeing. The violence seemed appropriate to me, in a war setting.

best,

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 20 Sep 04 - 04:22 PM

Neither the best or worst movie I've seen about the Civil War. Forget Kidman's perfoemance, Renee Zellwigger did a far better job. They played fast and lose with the hstory but the movie was entertaining. The battle was supposed to be the crater during the Petersburg campaign (Think siege)and was a fairly acurate representation. Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Cold Mountain
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Sep 04 - 04:44 PM

It was a very good re-creation of General Burnside's fiasco of an attack on the Confederate trenches. They planted a huge amount of explosives under the Confederate line by digging a tunnel. They then blew up that whole section of line. They had thousands of men waiting to storm through the breach, but insteand of sending them around its edges these men were sent straight forward into the gigantic crater made by the explosion. There they became trapped like fish in a barrel. More men pouring in from behind prevented the first lot from extricating themselves, until they were packed in like sardines. The Confederate soldiers proceeded to slaughter those thousands of men, who were so tightly crowded together that they couldn't even fight back effectively.

It was an utter disaster and finally got Burnside sacked. About time! He had presided over several other notable disasters for the Union Army, and that one was the last straw.

All that stood between victory and defeat that day was a Union officer bright enough to observe that it was wiser to go around the crater than straight into it. As for the soldiers, well, soldiers follow orders, don't they? They have to hope that the man giving the orders has a clue what he's doing in the first place.