The Revenant (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 2015)

Just saw this last night. Probably the best film I’ve seen so far in 2015. Did a whole AGI marathon to prepare for it.

Some of the best cinematography you will ever see, and probably the greatest triumph of digital cinema so far.

Has anyone else seen it? Thoughts?

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It’s not in cinemas overhere yet. I’ll probably watch it as soon as it is (January I think), the trailer looks very promising. I think I’ll re-watch that Harris vehicle Man in the Wilderness first, as far as i know it was based on the adventures of the same historical figure, a mountain man called (I forgot the name)

I saw the film two weeks ago at a friends house, he had a very good screener copy.
I liked it, I thought it was very well made and without spoiling it for others, i’ll just say a few Gs… Great soundtrack by a couple great artists, gritty realistic combat (only sporadically, though), gorgeous landscape photography with incredible filming locations and good costuming & set design. Sad to say though IMO, Leonardo DiCaprio won’t get the (Oscar) for this, i just don’t see it, but the film should for the cinematography.

P.S…I’ve already seen The Hateful Eight, my thoughts on the film will be for some other time. I’m very much undecided where I stand with this film.

Saw it last night as well. Really great survival western (?), filled with violence, poetry (dream scenes!) and beautiful pictures. It reminded me of Peckinpah and Malick and even Jarmusch’s Dead Man a couple of times. DiCaprio is great but he had better - or, at least, more spectacular - roles. Anyhow, I’d like to see this flick again, only next time in the cinema. Inarritu is getting better and better.

Haven’t seen it yet, though I plan to. Just came back from “The Hateful Eight” - not my favorite.

I really want to see this, although I don’t have much time to go to the cinema these days :cry: .

They had an advanced screening near me around Christmas, but it was in the middle of the night and I missed it. I have to wait until next week now I think.

Not really a movie for the silent night, holy night, I’d say.

Got myself a copy of Man in the Wildeness, so I’ll watch that one first

God, this sounds amazing. I am going to watch it on Wednesday when it pre-premieres in Germany - sadly in german. Looking much more forward to watching it now :smiley:

An outstanding movie, the best I’ve seen in the last year, maybe. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

It is a good film in the tradition of the ugly 70s westerns about the land grabbing and the destroying of it, all packed in a survival plot. Not as entertaining as Innarritu’s masterpiece Birdman, but still a film with some great scenes, but also with less interesting characters and conflicts. With a little bit respect a 8/10 film, with a little less respect 7/10

More similar to Gravity than Birdman (all 3 movies have same director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki and are directed by a Mexican director). Birdman was more substantial on story level, while, like in Gravity, in Revenant story is just an excuse for technical virtuosity. But boy, virtuous it is. I don’t mind “style over substance” when that style is really outstanding and unique, so you can watch it for 2 and a half hours. Direction and cinematography make this movie special.

I saw this and I did not care for it. Cold, empty and without a human touch. Felt kind of like of robots had been programmed to make a movie because it’s a technical marvel. Tom Hardy was brilliant, DiCaprio grunts a lot and apparently that’s how you win Oscars now.

Saw it last week. Visually it’s great alright. But there’s almost nothing else to it. For 2 hours DiCaprio gasps and cries and spits and grunts and says about 10 lines of dialogue. The bear attack doesn’t look phony, but the recovery from it does not convince. In the distant backround there’s a motive for revenge for the deeds of the rotten character of Tom Hardy. And that’s about it. Hardly what you’d call a good movie.

I missed my chance to see The Hateful Eight but I’m going to the cinema tonight to check this one out.

I was reading this thinking you could use almost the same words for Once Upon a Time in the West. So here goes:

Visually it’s great alright. But there’s almost nothing else to it. For 3 hours, Bronson plays his harmonica and says about 10 lines of dialogue… In the distant background there’s a motive for revenge for the deeds of the rotten character of Henry Fonda. And that’s about it.

Now, The Revenant does not even come close to Once Upon a Time in the West (very few things, if any, do), but I still feel it makes for a great movie as something visually enthralling.

Very good point. People expect too much from a movie sometimes. Sometimes it is “just” visually great, brilliantly directed movie and nothing else. What can you do :wink:

2nd favorite western of 2015 for me. Number 1… the Keeping Room. Has anyone posted about this little big(the sound is so amazing) gem?

I thought it was a very good film. Very similar to Man in the Wilderness. Not sure which one I like the most.

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Finally saw it in cinema last night.
Almost a full house for a western movie, I had not experienced this since the Seventies and the re-release of Once Upon a Time in the West (I haven’t seen Dances with Wolves in cinema)

I noticed that Leone’s meta-western was mentioned in relation to this one and yes, there are similarities (in framework and design), but I didn’t notice any meta level (in other words: I don’t think this western is a comment on westerns). Other directors who came to mind were Malick and Jarmusch (Dead Man, the dream sequences), while the opening scene reminded me of Scott’s Gladiator (rather than Peckinpah).

I having mixed feelings about the movie itself: Great look, murky content. As more often, the director seems to overstretch the ‘meaning’ of his movie: it clearly is supposed to say something, but ideas are only hinted at, never properly developed. Visually it’s of course stunning, the bear attack is a horrifying highlight, but some things were better done in the Richard Harris’ movie Man in the Wilderness (the recovery from the wounds for example).

I’ll probably write more about the movie in the next few days;

I went to see it again. It was definitely better the second time.