[lmilhan]

I have been marking the days off of the calendar in anticipation of seeing this movie.

Went and saw it with my wife today. Neither of us read the book. My opinion: It was 'meh'. Nothing special I'm afraid. Pretty forgetable over all. Bummed me out too, I really wanted to like this movie, and the trailer had me pretty excited.

Maybe I will give the book a shot...

 

[mojoman]

I thought the movie was entertaining and the book was a fun read during last summers vacation. Neither the movie or the book were the best I've ever experienced but by no means the worst. I don't understand why there is so much controversy surrounding the book and movie from the religious groups. It seems to me that if your faith is threatened by a work of fiction and a movie it isn't much of a faith to begin with.

 

[iSleipnir]

I thought it was alright. I don't know what went wrong. Maybe there was just too much to fit in, but I don't know what they could have done to make it better.

 

[Connectz]

Okay first about the movie. Yes it sucked big time if you read the book. They left out too many important parts and changed some really important parts.

But the crap that just gets me is how everyone thinks most of the stuff Dan Brown wrote about in the book is mere crazy conspiracy threories. From challenging the church to the history of the templars. I find it amazing how som many people just say its ******** just because their local news broadcast says it is so. Nothing but the sheep mentality at work.

One big issue I have is with the whole Council Of Nicea. I knew about this fact in since the mid 90's. This is nothing new. But most people that are just finding out about it claim that its just bullcrap that Dan Brown made up. As a matter of fact, I will go on a limb and say that most of the books "facts" have are true! Except the Priory claims and them protecting the bloodline.

But all the claims made against the church are historical fact. All those "exposes" that were on TV denouncing the Da Vinci Code's claims were nothing more than mouthpieces for the church. Yes, do your research and see who paid for those so called "exposes".

It pains me to see that we live in an age where people are like sheep and the media is the shepard. Its like the blind leading the blind. If you get anything from this book, at least do your own research before you write it off because your local news anchor told you to do so.

Believe nothing and question everything, then you will find out the truth.

 

[LFF]

I read the book and found it immensely entertaining. Saw the movie and thought is was also "meh". The movie was ok but it is definately nothing special. They changed a lot of things and the movie just lacked the feel of the book. I also felt the movie was really fast paced. I read the book in two days and saw the movie a day later. Having read the book very recently and then seeing the movie immediately afterwards with all the facts still present in my mind was not a good idea. Nevertheless, I prefer the book over the movie.

 

[saab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Connectz ... But the crap that just gets me is how everyone thinks most of the stuff Dan Brown wrote about in the book is mere crazy conspiracy threories. From challenging the church to the history of the templars. I find it amazing how som many people just say its ******** just because their local news broadcast says it is so. Nothing but the sheep mentality at work. One big issue I have is with the whole Council Of Nicea. I knew about this fact in since the mid 90's. This is nothing new. But most people that are just finding out about it claim that its just bullcrap that Dan Brown made up. As a matter of fact, I will go on a limb and say that most of the books "facts" have are true! Except the Priory claims and them protecting the bloodline...

Sort of a spoiler below...



















I don't think anyone denies that the council of Nicea took place, but what Brown claims happened there is a blatent falsehood. He claims that they were there in order to decide of they were going to consider Jesus as Devine. He also claims that the final vote was very close. In actuality, the Council was formed to decide how the three devine parts would be defined. The near unanimous decision determined that the three parts (father, son and holy spirit) were all of one whole. This is called trinitarianism (and is still held by all major Christian organizations.) Trinitarianism was the belief of the huge majority before this, and so the Council of Nicea merely decided that they had been correct. It was never in question of whether Jesus was devine, only how his devinity would be explained.

Please take note that I am not preaching about anyones devinity, only what historically happened. This is what I remember from college history courses, and further study, if anyone thinkis I am incorrect on anything, please let me know and I will study further.

-John

 

[Alu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IstariAsuka Fight Club book was WAY better than the movie. The mood, the confusion, it all permeated the scenes in the book; less so in the movie. Plus the ending of the movie ruined it. That was the clencher that made it certainly not as good as the book.

I love both versions almost equally, the movie even better because of the ingenious acting and direction that really does surface in every scene. Sure the ending of the movie might seem "simpler" in a way, but it kind of leaves you hanging, and it works for me. It's 2 different attempts of representation and none of them is bad. I have to add that I love pretty much everything Palahniuk does.

 

[Mercuttio]

I liked the book "Crash" (that's the name, right?) better than "Fight Club." As an author, I feel like he really nailed a unique style for Crash in a more fluid and interesting way than he did in Fight Club... the movie Fight Club however improved upon the book in nearly every way, particularly character development. The driver in the book being actually replaced by Tyler Durden just WORKS for me much better. I won't get to much into it, as I don't want to ruin a fantastic movie for those who haven't seen it.

As for Da Vinci Code, I haven't seen the movie yet and don't know if I will now. As I read the book, (having read "Angels and Demons" first) I couldn't help but think "This is a movie, I'm reading a movie, and it's insulting my intelligence." I figured it was pretty much pre-written to become a full length film... silly plot twists only there to keep the reader's attention etc. In fact, the whole Teabing thing didn't work at all in the book: Brown seems to be totally unable to write out of a particular character's perspective, so as soon as things aren't coming from Teabing's you know something is up.

 

[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mojoman I don't understand why there is so much controversy surrounding the book and movie from the religious groups. It seems to me that if your faith is threatened by a work of fiction and a movie it isn't much of a faith to begin with.

Imagine if you were Jewish and movie was made that depited the Holocaust as false, Hitler as a good guy, and the whole Holocaust "story" being orchestrated by Churchill and Eisehower pursuant to a conspiracy for some nefarious purpose. Would you accept the argument that it doesn't matter, it's just fiction?

 

[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Connectz Okay first about the movie. Yes it sucked big time if you read the book. They left out too many important parts and changed some really important parts. But the crap that just gets me is how everyone thinks most of the stuff Dan Brown wrote about in the book is mere crazy conspiracy threories. From challenging the church to the history of the templars. I find it amazing how som many people just say its ******** just because their local news broadcast says it is so. Nothing but the sheep mentality at work. One big issue I have is with the whole Council Of Nicea. I knew about this fact in since the mid 90's. This is nothing new. But most people that are just finding out about it claim that its just bullcrap that Dan Brown made up. As a matter of fact, I will go on a limb and say that most of the books "facts" have are true! Except the Priory claims and them protecting the bloodline. But all the claims made against the church are historical fact. All those "exposes" that were on TV denouncing the Da Vinci Code's claims were nothing more than mouthpieces for the church. Yes, do your research and see who paid for those so called "exposes". It pains me to see that we live in an age where people are like sheep and the media is the shepard. Its like the blind leading the blind. If you get anything from this book, at least do your own research before you write it off because your local news anchor told you to do so. Believe nothing and question everything, then you will find out the truth.

You are just flat wrong, seriously deluded, or you have not done any real factual investigation, with all due respect. Almost all of the historical "fact" in the book and the movie is not fact at all. Oh yeah, I forgot, Paris is a city in France. Other than that, it is 99% hogwash. Whether that is a problem or how much of a problem it is, is another issue. But to suggest what Dan Brown wrote is mostly factual or that even a substantial part is factual is laughable.

 

[DanG]

Just reminding you all to stay away from political and religious discussions in this forum. Please keep the thread free of such topics to allow it to continue.

 

[mikeg]

Three of the latest block buster movies (e.g., The Davinci Code, the one about destruction of the World Trade Center, and the one about the heroic airline passangers) are all immersed with religious, political, and cultural issues. It'll therefore be really hard to avoid mention of these prohibited subjects in discussion of these movies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanG Just reminding you all to stay away from political and religious discussions in this forum. Please keep the thread free of such topics to allow it to continue.

 

[DanG]

You're absolutely right, which is why everyone needs to be careful. Most of the responses to this thread have been perfect examples of how to do just that. Commenting on how well the story flows, how interesting/boring it might be, the acting... a movie is just a movie, after all. And this isn't Fahrenheit 911.

So I'm just asking everyone participating in the thread to keep that in mind. Thanks.

Oh, and by the way... I read the book and found it far too predictable, the characters one-dimensional, and the writing mediocre at best. But for some reason, I couldn't put it down! It was my first best-seller pulp-fiction read in a very long time and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. Don't think I'll see the movie, though, especially based on what people have been saying in this thread.

 

[mojoman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilS Imagine if you were Jewish and movie was made that depited the Holocaust as false, Hitler as a good guy, and the whole Holocaust "story" being orchestrated by Churchill and Eisehower pursuant to a conspiracy for some nefarious purpose. Would you accept the argument that it doesn't matter, it's just fiction?

But this movie wasn't doing that and as long as it was presented as fiction I would have not problem with it.

 

[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanG Oh, and by the way... I read the book and found it far too predictable, the characters one-dimensional, and the writing mediocre at best. But for some reason, I couldn't put it down! It was my first best-seller pulp-fiction read in a very long time and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. Don't think I'll see the movie, though, especially based on what people have been saying in this thread.

Bingo! That's what I was trying to say above. Interestingly, I didn't feel like Angels and Demons was nearly as bad. I rather liked it.