I was pleasantly surprised at how little fantasy was in it. The Spanish civil war angle was done nicely, very brutal in parts too.
I thought pan's labyrinth was good.. but for me it was one of those movies where it was hyped up too much before i saw it, so i was expecting amazing
Well said Parka. Pan's Labyrinth is more of a "humane" movie that uses fantasy as an important element, than a fantasy movie per se. Very dark but movingly so. It didn't wimp out with a happy ending, although there was a note of hope about how it ended. It's cool to see how the best directors from the much-hyped Mexican explosion are now operating on the international scale.
I think the advertising hurt it in the long run. I bought it expecting to see a fantasy movie as thats all that the clips showed. Luckily the film stood up on its own merits.
looking forward to Del Torro's take on At the Mountains of Madness more than anything else right now. totally gonna watch hellboy2 and the hobbit as well... del torro is in my top director list right now.
Agreed. Reminds me of how Friedkin's "Bug" was totally misrepresented by the ads. It was a stagey psychological thriller, mis-advertised as a horror movie. Probably more than half the people who saw it hated it because it wasn't what they were led to expect. It's more of a small-scale art film, and a really good one, but ... not what you'd think from the promos. I loved the art direction in the fantasy sequences of "Pan's Labyrinth." That creature with the eyeballs in the hands was truly nightmarish, and the satyr was so Mexican in design. A little like some of Sergio Bustamente's sculptures.
I actually didn't see ANY ads for "Pans..." before I saw it, also heard no hype (yeah, I live that secluded a life), just saw the DVD cover and knew who did it and checked it out. Loved it, the scene where the farmer gets it to the face with the bottle, AWESOME!
as long as it is still getting made i guess. there was a time when this thing wasn't even going to see the light of day
Whoa, I hadn't even heard about him doing Mountains of Madness...that will be tight! Although I have to say with his fantasy-esque stuff it seems like maybe something like Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath would be even cooler!
Yeah. Was totally not what i expected. Especially considering how it was marketed. Wouldn't wanna let young kids watch. Some over the top violence.
Seems like after seeing the trailer of Hellboy 2 reminds me more of Pans Labrynth than the first one. Unlike all my friends, I loved the Hellboy, hated Blade II. The first Hobbit will be out in 2010 and second one will be in 2011.
