The Great Movie Thread

[DSquared]

Is anyone interested in Amazing Spiderman 2, or can I take a stab at it?

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Is anyone interested in Amazing Spiderman 2, or can I take a stab at it?

Go for it! I actually like pretty much all of the parts of that movie's casting and am one of the few who will defend the depiction of Electro...But having said that the film was definitely a repeat of Spider-Man 3 in terms of having WAAAAY too many sub-plots, and also has the unfortunate and awkward distinction of having a ton of Easter eggs to an entirely abandoned cinematic universe

 

[spacemt354]

I love the idea of this thread, Space! Very creative way to expand the horizons of the Imagineering board

If you don't mind I'd really like to take on the Super Mario Brothers challenge as that's something I've had a TON of ideas about...mostly emulating the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have a chain of Nintendo movies building up to Super Smash Brothers team up movies.

For now, let's concentrate on what would undoubtably be a good jumping off point for a potential Nintendo Cinematic Universe...Heh...get it...Jump...Because Mario...Jumps...hehe...

I'll start with the few things I actually like about the original Mario Brothers movie and would like to keep intact with a reboot. First of all, I think the main premise of the Mushroom Kingdom being an alternate dimension and the Brothers being actual plumbers should be kept in tact.

I think Mario and Luigi going through the sewers and coming upon the portal to the Mushroom Kingdom should still be the thing that gets them there. It keeps the original game's pipe travel in tact and also makes logical sense out of why two regular looking guys would end up in a fantasy world.

I also think making one of the princesses a girl who was stolen away from the Mushroom Kingdom as a baby and is now living in New York would be a good way to go. Hell, let's also keep the rival Scapelli Plumbers as an homage to the original

So here's my pitch...Let's ditch this craziness revolving around the Mushroom Kingdom being a hypothetical history of evolved dinosaurs...The Mushroom Kingdom is weird in this version for the simple reason that it's one of MANY alternate universes existing within the larger Nintendo Cinematic Universe. This would also be a very logical way to work in Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda and connect it to the larger NCU.

So let's start with the princesses. We have Peach and Daisy as the jumping off points in the story. In my version they are sisters even though that's not cannon in the game. Working from a narrative standpoint I think that'd be the best way to go about things.

The opening scene of the film sees Daisy and Peach sepperated as young girls with Daisy being sent away to Brooklyn and Peach eventually being kidnapped by Bowser as a play on his end to gain power.

Let's talk about some of the logistics of the Mushroom Kingdom. I imagine the Toads could be an interesting plot point. They're all servants to Princess Peach. Peach has lived in Bowser's castle since being kidnapped as a child.

In the Mushroom Kingdom the Toads are all attached to Peach on a spiritual level. With Bowser manipulating Peach into viewing him as a father figure throughout her childhood, he has second hand control over the legions of Toads. You could have some interesting Zootopia type social commentary involved with the Toads being literal fungus within the Mushroom Kingdom which is why they attach themselves to the ruler.

The plot of the film is set in motion when Princess Daisy gets the Mario Brothers indirectly mixed up in a plot to rescue Peach from Bowser. We'd have the brothers plus Daisy travel to the classic Princess Peach's Castle from Mario 64 only for the iconic "The Princess is in another castle!" line

The first half of the movie would be establishing Peach and Bowser's dynamic and how Bowser truly does feel a fatherly bond to Peach. I want to really get some of the pathos of the Bowser character in this film as well as some of the offbeat comedy that was showcased in the Mario and Luigi RPGs. I definitely want to make him a slightly more light hearted villain with a lot of layers of complexity to him. Eventually I want him to shine as the villain turned bad *** hero in Super Smash Brothers!

Throughout the first half of the movie we'll also see Daisy connect with Mario and Luigi and their initial travel to the Mushroom Kingdom where we see a few of the classic locales including the castle, Yoshi's Island, a Koopa Air Ship, and the underground level 1-2 level from the original game.

The second act will end with Daisy and Peach reuniting and Daisy convincing Peach to escape Bowser. The brothers and Princesses all return to Brooklyn, but due to the fungus nature of the Toads things within the Mushroom Kingdom start to slip into our dimension.

For example on a date in Central Park, Luigi and Daisy are attacked by the Hammer Brothers who wreck havok on the park. Toads start sprouting up everywhere and literally lead Bowser right to Peach.

The climax happens in Time Square between Mario and Bowser. Mario ends up doing his iconic tail grab on Bowser and swings him into one of Time Square's giant screens which beats the giant lizard into submission.

The film ends with Bowser locked away within the depths of the Mushroom Kingdom dungeons and Daisy and Peach becoming the rightful rulers without the influence of Bowser. Mario and Luigi travel back and forth from the Mushroom Kingdom to engage in heroics (including a cameo from the flying raccoon suit in Mario 3!) to returning to Brooklyn to maintain the family plumbing business. Truly the Mario Brothers have become the first link into a larger world...Heh...get it...Link...Because everyone's going to be looking forward to the Zelda movie after this!

POST CREDITS!

We see Mario enter the deck of a star ship as we see we are in deep space. He is being led around by a familar looking anthropomorphic dog in a naval red suit. His name...is General Pepper, the commander of Star Fox.

As Pepper guides Mario through what we realize is the Great Fox, we geek out at the sight of a couple Arwing ships tucked away in the corner...Future adventures to come!!

We aren't just here to geek out on Nintendo Easter Eggs and the fact that suddenly Star Fox and Mario are crossing paths...There is danger a foot. A deadly new enemy within the cosmic realms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A bug-like infestion of an alien menace that has wrecked havoc across the galaxy.

Mario and Pepper look down at one of these alien creatures that the Star Fox team has managed to capture on their travels which has been trapped in a thick dome glass case. Fans geek out even harder as we realize what it is...It's a METROID! Suddenly, three different Nintendo properties have collided in one 90 second post-credits scene!

Awesome - looks fantastic!!

Yeah this was intended as a place for everyone to share their ideas - keep them coming!

 

[spacemt354]

Is anyone interested in Amazing Spiderman 2, or can I take a stab at it?

Oh yes I'd like to see that one!

 

[DSquared]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

This last installment in the standalone Spidey-Verse was a complete flop due to improper pacing, too many villains, and too many sub-plots. And to fix it, I'm adding in 3 more villains. But here me out! This sequel to the 2012 reboot of Spiderman is about to get a lot more fun as Spiderman must face off against the entire Sinister Six! The reason that this works is because by adding more heroes and villains into the mix, you can change the pacing of the film to match Civil War more.​

Cast:

Spiderman/Peter Parker - Andrew Garfield
Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen - Emma Stone
Felicia Hardy/Black Cat - Felicity Jones
Electro/Max Dillon - Jamie Foxx
Green Goblin/Harry Osbourne - Dane Dehaan
Donald Menken/Vulture - Colm Feore
Aleksei Systevich/Rhino - Paul Giamatti
Flint Marko/Sandman - Tom Hardy
Francis Klum/Mysterio - Keanu Reeves
Tinkerer - Christopher Lloyd
May Parker - Sally Field
Ben Parker - Martin Sheen
Flash Thompson - Chris Zylka
Mary Jane Watson - Shailene Woodley

Oh! And we're gonna pretend they moved filming back so Shailene Woodley can be in the movie.

Opening:

The cold open will be similar to the actual film, with Gwen Stacy giving a speech as Spiderman fights a villain. But instead of Rhino, it will this time be Green Goblin (Norman, not Harry). It is also made clear that among the onlookers are Felicia Hardy, Tinkerer, and Francis Klum. We also see cuts during Gwen Stacy's speech of Mary Jane, Flash Thompson, Harry Osbourne, Aunt May, and Stan Lee. The fight ends with Goblin being badly wounded and arrested, and Peter taking off to get to graduation. We cut back to graduation, with the names of Flash, Harry, and Mary Jane being called right before Peter's. He just makes it like in the actual film. We cut to after graduation, where Peter talks to Gwen's family and Aunt May before his Spidey sense goes off. He says that he has to use the bathroom, but actually suits up and takes off. As he runs, the camera focuses on the Spiderman logo, which goes into the credits.

We then have a James Bond style intro with the Spiderman song and shadows of him fighting villains.

Act 1:

Act 2:

Act 3:


I'm going to add more tomorrow, so don't think I'm going crazy because I have to explain this all out how it works.

 

[spacemt354]

5 - Batman and Robin are released in 2003 - starting the DC Cinematic Universe

In this scenario - Batman and Robin will kick off the DC Cinematic Universe that will begin in 2003. New cast, new director, and new direction for the studio.

Ok - so following up on this.

Basically after the success of X-Men and Spider-Man, Warner Bros wises up and decides to one-up Marvel/Sony and Marvel/Fox. Seeing that these characters are in two different studios, and WB has the rights to the entire DC library - they decide to kick off a cinematic universe of films that will revolutionize the comic book industry.

Beginning production on Batman and Robin in 2003 - with a release date scheduled for June 2005 (same date as Batman Begins) DC unveils its plan to have the films interconnect with each other, eventually leading to the formation of the Justice League.

Batman and Robin will be directed by.....*drumroll*

Christopher Nolan!

Yes - the real world grounded viewpoint of The Dark Knight Trilogy will be the core of the DC Cinematic Universe. Rather than going bombastic and colorful, a grounded approach will make the characters relatable to the audiences, connecting them to the core of the DC World - Batman.

That's where the DCEU messed up I think - Man of Steel was too disconnected with the DCEU - with only a minor reference here or there, and they started with the wrong area of the universe.

Starting with Batman and Robin gives a platform to then build off of - a realism factor, then it would make more sense that Superman throws that out of whack and the universe expands, but not before getting two stellar realistic Batman films, with the 3rd film being more comic-booky as the DCEU expands.

To give a preliminary timeline of the films and how they'd expand the universe:

Batman and Robin (2005) directed by Christopher Nolan, Music by Hans Zimmer


Main Cast
(This was a combination of people Nolan has worked with/will work with in the future - some were in Batman Begins, others were in The Prestige/Inception/etc)

Bruce Wayne/Batman - Christian Bale
Jason Todd/Robin - Leonardo DiCaprio
Alfred - Michael Caine
Commissioner Gordon - Gary Oldman
Selina Kyle/Catwoman - Scarlett Johansson
Dr. Hugo Strange - Ken Watanabe
Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow - Cillian Murphy
Lucius Fox - Morgan Freeman

The Superman (2006) directed by Brad Bird, Music by Michael Giacchino

Main Cast
Clark Kent/Superman - Jim Caviezel
Lois Lane - Rachel McAdams
Lex Luthor - Bryan Cranston
Martha Kent - Sally Field
Jonathan Kent - Burt Renoylds
Perry White - Lawrence Fishbourne
Jimmy Olsen - Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The Dark Knight (2008) directed by Christopher Nolan, Music by Hans Zimmer

to be continued...

 

[spacemt354]

Very good video

 

[Disney Dad 3000]

Just catching up on this thread but nice work on SS space. I wasn't overly disappointed in the film. It was enjoyable for what it was. A little bit of a let down after what was probably one of my all time favorite trailers.

 

[spacemt354]

Just catching up on this thread but nice work on SS space. I wasn't overly disappointed in the film. It was enjoyable for what it was. A little bit of a let down after what was probably one of my all time favorite trailers.

Thank you!

I felt the same, as the trailers were amazing, then when I got to the movie I was pretty underwhelmed by some of the character uses, plot, and editing, because I thought it had great potential.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Let's get this thread fired back up with a redo of the single most polarizing film between myself and fellow podcast co-host BlueDragonFive...The Dark Knight Rises...

I'll be honest...This was one of my most anticipated films of all time. Right up there with the likes of Jurassic World. Ironically enough, they both turned out to deliver similar feelings for me and I'll get to Jurassic World another day. At least with JW the film managed to be entertaining on a basic level all the way through. The same absolutely cannot be said about this dreary, sluggish, plot-hole infested final chapter in what should have been a perfect trilogy.

Let's get to the positives first. For the most part I love Bane and how he was executed and want to keep most of that in tact with the redo of the film. Bane was absolutely the reason I was looking forward to this movie so much. For as many problems as I have with this film, the contrast between the visual of Bane and his fancy-pants speaking voice is absolutely genius and for my money among the single most inspired things Christopher Nolan has ever done as a filmmaker. There's moments with Bane in the movie that are absolutely chilling, my personal favorite being...

The one thing I would change about Bane's execution outside of obvious writing things I'll get into that absolutely diluted the entire character in the third act would be the way they did his voice in post production. I'm one of the few who GREATLY preferred the original trailer voice that was Tom Hardy's on set delivery. Yes it was more muffled, but I think that only added to Bane's intimidation. In contrast, while I still love Hardy's accent and vocal delivery, pretty much ALL of Bane's lines in the finished films are done with blatantly obvious ADR recordings. This was done to combat people who complained about not being able to understand him, but in turn made Bane's dialogue TOO crystal clear. In my version we keep Hardy's original on-set vocal performance for the most part. ADR can certainly be used here and there as is the case with every performance in the editing room, but ADR shouldn't be the single thing that's used for Bane's dialogue.

And outside of Bane...That's honestly it on the positives I have They turned Bruce Wayne into an unlikable crybaby who quit being Batman because his would-be girlfriend got killed...Say what you will about Batfleck killing people in the new DC movies, but I think THAT move was the single biggest betrayal of the Batman character I've ever seen. They tried to do the jump in time that The Dark Knight Returns did so well, but absolutely failed in Batman's motivations. Instead they turn Bruce Wayne into a self-loathing recluse for a majority of the run-time which, while does contribute to his overall redemption arc, could have VERY easily been accomplished without the notion of him hanging up the cowl. Batman's early retirement is the single most glaring issue I have with Nolan's entire trilogy, so let's just be done with it.

Close second in terms of HUGE issues I have with Nolan's trilogy...Talia Al Ghul. I'm not even going to give Nolan the credit by calling her by her scripted name for most of the movie. She's Talia. We all knew she was Talia as soon as she was cast. Talia simply shouldn't exist in this movie. Her being the main puppet master was a HUGE sin in making Bane into essentially the henchman/muscle who seemed like he had a greater purpose but was really just following orders. Talia is gone in this version. We can put the League of Shadows stuff to rest from Batman Begins. There's no need to have the awkward shoehorned in Liam Neason cameo or the vague allusions to the Lazarus Pit. One of my big problems with Rises is that it tries to be a direct sequel to Begins while ignoring or pushing aside a lot of the plot elements that made The Dark Knight so captivating. I respect wanting to bring the trilogy full circle, but it came at the cost of continuation of a lot of the themes established in TDK.

Let's keep Ann Hathaway as Catwoman. I don't particularly care for her character arc in the finished film, but that's a problem with the writing less so the performance. To be honest I wasn't as blown away by her as a lot of people her and felt her performance was good but not anything too memorable, but she's likable and works well with Nolan so for the purposes of this let's keep that casting intact. The main difference I'd make for her is that I'd like to see this film start with her and Batman already knowing each other. I can actually see she being the thing that gets Bruce out of his depression surrounding Rachel. Half for the potential romance and half for the thrill of chasing a criminal on his level...as a proper Batman/Catwoman dynamic should always be. I'd also have Selina working for Bane as a means to an end in a desperate situation. This would entirely replace the Talia dynamic that Bruce had in the finished film.

Joseph Gordon Levitt as "Robin" (again, REFUSE to call him by the name Nolan wants us to call him by ) is also gone. I think JGL did a good performance and honestly he's a decently written character...but he's not a Batman character and doesn't have the stronger ties to the comic lore that we'd need for this to really hit home. That's why replacing him would be rookie GCPD officer Renee Montoya played by Rosario Dawson, who Gordon has taken under his wing. Montoya would represent the value of Gordon trusting people in the GCPD after that was put into question in The Dark Knight. I also think having her be set up as a potential Bat Woman would be definite change from the comics but one that would make sense within the context of this trilogy. I'd also throw in Gordon's partner Harvey Bullock played by...Let's say Jeff Bridges.

This film would definitely have the strongest emphasis on the GCPD out of the three in the trilogy due to the plot development of Batman being a public enemy at the end of The Dark Knight. Rolland Dagget would still be in the film but serve as the corrupt personal antagonist to Gordon who is leading the manhunt for Batman. Harvey Bullock would definitely be gun-hoe on catching Batman himself but we'll see throughout the film that he's a genuinely good man and a straight cop, and inspite of being against Batman is also an antitheses to Dagget.

As I said, there's no Batman retirement. The film picks up one year after the events of The Dark Knight on the year anniversary of Harvey Dent's death. Much of the plot plays out the same way including Gordon having guilt about the Two-Face cover up and Bane taking the city under siege. There is a clear manhunt for Batman but he's still going after criminals including The Riddler who was see in a one-scene role played by Michael Emmerson.

The film's first act ends with pretty much the same exact fight between Bane and Batman..what is EASILY the best executed scene in the entire finished product. Now here's a big difference. One of the things I hated about Rises was the weird prison that was a vague allusion to the Lazarus Pit and had REALLY confusing rules (so prisoners can just try to escape any time they want...okay??) To hell with that entire subplot. Let's not take Bruce Wayne out of Gotham City (which in turn creates the single biggest plot hole I've ever seen in any movie with the question of how the hell does he get back to Gotham City within a few hours after escaping the prison when it's been hammered in throughout the movie that he has ZERO resources...Let alone has time to do a meticulous gasoline Bat Symbol in the bridge )

No...Bruce is in Gotham City, with a broken back, in the middle of all the chaos that's being caused by Bane's regime. That is SOOO much more effective than having him watch vague news footage on a TV that he smashes after about 10 minutes of being in the prison anyways. Batman is in the place he loves as it's being torn to shreds, and there's not a damn thing he can do about it. At this point I want to mention that Alfred absolutely DOESN'T abandon him in this version and stays by his side as he recovers from the back break.

Bane's siege goes on for six months as Bruce recovers and we feel that passage of time as the city slowly gets more and more torn apart. We see a big emphasis on average citizens becoming unhinged and violent out of sheer desperation. Some of the iconic stuff from the finished film like the plane hijacking cold-open, Bane making his grand introduction at the football game and the chilling shot of the bodies hanging from the bridge will be kept in tact.

The end of the second act comes as Bruce is recovering and Gordon ends up in the hospital. This was one of the HUGE disappointments in the movie to me. In the teaser trailer for Dark Knight Rises we don't get much...All we really get is a hospitalized Gordon who looks like he's on death's door...begging for Batman to come back. To me the scene I was most looking forward to was Bane absolutely destroying Gordon and beating him to a pulp. While it'd certainly be hard to watch, the emotional gravity of the situation certainly had to lead to a powerful moment, right...

Instead of being the big act two low of lows, Gordon being in the hospital is more of an afterthought of him stumbling around in the sewers and getting shot. The injury that put him in the hosptial was barely even explaiend and it CERTAINLY didn't come off like he was on death's door in the final film like the emotional gravity of the teaser trailer would have you come to expect.

Let's entirely redo the events surrounding Gordon's death. Bane knows that Bruce Wayne has recovered at this point, and he's bidding his time and training for a rematch. Bane hasn't located the Batcave (Which will be on the outskirts of Gotham and secluded...) so he wants to draw Batman out. What's the best way to do that..hit him where it hurts. It's common knowledge that Batman and Gordon have a personal working relationship. With that Bane abducts Gordon and has a huge public display in front of the press where he beats Gordon brutally within in inch of his life. This would lead to the dramatic "he must...he must..." moment where Gordon begs Batman to return in the hospital. In this version, let's actually kill Gordon off. He already had a fake death in The Dark Knight and this would be something that's emotionally devastating to both Bruce and the audience, and would certainly be a call to arms for Batman to finish Bane once and for all.

The ending of the film is a much more bare-knuckle brawl that doesn't include the ridiculous bomb being carried away plot. In fact there's no bomb. Bane takes control of Gotham through sheer man power as well as just doing things that generally cause chaos such as releasing the prisoners at Blackgate. Instead we get a drag out fight between Bane and Batman that lasts about twice as long as in the finished product. While this might be controversial, I actually think Batman should kill Bane. It'd be in a situation where he has absolutely no other choice in addition to the blind rage Bruce has in the aftermath of Gordon's murder.. and you'd clearly see how emotionally wrecked Bruce is by having to do this. I think this would be a perfect and somber way to end the trilogy after all the exploration of Batman's no-kill policy in The Dark Knight.

Throughout the film we'd get an in depth exploration into the philosophical idea that Batman creates his own villains, something that truly haunts Bruce in the wake of Joker's reign of terror in The Dark Knight. This coupled with the sheer devastation Bane unleashed leads to the ultimate decision for Batman to retire. The film ends on a cliffhanger though as we see Bullock and Montoya discovering the Bat Cave on the outskirts of Gotham and putting the pieces together about Bruce Wayne's identity. While Montoya is inspired and in awe of Bruce's heroism as Batman, Bullock is wanting to call it in and get back up down there right away. Were left with a fade out of Montoya and Bullock in the Bat Cave with the sound of approaching police sirens as we fade to black. We are left to wonder, with one final Nolan stroke of ambiguity, what becomes of Bruce Wayne after this revelation..

I'd LOVE to hear everyone's thoughts. This is a pitch that's been in my head for a long time. It's not a complete redo of a film, just a retooling of certain elements that I think would make the overall finished product infinitely tighter and more well told than the film we ultimately ended up getting.

 

[spacemt354]

Let's get this thread fired back up with a redo of the single most polarizing film between myself and fellow podcast co-host BlueDragonFive...The Dark Knight Rises...

I'll be honest...This was one of my most anticipated films of all time. Right up there with the likes of Jurassic World. Ironically enough, they both turned out to deliver similar feelings for me and I'll get to Jurassic World another day. At least with JW the film managed to be entertaining on a basic level all the way through. The same absolutely cannot be said about this dreary, sluggish, plot-hole infested final chapter in what should have been a perfect trilogy.

Let's get to the positives first. For the most part I love Bane and how he was executed and want to keep most of that in tact with the redo of the film. Bane was absolutely the reason I was looking forward to this movie so much. For as many problems as I have with this film, the contrast between the visual of Bane and his fancy-pants speaking voice is absolutely genius and for my money among the single most inspired things Christopher Nolan has ever done as a filmmaker. There's moments with Bane in the movie that are absolutely chilling, my personal favorite being...

The one thing I would change about Bane's execution outside of obvious writing things I'll get into that absolutely diluted the entire character in the third act would be the way they did his voice in post production. I'm one of the few who GREATLY preferred the original trailer voice that was Tom Hardy's on set delivery. Yes it was more muffled, but I think that only added to Bane's intimidation. In contrast, while I still love Hardy's accent and vocal delivery, pretty much ALL of Bane's lines in the finished films are done with blatantly obvious ADR recordings. This was done to combat people who complained about not being able to understand him, but in turn made Bane's dialogue TOO crystal clear. In my version we keep Hardy's original on-set vocal performance for the most part. ADR can certainly be used here and there as is the case with every performance in the editing room, but ADR shouldn't be the single thing that's used for Bane's dialogue.

And outside of Bane...That's honestly it on the positives I have They turned Bruce Wayne into an unlikable crybaby who quit being Batman because his would-be girlfriend got killed...Say what you will about Batfleck killing people in the new DC movies, but I think THAT move was the single biggest betrayal of the Batman character I've ever seen. They tried to do the jump in time that The Dark Knight Returns did so well, but absolutely failed in Batman's motivations. Instead they turn Bruce Wayne into a self-loathing recluse for a majority of the run-time which, while does contribute to his overall redemption arc, could have VERY easily been accomplished without the notion of him hanging up the cowl. Batman's early retirement is the single most glaring issue I have with Nolan's entire trilogy, so let's just be done with it.

Close second in terms of HUGE issues I have with Nolan's trilogy...Talia Al Ghul. I'm not even going to give Nolan the credit by calling her by her scripted name for most of the movie. She's Talia. We all knew she was Talia as soon as she was cast. Talia simply shouldn't exist in this movie. Her being the main puppet master was a HUGE sin in making Bane into essentially the henchman/muscle who seemed like he had a greater purpose but was really just following orders. Talia is gone in this version. We can put the League of Shadows stuff to rest from Batman Begins. There's no need to have the awkward shoehorned in Liam Neason cameo or the vague allusions to the Lazarus Pit. One of my big problems with Rises is that it tries to be a direct sequel to Begins while ignoring or pushing aside a lot of the plot elements that made The Dark Knight so captivating. I respect wanting to bring the trilogy full circle, but it came at the cost of continuation of a lot of the themes established in TDK.

Let's keep Ann Hathaway as Catwoman. I don't particularly care for her character arc in the finished film, but that's a problem with the writing less so the performance. To be honest I wasn't as blown away by her as a lot of people her and felt her performance was good but not anything too memorable, but she's likable and works well with Nolan so for the purposes of this let's keep that casting intact. The main difference I'd make for her is that I'd like to see this film start with her and Batman already knowing each other. I can actually see she being the thing that gets Bruce out of his depression surrounding Rachel. Half for the potential romance and half for the thrill of chasing a criminal on his level...as a proper Batman/Catwoman dynamic should always be. I'd also have Selina working for Bane as a means to an end in a desperate situation. This would entirely replace the Talia dynamic that Bruce had in the finished film.

Joseph Gordon Levitt as "Robin" (again, REFUSE to call him by the name Nolan wants us to call him by ) is also gone. I think JGL did a good performance and honestly he's a decently written character...but he's not a Batman character and doesn't have the stronger ties to the comic lore that we'd need for this to really hit home. That's why replacing him would be rookie GCPD officer Renee Montoya played by Rosario Dawson, who Gordon has taken under his wing. Montoya would represent the value of Gordon trusting people in the GCPD after that was put into question in The Dark Knight. I also think having her be set up as a potential Bat Woman would be definite change from the comics but one that would make sense within the context of this trilogy. I'd also throw in Gordon's partner Harvey Bullock played by...Let's say Jeff Bridges.

This film would definitely have the strongest emphasis on the GCPD out of the three in the trilogy due to the plot development of Batman being a public enemy at the end of The Dark Knight. Rolland Dagget would still be in the film but serve as the corrupt personal antagonist to Gordon who is leading the manhunt for Batman. Harvey Bullock would definitely be gun-hoe on catching Batman himself but we'll see throughout the film that he's a genuinely good man and a straight cop, and inspite of being against Batman is also an antitheses to Dagget.

As I said, there's no Batman retirement. The film picks up one year after the events of The Dark Knight on the year anniversary of Harvey Dent's death. Much of the plot plays out the same way including Gordon having guilt about the Two-Face cover up and Bane taking the city under siege. There is a clear manhunt for Batman but he's still going after criminals including The Riddler who was see in a one-scene role played by Michael Emmerson.

The film's first act ends with pretty much the same exact fight between Bane and Batman..what is EASILY the best executed scene in the entire finished product. Now here's a big difference. One of the things I hated about Rises was the weird prison that was a vague allusion to the Lazarus Pit and had REALLY confusing rules (so prisoners can just try to escape any time they want...okay??) To hell with that entire subplot. Let's not take Bruce Wayne out of Gotham City (which in turn creates the single biggest plot hole I've ever seen in any movie with the question of how the hell does he get back to Gotham City within a few hours after escaping the prison when it's been hammered in throughout the movie that he has ZERO resources...Let alone has time to do a meticulous gasoline Bat Symbol in the bridge )

No...Bruce is in Gotham City, with a broken back, in the middle of all the chaos that's being caused by Bane's regime. That is SOOO much more effective than having him watch vague news footage on a TV that he smashes after about 10 minutes of being in the prison anyways. Batman is in the place he loves as it's being torn to shreds, and there's not a damn thing he can do about it. At this point I want to mention that Alfred absolutely DOESN'T abandon him in this version and stays by his side as he recovers from the back break.

Bane's siege goes on for six months as Bruce recovers and we feel that passage of time as the city slowly gets more and more torn apart. We see a big emphasis on average citizens becoming unhinged and violent out of sheer desperation. Some of the iconic stuff from the finished film like the plane hijacking cold-open, Bane making his grand introduction at the football game and the chilling shot of the bodies hanging from the bridge will be kept in tact.

The end of the second act comes as Bruce is recovering and Gordon ends up in the hospital. This was one of the HUGE disappointments in the movie to me. In the teaser trailer for Dark Knight Rises we don't get much...All we really get is a hospitalized Gordon who looks like he's on death's door...begging for Batman to come back. To me the scene I was most looking forward to was Bane absolutely destroying Gordon and beating him to a pulp. While it'd certainly be hard to watch, the emotional gravity of the situation certainly had to lead to a powerful moment, right...

Instead of being the big act two low of lows, Gordon being in the hospital is more of an afterthought of him stumbling around in the sewers and getting shot. The injury that put him in the hosptial was barely even explaiend and it CERTAINLY didn't come off like he was on death's door in the final film like the emotional gravity of the teaser trailer would have you come to expect.

Let's entirely redo the events surrounding Gordon's death. Bane knows that Bruce Wayne has recovered at this point, and he's bidding his time and training for a rematch. Bane hasn't located the Batcave (Which will be on the outskirts of Gotham and secluded...) so he wants to draw Batman out. What's the best way to do that..hit him where it hurts. It's common knowledge that Batman and Gordon have a personal working relationship. With that Bane abducts Gordon and has a huge public display in front of the press where he beats Gordon brutally within in inch of his life. This would lead to the dramatic "he must...he must..." moment where Gordon begs Batman to return in the hospital. In this version, let's actually kill Gordon off. He already had a fake death in The Dark Knight and this would be something that's emotionally devastating to both Bruce and the audience, and would certainly be a call to arms for Batman to finish Bane once and for all.

The ending of the film is a much more bare-knuckle brawl that doesn't include the ridiculous bomb being carried away plot. In fact there's no bomb. Bane takes control of Gotham through sheer man power as well as just doing things that generally cause chaos such as releasing the prisoners at Blackgate. Instead we get a drag out fight between Bane and Batman that lasts about twice as long as in the finished product. While this might be controversial, I actually think Batman should kill Bane. It'd be in a situation where he has absolutely no other choice in addition to the blind rage Bruce has in the aftermath of Gordon's murder.. and you'd clearly see how emotionally wrecked Bruce is by having to do this. I think this would be a perfect and somber way to end the trilogy after all the exploration of Batman's no-kill policy in The Dark Knight.

Throughout the film we'd get an in depth exploration into the philosophical idea that Batman creates his own villains, something that truly haunts Bruce in the wake of Joker's reign of terror in The Dark Knight. This coupled with the sheer devastation Bane unleashed leads to the ultimate decision for Batman to retire. The film ends on a cliffhanger though as we see Bullock and Montoya discovering the Bat Cave on the outskirts of Gotham and putting the pieces together about Bruce Wayne's identity. While Montoya is inspired and in awe of Bruce's heroism as Batman, Bullock is wanting to call it in and get back up down there right away. Were left with a fade out of Montoya and Bullock in the Bat Cave with the sound of approaching police sirens as we fade to black. We are left to wonder, with one final Nolan stroke of ambiguity, what becomes of Bruce Wayne after this revelation..

I'd LOVE to hear everyone's thoughts. This is a pitch that's been in my head for a long time. It's not a complete redo of a film, just a retooling of certain elements that I think would make the overall finished product infinitely tighter and more well told than the film we ultimately ended up getting.

Nice job!

I have similar thoughts on the film as it's my least favorite out of the Nolan trilogy and probably my least favorite Nolan movie overall. I had read somewhere that Nolan himself never even thought a 3rd movie could be made...because he had said you can't really name many good 3rd movies in a series. And he's not really a sequel/threequel director type. Inception and Interstellar grossed like 1.4B+ in box office combined, but neither will ever get a 2nd movie, so I think the studio forced him into this a little bit.

Because why he's one of my favorite directors is the attention to detail, which was pretty lacking in this movie as a whole.

I have 2 main qualms with the film.

One in particular the ending.


Ok...what is happening here?

Bruce magically comes back from the prison on the other side of the world (with no money) and enters a city that is completely blocked off to the outside world....with no explanation.

Complicate that by adding in a bomb. If the League of Shadows goal is to destroy Gotham...why not just set the bomb off? Talia aims to click it, seemingly at any moment, if they aren't planning on saving themselves in the process...why have this long fight? Just blow it up. So I agree, I'd take the bomb out of the equation.

Lastly, the fight choreography - the first time I saw it my eyes were glued to Batman and Bane. But the 2nd and 3rd time...erm...just look at the people around them...this whole fight is just unrealistic, and Nolan's movies are supposed to be realistic. It's not a Nolan movie finale. (Though the roid rage from Bane at 2:40 is pretty darn cool)

I like pretty much all the changes you made, but I think he was right before he even made it, 3rd movies are tough. Especially since The Dark Knight is the greatest comic book film of all time...and included the Joker (a villain that you really can't top). No matter how good Bane was or anyone else, this was never going to live up to expectations, so instead of making it all bombastic at the end, I would have gone the route you did of making it more personal to Batman himself....not have Batman show up in only 20 or so minutes of a 165 minute movie like TDKR did.

 

[TheOriginalTiki]

Honestly had Heath Ledger not died there's no way Joker wouldn't have been involved in a major way. I think Heath's death was the HUGE handcuff Nolan had to work around creatively. I toyed with the idea of including Harleen Quinzell in here just to tie back to Joker but decided against it as the film is crowded enough with the Montoya and Bullock additions.

God, Inception is actually one of the films I am DYING to see a sequel to. I completely understand not wanting to ruin the ambiguity of the ending, but I just think the world and "rules" Nolan crafted in that movie were so intricate and fascinating it'd be a shame to never revisit them. I think if you just leave Cobb out of the narrative and focus on say, Arthur or Eames, you wouldn't even have to address the whole "did the top stop spinning" thing. The one idea I've always had for an Inception sequel is essentially to explore "nightmares", something that was only vaguely touched on in the original. Like I said I'd want to see more of an exploration of the world and lore, less so a direct continuation of Cobb's story.

 

[spacemt354]

Honestly had Heath Ledger not died there's no way Joker wouldn't have been involved in a major way. I think Heath's death was the HUGE handcuff Nolan had to work around creatively. I toyed with the idea of including Harleen Quinzell in here just to tie back to Joker but decided against it as the film is crowded enough with the Montoya and Bullock additions.

God, Inception is actually one of the films I am DYING to see a sequel to. I completely understand not wanting to ruin the ambiguity of the ending, but I just think the world and "rules" Nolan crafted in that movie were so intricate and fascinating it'd be a shame to never revisit them. I think if you just leave Cobb out of the narrative and focus on say, Arthur or Eames, you wouldn't even have to address the whole "did the top stop spinning" thing. The one idea I've always had for an Inception sequel is essentially to explore "nightmares", something that was only vaguely touched on in the original. Like I said I'd want to see more of an exploration of the world and lore, less so a direct continuation of Cobb's story.

This might have been a fan rumor, but there were talks of having (if Heath was alive), the next movie involve the Joker on trial. Which would lead to Batman having to go on trial as well. I would hope the whole movie wouldn't be To Kill a Mockingbird, but just having that element in it, truly bringing the cores of the characters out, I would have been interested in seeing that. Since he passed though, Nolan wanted a brawn villain to differentiate it, so I can see why they went with Bane.

Inception is in my top 5 movies of all time I actually think a prequel would be interesting...using plot elements they touched on in the film to see one of Cobb's old jobs, but on the other hand I'm kinda glad they didn't because they covered so much stuff in that film, and it was explained thoroughly that, unless they introduce something like nightmares, the magic of learning about the dream world rules as an audience member would be reduced.

 

[Daveeeeed]

To revive this thread I just want to say:
The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

I have to do this sometime .

 

[spacemt354]

In honor of Rogue One coming out today...what other Star Wars spin-off films would you like to see happen?

We know the Han Solo film is coming out in 2018...what others would you like to see?

Some rumors have been Obi-Wan, Yoda, or Boba Fett. While those would probably be the easiest to pitch to a BoD, I would like to see at least one outside of the Skywalker storyline.

Something from the Old Republic -- doesn't have to be Kotor -- but something where the Jedi were in their prime and the Sith were around could make for some really cool films

 

[DlpPhantom]

I would like to see a movie about the crew of bounty hunters in empire including boba in like a heist senario maybe involving Jabba.

On the other hand a movie I don't want to see is a Yoda prequal. He needs to remain a mystery for his character to work and they all ready ruined him a bit by a few other movies.

 

[IAmNotAHufflepuff]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

This last installment in the standalone Spidey-Verse was a complete flop due to improper pacing, too many villains, and too many sub-plots. And to fix it, I'm adding in 3 more villains. But here me out! This sequel to the 2012 reboot of Spiderman is about to get a lot more fun as Spiderman must face off against the entire Sinister Six! The reason that this works is because by adding more heroes and villains into the mix, you can change the pacing of the film to match Civil War more.​

Cast:

Spiderman/Peter Parker - Andrew Garfield
Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen - Emma Stone
Felicia Hardy/Black Cat - Felicity Jones
Electro/Max Dillon - Jamie Foxx
Green Goblin/Harry Osbourne - Dane Dehaan
Donald Menken/Vulture - Colm Feore
Aleksei Systevich/Rhino - Paul Giamatti
Flint Marko/Sandman - Tom Hardy
Francis Klum/Mysterio - Keanu Reeves
Tinkerer - Christopher Lloyd
May Parker - Sally Field
Ben Parker - Martin Sheen
Flash Thompson - Chris Zylka
Mary Jane Watson - Shailene Woodley

Oh! And we're gonna pretend they moved filming back so Shailene Woodley can be in the movie.

Opening:

The cold open will be similar to the actual film, with Gwen Stacy giving a speech as Spiderman fights a villain. But instead of Rhino, it will this time be Green Goblin (Norman, not Harry). It is also made clear that among the onlookers are Felicia Hardy, Tinkerer, and Francis Klum. We also see cuts during Gwen Stacy's speech of Mary Jane, Flash Thompson, Harry Osbourne, Aunt May, and Stan Lee. The fight ends with Goblin being badly wounded and arrested, and Peter taking off to get to graduation. We cut back to graduation, with the names of Flash, Harry, and Mary Jane being called right before Peter's. He just makes it like in the actual film. We cut to after graduation, where Peter talks to Gwen's family and Aunt May before his Spidey sense goes off. He says that he has to use the bathroom, but actually suits up and takes off. As he runs, the camera focuses on the Spiderman logo, which goes into the credits.

We then have a James Bond style intro with the Spiderman song and shadows of him fighting villains.

Act 1:

Act 2:

Act 3:


I'm going to add more tomorrow, so don't think I'm going crazy because I have to explain this all out how it works.

 

[spacemt354]

Thought this was very interesting. As much as I am a Marvel fan -- I actually root for DC to succeed. And I liked BvS a lot more than certainly the critics did. And these types of videos show that sure, there were some hiccups, this was a well thought out film that really delves into less of the popcorn fun of Marvel, and more into allegory and symbolism - which is represented really well here.

The Napoleon reference for Luthor completely puts his characterization into perspective in BvS - which was a large turn from the comics and turned people off.

 

[spacemt354]

Ok - so following up on this.

Basically after the success of X-Men and Spider-Man, Warner Bros wises up and decides to one-up Marvel/Sony and Marvel/Fox. Seeing that these characters are in two different studios, and WB has the rights to the entire DC library - they decide to kick off a cinematic universe of films that will revolutionize the comic book industry.

Beginning production on Batman and Robin in 2003 - with a release date scheduled for June 2005 (same date as Batman Begins) DC unveils its plan to have the films interconnect with each other, eventually leading to the formation of the Justice League.

Batman and Robin will be directed by.....*drumroll*

Christopher Nolan!

Yes - the real world grounded viewpoint of The Dark Knight Trilogy will be the core of the DC Cinematic Universe. Rather than going bombastic and colorful, a grounded approach will make the characters relatable to the audiences, connecting them to the core of the DC World - Batman.

That's where the DCEU messed up I think - Man of Steel was too disconnected with the DCEU - with only a minor reference here or there, and they started with the wrong area of the universe.

Starting with Batman and Robin gives a platform to then build off of - a realism factor, then it would make more sense that Superman throws that out of whack and the universe expands, but not before getting two stellar realistic Batman films, with the 3rd film being more comic-booky as the DCEU expands.

To give a preliminary timeline of the films and how they'd expand the universe:

Batman and Robin (2005) directed by Christopher Nolan, Music by Hans Zimmer


Main Cast
(This was a combination of people Nolan has worked with/will work with in the future - some were in Batman Begins, others were in The Prestige/Inception/etc)

Bruce Wayne/Batman - Christian Bale
Jason Todd/Robin - Leonardo DiCaprio
Alfred - Michael Caine
Commissioner Gordon - Gary Oldman
Selina Kyle/Catwoman - Scarlett Johansson
Dr. Hugo Strange - Ken Watanabe
Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow - Cillian Murphy
Lucius Fox - Morgan Freeman

The Superman (2006) directed by Brad Bird, Music by Michael Giacchino

Main Cast
Clark Kent/Superman - Jim Caviezel
Lois Lane - Rachel McAdams
Lex Luthor - Bryan Cranston
Martha Kent - Sally Field
Jonathan Kent - Burt Renoylds
Perry White - Lawrence Fishbourne
Jimmy Olsen - Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The Dark Knight (2008) directed by Christopher Nolan, Music by Hans Zimmer

to be continued...

I'd like to get back into this -- but basing it in a more realistic sense. While some may not like the direction of the DCEU, I actually saw Man of Steel on tv recently and hmm...that was better than I remembered it. And I am one of the defenders of Batman v Superman.

While there are flaws I don't understand the hate. I really don't. Suicide Squad has been my least favorite, mostly because of wasted potential, and was the reason for starting this thread in the first place.

With the recent release of the Justice League trailer (which looks really cool) -- I'm going to try and go through the rumored and confirmed upcoming films for the DCEU -- and try to create a cohesive story that blends in the positive aspects of the first 3 films in the DCEU, with more of what some fans have been asking for.

---------------------------

As of now the current line-up looks to be:

Set:
Wonder Woman (2017)
Justice League (2017)
Aquaman (2018)

Rumored/In Production:
Gotham City Sirens
The Flash
Man of Steel 2
The Batman
Shazam
Suicide Squad 2
Justice League 2
Green Lantern Corps
Justice League Dark


Here's going to be my lineup - if I took over DC/WB today:

Justice League - November 2017
Aquaman - July 2018 (moved back up)
The Batman - November 2018 (fast-track)
Justice League 2 - June 2019
The Flash/Green Lantern - November 2019
Shazam - March 2020
Teen Titans - November 2020
Justice League 3 - June 2021
The Batman Returns - November 2021

--------------------------- End

Reboot

More details coming soon!

 

[CraniumCommand89]

I'm a huge Batman fan so I will be curious what you do with the new Ben Affleck film.