Silver Surfer Movie?

[serak_the_preparer]

<i>I remember one book in which he and the Hulk were on his board, and he absorbed the gamma radiation from the hulk, and with that additional charge, he was able to breach the barrier around Earth. The gamma charge spent, he saw Bruce Banner plunging to Earth, so he returned across the barrier, and saved Banner, but was imprisoned again.</i><br /><br />That's our Surfer. No, I don't believe I ever read that one, but it is entirely consistent with my memories of one of my favorite celluloid heroes. <i>That</i> is what a real friend does, what a hero does. What I would hope to do.<br /><br />Great stuff, Doc - thanks for bringing it to this thread.

 

[serak_the_preparer]

<i>There was a fantabulous scene in which they more or less discover their super powers while handling an outrageous wreck involving about 50 million vehicles (including a fire engine) on the Brooklyn Bridge. <br /><br />And I have to admit -- I got a kick out of seeing Susie Storm Richards running around naked. Even if she was invisible. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /></i><br /><br />Stop, stop! I must now see this movie. Renting it soon and will let you know what I think.<br /><br /><i>But yes... getting back to the thread's main theme: the Silver Surfer ruled. Lonely watchdog of justice -- part California surfer boy, part vigilante, lone warrior, keeper of the flame. Back a lifetime or so ago, I <b>loved</b> that comic.</i><br /><br />The Surfer was Prometheus. And also Christ (Prometheus for a monotheistic world). And, it could be argued, even Achilles. Pure hero.<br /><br />All I can say is:<br /><br />Me, too.

 

[drwayne]

Interestingly, as the Surfer absorbed more gamma radiation, he became angrier and more ruthless, it was only when he had used it up in penetrating the barrier that he realized/cared what happened to Banner.<br /><br />I remember one book where the Surfer went wandering around Dr. Stranges house, looking for the Dr. Strange - wandering around that house was dangerous even for the Surfer.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

Well, I've skimmed a couple of reviews and just now took a look at the current rating on Rotten Tomatoes: 43%. Seems like the gist is that this FF movie is better than its predecessor, primarily due to the strength of the classic story-line they've tapped. But otherwise the same complaints aired about the first movie are coming up again with this one.<br /><br />So, if you liked the first one, you'll like this one even more. But some people are going to be disappointed.<br /><br />(According to the critics...)

 

[Kalstang]

<font color="yellow">So, if you liked the first one, you'll like this one even more. But some people are going to be disappointed.</font><br /><br />This the way it is no matter the movie, and applies to everything in the world. There's always someone that's got to complain or rave about something. But hey is all good!! Thats what makes us human! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#ffff00"><p><font color="#3366ff">I have an answer for everything...you may not like the answer or it may not satisfy your curiosity..but it will still be an answer.</font> <br /><font color="#ff0000">"Imagination is more important then Knowledge" ~Albert Einstien~</font> <br /><font color="#cc99ff">Guns dont kill people. People kill people</font>.</p></font><p><font color="#ff6600">Solar System</font></p> </div>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

I wasn't particularly impressed with the first Fab 4 movie. It was "OK" but they kinda stepped a little bit on my image of Dr. Doom. However, I'm also a Silver Surfer fan. So, I'll be interested in seeing what they do with it and will definitely see the flick. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

<i>This the way it is no matter the movie.... There's always someone that's got to complain or rave about something.</i><br /><br />True.<br /><br />My impression is that this movie not only looks better, but actually <i>is</i> better. The two reviews below both show up as splats on Rotten Tomatoes, but one is generous and kind while the other isn't. I imagine the movie experience will lie somewhere in between for most viewers:<br /><br />More Silver Surfer, less Julian McMahon is fine by me by Brian Orndorf (Hollywood &%$#@!slap)<br /><br />. . . [The]<i> villain happens to be the Silver Surfer, and as a special effect, he’s...&%$#@!in’, dude. A liquid metal being with sweeping moves on his board of energy, the Surfer is an impressive looking creation, and succeeds as a convincing mystery for our superheroes to solve. However, once Mr. Surfer opens his mouth, the script can’t exactly back up the visuals. Sold as a hopeless romantic who’s locked in slavery by a dangerous whirly cloud-like thing called Galactus, the Surfer’s character arc doesn’t quite hold the weight the effects promise. Surfing down the face of a building or opening bottomless holes in the Earth? Yes! Lamenting the loss of his loved one and trading therapy sessions with Sue? No...!</i><br /><br /><br />Is it hot in here, or is it just Jessica Alba? by Sean O'Connell (filmcritic.com)<br /><br /><i>. . . Surfer moves like a comet, whizzing through set pieces and stodgy passages of scientific explanation. Gruffudd gains the most ground, as the bookish and brilliant Reed struggles with his fame. Evans and Chiklis expand on the playful comedic chemistry they tapped into in the first Four. Alba has no range, though, and her defi</i>

 

[docm]

Don't they get the point that she doesn't need much range? She just needs to do 3 things: not to flub her lines, get he body postures right and look great in a skin-tight outfit, and Alba excels at the latter 2 <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

I purposefully picked two reviews from Rotten Tomatoes which were not rated as positive (though, in my opinion, the second is positive). There were certainly worse reviews available - so mildly forgiving reviews from the splat column struck me as middle-of-the-road. Can you believe the review below, featured on Rotten Tomatoes, comes up not as a splat but as a ripe and edible tomato?<br /><br />There is no tortured sociological subtext to the comic-book thrills of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Praise be by Kevin Maher (The Times)<br /><br /><i>. . . Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is everything you’d expect from a movie that began in the pages of a 1960s comic book – garish, giddy, emotionally simplistic, boldly idiotic and mercifully short....</i><br /><br />And there's more of the same (such as: 'Yet the movie, gleefully directed by Tim Story, makes no attempt to hide its own narrative deficiencies, which is ultimately part of its naive charm – it’s like an X-Men movie shot by Florrie Fimble'). In fact, I more than half-suspect the review is a tongue-in-cheek 'Hat's off!' to what Maher deems to be comic-book mediocrity. And is therefore little more than a sustained left-handed compliment. Which only got away with fooling the folks at Rotten Tomatoes through its misleading title and 3-out-of-5-stars rating.<br /><br />Yahoo is going easier on this movie and is probably hitting closer to a good assessment of what it delivers: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) - Movie Info: C+ from the critics, B from the users. Sounds about right until you consider an oft-overlooked 'X factor' for the most part hidden from critical view, almost as though by some kind of field of invisibility...<br /><br /><i>She just needs to do 3 things</i>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

<i><br />. . . [The] villain happens to be the Silver Surfer, and as a special effect, he’s...&%$#@!in’, dude. A liquid metal being with sweeping moves on his board of energy, the Surfer is an impressive looking creation, and succeeds as a convincing mystery for our superheroes to solve. However, once Mr. Surfer opens his mouth, the script can’t exactly back up the visuals. Sold as a hopeless romantic who’s locked in slavery by a dangerous whirly cloud-like thing called Galactus, the Surfer’s character arc doesn’t quite hold the weight the effects promise. Surfing down the face of a building or opening bottomless holes in the Earth? Yes! Lamenting the loss of his loved one and trading therapy sessions with Sue? No...! </i><br /><br />Errm.. Sounds like someone didn't read comics when they were a kid. That <b>is</b> the Silver Surfer. But, I heard his voice on an advertisement the other night and I wasn't very impressed. The Silver Surfer is imbued with the Power Cosmic for darn sakes. He doesn't have to be "Darth" Surfer but I expected a little more "umph" to his voice. Maybe it gets better.. like he takes a lozenge or something.<br /><br />Regardless, I'm not a big fab 4 fan but I like the Silver Surfer. I'll go just to watch him and do my best to ignore Stretch, Miss Nobody, Chuckles the talking rock and the Flamer...<br /><br />I don't quite get the "cloud" Galactus either. I saw a glimpse on the advertisement though. Meh, probably gets better. I suppose having a 100 foot tall fat guy in a purple suit with a really dumb hat sidling up to your planet like it was a buffet wasn't scary enough for them.<br /><br /><font color="yellow">Alba has no range, though, and her deficiencies hurt when Sue has to grapple with some genuine emotional conflicts....</font><br /><br />I just threw away some wet cardboard. It probably could have been a contender for the part.. but, it just didn't have the couch presence. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[docm]

<font color="yellow">I'm not a big fab 4 fan but I like the Silver Surfer. I'll go just to watch him and do my best to ignore Stretch, Miss Nobody, Chuckles the talking rock and the Flamer...</font><br /><br />Are we forgetting that Silver Surfer first appeared in the comic book Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), the first part of the "Galactus Trilogy" in those comics?<br /><br />You can't have a Silver Surfer origin story without them, and this movie is a loose interpretation of the early Galactus Trilogy. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

I regretfully acknowledge the necessity of pairing the flab four with the Silver Surfer. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> That doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.. unless he wipes the floor with them.. alot. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

Okay, saw it with one of my daughters today, and...<br /><br />...we liked it!<br /><br />No, didn't say 'loved.' 'Liked.' But this is a comic-book, dammit, not Margaret Mitchell. Criticisms aimed against comic-book fare brought to the silver screen, frankly, lack much force. Example: 'If you ask me, the actor playing Mickey Mouse in the film failed to convince me to suspend disbelief and invest in Mickey emotionally...thumbs down, sorry to say.' Really? Well, maybe no one should have asked you, since you are clearly mistaking Mickey Mouse for Rhett Butler. This is not <i>Gone with the Wind</i>, after all. It's a comic-book dreamed up a long time ago as a means for separating young boys from their pocket money. What worked for comic-books, done properly, just might work for movies. So has Tim Story's team done a proper job?<br /><br />Another way of putting the question: Are people entertained? My take on it is that they are, and will be. And the reason for that lies largely with the addition of the Silver Surfer.<br /><br /><i>Errm.. Sounds like someone didn't read comics when they were a kid.</i><br /><br />Part of the problem in going from one medium to another. Some have read the comics, but many haven't. I'm betting most haven't. So how do you make a successful cross-over, bringing along the old fans while recruiting some new ones?<br /><br />The Surfer might be Hamlet. If he is, then Galactus stands in for King Claudius, and the intolerable situation of serving a hated master can only go on so long. Watching Hamlet wrestle with his own modern and neurotic notions of conscience, duty, and honor - unwilling to act while his internal struggle drags on - is also something that can only go on so long. There's something to what Orndorf says, whether he's read the comics or not. Like you, I disagree with Orndorf, since the Surfer is a philosophical device made flesh through the inspiration of Jack Kirby and the savvy of Stan Lee. The question marking the bo

 

[a_lost_packet_]

<font color="orange">a_lost_packet_ - Errm.. Sounds like someone didn't read comics when they were a kid.</font><br /><br /><font color="yellow">Part of the problem in going from one medium to another. Some have read the comics, but many haven't. I'm betting most haven't. So how do you make a successful cross-over, bringing along the old fans while recruiting some new ones? </font><br /><br />If you notice, my comment was directed at a critic complaining about the Silver Surfer's backstory which is really part of the backstory of the Silver Surfer of comic-book fame. It's kind of hard to separate the two.<br /><br />I agree, media crossovers like comic-book to big screen are difficult. The most die-hard fans of both genres are the ones that are hardest to please. I think, personally, that comic-books are very suited to being brought to the screen. One thing about comic-books was that you had several choices for entertainment. You could become a huge fan, gobbling up every nuance of the ongoing storyline across multiple issues and writers or you could just sit down, open the comic book and enjoy the ride for what it was.<br /><br />I'm really glad this appears to be turning out to be successful. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch it next weekend. Maybe, maybe not. My schedule is kind of hectic this coming week. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last movie I saw in the theatre.. hmm.. I like going to the movies, just haven't had a chance recently.. I gotta get out more. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />PS - A question without spoiling the plot. Do they ever show the original "comic book" version of Galactus? Wait, nevermind, I don't want to know. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[drwayne]

When I first saw that there was going to be an FF movie with the Surfer, I wondered how they would give scale to Galactus and, for that matter, The Watcher, and how they would handle Johnny's journey to Galactus' home to get the Ultimate Nullifier.<br /><br />I looks like they just rewrote things...<br /><br />If people won't buy Galactus as the classic version, I wonder what they would make of The Watcher?<br /><br />You know, years later, Galactus was freed of hi promise to not consume the Earth. He returned later to dine. <br /><br />He ignored the combined forces of the FF, the Avengers etc. and set up his planet consuming machinery. Then, Doctor Strange showed up, made a gesture, and down went Galactus...he used a spell that confronted Galactus with the ghosts of those he had killed.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[docm]

We saw it today and enjoyed it quite a bit. Even my wife, less a sci-fi/comic movie fan than Erik and me, had a good time. The effects were very good and Galactus was more realistic than the comics "giant" version, which I never found satisfying anyhow. As for SS's voice; what did some people want, Pavarotti? <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>