THOR (2011)

[Txantslusam Skxawng]

Stay after the credits!

Very valuable information, irayo ^^ and I like your reviews, they often help me decide if a movie is worth seeing in the cinema when I don't feel like reading long articles

In the cinema I always go the lights wont go on until the movie has ended. So when the credits roll, 75% of the people walk away and miss a piece of the movie

[eejmensenikbenhet]

I went to see it today in 3D and I think it is quite a good movie. I don't know the original comis so I didn't miss anything, what I do know is some mythiologie, most part because some time ago people in the Netherlands also prayed to the Gods displayed in the movie and we learned all about them on school. The moment that I saw Thor and his friends on horses my brain immediately made the link Thor-White Horse and a sencond later I see Thor riding on a white horse. Also, I think the 'communication' between Earth and Asgard through Bifröst, originally a rainbow, was brought into a briliant modern view.

[Txur’Itan]

Stay after the credits!

Very valuable information, irayo ^^ and I like your reviews, they often help me decide if a movie is worth seeing in the cinema when I don't feel like reading long articles

That is a nice compliment.  Irayo.

I often think that people should see a movie if they are interested, and not rely on the opinions of others, and I don't feel a need to dissect fiction for every single nuance flaw the same way as most critics tend to do when writing a review.

Stay after the credits!

Very valuable information, irayo ^^ and I like your reviews, they often help me decide if a movie is worth seeing in the cinema when I don't feel like reading long articles

In the cinema I always go the lights wont go on until the movie has ended. So when the credits roll, 75% of the people walk away and miss a piece of the movie

I know what you are talking about, I have observed when it has happened around me, people who leave early tend to be significantly younger than me.  I see this as a significant change in attitudes towards a movie watching experience since the time I started going to theaters.

Now-days there may not be a need to wait for the credit scroll for people who use websites like IMDB and check up on names for various production components and work history.  While IMDB can eliminate the need to watch the credit scroll, I doubt people leaving early are doing this out of any other reason then considering the experience "over and completed" once the credits start.

In my opinion, that practice of leaving before the credit scroll completes is disrespectful to the filmmakers if one actually enjoyed a movie.  There are many people who made movies happen that never appear in-front of the camera, and this is their limited method of gaining recognition for it.  To each their own...

I went to see it today in 3D and I think it is quite a good movie. I don't know the original comis so I didn't miss anything, what I do know is some mythiologie, most part because some time ago people in the Netherlands also prayed to the Gods displayed in the movie and we learned all about them on school. The moment that I saw Thor and his friends on horses my brain immediately made the link Thor-White Horse and a sencond later I see Thor riding on a white horse. Also, I think the 'communication' between Earth and Asgard through Bifröst, originally a rainbow, was brought into a briliant modern view.

Stan Lee, who wrote the comics this movie is based on, researched the myth to inform the back-story for the characters, then modified the mythology to make him fit into the comic book stories.  Not an accurate depiction of the Gods of Asgard, but still very entertaining.

[Toruk Makto]

Just saw it in IMax ID3...  Good movie, but Cameron still has a lock on the best technology for rendering of CGI in 3D, IMO.  Just an observation, but the screenplay had a flow problem. Dunno if that is something resulting from the Marvel origin, or if the story just got away from them in post.  Oh well, I did enjoy it and recommend it.

Markì

[MaTe]

it was ok.
3d was very good in most of scenes, but some of them just splitted into blurry ghosting I have no idea what causes, but other noticed it too.
The best part where space scenes during credits

[Txur’Itan]

it was ok.
3d was very good in most of scenes, but some of them just splitted into blurry ghosting I have no idea what causes, but other noticed it too.
The best part where space scenes during credits

That did not happen at the three showings I have seen on three different screens.

I think ghosting is often a result of bad glasses, or bad alignment.  That is something you should take up with the theater if others noticed it.  Get a free pass and such.

Just saw it in IMax ID3...  Good movie, but Cameron still has a lock on the best technology for rendering of CGI in 3D, IMO.  Just an observation, but the screenplay had a flow problem. Dunno if that is something resulting from the Marvel origin, or if the story just got away from them in post.  Oh well, I did enjoy it and recommend it.

Markì

J.C. did have at least three animation companies working on it at the same time.  I wonder if it takes that much effort to duplicate the production caliber, or if the techniques they developed can be duplicated with smaller teams and have the same qualitative result.

I think that qualitatively, without equivalent volumes of CGI artists or rendered foliage and creatures that were present on Pandora, it is difficult to compare and say that this team did anything better or worse than any single team working on AVATAR. 

Spoiler: CGI Scenes

The look of Jotunheim was pretty convincing looking as the icy home of the Frost Giants.

Spoiler: Flow

The flow issues I noticed had to do with catering to the Star Power of Natalie Portman by Having her Scene be first in the Movie.  If she weren't playing an important character, I would say that it was inappropriate.  Anthony Hopkins narrating in the beginning would be a nice addition if they continued with him narrating anything to do with THOR.

[wm.annis]

I did not see it in 3d.  I have not read the comics it derives from. 

Pros:
Given the type of film it was, I was pretty pleased with it.  The visuals were of course stunning.  I don't know how much of the design was drawn from the comics, but it was pretty nice.  I know more about Norse mythology than the average bear, but I didn't find myself wanting to tear out my brains just to make the hurting stop (unlike, say, my response that truly wretched Brad Pitt vehicle, "Troy", or to "300").  Heimdallr got the best lines.

Cons:
I thought some of the CGI got crappy in the distance, especially on the water, but not only there.  The love interest development went rather fast (not that I can blame anyone interested in dudes for responding quickly to Chris Hemsworth in this film).  Dialog occasionally overheated.  I was hoping to see Thor's magical goats, but I was placated by a nod at Odin's crows.

All in all: an excellent example of the Eye-candy and Explosions genre.

[MaTe]

it was ok.
3d was very good in most of scenes, but some of them just splitted into blurry ghosting I have no idea what causes, but other noticed it too.
The best part where space scenes during credits

That did not happen at the three showings I have seen on three different screens.
I think ghosting is often a result of bad glasses, or bad alignment.  That is something you should take up with the theater if others noticed it.  Get a free pass and such.

Nah, my friends went to a different theater and noticed the same - some scenes had alot of ghosting from 2 3d images . Wonder what was different in those, compared to the rest of the movie. One was with the sideview of motorhome driving in the desert, the other was during fast moving bird's eye view of Asgard at the beginning of the movie. there were several more that I don't remember.

The interesting thing is that there are way more scenes simmilar to those, that look awesome.

[Txur’Itan]

it was ok.
3d was very good in most of scenes, but some of them just splitted into blurry ghosting I have no idea what causes, but other noticed it too.
The best part where space scenes during credits

That did not happen at the three showings I have seen on three different screens.
I think ghosting is often a result of bad glasses, or bad alignment.  That is something you should take up with the theater if others noticed it.  Get a free pass and such.

Nah, my friends went to a different theater and noticed the same - some scenes had alot of ghosting from 2 3d images . Wonder what was different in those, compared to the rest of the movie. One was with the sideview of motorhome driving in the desert, the other was during fast moving bird's eye view of Asgard at the beginning of the movie. there were several more that I don't remember.

The interesting thing is that there are way more scenes simmilar to those, that look awesome.

It could be that you are all more sensitive to such flaws than I am.

That is unfortunate, I never saw any such flaws watching THOR, but I did see such flaws watching other films including Avatar because of specific problems that I was able to correct for over time with each experience watching 3D movies.  These things are exacerbated by rapid movements on screen.

I still think you could have been too far off center, or you could have had bad glasses, or your options on theaters had a bad set ups. 

3D has a problem with centering on every film, sit too close to the screen or too far from the screen or to much to the right or to much to the left, and it ends up not looking nearly so good even on IMAX 3D.  You can beat the odds on a bad alignment by getting a seat closest to the center of the theater.  Some places can improve things for off center viewing, but it is unreliable and inconsistent.

I did not see it in 3d.  I have not read the comics it derives from. 

Pros:
Given the type of film it was, I was pretty pleased with it.  The visuals were of course stunning.  I don't know how much of the design was drawn from the comics, but it was pretty nice.  I know more about Norse mythology than the average bear, but I didn't find myself wanting to tear out my brains just to make the hurting stop (unlike, say, my response that truly wretched Brad Pitt vehicle, "Troy", or to "300").  Heimdallr got the best lines.

Cons:
I thought some of the CGI got crappy in the distance, especially on the water, but not only there.  The love interest development went rather fast (not that I can blame anyone interested in dudes for responding quickly to Chris Hemsworth in this film).  Dialog occasionally overheated.  I was hoping to see Thor's magical goats, but I was placated by a nod at Odin's crows.

All in all: an excellent example of the Eye-candy and Explosions genre.

You always have an interesting take on movies.  Speaking of liking dudes, my sister in-law and her oldest daughter loved THOR.

[Toruk Makto]

Just saw it in IMax ID3...  Good movie, but Cameron still has a lock on the best technology for rendering of CGI in 3D, IMO.  Just an observation, but the screenplay had a flow problem. Dunno if that is something resulting from the Marvel origin, or if the story just got away from them in post.  Oh well, I did enjoy it and recommend it.

Markì

J.C. did have at least three animation companies working on it at the same time.  I wonder if it takes that much effort to duplicate the production caliber, or if the techniques they developed can be duplicated with smaller teams and have the same qualitative result.

I think that qualitatively, without equivalent volumes of CGI artists or rendered foliage and creatures that were present on Pandora, it is difficult to compare and say that this team did anything better or worse than any single team working on AVATAR. 

Well, there were a bunch on Thor too, including a French outfit. It's funny, but I guess it is easy to get spoiled, even with just one film to compare to - and I will be the first to admit possible bias.

The flow problems I noticed were more logical progression failures. Almost like large chunks of content were yanked out without smoothing the edges afterward. For people like myself that have never read the Marvel version, a couple of times almost left me on the curb.

The hooks to Iron Man were cute, with SHIELD and all. 

[Txur’Itan]

Just saw it in IMax ID3...  Good movie, but Cameron still has a lock on the best technology for rendering of CGI in 3D, IMO.  Just an observation, but the screenplay had a flow problem. Dunno if that is something resulting from the Marvel origin, or if the story just got away from them in post.  Oh well, I did enjoy it and recommend it.

Markì

J.C. did have at least three animation companies working on it at the same time.  I wonder if it takes that much effort to duplicate the production caliber, or if the techniques they developed can be duplicated with smaller teams and have the same qualitative result.

I think that qualitatively, without equivalent volumes of CGI artists or rendered foliage and creatures that were present on Pandora, it is difficult to compare and say that this team did anything better or worse than any single team working on AVATAR. 

Well, there were a bunch on Thor too, including a French outfit. It's funny, but I guess it is easy to get spoiled, even with just one film to compare to - and I will be the first to admit possible bias.

The flow problems I noticed were more logical progression failures. Almost like large chunks of content were yanked out without smoothing the edges afterward. For people like myself that have never read the Marvel version, a couple of times almost left me on the curb.

The hooks to Iron Man were cute, with SHIELD and all. 

As far as your getting "left on the curb", I suppose I could help clear things up if you wanted, but I would need to know what lost you.  This type of story telling relies on Viewer/Reader knowledge a bit much, and avoids Exposition like the plague.

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

Iron Man I
Iron Man II
The Incredible Hulk
THOR
Captain America: The First Avenger

All of the above movies are part of the same film series, and their backgrounds are intended to be combined as the precursory introductions of each of the Major heroes in The Avengers.  The story linkages were primarily leveraged through Iron Man/Tony Stark, Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, and the dealings with SHEILD.

The after credits event in THOR hints that Captain America and possibly also The Avengers have something to do with a McGuffin called the Cosmic Cube.  Here is Hugo weaving in the Captain America movie  holding it.

This item created serious problems for the heroes in the comics, as it made any super villain into a monstrous bad-ass, and the worst ones where usually the least powerful to begin with.

[MaTe]

I've seen actor playing Loki claiming that he is the one and only villain in the Avengers.

[Txur’Itan]

I've seen actor playing Loki claiming that he is the one and only villain in the Avengers.

He is already listed, but I find it hard to believe that he would be a challenge to all of the Avengers all on his own.  

There were many Villains to the avengers in the comics, IMDB has these listed Loki, but sometimes in production films don't have the entire cast listed right away.  There is also the possibility of revealing too much of the surprises in Captain America with a complete casting list on the Avengers.  With movies having a tendency to kill off villains instead of letting them live on for sequels, if Hugo Weaving was listed on the Avengers cast, it would be known that he survived in Capitan America, where as for now it is a 50/50 guess on if he lives.

Since this is wandering into the Avengers, I will start a new thread.

http://forum.learnnavi.org/movies-tv/the-avengers-(2012)/

[Txur’Itan]

NPR Article on Myth and Astrophysics as it relates to THOR - NPR

[MaTe]

those "astrophysics" scenes were amazing in 3d. Both artistically and technologically - no ghosting or any other artifacts.
This might be a good "sequel" to old screen saver with flying stars

[Teylar Ta Palulukankelku]

I'm sorry for what i'm about to say because i've noticed some of you liked Thor, but i watched it last Friday at home with my parents ( My father downloaded it from shareitall.com. PS: I do not support piracy and i've on multiple occasions criticized my father for downloading movies illegally. Still, i watched the movie because i figured ``Eh, what the heck, i'll give it a shot.´´.) and must say i didn't like it  . I thought the story was just too hastily told, Chris Hemsworth's acting didn't make Thor a believable character, the dialogue was for the most part not helpful (IMO some parts of the dialogue was a bit funny  .)  and nothing was really given any depth or time to explain itself. No that i expected any better from a superhero-movie but i had some hope that this would be an exeption. Sadly, that wasn't the case for me. I have nothing against superhero-movies as a genre, but IMHO most of them seem to end up below expectations (Debatable: Are my expectations too high    ?). I actually thought Spider-Man I was a good movie and Iron Man was quite funny and entertaining. Sorry if my ``review´´ seemed a bit harsh, ma frapo  .

[Txur’Itan]

I'm sorry for what i'm about to say because i've noticed some of you liked Thor, but i watched it last Friday at home with my parents ( My father downloaded it from shareitall.com. PS: I do not support piracy and i've on multiple occasions criticized my father for downloading movies illegally. Still, i watched the movie because i figured ``Eh, what the heck, i'll give it a shot.´´.) and must say i didn't like it  . I thought the story was just too hastily told, Chris Hemsworth's acting didn't make Thor a believable character, the dialogue was for the most part not helpful (IMO some parts of the dialogue was a bit funny  .)  and nothing was really given any depth or time to explain itself. No that i expected any better from a superhero-movie but i had some hope that this would be an exeption. Sadly, that wasn't the case for me. I have nothing against superhero-movies as a genre, but IMHO most of them seem to end up below expectations (Debatable: Are my expectations too high    ?). I actually thought Spider-Man I was a good movie and Iron Man was quite funny and entertaining. Sorry if my ``review´´ seemed a bit harsh, ma frapo  .

I think I understand you not liking it. 

Thor as a movie is probably not new audience friendly, but it also depends a great deal on a persons more thorough understanding of emotional motivation.  I think this movie expected more familiarity from the audience than many other movies like this one.   

As far as a believable characters, I am not sure how much anyone can truly and honestly say they know about the full spectrum of different types of people. 

In my own experience, there are people like him everywhere, aside from contributions to his mentality caused by growing up in Asgard.  Thor as a person, is very much like a stereo typical Jock who was praised too much for too long that it went to his head and fueled his narcissism.  His emotional arc is based on loosing everything he had handed to him, and he was being taught a lesson in humility, which some people still need to learn in real life.

For me, I tend not to enjoy movies that waste a large amount of time on unnecessary exposition.  I considered it unnecessary for much to be explained about Thor and Loki because of my knowledge of the myth, and the Comic book character, and those like me are probably in a similar understanding but I can not speak for them.  If a movie or TV show spends time on exposition, it feels like a classroom lecture, and for me, depending on the subject of the movie, and how familiar I am with the material it is based on, I find such exposition painfully redundant and boring.

Your review is pretty far from harsh, you have your opinions, and they are what they are.

As far as a debate, I think the matter is closed, I don't think anyone should try to convince you to like what you don't like, anymore than you should try to convince people to dislike what they do like, we each have our reasons, but the reasons only matter to ourselves ultimately.

[Teylar Ta Palulukankelku]

I'm sorry for what i'm about to say because i've noticed some of you liked Thor, but i watched it last Friday at home with my parents ( My father downloaded it from shareitall.com. PS: I do not support piracy and i've on multiple occasions criticized my father for downloading movies illegally. Still, i watched the movie because i figured ``Eh, what the heck, i'll give it a shot.´´.) and must say i didn't like it  . I thought the story was just too hastily told, Chris Hemsworth's acting didn't make Thor a believable character, the dialogue was for the most part not helpful (IMO some parts of the dialogue was a bit funny  .)  and nothing was really given any depth or time to explain itself. No that i expected any better from a superhero-movie but i had some hope that this would be an exeption. Sadly, that wasn't the case for me. I have nothing against superhero-movies as a genre, but IMHO most of them seem to end up below expectations (Debatable: Are my expectations too high    ?). I actually thought Spider-Man I was a good movie and Iron Man was quite funny and entertaining. Sorry if my ``review´´ seemed a bit harsh, ma frapo  .

I think I understand you not liking it. 

Thor as a movie is probably not new audience friendly, but it also depends a great deal on a persons more thorough understanding of emotional motivation.  I think this movie expected more familiarity from the audience than many other movies like this one.   

As far as a believable characters, I am not sure how much anyone can truly and honestly say they know about the full spectrum of different types of people. 

In my own experience, there are people like him everywhere, aside from contributions to his mentality caused by growing up in Asgard.  Thor as a person, is very much like a stereo typical Jock who was praised too much for too long that it went to his head and fueled his narcissism.  His emotional arc is based on loosing everything he had handed to him, and he was being taught a lesson in humility, which some people still need to learn in real life.

For me, I tend not to enjoy movies that waste a large amount of time on unnecessary exposition.  I considered it unnecessary for much to be explained about Thor and Loki because of my knowledge of the myth, and the Comic book character, and those like me are probably in a similar understanding but I can not speak for them.  If a movie or TV show spends time on exposition, it feels like a classroom lecture, and for me, depending on the subject of the movie, and how familiar I am with the material it is based on, I find such exposition painfully redundant and boring.

Your review is pretty far from harsh, you have your opinions, and they are what they are.

As far as a debate, I think the matter is closed, I don't think anyone should try to convince you to like what you don't like, anymore than you should try to convince people to dislike what they do like, we each have our reasons, but the reasons only matter to ourselves ultimately.

I wouldn't say my understanding of emotional motivation had anything to do with my opinion about the movie, but humans sometimes do things that we aren't aware of, even some of our own actions. So, in theory, my understanding of emotional motivation could have been a motive for me not liking Thor, if only subconsciously.

When i said that things weren't given any depth or time to explain itself i meant that i thought some things happened too randomly and unexpectedly and without logic, like Loki killing Laufey when he was about to kill Odin. I thought that Loki sided with the Jotun because he found the place where he truly belonged: In Jotunheim, since he found out he was a Jotun himself. But then he killed Laufey and betrayed the Jotun and his motive suddenly changed: He sided with the Jotun to make them wage war against the Aesir and make himself a hero by killing Laufey and defeating the Jotun (This wasn't part of the Jotun's plan, of course.), thus proving himself in the eyes of his father and Thor because he thought he would then recieve their love and acceptance, something he had never felt before. (For the record, i don't like long lectures in entertainment, either.)

About Thor as a character in the movie: You have a point in saying that probably no one can fully understand the full spectrum of different types of people. However, i personally thought most of what Chris Hemsworth did in acting Thor was just being a ``hot hunk´´ without particular character depth. IMO he was basically rather flat as a character.

I feel really horrible trashing Thor, since that makes me feel like a ranting hater who cannot let go of things he dislikes and instead feels like he has to babble about how much he dislikes them. I hoped that would be much more understanding and open-minded than the Avatar-haters i despise. But now, it feels like i have become what i despise, spewing out comments about ``how bad and stupid (Insert topic here.) is´´, and it feels very, very uncanny.