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Posted: Oct 27 2006 08:46 am

I just saw this last night and it's pretty fucking awesome. I know what you're thinking, Matt Damon and Leonardo Dicaprio? In a good movie? I know, I was suprised too, but they both give great performances and Jack Nicholson is in rare form for Jack Nicholson these days. Plenty of old-fashioned mob style violence, betrayal, crooked cops, crooked crooks, Martin Sheen getting thrown off a roof, it has everything but a tit shot which you'll forgive. It's not like "cars exploding every five seconds" action, more realistic violence but I think it plays out better than half the crap Hollywood has turned out in years. Go see it, you won't be disappointed.

Posted: Oct 27 2006 01:55 pm

Okay.

Seriously. I'm going right now. How timely. Shocked

Posted: Oct 27 2006 06:44 pm

It's kind of a silly movie, but I'd say it's good. Not great, but enjoyable.

I have a few nitpicks, but who cares Confused

I do have to say the acting is strong, except from the 1.5 actresses in the film. And I like Kristen Dalton! She just had nothing to do.

Plus, they kept the "Infernal Affairs" ending, so I'm happy. ^_^

Joined: Feb 24 2006 Posts: 2578

I've had a VCD of "Infernal Affairs" sitting around for like 4 years and I still haven't watched it. I should do that.

Posted: Oct 27 2006 09:53 pm

DarkMaze wrote:

I've had a VCD of "Infernal Affairs" sitting around for like 4 years and I still haven't watched it. I should do that.

I suggest watching "Bullet in the Head" and "Fulltime Killer" right before you do.

Posted: Oct 28 2006 03:54 am

I really need to give this film credit for having a lot of story and character pieces implied rather than bluntly addressed.

Only a few examples:
*Minor Spoilers*
A colored envelope appears late in the film given to one character. What becomes of this envelope and what results is open to interpretation.

One dead henchman's alliances are questioned at one point. One can make an arguement for either side of who they were working under, but ultimately it doesn't matter.

Jack Nicholson's character suffers a big issue in the film. It is referenced very subtley early in the film ("have you had your ____ yet?"). Then another character is reading a book which defintely makes the problem more clear. Late in the film, a character realizes what's going on and shouts it out, but does not discuss it further.
**

Little touches like these are very nice... But most of them do not matter to the film. I believe cutting them down was a way of keeping them in the film (thus expanding character and story) without dragging the film out even longer. Truly nice.

Posted: Apr 04 2007 04:26 pm

Sorry to bump this, but I finally saw The Departed on Monday night.

**SPOILERS**

Two things bugged me about it:

1. I realize the film is based off a Hong Kong script, but that doesn't excuse what happened to Captain Queenan. If HK movies are any indication, then HK is a lawless land where anything goes and maybe that sort of thing is plausible there. But in modern day America, no gangster would be dumb enough to try something like that.

2. The last scene almost ruined the movie for me. The least likeable character in the film offing the most likeable? Fuck THAT.

Posted: Apr 04 2007 04:40 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Two things bugged me about it:

1. I realize the film is based off a Hong Kong script, but that doesn't excuse what happened to Captain Queenan. If HK movies are any indication, then HK is a lawless land where anything goes and maybe that sort of thing is plausible there. But in modern day America, no gangster would be dumb enough to try something like that.

That scene was not in the HK version. The captain who hired Leung died between the teaser and the actual film.

2. The last scene almost ruined the movie for me. The least likeable character in the film offing the most likeable? Fuck THAT.

That scene is not in the HK version, but I hear is in "Infernal Affairs 3", which I haven't seen. There also wasn't a Marky Mark character in the original.

Posted: Apr 04 2007 05:48 pm

Maybe i'm incredibly easy to please or what not, but when I got near the end of the movie, which I saw about a month ago, I was like OH SHIT! Then my brain asked my eyes if that really happened. (The Elevator Scene) It did actually happen as my friends have told me. I think it was a great movie. And they need to make a sequel...thats a joke.

Joined: Mar 24 2007 Posts: 74

Tebor wrote:

I suggest watching "Bullet in the Head" and "Fulltime Killer" right before you do.

Holy fuck do I love those two films, and "Fulltime Killer" is arguably one of the ten greatest movies ever. ("Bullet in the Head" loses points for being directed by John Woo, even if he was far less incompetent and annoying than usual)

But "Fulltime Killer", what a perfect masterpiece; from the killer bouquet scene, to the eye-gouging scene, to the lunch break scene, to the badass "Point Break" and "Desperado" references, to Simon Yam going completely fucking insane...thanks for bringing those memories up.

Anyways, back on topic; "The Departed" is a lot better than most Hollywood films today, but I'll take Jet Li's "Contract Killer" every day of the week and twice on Sundays, as a point of comparison.

Posted: Apr 05 2007 01:17 pm

I thought Dicaprio was the most likable character in the movie, not Damon. I was glad he didn't get away with it

Posted: Apr 05 2007 01:18 pm

I really liked it. The ending made me want to read Hamlet again. Nothing like everyone dying, just like the end of the world.

Tick... tick... tick... tick...

Posted: Apr 05 2007 01:21 pm

Dicaprio was a little bitch, though not as bad as Wahlberg.

The problem with Dicaprio was that the bad guys weren't bad enough that you really wanted to see them go down. The only truly bad thing that bad guys ever actually did was a direct result of his actions. As such, you couldn't really root for him.

Posted: Apr 05 2007 07:29 pm

ChildrenofSlayer wrote:

Tebor wrote:

I suggest watching "Bullet in the Head" and "Fulltime Killer" right before you do.

Holy fuck do I love those two films, and "Fulltime Killer" is arguably one of the ten greatest movies ever. ("Bullet in the Head" loses points for being directed by John Woo, even if he was far less incompetent and annoying than usual)

...thanks for bringing those memories up.

No problem. I'm glad someone else has seen them Razz

ChildrenofSlayer wrote:

Anyways, back on topic; "The Departed" is a lot better than most Hollywood films today, but I'll take Jet Li's "Contract Killer" every day of the week and twice on Sundays, as a point of comparison.

The joke of this lies in the quality of "Contract Killer", while I do like it it isn't one of Li's best. So quite a statement, ChildrenofSlayer. Wink

Joined: Mar 24 2007 Posts: 74

ChildrenofSlayer wrote:

The joke of this lies in the quality of "Contract Killer", while I do like it it isn't one of Li's best. So quite a statement, ChildrenofSlayer. Wink

"Contract Killer" was good because of Eric Tsang, Simon Yam, and the long-haired, small Asian with glasses in a suit who was in charge of awarding the money. (One of the greatest minor characters in any film ever)

But that's the point; I found a light-hearted, straightforward action comedy about gangsters (albeit a very good one) to be superior to a serious, Oscar-worthy film about gangsters with a slew of huge stars.

Speaking of which, was the old man Jet Li and Eric Tsang tried to rescue in that film the same old man who was searched for and eventually found in a crippled state in "The Buddhist Fist"?

I've always been bothered by this.

Posted: Apr 05 2007 09:05 pm

ChildrenofSlayer wrote:

Speaking of which, was the old man Jet Li and Eric Tsang tried to rescue in that film the same old man who was searched for and eventually found in a crippled state in "The Buddhist Fist"?

I've always been bothered by this.

I need to check that out; that's never occurred to me.

Posted: Nov 09 2007 07:16 pm

Not to bump a really really old thread, and I apologize for doing so, but I just saw this movie for the 1st time this past monday (i know i know, im about a year behind, but whatev.)

I thought the movie was good, not great as everyone I know told me, but still good in its own right. Also, I thought Leo DiCaprio's acting was phenomenal.

The reason I was bumping this thread was because I found Infernal Affairs trilogy on Amazon.com and I was gonna ask you guys if it was worth it for $30 or not? Since I heard better things about the original its based off of I was hoping to get some info from you guys since we have people that have seen the IA original.
Here's the link

Posted: Nov 10 2007 04:07 pm

username wrote:

The reason I was bumping this thread was because I found Infernal Affairs trilogy on Amazon.com and I was gonna ask you guys if it was worth it for $30 or not? Since I heard better things about the original its based off of I was hoping to get some info from you guys since we have people that have seen the IA original.

Yes buy it! Two and three are lesser movies compared to the first one, but I still think they're superior over "The Departed"... But I'm biased toward Asia. Wink