Oh come on! Let's get a sense of proportion here! This is a $200m movie (most of which budget was marketing!) about space monkeys.

As Davis Letterman said, "I love me them movies about space monkeys!"

Highbrow, it am not!

If you want highbrow, there are thousands of films out there about Abyssinian nose-flute playing and Iranian films about a man opening and closing a railroad crossing for 40 years. ZDF in Germany used to show this stuff in prime-time and then wondered why people preferred to watch RTL showing people having to take their clothes off when they got a question wrong in the totally bogus game show Tutti-Frutti.

I saw the film yesterday. Fell asleep in the middle of it. How creative of them to essentially remake Episode IV.

Kylo Ren's voice was irritating. The music was mostly retreads. Lots of grimacing from the two protagonists. A very thin movie.

A stark contrast to The Hateful Eight, which benefits from the vision of just one decision maker.

Best...H

I take it then that you never ever criticize a movie, right? Because if you ever criticize a movie for being shallow the counter-argument is that it is a shallow movie, and that there are deep movies out there for you to enjoy.

In other words, every movie is what it is and can therefore not be criticized, because that's just a sign of you really wanting to see a different movie.

I don't subscribe to that logic.

This film, in and by itself, in a hypothetical "vacuum" where no other Star Wars films ever existed, would have been received as a decent action sci fi flick, and absolutely nothing more. Sub-par even most likely. But it isn't a movie in a vacuum. It's a new installment in the biggest movie franchise on the planet, based on films that changed the course of movie making.

To me making excuses for this film is making excuses for a moneyed imagination-less studio system where bean-counters and statisticians rule. There most certainly was the opportunity to make something great out of this, monkeys or not.

Ant-Man was a far better movie. I only say that because I happened to watch it during the same period and the difference in quality was pretty stark.

Heck..tonight I just feel like getting hit with high budget Hollywood entertainment ...so I'm going
Toronto Cineplex 3D atmos. Luckily I've found a pair of seats right smack in the middle.
Will comment

Noticed this as well. It did seem distracting to me, but for the rest of the audience? Probably not.

Otherwise, it was an excellent sounding film and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

Best,
Fred

Some of these comments are devastating. I get that it's possible some of you wouldn't like the movie but to the extent you guys hate it goes beyond "foley" placement....

I wonder if you were the same people that were screaming to have George executed for creating Jar Jar in the first place...

But some of you made a great point. I really did enjoy the rare moments of silence in this movie and I do think it's a shame that with all our tech we tend to forget just how powerful eerie silence and atmosphere can be

Count me among those that found this film to be mediocre at best. Sure the nostalgia factor was high at first, but after that wears off about 30 minutes in, all that's left is a terrible script and a cast that is 90% cringeworthy.

As far as sound goes, this film continued a trend that has really been bothering me lately, something I've started calling "over-clearing dialog." Sure, we want to hear the actors, but in recent years it seems to be the trend to to clear out (dip down) everything else (SFX & MX) to such extremes for those 'signature lines' that immersion in the film is lost. Not sure if this is a result of overall levels going up so adjustments are being made to combat ear fatigue, or if it's just producers and studio execs playing fruit ninja on their iPads during studio screenings asking for lines to be turned up because they weren't really paying attention during playback.

I'd say it was at least on par with Pirates of the Caribbean or the 2009 Star Trek.

I loved it. Sure it was repeating the original trilogy a way too much at times, but it was such a thrilling ride. The craftsmanship was exceptional. I distinctly remember getting chills down my spine when I heard C-3po speak. Something about Anthony Daniels voice in a tin-can placed me right back in my 9 year old self the first time I saw SW.

I was unsure about the voice effect the first time, but by the second time it was perfect for that character.

Am I the only one that think mixers seem afraid of reverb on foley & dia these days? I epscially think the foots should have had a lot more room inside the spaceships.

When this happens, just play back the scene (with out making any adjustments) and ask: Is that better?

%100 they'll say sounds much better..thanks, lets move on

I thought dreadful 8 was an awful director want of a movie.
And a crappy remake of stagecoach if you ask me.
Talk about derivative, cliche and drawn own beauty shots.
Watching a stagecoach arriving from 15 different angles is pretentious, not artistic.

I loved it.
And if you're paying attention to foley, then you're not watching the movie, you're looking for something to complain about.

Or maybe, just maybe, the movie has failed to hold your attention you might drift to noticing stuff? Just a thought.

If that refers to "Force Awakens", then surely criticizing another movie for having a "crappy remake of" anything and being "derivative" must mean you have never ever seen the original Star Wars.

Or maybe you can share some of what you've been smoking...

I was thinking about this..while i saw the film the second time last friday. Im wondering if the lasers shooting around do not make sound in the air because they are "Lasers"light... and not a physical form like a bullet wizzzing by. just a thought? i might be wrong.

I loved this film and the only things that got to me was that the score felt a little funny..

and SNOKE. he was not scary at all.. almost laughable like the aliens in Signs.. I just felt the CGI on that character made it feel super fake and not emotionally connected to the other part of the story.

Other than that I gave the movie a 9.5

Force Awakens is a continuation of a saga.

Dreadful 8 was just, well, dreadful.
A far cry from True Romance, Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs.

I didn't pay attention to the foley though.
How was it?

The reverant on the other hand.
Wow.

That's exactly the problem Mark. If it's the continuation of a saga there is no need to let almost everything that takes place be recycling of what happened before. In my opinion it's one of those things where if you just go in and relax and watch the movie then maybe it's fine, but if you turn your brain on and think about what you just saw, and compare it to the first trilogy, it's really a bit sad.

I went into the film confident that JJ et al would pull it off on a technical level, and I wasn't disappointed at all. But I also was very very skeptical about the plot, and to my surprised I had moments of enjoyment. So between enjoying it and being annoyed I didn't think of foley at all.

My question about the foly was about the Foley in Dreadful 8

Ah, ok.

There was loads of laser sfx and suddenly there were none. I'd have to see it again to be more descriptive. My ear was just drawn to it as there was so many onscreen and then there was no Foley so I thought something was wrong with the screen I was in! Totally took me out of the movie. But then it seemed to resolve itself and I enjoyed it.

hmmm.. there must have been a reason for them not to do it.

I'm sure they had a myriad of reasons and I couldn't really care less to be honest. All I was saying was I noticed the missing Foley and sfx in a certain way that other times I wouldn't. I don't go to movies to listen to the sound. I may happen to notice particularly good or bad sound but in general it's either a good movie or a bad movie for me. This was a good movie but just had that weird few minutes at the start that felt "off" for some reason. It didn't ruin the movie. Let's all move on with our lives now I think.

Garret.

saw it in imax. IT WAS SO LOUD I CANT EVEN HEAR WHAT IM WRITING WITH CAPSLOCK ON!

action scenes, destruction sfx and explosions sfx were intense and loud, but enjoyable and right. it seems to me, all other scenes were very loud too, which was exhausting for me. few moments in beginning were even painfull for me. for moment i though im leaving.. i sat in last third of cinema and i cant imagine sitting any closer to speakers... volume knob 3db lower will sound perfect, but those 3db will be missing in action scenes, so i guess the levels were set right. i dont know what to think about that..