CinemaDome: Blade Runner vs The Terminator

Since we're having a big James Cameron fest, we better see Avatar in a future Dome. It would be cool if it went against Prometheus cuz they both have huge hype and it's the exact same two directors as this Dome! (although i think I'd love to see Prometheus take on Tron Legacy (or whatever that POS was called)


Also, Jackwraith has succeeded in making me feel like a total idiot for preferring Terminator over Blade Runner. Congrats

I agree...those two will go head to head, but it'll be a little bit down the road.

I'd rather chew tinfoil than watch Blade Runner again.

Terminator

Ugh. Prometheus is so terrible.

Although I care nothing about either movie, a better dome might be Avatar vs. Jurassic World. Two huge, CGI-bloated blockbusters that made a bazillion dollars but have little artistic merit and will be forgotten (or shunned) ten years after release.

Jurassic World is GARBAGE

Why wouldn't you put it against Jurassic Park instead ? Either way, both matches wouldn't be close

And Prometheus isn't terrible, it's just terribly disappointing.

Gregarius wrote: Ugh. Prometheus is so terrible.

Although I care nothing about either movie,

This may be why we shouldn't do Prometheus, Avatar, Jurassic World, other crap. Nobody cares enough about those movies to write much about them. Even the ones I like there's not much to write. Whereas Aliens, Terminator, Blade Runner, and Fury Road are all essay worthy films.

When people get profoundly disappointed in something, they can get pretty verbose

That's why I was thinking Prometheus v Tron Legacy is a good fight

Putting stuff close to our hearts would make good matches too. Like Goonies vs Last Starfighter or something. Alien vs Jaws....i dunno

I would have a decent amount to say about Avatar as I really like that film. I recognize that it's not a masterpiece or even equal with the films we're discussing today but I have seen it several times and I enjoy it an awful lot.

Mad Dog wrote: This may be why we shouldn't do Prometheus, Avatar, Jurassic World, other crap. Nobody cares enough about those movies to write much about them. Even the ones I like there's not much to write. Whereas Aliens, Terminator, Blade Runner, and Fury Road are all essay worthy films.

Seconded! By the way, we got tickets to "The Shining", it's in some cinemas over here for like two days. Which makes me think... The Shining vs The Exorcist

Black Barney wrote: Also, Jackwraith has succeeded in making me feel like a total idiot for preferring Terminator over Blade Runner. Congrats

Ha. Don't. I know a lot of people that don't like Blade Runner. It just doesn't resonate with some people and that's OK. Art is variable, as is entertainment. However, I will say that there'd be no point in putting Jurassic World up against Jurassic Park because they're the same damn movie. (Kind of like The Terminator and Terminator 2, but I digress...)

Besides, I'm one of those snobby film types who didn't really like Guardians of the Galaxy (I just didn't find anything particularly exciting or original about it. Definitely not the best Marvel movie that all of the critics were labeling it. But I digress again...) I think there's merit to just producing a cool adventure/action movie. I just usually want something to tell me a story that gets me to think. The Terminator actually did that. Blade Runner just did it better.

Terminator is my childhood. So, Terminator.

There's not one second when I'm watching Blade Runner I say "please show me more of the world". It never does. Interesting premise, thought evoking, but failed to deliver so much potential world building.

I actually think there are a lot more interesting things going on in The Terminator than it's getting credit for in this thread. It's a movie deeply preoccupied with the nature of death and how on a long enough timeline we all face our own Judgement Day. There's also number of really interesting visual motifs including The Terminator's single glowing red eye, the skeleton robot, the mountains of skulls in the future, the kids huddled around the television set only to reveal the screen is busted and they are using it for a fire, etc.

There's also an almost Greek Tragedy-esque quality to the plot: Skynet is confronted with the inevitably of its own mortality and attempts to change its fate. But instead ends of up creating the exact circumstances that lead to its destruction.

It's also well paced and tightly structured in a way that science fiction thrillers rarely are.

That said...

Just that final moment in the elevator, with Deckard remembering Gaff shouting: "It's too bad she won't live! But, then again, who does?!" summarizes the essential questions that the story had been asking about creation, life, humanity (More human than human?), and perspective and, perhaps most importantly, leaves them unanswered.

This times 1000.

Bladerunner is a rare movie that exists in an almost perfect state of ambiguity. It doesn't just ask the question of whether or not Deckard is human (or if he can really tell the difference between a Replicant and a human, or if he or Batty is the real protagonist, and so on) it has the courage and craft to create a narrative that strongly supports any number of interpretations and doesn't suffer from any of them.

It's a movie that opens with a text crawl laying out its premise "this is a movie about a guy who shoots runaway robots" and then with the first 20 minutes completely undercuts that premise, "have you ever retired a human by mistake?"

It also belongs with Chinatown and the Maltese Falcon in the pantheon of movies with truly great closing lines.

Vote: Bladerunner

Black Barney wrote: When people get profoundly disappointed in something, they can get pretty verbose

That's why I was thinking Prometheus v Tron Legacy is a good fight

Putting stuff close to our hearts would make good matches too. Like Goonies vs Last Starfighter or something. Alien vs Jaws....i dunno

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one voting Blade Runner. At the start of this thread it felt like rigged quiz.

But Tron Legacy shits all over Prometheus so that would be a pointless dome. The buddhist undertones in TL (not the obvious "far out man" references but the cooler stuff like Quinns "hands touching ground" etc etc) are Amazing, the look and style is great, the soundtrack is awesome. I Think its an underrated film for all its many flaws. The animated series is also great and such a shame that Disney canned it.
Prometheus is just a huge turd of silliness, trying to forge an awesome back story to a great franchise, and someone not only dispelling the magic of it but just making it stupid and boring (despite the potential for some of the seed ideas). And I can never get past some of the teen flick horror "why would you do that" shit with the face huggers and the whole scene of running AWAY FROM a giant Rolling Wheel in the SAME DIRECTION just serves as a Visual reminder that this film should be avoided.

See, that's why I think it's a good match-up ! I feel like Prometheus is by far the better picture but people have so much hatred towards it that many will simply vote against it


...like the election

Regarding future match-ups...

I do wonder if a certain level of 'blockbuster' or 'cult fav' is going to be necessary for the Domes to be interesting. Clearly the Dome is better if more can contribute. I mean, as much as I may want to have some with Beastmaster or Tremors or Ice Pirates or John Carter...I'm not sure how much enthusiasm they'll ultimately get.

We'll see.

Wednesday's is another pair of hits related to these and next week (we're we'll get that Ex Machina in) will have two Domes that will be a sort of gauge going forward.

I do have a lot of (what I think are) good ones coming up beyond that though.