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Fantastic Four (2005)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 11:19 am    Post subject: Fantastic Four (2005) Reply with quote




An awesome poster for an awesome movie! And I just realized yesterday that All Sci-Fi didn't have a thread for it!

My God, who's in charge around here! Shocked

Oh . . . right . . . that would be me. Embarassed

Okay, so IMDB has 68 trivia items for this movie, and I found several that were very interesting

Enjoy! Very Happy
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For most of the shoot, Michael Chiklis was terribly uncomfortable in the hot Thing suit. The final street battle, however, was filmed in Vancouver in December, leaving Chiklis as the only comfortable one of the four (the rest were in the skintight blue uniforms).

Note from me: Hey, here's a marketing idea — a cold weather suit designed to look like The Thing. Perfect for arctic researches studying polar bears. It would protect the scientists from bear attacks!






~ Yes, I know. This is from the second movie.

As part of his costume for The Thing, Michael Chiklis wore prosthetic teeth. To prepare himself to speak with the prostheses, Chiklis wore them when reading to his children.

Note from me: Those poor kids are going to need counseling. This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Grimm's Fairy Tales". Shocked






Stan Lee has said that Michael Chiklis's Thing is his favourite performance in any Marvel film ever.

Note from me: I like this version of Ben Grimm, too. They blended the comic book design with a version which allowed Michael Chiklis to display expressions, in spite of his "stone" face.



________________


Many comic-book fans disliked the way Doctor Doom was portrayed. Original series author Stan Lee, who plays Willy the Postman, agreed with them.

Note from me: I was never impressed with Doctor Doom's appearance in the comic. He was just sort of . . . clunky lookin'. Sad



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What they did with the character in the movie was a huge improvement. Very Happy



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Aug 14, 2022 2:33 pm; edited 3 times in total
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bulldogtrekker
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Odd that there was no thread for Fantastic Four (2005). Bud and I have seen the movie two or three times using the synchro-chat. And the last FF movie was terrible.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I noticed we didn't have a thread, so I made one. I did the same thing an hour later when I discovered we didn't have one for Dreamscape either.

A site admin's work is never done. Rolling Eyes

_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The FF movies are not well regarded by some fans considering them mediocre at best.

The third version of the team is an out-&-out disaster.

I enjoy the first 2 FF movies. Perfect they are not, but they're entertaining.

Special/visual effects, cinematography, sets, stunts, costuming are all top notch.

Reed, Johnny, & Ben are all well cast & capture their respective comic book personas very well indeed.

I would not have cast Jessica Alba in the Sue Storm role.

However, she does a credible enough job. She's often referred to as a horrible actress getting by on her good looks.

I disagree, when the material is good she can do a fine job when called upon.

If I were the casting director I would have gone with either Kate Bosworth or Kristen Bell as Sue.

The actor playing Dr.Doom was not compelling at all in what should have been a meaty role. Doom, it is said, is who George Lucas based Darth Vader upon.

We got an angry & bitter ceo instead of the feared world threat we deserved.

I liked the updating of the origin story. Instead of Reed, Sue, Ben, & Johnny flying into outer space in a rocket of Reed's design, we see Doom's high tech space station as the object getting pummeled by the cosmic rays.

I also enjoyed that the rays gave Doom powers, as opposed to the comics. It always seemed to me that he should have something extra, along with his vast intellect, in order to battle the FF.

Some comic purists will not tolerate any alterations to their comic book heroes on any level.

My thinking is that some comic book concepts are iconic while others need to be refreshed.

Ideas that worked once upon a time can age badly over the decades.

New technology & insights come along that offer fantastic fresh dimensions to a comic book premise.
So updating is sometimes necessary & for the better.

The Fantasti-Car's appearance in movie number 2 was terrific to behold.

I await a better FF movie, but these first 2 work decently.
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Some comic purists will not tolerate any alterations to their comic book heroes on any level.

Same attitude seen among purists with regard to novels/books-to-movies, TV series-to-movies, and movie remakes.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

What I liked about Julian McMahon's portrayal of Victor Von Doom was his quiet confidence and his complete lack of a conscience. The combination of intelligence, arrogance, and a disregard for right and wrong is a scary thing.

Dr. Doom was "playfully evil" rather than "angry evil". He's the ultimate schoolyard bully: stronger than his victim, and willing to inflict pain because it amused him.

He was vain about his looks, and he didn't like it when his handsome face started breaking in chrome-plated acne, but eventually the power that came with the transformation made him accept his creepy appearance as the kind of "handsome" he really wanted to be.

The kind that causes fear. Shocked

The trailer below certainly promotes the film skillfully.
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___________ The Fantastic Four: Trailer (2005)


__________

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Custer
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2018 8:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

While Stan Lee has had cameos in almost every Marvel movie, his role as Willie Lumpkin here must be, while his role in Daredevil's origin was important, the one time that he has portrayed an established Marvel Universe character.

A little research led me to Comicvine:

The character of WIllie Lumpkin was originally created for a syndicated, daily comic strip by writer Stan Lee and artist Dan DeCarlo. Lee had initially submitted samples of a strip about a New York City beat cop, but was told by his editor that it was too "big city-ish" and that he wanted a friendly mailman to better appeal to mainstream America.

Willie Lumpkin, which was only published in 1960, drew humor from the people and situations Willie Lumpkin would encounter along his mail delivery route in the small town of "Glenville."

Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby then introduced their comic book version of Willie Lumpkin in Fantastic Four #11 (February, 1963). The comic book Lumpkin is depicted as being significantly older than in the comic strip; though the character's good nature was retained, as were references to his past as a mailman in Glenville which in the comic books was located in Nebraska.

In his first comic book appearance, Lumpkin is represented as having befriended the Fantastic Four, to whom he makes regular fan mail deliveries at their Baxter Building headquarters in New York City. He half-jokingly requests to join the team on the grounds that he has the "power" to wiggle his ears. He serves as their mailman for many years, and on occasion has fallen into the zone of danger that typically surrounds the adventuring heroes.

Examples include a story in which he is forced to spend Christmas Eve locked in a closet while the Fantastic Four fight the Super-Skrull, when he helped to save the team from the Mad Thinker, or when he is mind-controlled into accessing Doctor Doom's time machine by a minion of Immortus. An alien Skrull also impersonates him in another story to infiltrate the Fantastic Four's headquarters. Willie Lumpkin also crossed over into Spider-Man comics, where he briefly dates Spider-Man's Aunt May.

Willie Lumpkin appeared in his own solo feature in Marvel Comics Presents #18 (May, 1989). The fan-favorite story was a parody of A Christmas Carol in which Lumpkin is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, who had intended to haunt cantankerous Spider-Man nemesis J. Jonah Jameson but couldn't find his address. The story concludes with the normally amiable postman deciding that he hates Christmas.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2018 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Thanks, Custer!

I don't remember Mr. Lumpkin from my teenage days of reading my Fantastic Four comics, so I didn't realize the significance of the Stan Lee's cameo in the movie.

One of my favorite cameos was Stan's brief appearance as Hugh Hefner in the sequel, when we see him at the wedding.




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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Custer
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2018 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah yes, the "Hef" cameo was a good one... and, since a search took me to a handy list, I must mention the Captain America: Civil War one, as a FedEx delivery guy. "Are you..." He looks down at the box to check. "...Tony Stank?"

And I think his rather unexpected appearances in Big Hero 6 as Fred's father are worth a mention!
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The Spike
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:14 am    Post subject: Hello rock, this is me in between you and the hard place. Reply with quote

Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) & Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon). All set off on a space mission that sees them engulfed by a mysterious storm that imbues them all with different special powers.

Fantastic Four is arguably the most loved on the page of the super-group comic book creations. Certainly it's Marvel's flagship offering in that corner of the super hero market. Odd then, that when it finally makes it to the big screen they throw money at it but employ the director of "The Firing Squad" & "Taxi"? The whole film reeks of nervousness, with director Tim Story either fearful of making a hash of said flagship movie, or worse still, being directed himself by studio executives fearful of making a hash of said flagship movie. While the casting of Gruffud (dull), Alba (cleavage for hire) and McMahon (out of his depth as a villain) beggars belief. Sloppy CGI fails to ignite what little action there is, while the final smack down as our intrepid 4 battle with Von Doom, is of a TV movie standard. Yet it still has a smidgen of fun about it to warrant investing a damp dark afternoon with.

Chiklis and Evans are the plus points, the former injecting a bit of heart into proceedings and the latter some sexiness and some much needed humour. There's also some worth in the script's attempt at messaging about the perils and pitfalls of celebrity status. While who can deny that the first appearance of "flame-on" & "clobbertime" doesn't induce an ickle tingle down the spine of the discerning comic book fan (ok that may just be me hankering for my youth). If only the film wasn't so safe and had been in better hands. But hey! the film turned over a $230 million Worldwide profit, so what do I know eh? The sequel was inevitable, so one can only hope that with the same people involved they not only learn from their guardedness, but that they manage to stay faithful to the source and give it some much needed pizazz.

Footnote: The extended cut at twenty minutes longer, suffice to say, is a better experience as it has more pizazz. So 5/10 for the theatrical cut and 6/10 for the extended version.

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