American History X and Cube

[Sar]

Any good?

Just bought them both on DVD, so opinions?

:)

[[Ostrich]]

Ummmm you bought them without knowing if they were any good?

Well History X is very good but not very re-watchable
The Cube is very good fist and second time but the ending is a bit pish.

:)

[Sar]

When I like the look of a film I'll buy it, I've done the same with many films, and only been disappointed a few times.


:)

[[B-A]Silent.Partner]

History X is very impressive, but in the end not really rewatchable, I must concur with that. For me, it was impressive in the sense that I've had to put up with 9 years of having the same teacher for social awareness classes in high school (how it came to be 9 years is another story which is particular to the school system in the country I live in, but that is not only another story, but also completely off-topic), and this teacher had the habit of showing a movie or 3 each semester about either prejudice, race hate or any kind of social problem.
I thought that due to this treatment movies with the similar theme (like American History X) were lost to me forever, yet somehow it did really draw me in. This is probably attributable to Edward Norton who is again a completely different character in this movie as opposed to previous movies he played, and his acting is of such a level that it sets the movie apart from what otherwise might have been just one more in the endless row of 'serious movies about social problems' I mentally have in my head.

The Cube is something different. I've watched it with some friends who are also into experimental movies, and as such I found The Cube to be eminently watchable. As long as you manage to not think about how someone could build up such a huge structure in which the lead players are caught, you witness the tension up close and see how each character slowly becomes quite insane. As movies go, this one probably saved up a lot due to the ingenious thought of having interconnected cubes that the characters must travel through. Having this meant that they could simply take 1 cube, and light it differently each time, thus making the one cube they had look like one huge labyrinth of space. Most of the suspense is built around the possibility of traps inside the cube, and how they could be triggered. After having a few of the small crew chopped up or otherwise mangled, lots of paranoia is being raised simply by the main characters freaking out whenever something isn't happening, or when things seem to go too smoothly. The way they all die is also very typical for movies of this sort, but still provides something watchable. The problem with repeated viewing though is that once you've seen it the first time, you know exactly what is going to happen, and most of the tension is gone. This is one of those movies that I'd recommend more as a rental movie (it being a 'have to see' due to the cube premise, and some of the other admittedly inventive things they did) once, but definitely not as a 'buy it and enrich your collection forever' movie.

[WeaselFierce]

I bought both films in similar circumstances and, personally, like them both very much.

History X, I think, really centers on Ed Norton's performance and Tony Kaye's beautiful visual sense (even when depicting ugly scenes).

Cube has a wonderfully paced (not to mention intelligent) script coupled with some great characterisation. It's the sense of unpredictability in the film which really heightens the tension. It also has a very good commentary which I heartilly recommend listening to once you've watched the film for the first time.

[travis bickle]

the film centres on nortons performance because he had re-edited himself without tony kayes permission to give himself more screentime!

tony kaye tried to have his name taken off the picture but it broke some rule or other of the directors guild so he couldnt!

all this aside i found history x an enjoyable film but i cant help thinking what tony kayes vision would have been like

maybe someday the directors cut will be released- but hey who knows

[WeaselFierce]

As I understand it though, Norton only re-edited the film after Kaye had walked out on the picture.

And, to be honest, I'd rather have Ed Norton (who at least has a valid artistic interest in the film) doing the edit rather than some studio appointed hack.

[Sar]

Well I've watched them both, and both were pretty good. X being the superior film though. Didn't much like the end of Cube, and Quentins sudden metamorphosis into a raging killer was a bit unbelievable. Ok so he had been a bit pissed off with the mentally handicapped lad since he nearly got him killed, but for him to end up the way he did...didn't make sense to me. Would have been better to start off his descent into madness a good deal earlier in the film, as it seemed he went from good guy to psycho inside of 10 mins...

American History X however did feature a believable character transformation and another stirling acting job by Ed Norton. I would have been interested to see if he had returned to his old behaviour after what happened at the end, but it wasn't to be. Good to see Jennifer Lien in a role other than Voyagers Kes. Also Avery Brooks (DS9's Capt Sisko), because in this he produced by far the best bit of acting I've ever seen him pull off. I didn't rate him at all as an actor during or after DS9, but he did admirably well here.

:)