801 replies to this topic

[mikeacthomas]

It's so important to appeal to mass audience with a film like this so no surprise that big names were cast. Tom Hooper and Sir Cameron could have filled it with big West End & Broadway stars but that wouldn't get bums on seats at the local Odeon!

[D'James]

Hmmmm 6/10 from me.

Huge Jackman was very good as were Anne Hathaway and Samantha Barks!!

Russell Crowe wasn't awful but his singing voice was odd.

I like Amanda Seyfried but her voice grates after a while.

Eddie Redmayne was not right in the role.

Sacha Baron-Cohen - one minute he's cockney, then he's French, next minute he's Ali G.

Helena Bonham-Carter was Helena Bonham-Carter.

Aaron Tveit's accent didn't hold all the way through.

It was a shame to have so many close ups so we couldn't see the costumes and sets better.

I think they should've not relied on names so much and involved more Theatre actors.

I think Anne and Hugh would've been a big enough draw.

[spendleb]

I loved it but had a few minor gripes

• It didn't have the same emotion (for me anyway) as the show does, my two favourite songs of all time failed to do anything for me, that's Bring Him Home and Stars.   I did fill up during the death of Gavroche and the end scene though.
  
• The final barricade scenes all felt too contained and small, they looked and felt like a stage production?
  
• The Thenadiers were OK but felt like they were from a different movie.
  
• Too much shaky cam, this made the close ups even worse, could have been the size of the IMAX screen didn't help as I struggled to focus in some scenes it moved that frantically.

Beyond this I did enjoy every minute, I even got used to Russell's attempt at 'singing'.

[wickedlover]

Editing/camera work were the main problems for me...camera seemed to be out of focus every time anyone moved during one of the many close ups, especially Anne during IDAD.  During the Epilogue, when the view was on Marius and Cosette, I noticed Fantine crouched down trying to sneak away behind them.

[Titan]

i loved how many musicals got trailers before the movie..wicked, phantom, les mis, mormon

[bobbynuts]

D, on 14 January 2013 - 12:49 AM, said:

Hmmmm 6/10 from me.

Huge Jackman was very good as were Anne Hathaway and Samantha Barks!!

Russell Crowe wasn't awful but his singing voice was odd.

I like Amanda Seyfried but her voice grates after a while.

Eddie Redmayne was not right in the role.

Sacha Baron-Cohen - one minute he's cockney, then he's French, next minute he's Ali G.

Helena Bonham-Carter was Helena Bonham-Carter.

Aaron Tveit's accent didn't hold all the way through.

It was a shame to have so many close ups so we couldn't see the costumes and sets better.

I think they should've not relied on names so much and involved more Theatre actors.

I think Anne and Hugh would've been a big enough draw.

Sacha wasn't just mixing the accents up. He was doing it for a reason. When he spoke to Helena he was cockney and then he did it for effect with his customers. I much preferred this than some of the awful accents I've heard in the West End.

I don't agree about getting theatre actors in. It just wouldn't work! The techniques used in theatre and film are so far apart. You could see this in Sam Barks' performance which I felt lacked emotion on screen, but works perfectly on stage. It's to do with the eyes.

[Titan]

I agree on the whole except the Sam Barks example. Her and Fra Fee (I think thats how you spell it) held their own on screen and gave heartbreaking performances (even with his tiny role).  Aaron Twait though not so much.  

Stage musicals are all about big emotions, big songs etc. Film is the opposite, I loved how raw it was, the acting took priority over the singing and the film was all the stronger for it.

[Cactus]

bobbynuts, on 14 January 2013 - 05:59 PM, said:

I don't agree about getting theatre actors in. It just wouldn't work! The techniques used in theatre and film are so far apart. You could see this in Sam Barks' performance which I felt lacked emotion on screen, but works perfectly on stage. It's to do with the eyes.

Having seen professionally filmed stage performances or watched them from the front row at smaller theatres like the Donmar Warehouse or Southwark Playhouse, I have to disagree. There certainly are actors who can reach both those right in front of them with their eyes and the last row of the circle. (And we shouldn't forget that Eddie Redmayne is very much a theatre performer, too.)

[D'James]

bobbynuts, on 14 January 2013 - 05:59 PM, said:

Sacha wasn't just mixing the accents up. He was doing it for a reason. When he spoke to Helena he was cockney and then he did it for effect with his customers. I much preferred this than some of the awful accents I've heard in the West End.

I don't agree about getting theatre actors in. It just wouldn't work! The techniques used in theatre and film are so far apart. You could see this in Sam Barks' performance which I felt lacked emotion on screen, but works perfectly on stage. It's to do with the eyes.

I thought that might be the reason but I don't think he pulled it off.

As I said and a lot of others have said I thought Samantha Barks was one of the top three performances in the film so I think with proper auditioning you could easily have found better stage replacements for some of the parts.

[poster J]

Titan, on 14 January 2013 - 05:15 PM, said:

i loved how many musicals got trailers before the movie..wicked, phantom, les mis, mormon

There were none in my screening!  We got ads for other Oscar nominees like Django Unchained and Lincoln instead!

bobbynuts, on 14 January 2013 - 05:59 PM, said:

I don't agree about getting theatre actors in. It just wouldn't work! The techniques used in theatre and film are so far apart. You could see this in Sam Barks' performance which I felt lacked emotion on screen, but works perfectly on stage. It's to do with the eyes.

Sorry, I have to disagree completely.  I don't see how there was emotion lacking in Sam's performance at all - she, Hugh and Anne gave the best emotional performances of the main cast, much better than the likes of Russell Crowe (bland throughout) or Amanda Seyfried (who was great, but just didn't reach the emotional depth that Sam did).  I thought she was far superior in the film to the Eponine she played onstage.