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ANYBODY SEE “THE REVENANT” YET?
1/10/2016 | Nikos1121

Posted on 01/09/2016 9:20:48 PM PST by nikos1121

Left work a little early yesterday to see a 4:30 showing of The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I ended up in the slowest ticket line, but eventually got my annual $20 refillable popcorn tub, a bottle of lemonade and walked briskly to the theater since by then it was 4:50. I thought for sure I had missed the beginning, which is one my few pet peeves. Nope, previews were still on. Is America the only country where movies never start on the time posted? Thank, God for it.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a movie, longer still since I went to one alone. The Revenant had some great pre showing reviews, and trailers looked cool. I heard too that it was a very authentic Indian movie.

The most noticeable change here in West Georgia is that everyone picks the seats in the upper half of the room. The most coveted seats for young lovers used to be in the very top row. Not anymore. Judging from the gray beards and camouflaged hats, I’d say it’s now for people who are legally packing heat.

This day, for the first time in my life I would be too—my legally concealed 38 revolver. Don’t know why I did this, but I figured all the characters on screen would be, so why not me, too.

I found a seat right in the middle in the row overlooking the main aisle, unlike Bill Hickok, my back wasn’t against the wall, but I could still see everyone coming and going. The main attraction finally starts. It’s 4:55 on the dot.

I’m not going to go into much of the story as I assume only those who’ve seen the movie will read this post, but I’m puzzled by few things, and much of this is because I’m a doctor whose practice includes advanced wound care. Some of it, is a bit of a stretch.

The movie is indeed probably one of the most authentic Indian movies you’ll ever see with attention to detail. They even speak Indian, with subtitles provided.

1. Does the director know anything about hyperthermia or frostbite? I mean how many seconds or minutes does one have, once they’re immersed in close to zero degree water? These guys ever see the movie Titanic?

2. The bear scene is pretty real looking, but where in the heck does Drudge get this crazy idea that the mama Grizzly “rapes” Glass, DiCaprio’s character? Rape as in how and what?

3. Glass, sustains wounds throughout that are beyond life threatening no doubt, including where he has a fistula going from his esophagus to the outside that he closes up with, gun powder? And he gets sewed up, and the sutures are in place for like more than ten days? Maybe longer? And they don’t get massively infected? Come on, man.

4. Fitzgerald and the young Bridger are walking aimlessly by foot until they come upon an Indian settlement that has been destroyed and ransacked. There is one survivor a young girl, and Bridger leaves her some food. Who is the girl? Is that Powaqa, the chief’s lost daughter? If so, how did she end up later with the French at their encampment where she is raped at will by them? If it’s not her, then what’s the point for the scene to begin with?

5. Where did Fitzgerald and Bridger get their horses all of a sudden? You mean to tell me, with horses scarce, the French left a couple there at the massacre site? Come on, Man.

6. Glass finds Powaqa eventually by chance, captured by the French; I assume these are the same French guys who earlier traded, the Indians, five of their horses. If so, that means they had Powaqa hidden in their campsite earlier in the film when the Indians, with Powaqa’s father, came there to sell them the stolen American hides? If not, this is a new group of French, but in this rescue scene they mention the five horses.

7. The French find Glass in their midst. They out man him like twenty to one. Glass fires “one shot”, just one shot, and they scatter? Come ON, man.

8. And where does Powaqa go? Why not at least a few minutes of her with Glass? I mean one encounter, and we’ll be convinced that she’ll remember who he is later at a distance?

9. Throughout the film you get the clear idea that bow and arrows can out fight soldiers and trappers who have to reload their “flint locks.” These guys from the onset of the film never miss, then in a scene the Indians attack him, dozens of them, and they’re missing left and right from close range. And who are these Indians, the same ones from the beginning who are searching for Powaqa, and if so was she with them when they attacked Glass, and if so why didn’t she recognize them.

10. Am I seeing things, while fleeing the Indians on bareback, in this scene, he shoots his flint lock pistol twice? Twice? Or does he now have two pistolos? How the heck did he reload, while riding bareback? Come on, MAN.

11. To flee the Indians Glass eventually falls over a cliff with his horse and his fall is cushioned by him sliding down a large spruce. So, in addition to all the wounds he already has, he survives the fall? COME on, man.

12. Glass strips down naked, yes naked, and climbs into his dead horse’s hide, after spending what seems like forever taking its entails out. He leaves his shoes, shirt, socks and coat outside. Next morning he stretches, pushes his way out, and then I assume puts on the same clothes that have been hanging out overnight in subzero temperatures. Come on, man.

13. Some lone French guy comes to the American encampment? Who is this guy? Is he one of the French who had kidnapped Powaqa? What is he jabbering about? He seems to know where Glass is. How? And why aren’t they a little bit nice to him, and offer him something to eat?

14. Then they find Glass, and after one hot bath, just one with all these wounds, most of them dehisced, he’s fit as a fiddle? Come on, man.

15. Then there’s the scene where for some reason the Indians, now with Powaqa, they recognize him and leave without killing him. So, now she recognizes him, and tells her, Dad, that’s the white man who rescued me, all this from 100 feet, and Glass has the same Cro-Magnon look every other mountain man has? And they walk by him without even a thank you? COME ON MAN!!!!

16. And why is it called The Revenant to begin with? You get the feeling that they left a lot of scenes out that may have cleared some of these questions, and for sure I would have liked to have seen a little more of Glass together with Powaqa, I mean at least spend one night together. Instead, for 120 minutes we’re watching a guy, in sub-zero temperatures, getting beat to a pulp from the elements and people and he lives.

DiCaprio does a great job showing us he can take punishment. He gets his butt kicked more than any other character that comes to mind, but you could have put just about anyone else in the role with the same performance. He doesn’t say much the whole time, just gets beat up and grunts. If he wins the academy award, it’s not because he’s in a great picture, it’s because he gave us the illusion that he can sustain multiple traumas, eat raw buffalo liver, speak Indian fluently without cutting the scenes, and sleep naked in a horse hide. In fact, that fleeting sight of his skinny @ss, in that scene will probably do it for him.

I give this 2½ out of 4 stars. I suggest you bring a blanket.


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: dicaprio; hughglass; leonardodicaprio; moviereview; movies; revenant; therevenant
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To: nikos1121

And that was one of my 1st impressions.

It also seemed an amalgam of many movie concepts at times.

Fantastic cinematography but, didn’t like the movie overall.


41 posted on 01/09/2016 11:02:21 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway - "Enjoy Yourself" ala Louis Prima)
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To: nikos1121
"Glass fires 'one shot', just one shot, and they scatter? Come ON, man.

I too, thought that was a wasted shot. Usually with the French all it takes is a loud noise or at most a 'boo'.

42 posted on 01/09/2016 11:33:51 PM PST by tinyowl (A equals A, And C Edmund Wright thinks I am an idiot and a Trump Sycophant)
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To: nikos1121
I also just saw it tonight.

Lanscape, scenery, atmosphere: A+.

Acting - can't comment, don't like DiCaprio. Sufficient job for a part with little actual acting. He lost me though, towards the end, when I saw his hands and fingers hacking and handling a stick. Those hands look like boys hands, never saw a hard day. Didn't fit the character. I'm not being picky here -> I wasn't looking for it -> It just kind of ended the believability of the character - not a conscious decision. B+.

Story ... Too much disney with the repeat of what the Indian said earlier as the movie's final philisophical statement. B.

It's worth watching just for the landscapes, cool first battle scene. For a while I thought it was a great movie, but by the end - I'd say - pretty good movie with great great beautiful scenes, filming, Dicaprio not being a part of that, although he didn't detract, and if I wasn't biased against him I would say he did a really good job. Except ... they should have had him chop a cord of wood to get his hands in shape. He has the hands of a 17 year old office worker, not a guy who just survived death 47 times.

43 posted on 01/09/2016 11:44:26 PM PST by tinyowl (A equals A, And C Edmund Wright thinks I am an idiot and a Trump Sycophant)
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To: nikos1121
1. Does the director know anything about hyperthermia or frostbite?

Never ran a trap line, eh?

3. Glass, sustains wounds throughout that are beyond life threatening no doubt, including where he has a fistula going from his esophagus to the outside that he closes up with, gun powder? And he gets sewed up, and the sutures are in place for like more than ten days? Maybe longer? And they don’t get massively infected? Come on, man.

stitch with sawgrass (or inner lining of nettle) dragged through boiling water, poultice of honey and sphagnum moss (moss alone in a pinch) You won't get infected.

9. Throughout the film you get the clear idea that bow and arrows can out fight soldiers and trappers who have to reload their flint locks.

True. Within range, and in the proper hands, the bow and arrow can be more lethal... Seconds to reload and fire.

Glass strips down naked, yes naked, and climbs into his dead horse’s hide, after spending what seems like forever taking its entails out. He leaves his shoes, shirt, socks and coat outside. Next morning he stretches, pushes his way out, and then I assume puts on the same clothes that have been hanging out overnight in subzero temperatures.

Yep. I have never slept inside a dead horse, but in winter, you do not sleep in your clothes - They get wet. Well, moist. Moisture is not your friend in the winter. Always dry everything out at the fire at night. Sleep with your clothes, but not in them.

actually, the part that doesn't work is the wetness inside the horse. The idea is probably true, but I would be packing that belly full of grass before I climbed in.

44 posted on 01/09/2016 11:44:31 PM PST by roamer_1 (Globalism is just Socialism in a business suit.)
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To: BeauBo

In shade hill sd. Glass has been part of South Dakota lore since I learned of him in elementary school


45 posted on 01/09/2016 11:46:16 PM PST by South Dakota (Two US citizen parents not one)
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To: nikos1121
"They even speak Indian"

Classic. I dare you to say that at an Organizing For America rally.

46 posted on 01/09/2016 11:46:37 PM PST by tinyowl (A equals A, And C Edmund Wright thinks I am an idiot and a Trump Sycophant)
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To: wardaddy

I watched Sicario yesterday. Gripping movie. Highly recommended and explains the current narko-traffiking scene well.


47 posted on 01/10/2016 12:13:30 AM PST by BullDog108 (A Smith & Wesson beats four aces!)
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To: tinyowl

I agree. You could have put others in that roll, although Dicaprio has a certain screen presence. Hard to take your eyes off of him.

I think the problem is in the scene selection and editing. I’m sure they tossed some scenes that were more with some interaction of the Indians and with Glass. They kept way too many minutes on other things.

For example, I still don’t understand the significance of the burnt out Indian village Did the French do that.

And he did fire his pistol twice while riding.


48 posted on 01/10/2016 12:23:18 AM PST by nikos1121 ("Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us."-- Golda Meir)
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To: tinyowl

The opening Indian attack was brutal. Seems they had some long sequences there. That’s great directing... Then just when you think you’re about to see an epic movie beyond compare things start to bog down and unravel. It held my attention, cause I’m in to these kinds of movies, but no way you’ll be able get your wife or girlfriend to go. I see some good reviews and some good sales for two weeks, then vooooompf it’ll close. I don’t think Dicaprio is a shoe in either. This movie was release ini 2016, right?


49 posted on 01/10/2016 12:26:38 AM PST by nikos1121 ("Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us."-- Golda Meir)
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To: nikos1121; Slings and Arrows
Bear: "You don't come here for the hunting, huh?"


50 posted on 01/10/2016 1:15:54 AM PST by a fool in paradise (The goal of Socialism is Communism. Marx and Lenin were in agreement on this.)
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To: nikos1121
A Man Called Horse was great, too.

Mike Meyers did a great impression of that:


51 posted on 01/10/2016 1:20:26 AM PST by a fool in paradise (The goal of Socialism is Communism. Marx and Lenin were in agreement on this.)
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To: nikos1121
It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a movie...

Unfortunately, FR server is still butchering the UTF-8 codes for much of punctuation. You should copy the whole text into the plain text editor then paste it back into the browser's editor.

The FR server software needs at least to stop declaring to browsers that it supports UTF-8 (in the edit form page it puts out) when it obviously does not do it correctly. Or someone should fix the 3-4 lines of code where the UTF-8 input bug is.

52 posted on 01/10/2016 1:28:57 AM PST by nightlight7
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To: Dave W

I thought his audience descriptions added to the whole movie event......
...people who sit in the back....watching their back.....and carrying.
Welcome to the new normal.

Great review..... But I think I will pass on this one!

ps....and I liked Jeremiah Johnson and the newest True Grit


53 posted on 01/10/2016 3:07:00 AM PST by Guenevere (If.the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do....)
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To: nightlight7

Thanks for the tip. I wrote in out as a word document then posted. It took around ten more minutes to the edit it so as to at least get the paragraph and bullet breaks.


54 posted on 01/10/2016 4:00:40 AM PST by nikos1121 ("Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us."-- Golda Meir)
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To: nikos1121

Sub Zero water?

That’s ICE man.

The story of Hugh Glass is awesome all by itself.


55 posted on 01/10/2016 4:06:02 AM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: tet68

The movie seems to leave the story of Glass somewhere behind. I think there was more to the man than survival.


56 posted on 01/10/2016 4:09:18 AM PST by nikos1121 ("Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us."-- Golda Meir)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

I think it’s “I should really just relax.”


57 posted on 01/10/2016 4:15:53 AM PST by Carpe Cerevisi
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To: nikos1121

58 posted on 01/10/2016 4:29:58 AM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: nikos1121
11. To flee the Indians Glass eventually falls over a cliff with his horse and his fall is cushioned by him sliding down a large spruce. So, in addition to all the wounds he already has, he survives the fall? COME on, man.

What's the problem - Rambo did similar and sewed his own arm up....

59 posted on 01/10/2016 5:31:54 AM PST by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: nikos1121
For a real idea of how a frontier man dealt with natives, a good place to start is Allan Eckert's bio-novel The Frontiersman. Eckert claims everything in the book is taken from diaries and journals. And the wholesale overview is realistic with respect to the native culture (disclaimer: I was born/raised on a reservation, and had many friends in my 'yute' who were tribe-kids).

Mentioned this book the other day on a different thread. Anyway, the way Simon Kenton had to deal with being captured, running multiple gauntlets, and how he eventually broke free will have you shouting. Seriously. Had to stop reading the book in public because, well, you know, I was scaring old people and kids with my whoopin' and hollerin'. Helluva book. And the treatment of Tecumseh is riveting, too.
60 posted on 01/10/2016 5:33:38 AM PST by Montana_Sam (Truth lives.)
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