A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director:
James Cameron
Stars:
Sam Worthington,
Zoe Saldana,
Sigourney Weaver
An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
The story of King George VI, his impromptu ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
Director:
Tom Hooper
Stars:
Colin Firth,
Geoffrey Rush,
Helena Bonham Carter
In Canada, a writer visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel and asks him to tell his life story. Pi tells the story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India, and the origin of his nickname. One day, his father, a zoo owner, explains that the municipality is no longer supporting the zoo and he has hence decided to move to Canada, where the animals the family owns would also be sold. They board on a Japanese cargo ship with the animals and out of the blue, there is a storm, followed by a shipwrecking. Pi survives in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger nicknamed Richard Parker. They are adrift in the Pacific Ocean, with aggressive hyena and Richard Parker getting hungry. Pi needs to find a way to survive.Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Aspect ratio changes in two scenes. There is 2:35:1 for the flying fish scene and 4:3 for when Pi and Richard lay on the boat and a big glowing fish passes underneath. Aspect ratio shift is something the director always wanted to do since film school and did it in this movie.
The 2.35:1 aspect ratio was chosen to enhance the visual depth between the flying fish and the ocean. As Ang Lee said, "Scope was the only way to see this flying fish scene, and with the black areas at the bottom of the frame, I could pull fish out of there."
4:3 was used as a homage to the cover of the book. It's the exact image but with a whale shark added.
Early in the movie, Pi says that Hinduism has 33 million Gods and Goddesses. In Indian English, the word 'crore', which means 10 million, is used rather than million. A fundamental belief in Hinduism is that there are 33 crore Gods and Goddesses. This converts to 330 million, not 33 million. (The use of million rather than crore may be a translation for the benefit of the audience, rather than a goof.) See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Writer:
So, you were raised in a zoo?
Adult Pi Patel:
Born and raised. In Pondicherry, in what was the French part of India. My father owned the zoo, and I was delivered on short notice by a herpetologist, who was there to check on the Bengal monitor lizard. Mother and I were both healthy, but the poor lizard escaped and was trampled by a frightened cassowary. The way of karma, huh? The way of God.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The opening credits have letters or words that react to action on the screen, such as the "Y" while a monkey is hanging on a branch. Also, there are words fluttering while the zebras swish their tails. See more »
Saw this the other night at the NYFF. Wow. It's an incredible film, a true cinematic achievement, possibly a classic and maybe will be the first 3D movie to break through and win the Best Picture Oscar. Some of the images were so beautiful that the audience gasped at many of them. I felt transported and like I was seeing a movie for the very first time. I haven't felt that sort of magic in a movie theater in a long, long time.
I read the book and liked it and the film may even improve upon it which is kind of a miracle considering it's kids, animals and water just about all the time. The spiritual themes are simple and deep and raise more questions about faith and belief than answer anything. No preaching going on here and there could be. Without giving anything away, it's a wonderful story about storytelling and how telling our stories can get us through the most horrible life experiences and to help deal with the aftermath of them.
It's an incredible film experience. Go see it!
683 of 812 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Saw this the other night at the NYFF. Wow. It's an incredible film, a true cinematic achievement, possibly a classic and maybe will be the first 3D movie to break through and win the Best Picture Oscar. Some of the images were so beautiful that the audience gasped at many of them. I felt transported and like I was seeing a movie for the very first time. I haven't felt that sort of magic in a movie theater in a long, long time.
I read the book and liked it and the film may even improve upon it which is kind of a miracle considering it's kids, animals and water just about all the time. The spiritual themes are simple and deep and raise more questions about faith and belief than answer anything. No preaching going on here and there could be. Without giving anything away, it's a wonderful story about storytelling and how telling our stories can get us through the most horrible life experiences and to help deal with the aftermath of them.
It's an incredible film experience. Go see it!