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"Bohemian Rhapsody" -- Movie about Queen (trailer inside) (1 Viewer)

Hated Queen. Skip or change the station if I come across a Queen song. That said I won’t see this in the theater but will definitely watch, fascinating story .

 
God, Wayne's World ruined Bohemian Rhapsody for me. My high school friends and I loved that song through the late 80's/early 90's. . We would literally jam to it just like they do in the movie - people singing different parts, head-banging at the end. It was beautiful. 

Then this movie came and stole our shtick. I've hated Mike Meyers ever since. F you Wayne, I liked that song long before you defiled it! 

 
MikeIke said:
God, Wayne's World ruined Bohemian Rhapsody for me. My high school friends and I loved that song through the late 80's/early 90's. . We would literally jam to it just like they do in the movie - people singing different parts, head-banging at the end. It was beautiful. 

Then this movie came and stole our shtick. I've hated Mike Meyers ever since. F you Wayne, I liked that song long before you defiled it! 
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Mike Meyers is in this movie. He plays EMI music exec Ray Foster. I would have never recognized him. 6.5 on the Mammymeter.

 
Zero interest here. I'm a Queen fan and I enjoy the "behind the music" documentaries, but I have no interest in seeing it turned into a movie.

The truth is, the story of "Queen" (the band) is pretty boring. There was little conflict or drama between the members, and the band itself wasn't very controversial.

Freddie Mercury was a compelling personality, but if you focus too much on him, then A) the gay stuff is going to turn off a lot of casual fans, and B) it wouldn't really be a movie about Queen, would it?

There's a reason why this movie was stuck in development hell for years and went through several cast changes, director changes, and rewrites. They could never figure out how to tell the story, how to find a proper balance between "backstage drama", "redemption", and "Freddie's lifestyle".

Also, it doesn't help that Brian May and Roger Taylor were creative consultants on the film. They're going to whitewash anything that makes Freddie or the band look too awful, but when you whitewash things then it reduces the impact of the climactic finale. So we're going to get a sanitized "feel good" movie that leaves you feeling empty and unsatisfied 10 minutes after you leave the theater.

 
[scooter] said:
Zero interest here. I'm a Queen fan and I enjoy the "behind the music" documentaries, but I have no interest in seeing it turned into a movie.

The truth is, the story of "Queen" (the band) is pretty boring. There was little conflict or drama between the members, and the band itself wasn't very controversial.

Freddie Mercury was a compelling personality, but if you focus too much on him, then A) the gay stuff is going to turn off a lot of casual fans, and B) it wouldn't really be a movie about Queen, would it?

There's a reason why this movie was stuck in development hell for years and went through several cast changes, director changes, and rewrites. They could never figure out how to tell the story, how to find a proper balance between "backstage drama", "redemption", and "Freddie's lifestyle".

Also, it doesn't help that Brian May and Roger Taylor were creative consultants on the film. They're going to whitewash anything that makes Freddie or the band look too awful, but when you whitewash things then it reduces the impact of the climactic finale. So we're going to get a sanitized "feel good" movie that leaves you feeling empty and unsatisfied 10 minutes after you leave the theater.
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I agree, but would like to see the story of Queen. That's just me, though.   

 
Saw it and liked it a lot.

It's a flawed movie in its use of rock bio tropes, its sanitization, and the general shallowness in glossing over of lots of history and phenomenal music. It feels more like it's made for those who weren't alive when Queen was a going concern, like a Queen 101 survey course. BUT, if you can get over that, it's a thing of joy. Besides, to really capture the Queen/Mercury story, you'd need a season or two of television.

The casting is top notch, Rami Malek's performance is spectacular, and the Live Aid finale alone is worth the price of admission.

Not a perfect film, but a beautiful snapshot--of the band, their approach, their music, the times, and of Freddie's loneliness.

If you can, see it in IMAX.

 
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Kumerica said:
Saw it and liked it a lot.

It's a flawed movie in its use of rock bio tropes, its sanitization, and the general shallowness in glossing over of lots of history and phenomenal music. It feels more like it's made for those who weren't alive when Queen was a going concern, like a Queen 101 survey course. BUT, if you can get over that, it's a thing of joy. Besides, to really capture the Queen/Mercury story, you'd need a season or two of television.

The casting is top notch, Rami Malek's performance is spectacular, and the Live Aid finale alone is worth the price of admission.

Not a perfect film, but a beautiful snapshot--of the band, their approach, their music, the times, and of Freddie's loneliness.

If you can, see it in IMAX.
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I agree with everything you wrote. I had goosebumps when the Live Aid concert played.

 
Great movie.  Although I get the criticism that it doesn’t go that deep, it’s 2 hours and 15 minutes.  They did enough.  The Live Aid crescendo makes up for any flaws.

 
Solid movie.  The audience loved it.   Lots of cheering and applause.  Everyone stayed through the credits.  They really nailed the look and the moves.  It was more about the music than about Freddie's lifestyle.   Well done.   

 
KarmaPolice said:
:hey:
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“Unfortunately,” TIME opined, “Queen’s lyrics are not the stuff of sonnets.” The New York Times, reviewing a 1978 appearance at Madison Square Garden came down equally hard: “Lyrically, Queen’s songs manage to be pretentious and irrelevant. Musically, for all the virtuosity—though it was cheating a bit to turn over the complex middle portion of their ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to a taped version, with empty stage and flashing lights—the songs still sound mostly pretty empty, all flash and calculation.”

Rolling Stone didn’t mention the song in its review of the album A Night at the Opera (“The Prophet’s Song” got top billing as the best track) but later referred to the song as a “brazen hodgepodge.”

 
jon_mx said:
“Unfortunately,” TIME opined, “Queen’s lyrics are not the stuff of sonnets.” The New York Times, reviewing a 1978 appearance at Madison Square Garden came down equally hard: “Lyrically, Queen’s songs manage to be pretentious and irrelevant. Musically, for all the virtuosity—though it was cheating a bit to turn over the complex middle portion of their ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to a taped version, with empty stage and flashing lights—the songs still sound mostly pretty empty, all flash and calculation.”

Rolling Stone didn’t mention the song in its review of the album A Night at the Opera (“The Prophet’s Song” got top billing as the best track) but later referred to the song as a “brazen hodgepodge.”
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Seems like a fair review.

 
[scooter] said:
Zero interest here. I'm a Queen fan and I enjoy the "behind the music" documentaries, but I have no interest in seeing it turned into a movie.

The truth is, the story of "Queen" (the band) is pretty boring. There was little conflict or drama between the members, and the band itself wasn't very controversial.

Freddie Mercury was a compelling personality, but if you focus too much on him, then A) the gay stuff is going to turn off a lot of casual fans, and B) it wouldn't really be a movie about Queen, would it?

There's a reason why this movie was stuck in development hell for years and went through several cast changes, director changes, and rewrites. They could never figure out how to tell the story, how to find a proper balance between "backstage drama", "redemption", and "Freddie's lifestyle".

Also, it doesn't help that Brian May and Roger Taylor were creative consultants on the film. They're going to whitewash anything that makes Freddie or the band look too awful, but when you whitewash things then it reduces the impact of the climactic finale. So we're going to get a sanitized "feel good" movie that leaves you feeling empty and unsatisfied 10 minutes after you leave the theater.
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Yep I agree but not a queen fan here. The band was incredible boring from a drama and backstage stuff standpoint for the exception of the Freddie stuff. Also May and Taylor admitted to whitewashing this film in a blabbermouth piece that was done as a preview to this film. They basically said they wanted a movie to show their grandkids (AKA Interp: We wanted a movie that we could show our grandkids in a better light then we rally would if we put in facts). This movie seems more or less as a money grab then anything else. Besides the popular songs never quiet cared for Queen and don't find them anywhere close to the band they were without Mercury. They should've just stopped after he died. I'll possible see this on Netflix or find a free online stream to pirate. I'm honestly more pumped to see how Motley Crue The Dirt turns out over this.  

 
Saw it in a Dolby theater and it sounded amazing.  Don't really care about how exact it was/wasn't and for a "PG-13" version of Freddy's life they did a pretty good job considering the restrictions. 

That Ringer article summed it up:

If you regard Bohemian Rhapsody as an excuse to sit in the dark and listen to Queen songs, well, there are far less entertaining ways to spend two hours.
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I thought it was a very good movie.  The only thing that disappointed me a bit was the live aid footage.  With the technology we have one would think that they could have found a way to use the actual footage.  Having said that however, the concert was very well done.  The actors did an excellent job of mimicking the moves of the original concert almost exactly to a point (watched the actual concert footage after the movie).  The worst part however was when the camera was from the back of the stage and you could tell that it was shot over original crowd footage.

 
Mjolnirs said:
I've learned over the years to dismiss the opinions of people who have the word "critic" in their job title or job description.
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It has it's place.  I'd rather trust most of the "critics" than Joe Blow public coming out of the theater complaining that there wasn't more "splosions".  ;)

 
Saw it Saturday afternoon.  Really liked it.   Wasn't expecting or wanting a documentary.   Just as much music as possible  with some stories behind them.

 
Really enjoyed it. I realize the focus is Freddie but I wish they would have spent just a little more time in the beginning highlighting the backgrounds of Brian Roger and John because they are fascinating in their own right. Didn’t realize John had written the number of songs he had. Would have been cool to see Brian building the Red Special with his dad. Then again, perhaps this would start to get into the documentary realm.

 
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Pretty huge box office pull....$50M domestic, $141M worldwide.  Despite mostly negative reviews, the movie well outpaced expectations. 

 
Really fun movie.  In this day and age where creativity is lacking, expect this formula to instantly be copied by all the great bands of the 60's/70's.  Lots of money grabs coming.  

The movie itself was more like a documentary and they were a bit loose with the facts and the timing to build a narrative, but it was fun.

 
@Dentist

Does having additional incisors in your mouth really give you more range?

What is this condition called (being born with additional incisors)?

 
Really enjoyed it- was a little slow at times, but the last 20 minutes (Live Aid) was unreal..  I almost clapped after songs- it was very moving :headbang:

 
shader said:
Really fun movie.  In this day and age where creativity is lacking, expect this formula to instantly be copied by all the great bands of the 60's/70's.  Lots of money grabs coming.  

The movie itself was more like a documentary and they were a bit loose with the facts and the timing to build a narrative, but it was fun.
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I've already seen a trailer for an Elton John biopic - as you said I think we can expect a lot more.

 
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I remember Live Aide and the Freddie Mercury Tribute shows vividly like it was yesterday. I would have thought there would have been more events like those over the years. Loved Live 8 as well. 

Not even sure it would be possible to put on similar shows anymore (at least ones filled with mega rock stars).

 
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