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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Reviews    Movie, Television and DVD Reviews  ›  The Mist Moderators: Nixon
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  Author    The Mist  (currently 2383 views)
The boy who could fly
Posted: November 24th, 2007, 6:52pm Report to Moderator
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The Mist is a nasty, gruesome, mean spirited little film, but I liked it a lot.  This is gonna be a love it or hate it film and I'm sure most will hate it.

The story is quite simple, a group of people are trapped in a grocery store as a mysterious Mist rolls into town, and in the Mist are lots and lots of flesh eating creatures, some small, others the size of Dinosaurs.

There is also a threat on the inside of the store as Marcia Gay Harden plays a religious zealot who fears the end of days and slowly converts other people turning them into an angry mob who feel the need to make a sacrifice.  She is a total nut bag, she's scarier than the monsters on the outside.

One of my favourite characters is Ollie, a grocery store clerk, he does something near the end of the film that had people in the audience clapping and cheering, and Thomas Jane's "thank you" gets a big laugh.

Then comes the ending, I'm not gonna say what happens, I'll just say it is one of the best endings ever, the sick little devil in me was grinning from ear to ear, mostly cause I didnt think they'd have the balls to do something like that.  Some people in the audience didn't like that, I hear the words "sick" "Twisted", and that made me smile more, I know in real life it would be a horrible tragedy, but this is a creature feature so I think I'm aloud to smile

Anyways If you liked the thing or the fly or the more recent slither you may get a kick out of it, lots of blood and gore and slime.  This is one of the better Stephen King adaptations.


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Dr. McPhearson
Posted: November 25th, 2007, 9:51pm Report to Moderator
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I have to say, with Frank Darabont being, as far as I'm concerned, the best Stephen King collaborator to-date, what with his fantastic adaptations of "Shawshank Redemption" and "Green Mile", I was really hoping that his streak of awesomeness would continue. With "The Mist", I was a tad surprised. After seeing it, I found it unfair to compare this film with the aforementioned pair, because it was so much different.

It made for a decent monster movie... but that's not how it should be viewed. Instead, the monsters and the Mist work only as secondary factors, background details, to the story's real purpose: Examining a time in which, when rules and technology are removed, people practice a certain degree of anarchism, a la "Lord of the Flies". As Thomas Jane's character says at one point, "You take those things away, you'll see how primitive people can get."  

This film isn't about tentacles or scorpion-flies or dinosaur-hawks or even giant octopus horses, though they all DO make appearances from time to time. This is a film about the human condition,  based around the idea of how, when we don't have the convenience of dialing 911, we are forced to take matters into our own hands... and sometimes, as the shockingly staged ending brilliantly portrays, we are pushed so close to the edge, that we find ourselves taking drastic and tragic measures out of self-destruction and disarray.

I'm with The Boy when I say that, more so than not, I liked this film. Not Frank Darabont's best choice of source material, but the ending that he personally penned into the plotline works, I am sad to say, devilishly well.

7 OUT OF 10


PLEASE review my first SimplyScripts submission....

Re-Right (short comedy)
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Zombie Sean
Posted: November 26th, 2007, 6:06pm Report to Moderator
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I enjoyed this film. It was well worked out and the actors were great, and there were actually characters that I felt sorry for.

I, for one, however, DESPISED the ending and I will NEVER get over it. It made me so mad and I seriously want to murder the ending. It gets the award for WORST ENDING EVER.

But that's just my opinion. If people thought rather than coming to abrupt, rash decisions, this world would be a smarter place.

But the film was cool and the gore was top notch, and there was actually a character that I wanted to jump in the movie screen and beat his or her face in until there was nothing left but a mushy pulp (and that him or her was still alive).

This movie brought out a lot of emotions in me: sadness, anger (a lot of it), happiness...it was weird.

Though I have a question: were you guys able to hear all of what the characters said? My theater seemed to have the volume a bit low, so there weren't any loud noises that made me jump and I couldn't hear a lot of parts that characters said. Man.......

Good movie though. Not a good ending. Never. I hope there's an alternate ending.

Sean
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Hoody
Posted: November 27th, 2007, 7:45am Report to Moderator
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I gave this film a 8/10.  Keep in mind, I'm not one of those people that gives every movie they see a 10/10.  There's only 12 or so movies that hold that honor.  So 8/10 is pretty good.

Most of the actors were good, even though I didn't really like the dialgoue in parts.  Standouts were definitely Toby Jones for being awesome and Marcia Gay Harden for being bat-shit crazy.  Thomas Jane didn't really do it for me.  Toby Jones pretty much did everything I expected Thomas Jane to do and his acting was better...but, unfortunately, I could never see Toby as the lead.

The monsters sorta killed it for me.  They looked incredibly cheesy, IMO.  I cut them some slack though because they didn't really have the budget to pull off what I'm used to by now.  The monsters actually looked cooler when hidden in the mist, like that huge one at the end that passes them.

I loved the Lord Of The Flies aspect of this movie.  That was holding my attention more than the monsters.

Film had a lot of good laughs (The welcome to Sesame Street line; the bug spray and fire) and even got an applause when a certain someone got killed (Which was weird because my theatre was barely half-full and only a couple of them looked like they were actually watching).

I had heard so many things about the ending.  I told everyone not to spoil it for me and when I finally saw it I was like "Okay...well, someone was bound to do that sooner or later."  I mean, it was pretty ballsy and, don't get me wrong, I liked it...but it was the same ending as every other movie like that, just with a little extra.  It actually made everyone laugh, nobody really gasped or anything like that.  I guess I was overhyped by the trailer and friends.  I thought it would be the ending to end all endings(if that makes any sense whatsoever).

Darabont and King cannot go wrong.  I want to see him make more adaptations very soon.

...something extra: Can anyone tell me why the bug didn't sting Harden's character?  I keep thinking that I missed something.  Or was it actually "God's" help?  I really hope I missed something.


Please, read Elvis The Goat or Cold Turkey.  Thanks in advance and I'll make sure to review your script in exchange.
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tomson
Posted: December 4th, 2007, 9:25pm Report to Moderator
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I watched this one last night and it was okay. IMHO the ending saved it from being just another mediocre film made out of a Stephen King story.

I agree with Jordan for the most part.  A main problem for me was the "creatures". They were shown early and did not look scary, so it had the opposite effect of Aliens for example. I have since learned however that the writer/director refused a lot of big studio money just so he could stay true to the ending, so I do forgive some of the low budget feel.

All in all it was okay. Don't remember what it was rated now, but I would put it at PG-10! There really wasn't anything scary or semi offensive to rate it any higher than that IMO.
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Higgonaitor
Posted: December 4th, 2007, 9:31pm Report to Moderator
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I just read the Novella over the weekend and really enjoyed it.  After reading this thread, i just HAD to find out what the ending was so I googled it and found out and....woah.  I'd have to say that's clever.


NEW!Everquenching Lemonade:Thirsty for a comedy short?
And the Rest!

Watch Squirt! (My web-series!)
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Death Monkey
Posted: December 27th, 2007, 6:40pm Report to Moderator
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I liked the film overall. It does have a bunch of rehahsed King characters, like the over-the-top religious nut job, and it's not exactly subtle (People very quickly start screaming "Hallelujah!" once they follow Marcia Gay Harden). There are no nuances. but that's okay cause it's a nasty piece of slimy suspense. It has a really cool atmosphere and the movie does try, in places, to break new ground.

The ending is the most contrversial bit, I guess. I didn't like it one bit. To me it reduced the entire first two hours to nothing but one long lead-up to a quirky punchline. "Remember that movie you just watched? It was just a joke!" I understand the virtue of a "anti-happy" ending, I just don't think it necessarily makes it a good one. I mean, it's pretty easy to end your movie with a cheapshot like this. It takes craftsmanship to tie things together properly.

It was different. It was ballsy. But it wasn't good, IMO.

I hated Cabin Fever's ending too.


"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."

The Mute (short)
The Pool (short)
Tall Tales (short)
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James McClung
Posted: August 19th, 2010, 11:42pm Report to Moderator
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Saw this and In the Company of Men today. I enjoyed both quite a bit although I wouldn't recommend anyone watch either back to back as both have fucked up endings.

Anyway, I liked it. Not one of Stephen King's best, story-wise, and not one of his best film adaptations. But certainly one of the better ones. I prefer Stephen King's horror to his sci-fi but I felt this was a more respectable film than Dreamcatcher was. Dreamcatcher had a better first act but completely shit on the novel as a whole; I thought the novel was brilliant. The effects were fun. Goofy at times but certainly entertaining and quite gross all around.

The main reason I saw this was all the controversy surrounding the ending. That and the fact that it's garnered something of a cult following since it came out, again, probably due to the ending. I'm gonna have to agree with the majority. I can't believe they had the balls to do what they did. I think it's commendable that they actually went through with it. I went and looked up the ending to the novella and I have to say the film's is better. It doesn't leave you feeling very good but it's powerful, that's for sure. I approve.

Anyway, not a bad flick.



Revision History (1 edits)
James McClung  -  August 21st, 2010, 2:12pm
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sniper
Posted: August 20th, 2010, 1:46am Report to Moderator
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I love The Mist. It's one of those films that get under your skin - at leas tit did with me. It took me a long time to shake the effects of the ending off. Had me thinking. Made me uncomfortable. This was true horror in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, the ending is a stroke of genius and Thomas Jane's performance in those final scenes completely sold me. Powerful stuff. The same can be said for Marcia Gay Harden' portrayal of Mrs. Carmody. She was just downright scary. I also like the ending in the novella. While still ambiguous, it does leave us with a bit of hope - literally.

The FX were not the best I've ever seen but they were good enough for me to buy into it all. The only thing that bothered me a little was the tentacle scene. I thought the pacing of the scene was off. It was too slow and I think it would've worked better (and maybe it would have been more scary) if they had paced that scene a little faster.

I often wonder what happens to David Drayton after the movie ends. His mind must be completely gone. I'd be surprised if he doesn't kill himself.

" It appears we may have a problem of some magnitude."


Down in the hole / Jesus tries to crack a smile / Beneath another shovel load
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George Willson
Posted: August 20th, 2010, 7:48am Report to Moderator
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I could swear this was another thread on this somewhere. Oh well.

While we're on it, I'm in the camp that hated the ending. Did it kind of make sense in the moment? I'll give it that. However, in the same situation, I would have waited until the sheer bitter end when there was absolutely no other choice before coming to that sort of decision. I'm not sure desperation would have set in to that extent at that point.

I actually knew the novella before going into this one, so I knew what had happened to cause the problem. Not sure if that enhanced the story for me or not.

With the exception of the ending, I liked it. It was a well done film with some good characters and good suspense.


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sniper
Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:08am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from George Willson
However, in the same situation, I would have waited until the sheer bitter end when there was absolutely no other choice before coming to that sort of decision.

I think that's a valid point. Would I have waited? Absolutely. However, we don't really know for how long they've been driving before running out of gas - and what might have happened during that drive. But, yeah, the movie could have added a little more setup during the drive.

Personally, I think that when they see the huge six-footed SUNBLOCKER, they realize that all is lost. If something like that came out of the mist, what else made it out. Add this to the fact the thay hadn't seen anything but death and horrorible creatures for the better part of two days and I think you have a plausible setup.


Down in the hole / Jesus tries to crack a smile / Beneath another shovel load
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Matt Chisholm
Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:27am Report to Moderator
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I liked this movie a lot for about 1:59:00 minutes of its 2:00:00 running time. I was with it up until Thomas Jane's pathetic "NOOOOOOO!" It was the most pathetic scream of anguish since Revenge of the Sith. Seriously ruined the entire thing for me. If he could have sold that moment, it would've been excellent, but those few seconds just took me right out of the movie and I'll never forgive Jane for doing it, or Darabont for putting it in.

Still was a good movie, though. I loved Marcia Gay-Harden and some of the supporting characters.


I can't live the buttoned-down life like you. I want it all. The dizzying highs, the terrifying lows, the creamy middles. Sure, I may offend some of the blue bloods with my cocky stride and musky odors. Oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called "city fathers," who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards and talk about what's to be done with this Homer Simpson?
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George Willson
Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:30am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Matt Chisholm
I liked this movie a lot for about 1:59:00 minutes of its 2:00:00 running time. I was with it up until Thomas Jane's pathetic "NOOOOOOO!" It was the most pathetic scream of anguish since Revenge of the Sith. Seriously ruined the entire thing for me. If he could have sold that moment, it would've been excellent, but those few seconds just took me right out of the movie and I'll never forgive Jane for doing it, or Darabont for putting it in.

Still was a good movie, though. I loved Marcia Gay-Harden and some of the supporting characters.


What would have saved it for me was if they left the movie hanging with him screaming into the Mist to come and get him. A rapid zoom out showing how hopeless it all was along with creatures moving would have given us a more satisfying end than, "Oh yeah, your big escape and thing you did there at the end was all completely pointless."


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sniper
Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:50am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Matt Chisholm
I was with it up until Thomas Jane's pathetic "NOOOOOOO!" It was the most pathetic scream of anguish since Revenge of the Sith

You kiss your mother with that mouth, Chismeister?

You be the judge (it obviously contains spoilers for those of you who haven't seen it):



EDIT:

For comparison:



Down in the hole / Jesus tries to crack a smile / Beneath another shovel load
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Scar Tissue Films
Posted: August 20th, 2010, 9:15am Report to Moderator
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Quoted Text
While we're on it, I'm in the camp that hated the ending. Did it kind of make sense in the moment? I'll give it that. However, in the same situation, I would have waited until the sheer bitter end when there was absolutely no other choice before coming to that sort of decision. I'm not sure desperation would have set in to that extent at that point.


I think that's a valid point like Sniper says. They could perhaps have made it slightly more clear just how desperate they felt. It still worked for me though. I could believe that they felt that the Mist was simply out-runnable and they may as at least face their death on their own terms.


Quoted from George Willson


What would have saved it for me was if they left the movie hanging with him screaming into the Mist to come and get him. A rapid zoom out showing how hopeless it all was along with creatures moving would have given us a more satisfying end than, "Oh yeah, your big escape and thing you did there at the end was all completely pointless."


On the other hand...I disagree strongly with this.

There's a quote from an anonymous author which goes something like:

"The tragedy of life isn't that Man dies, it's what dies inside a man whilst he still lives".

For me that kind of encapsulates what the film is all about. It's about how the true horrors man faces are inside his own mind. A lot of view points in the film are considered and rejected (blind faith, logic etc).The ending gave a sense that no matter what happens we as a race must never lose hope.

I thought it was a very poignant ending, seeing the woman who left to find her kids escaping because she never gave up, juxtaposed with the main character who took the sensible decision, was very effective.

I find it interesting that you complain about the "pointlessness" of the ending, yet in actual fact what you wanted was a pointless ending. What we got was a very definite point of view and a call to arms informing us never to lose hope even when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds.

It may be the case that your reading of the short has influenced your thinking, because as a stand alone piece of work and as an interpretation of the original it definitely stands up.
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