I honestly had no clue this was even being framed as a "sequel" to Pixote—thanks for the heads-up. This forum really is an incredible resource for deep cuts; I need to get my hands on this one immediately. Looking at what happened to those kids from Pixote... it’s genuinely impressive how much they captured, yet it's just brutally, relentlessly real.
I’ve seen City of God before, and let me tell you, it’s not exactly a "feel-good" experience if you're looking for something easy to digest. 😉
It was because of him that John Doe had to sit out an entire season when he made the move to Memphis—and John Doe absolutely hated it. He went so far as to dig up some old training tape showing John Doe playing a friendly scrimmage for Memphis. At the time, John Doe was only 18 years old and arguably the brightest talent in all of Europe. Because of John Doe’s interference, he lost an entire year of play.
In the end, he wound up signing with Washington, D.C.—though why he felt the need to do that, I honestly can't say. And then, once he signed with the Germans and John Doe wasn't happy about the payout, the newspapers started running these daily stories claiming John Doe was a drunk who crashed his car every other day.
I’m not sure if someone has already pointed this out, but it seems to me that Ivano Balić endured this entire game solely to ensure the national team secures an Olympic berth—doing it just so he wouldn't abandon his teammates.
Considering how much Gobac was riding him, along with that little lackey Slavko, I honestly would have packed my bags and headed straight home if I were in his shoes.
So, hats off to Ivan; he truly deserves every bit of respect.
And frankly, I highly doubt he’ll show up for the fifth-place match—he’ll likely just walk away from them entirely.
Mad Max is a sci-fi film—it doesn't matter how you look at it, since the setting is fundamentally set in the future.
Whether people are pointing fingers at digital screens or scavenging for fuel in some desolate wasteland, we're talking about the future in both scenarios—more or less plausible or not, it’s irrelevant.
Personally, I’d much rather be part of some gritty outlaw gang rocking a mohawk than sitting behind a computer terminal "hacking" away, but hey, what can you do? Predictions vary.
I think I first truly grasped his essence back with Alien; even though he wasn't officially behind the camera on that one, you can still feel his unmistakable touch throughout the film.
To my mind, Se7en stands as the finest film produced in the last twenty or thirty years—honestly, I was expecting a new masterpiece on the level of Alfred Hitchcock.
Now, Game is an excellent piece of cinema, but it falls just slightly short of Se7en; I felt a minor sense of disappointment, if I’m being completely honest.
Then there is Fight Club. I have never been so profoundly let down by a film in my entire life—never, I swear it.
From there, it’s mostly just decent stuff, leading up to The Social Network, which I actually found quite compelling.
David, I truly hope your absolute best work is still ahead of you. If your next project matches the quality of Se7en, I’ll personally pay for a mass in your honor—I promise.
Lately, I’ve developed a bit of a fixation on Del Toro.☕
I have to say, I’d probably only agree with about 10 percent of the claims being made in this thread.
To be blunt, roughly 60 percent of these citations feel like a personal insult—honestly, it's exhausting—and another 30 percent are just flat-out wrong.
It’s funny how nostalgia works—it isn’t always about the period pieces. I find that certain adventure flicks, like the original Indiana Jones or even Mad Max, pull me back to being a kid much faster than some heavy drama set in my childhood era.
Take Nuova Cinema Paradiso, for instance. I absolutely adore that film, truly, but it doesn't evoke my childhood—it transports me back to those early college days instead.
What actually triggers that sense of being a kid? Something like watching Dragon Wars, when fifteen of us from class would pile out of the theater and trek all the way home through the streets...😁
And, because I was a self-proclaimed master of nunchucks at the time, I can tell you I probably smacked myself in the head at least three hundred times during that phase.😬
The film is absolutely a knockout—even if there are a few minor hiccups here and there—though, to be fair, I won't even know if they truly qualify as mistakes until I give it a second viewing.
At the end of the day, it smells like just another American remake to me.
Then again, it’s not like Hollywood has gone completely overboard with remaking Korean films lately, right?
Lol, are you seriously telling me you don't see the connection between those two films? Aside from the fact that they share the same director?
Wait, what? 🙂
If you can't see it—and if you aren't even aware that both *Bus 174* and *Tropi* lean heavily into that same theme of a totally incompetent police force (which is really just a metaphor for a broken society)—then I honestly don't know how to help you. 😉
The sheer incompetence of their police force is the central theme driving both films—it’s a system where you can essentially become a cop with a license to kill without much training at all, facing virtually zero consequences even if you take out some random homeless guy on the street. That’s exactly why Padilh ended up recruiting Trop—though I suppose that’s a concept some of you find incredibly difficult to grasp. The whole point of the documentary is focused right on the police department—which, frankly, seems to elude you just as much as it does the movie itself; if you’re truly confused, go call Padilh and ask him yourself. At this point, I’ve lost any desire to argue with either of you—it’s clear you struggle to digest things even when they are served to you on a silver platter.
My apologies, Andrew Flores7, I clearly overestimated you for a moment there.😉
Look, just watch at least one of those two movies—otherwise, I’ll be forced to assume you’re even more of an idiot than you already seem to be. 🙂
Fine, you’re still an idiot, but—I suppose—you’re making progress; give it a few years and you might actually reach a semblance of normalcy. Then, perhaps, you can engage in a discussion about films you’ve actually sat through. 😉
@ Andrew Flores7
Padilh first directed Bus, then secured the funding for Bad Boys II. It’s a perfectly logical progression, isn't it? I’m willing to take your word for it that you've seen both films 🙂 But can't you see the connection?
Was that SWAT or someone else entirely, and did Padhila produce that documentary before or after Bad Boys? Come on, think about it—the granular details aren't even the point here. Have you actually noticed the connection between Bus 174 and Bad Boys yet? Just give it some thought,
In Bus 174, the whole premise is this gritty, documentary-style look at how untrained the local police force is, alongside the brutal reality facing impoverished kids in the slums. Bad Boys covers essentially the same ground, just presented in a much more stylized, cinematic way.
Look, it isn't even about whether I understand you—it’s about the fact that you clearly don't grasp that Bopa is a direct narrative sequel to Bus, which was a documentary. If you can't wrap your head around that simple connection, then there really isn't any point in us continuing this discussion.
First, you tried to play me for a fool, and now you're retreating behind the excuse of "not understanding." Typical.
Andrew Flores7 said:And tell me, where else is there a Bus 174 situation with SWAT, constant gunfire, and organized gangs running the streets? Honestly, if you think you're comparing apples to oranges, that’s on you...
There isn't, except for the fact that the exact same Bopa killed him for no reason the moment he stepped off the Bus. We all saw it happen!!! You clearly didn't watch Bus 174, did you? And where are these supposed conversations with actual bandits or homeless kids running through the whole thing, let alone with the cops? Apples and oranges? Please. It’s obvious you haven't even seen the documentary, otherwise you wouldn't be posting such absolute nonsense. @ neonscout7 You didn't watch the documentary either, did you?
And why is it even considered foolish to draw comparisons when we're talking about the exact same subject matter? Besides, both Bus and Troopu were helmed by the same director—isn't that a point? Does Troopu lack that gritty, pseudo-documentary feel that’s precisely why people gravitate toward it and respect it in the first place?
So, I suppose I'm just being thick for making the comparison? 😳
Look, if you’re the type who actually enjoys the gritty reality of life in the slums of Rio—someone who appreciates movies like Pixote or Training Day—then this is definitely worth your time.
It's a documentary, really just raw, unfiltered stories from those forgotten souls living on the streets of Brazil. It's the very same footage that earned Padilha the funding for Training Day. 😉
Though, if you want my two cents, I think he leaned a bit too hard into the dramatization; honestly, City of God is a much better film.