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Post by kolchak92 on Sept 22, 2022 16:56:36 GMT
What do you think of this?
The animation was great and the storyline was an interesting idea, but it just didn't gel or work in any meaningful way. I think the film could have benefited from some re-writes.
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Post by politicidal on Sept 22, 2022 17:09:06 GMT
From what I heard, originally it was planned as a R rated psychological horror movie or some such.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Sept 22, 2022 18:58:42 GMT
4/10 Forgettable.
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Post by lowtacks86 on Sept 22, 2022 20:23:20 GMT
From what I heard, originally it was planned as a R rated psychological horror movie or some such. I heard that too, but the studio wanted another "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" instead
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Sept 27, 2022 13:49:23 GMT
Always loved the whole Cool World sleazy, seedy animated city part, but once the film ends up trying to get the main characters back into the real world (or Las Vegas), it just feels too rushed. But I guess having heard all kind of different stories of how Bakshi and Mancuso Jr. came to creative blows, along with the main leady Kim Basinger, maybe not helping out too much, by wanting a more nicer and friendlier family themed adventure, so the little children at the hospital could enjoy it as well. However, the film was for me, the introduction towards more adult themed animated films, as well as the first Ralph Bakshi title I saw, and yeah, that was quite something else. Another important theme, is the great music, which I think is probably way more praised, rather than the film itself. The combination of late 80s synth-pop, with early 90s techno, house and ambient music, somehow fitted really well into the weird mix, and I might just re-watch it very soon, at least I should try to, before October is here, as by then, it will all horror related entertainment, and Cool World could have been a horror film, but ended up instead as something else.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Sept 28, 2022 10:44:48 GMT
I decided to re-watch it last night, and yeah, not much have changed in how I view/rate it, still quite a big mess, but one that comes with enough fascinating and sleazy stuff, so it sure does never get boring or uninteresting. Was kind of sure, I had done a thread, some year back, and after a bit of "trouble" (not sure what goes on with the search function, some times it works like magic, other times you have to go through 50 pages, before finally ending up with the right one), anyway, I guess what I wrote back then, is pretty much where it still is as of today: "You screwed us all... for a piece of ass?" In a desperate attempt of trying to escape life's harsh reality, the famous cartoonist Jack Deebs (Gabriel Byrne) decides to create his very own fantasy universe, Cool World. A place filled with danger and excitement, but even more importantly, it features Deebs animated dream woman, Holli Would (Kim Basinger). And this special lady knows exactly what she wants and do not take no for an answer, something her creator will find out, very soon.
After Fire and Ice (1983) this was to be Ralph Bakshi's big comeback film, backed up with names such as Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt. Cool World started up as an idea within the horror/sci-fi genre, that featured a vengeful baby who was the evil offrspring of some horrible late night rendezvous gone terribly wrong, between an animated figure (Toons and Noids) and a real human being. And that's it. The idea was more than enough to win over the big moneymen in Hollywood, and as a result, Cool World got both thumbs up waaay up, and Bakshi was back in action. But things only went one way after the deal was done, and that was waaaay down. First off, the original movie script ended up getting several heavy rewrites, and which supposedly went behind the back of Bakshi himself, and his reaction to it, was not very positive. Some rumours even has it, that a big fight between Ralph and the films producer, Frank Mancuso, Jr took place, and this was to be followed up by a lawsuit. To make things even worse, Kim Basinger was hoping that the film would be made into a more "child friendly" adventure, so litte kids could go and see it on the big screen. And when it finally showed up at the cinemas, it was universally panned by the critics along with a confused audience who probably expected something completely different, and with the films poor promotion it did not help to ease the damage that was already done and the film ended up as a box-office failure. Over the years, the film has had a bit of a "comeback", being placed on several "lost-cult" films lists or hailed for its soundtrack that was probably one of the few things the critics seemed to be positive about. For me, this film I was just too young to watch back in 1992, but when I saw it late at night in summer of 2001, on TV. I thought it was a really interesting and enjoyable mess, that came with one of the most stunning animated babes I had ever seen with Holli Would and I thought the whole sleazy/retro 40s-50s atmosphere that was Cool World, was really well made. My big complaint however was that when the film ended up taking a turn into the real world, it felt very rushed and goofy. Brad Pitt was not very good in the detective part either, and I wished another actor would play it, as he was not very likeable at all, just a douchy, smug character that I cared nothing for. Gabriel Byrne had some good scenes, or at least with what he had to work with, but the film really is a messy and very chaotic result of a what could have been idea. Compared to Bakshi and his earlier animated adult classics, such as Wizard (1977) or Coonskin (1975), Cool World is not very impressive, but for those who wanted a more adult themed Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) this might be a lot of fun. Holli Would sure ain't no Jessica Rabbit. Instead she is a mean megalomaniac, very full of her self, and she knows she's the hottest thing around, and sure knows how to use it in order to get things done her own way. I guess I could re-write/update a few things, Pitt was a bit more "likeable" than earlier visits, but I still feel his character took up too much space, a long with the more circus/slapstick stuff that also arrived, far too many times, but I guess were the result of Bakshi having not full creative control, and maybe forced to include more "family friendly" things, and yeah, this is not a good film, but it was my ticket into far more sleazy and adult themed animated films, and more importantly Ralph Bakshi and his wild world of animated releases, so I can never dislike it, but would be very interested if a potential Directors Cut, or special edition of the film someday might arrive, also hopefully with a full length behind the camera/documentary, as I am sure there is some very wild and interesting stories to be told, by not just Bakshi, but many of those working either onscreen or behind. 5,5/10
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Post by kolchak92 on Sept 28, 2022 11:41:11 GMT
I decided to re-watch it last night, and yeah, not much have changed in how I view/rate it, still quite a big mess, but one that comes with enough fascinating and sleazy stuff, so it sure does never get boring or uninteresting. Was kind of sure, I had done a thread, some year back, and after a bit of "trouble" (not sure what goes on with the search function, some times it works like magic, other times you have to go through 50 pages, before finally ending up with the right one), anyway, I guess what I wrote back then, is pretty much where it still is as of today: "You screwed us all... for a piece of ass?" In a desperate attempt of trying to escape life's harsh reality, the famous cartoonist Jack Deebs (Gabriel Byrne) decides to create his very own fantasy universe, Cool World. A place filled with danger and excitement, but even more importantly, it features Deebs animated dream woman, Holli Would (Kim Basinger). And this special lady knows exactly what she wants and do not take no for an answer, something her creator will find out, very soon.
After Fire and Ice (1983) this was to be Ralph Bakshi's big comeback film, backed up with names such as Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt. Cool World started up as an idea within the horror/sci-fi genre, that featured a vengeful baby who was the evil offrspring of some horrible late night rendezvous gone terribly wrong, between an animated figure (Toons and Noids) and a real human being. And that's it. The idea was more than enough to win over the big moneymen in Hollywood, and as a result, Cool World got both thumbs up waaay up, and Bakshi was back in action. But things only went one way after the deal was done, and that was waaaay down. First off, the original movie script ended up getting several heavy rewrites, and which supposedly went behind the back of Bakshi himself, and his reaction to it, was not very positive. Some rumours even has it, that a big fight between Ralph and the films producer, Frank Mancuso, Jr took place, and this was to be followed up by a lawsuit. To make things even worse, Kim Basinger was hoping that the film would be made into a more "child friendly" adventure, so litte kids could go and see it on the big screen. And when it finally showed up at the cinemas, it was universally panned by the critics along with a confused audience who probably expected something completely different, and with the films poor promotion it did not help to ease the damage that was already done and the film ended up as a box-office failure. Over the years, the film has had a bit of a "comeback", being placed on several "lost-cult" films lists or hailed for its soundtrack that was probably one of the few things the critics seemed to be positive about. For me, this film I was just too young to watch back in 1992, but when I saw it late at night in summer of 2001, on TV. I thought it was a really interesting and enjoyable mess, that came with one of the most stunning animated babes I had ever seen with Holli Would and I thought the whole sleazy/retro 40s-50s atmosphere that was Cool World, was really well made. My big complaint however was that when the film ended up taking a turn into the real world, it felt very rushed and goofy. Brad Pitt was not very good in the detective part either, and I wished another actor would play it, as he was not very likeable at all, just a douchy, smug character that I cared nothing for. Gabriel Byrne had some good scenes, or at least with what he had to work with, but the film really is a messy and very chaotic result of a what could have been idea. Compared to Bakshi and his earlier animated adult classics, such as Wizard (1977) or Coonskin (1975), Cool World is not very impressive, but for those who wanted a more adult themed Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) this might be a lot of fun. Holli Would sure ain't no Jessica Rabbit. Instead she is a mean megalomaniac, very full of her self, and she knows she's the hottest thing around, and sure knows how to use it in order to get things done her own way. I guess I could re-write/update a few things, Pitt was a bit more "likeable" than earlier visits, but I still feel his character took up too much space, a long with the more circus/slapstick stuff that also arrived, far too many times, but I guess were the result of Bakshi having not full creative control, and maybe forced to include more "family friendly" things, and yeah, this is not a good film, but it was my ticket into far more sleazy and adult themed animated films, and more importantly Ralph Bakshi and his wild world of animated releases, so I can never dislike it, but would be very interested if a potential Directors Cut, or special edition of the film someday might arrive, also hopefully with a full length behind the camera/documentary, as I am sure there is some very wild and interesting stories to be told, by not just Bakshi, but many of those working either onscreen or behind. 5,5/10 www.blu-ray.com/movies/Cool-World-Blu-ray/130961/
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Sept 28, 2022 12:33:53 GMT
Wow! Where did that come from? Never really been too updated on these kind of releases, but yeah, thanks for the update, as this really looks interesting, just hopes it will play on European Blu-ray players, as I have no intention of just purchasing one more, in order to play maybe 1 or 2 titles with Code A (USA and Canada) and not Code B (which is Europe). But maybe some German (they usually re-relase a lot of Scream/Shout films on Media-Book DVD/Blu-ray combos) will pick it up soon, or one can always hope.
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