The Gorge (2019)
February 14, 2025 10:34 AM - Subscribe
Two very dangerous young people who, despite the corrupt and lethal world they operate in, find a soulmate in each other.
Happy Valentines Day!
Happy Valentines Day!
looking forward to this!!
posted by supermedusa at 11:01 AM on February 14
posted by supermedusa at 11:01 AM on February 14
i enjoyed it... can't say I've seen a military action romance with a dash of horror (which really is the least present genre of the mix)
posted by kokaku at 2:24 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]
posted by kokaku at 2:24 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]
Better than expected! Ranks up there with some of the better sci fi horror, and the chemistry between the two leads was decent. Thought it was unrealistic that they didn’t get infected (I was very much expecting a suicide pact ending) and I was disappointed by the “historical footage.” Script & acting in that weren’t realistic (ha ha). But altogether very serviceable Valentine’s watch!
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 5:33 PM on February 14
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 5:33 PM on February 14
Aw, I wanted to like it but Dumb Horny Snipers plus Monsters wasn't as fun as I wanted to be, and that ending was too long. I def called the twist (why the Gorge existed) pretty quickly. I am glad you guys liked it though! (For real!)
posted by Kitteh at 6:37 PM on February 14 [3 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 6:37 PM on February 14 [3 favorites]
I was concerned the trailer had shown essentially the entire movie, but it actually only touched on the first half hour or so. It was a very fun watch with some imaginative visuals and set pieces.
The whole scenario is very blatantly contrived to make the star-crossed snipers have their meet-shoot and fall for each other, and it would probably have worked better as a video game, but overall quite entertaining.
posted by subocoyne at 8:23 PM on February 14 [7 favorites]
The whole scenario is very blatantly contrived to make the star-crossed snipers have their meet-shoot and fall for each other, and it would probably have worked better as a video game, but overall quite entertaining.
posted by subocoyne at 8:23 PM on February 14 [7 favorites]
I thought it was hugely entertaining. Sure it's silly, but great creature design, some really good action sequences, and just generally all around fun.
posted by Lord_Pall at 9:29 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]
posted by Lord_Pall at 9:29 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]
I had a good time, but I think I would have had a better time with a 90-minute movie... a lot in here that didn't need to pad this out to a 2+hour runtime.
"Star-crossed snipers fall into Silent Hill" is a hell of a log line, and I'm glad somebody decided to sign off on it.
Macro, definitely better than a lot of recent military-fetishist scifi-horror hibbety. It was watchable, the leads were good, the plot made sense, kinda.
My main stick-in-my-craw things coming out of this:
- why the secrecy? Why the elaborate setup and cover story for the people "holding the line"? Blackwater -- oops, DarkLake -- is a bazillion dollar company. They're flying DarkLake branded helicopters around. Sigorney Weaver clearly has a whole team of technicians, helicopter pilots, and boffins who know alllll about it. Why bother with all the woo woo we're secretly American/Russian military ops, cold war spook stories, etc.? You're paying people to stand in a tower and shoot things that come out of a hole. You could just... pay people to stand in a tower and shoot things that come out of a hole?
- who delivers stuff to the Gorge? Magically replenishing stocks of ammo and rockets. A semi-tended garden. Recent 180-gram releases of Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums on coloured vinyl. Chess sets. Liquor. A seemingly endless supply of comically oversized notepads and Sharpies. Is this a secret operation where nobody knows about it except DarkLake, the operatives who are dropped off 38 kilometres away with very vague directions, and a legion of Amazon delivery drivers? Do Levi and Drasa have to get up every morning and retrieve lazily hurled brown boxes somewhere vaguely near their towers' porches?
All of this in the "it's fun to quibble" category. I had a good time overall.
posted by Shepherd at 5:46 AM on February 15 [11 favorites]
"Star-crossed snipers fall into Silent Hill" is a hell of a log line, and I'm glad somebody decided to sign off on it.
Macro, definitely better than a lot of recent military-fetishist scifi-horror hibbety. It was watchable, the leads were good, the plot made sense, kinda.
My main stick-in-my-craw things coming out of this:
- why the secrecy? Why the elaborate setup and cover story for the people "holding the line"? Blackwater -- oops, DarkLake -- is a bazillion dollar company. They're flying DarkLake branded helicopters around. Sigorney Weaver clearly has a whole team of technicians, helicopter pilots, and boffins who know alllll about it. Why bother with all the woo woo we're secretly American/Russian military ops, cold war spook stories, etc.? You're paying people to stand in a tower and shoot things that come out of a hole. You could just... pay people to stand in a tower and shoot things that come out of a hole?
- who delivers stuff to the Gorge? Magically replenishing stocks of ammo and rockets. A semi-tended garden. Recent 180-gram releases of Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums on coloured vinyl. Chess sets. Liquor. A seemingly endless supply of comically oversized notepads and Sharpies. Is this a secret operation where nobody knows about it except DarkLake, the operatives who are dropped off 38 kilometres away with very vague directions, and a legion of Amazon delivery drivers? Do Levi and Drasa have to get up every morning and retrieve lazily hurled brown boxes somewhere vaguely near their towers' porches?
All of this in the "it's fun to quibble" category. I had a good time overall.
posted by Shepherd at 5:46 AM on February 15 [11 favorites]
"meet-shoot"
Is that the pun that sold the movie, like Cameron writing “ALIEN$” on a napkin?
I wasn’t going to see this given reviews but it sounds like this might be a good snowy afternoon diversion, so thanks y’all.
posted by thecaddy at 7:46 AM on February 15 [4 favorites]
Is that the pun that sold the movie, like Cameron writing “ALIEN$” on a napkin?
I wasn’t going to see this given reviews but it sounds like this might be a good snowy afternoon diversion, so thanks y’all.
posted by thecaddy at 7:46 AM on February 15 [4 favorites]
I'm puzzled. You say this "just came out" and the IMDB date agrees, but I swear I saw this at least a year ago. Puzzling.
posted by SPrintF at 8:46 AM on February 15
posted by SPrintF at 8:46 AM on February 15
It may seem familiar because it was a notable entry on 2020's "Black List" of unproduced screenplays.
The logistics behind the secrecy were indeed ridiculous, like there's clearly a team of mercenaries to murder the sentries when they rotate out, but then who enforces those mercenaries' secrecy? And yes, to say nothing of the platoons of delivery drivers. I think they spent roughly 200 pounds of ammunition during that first attack.
Fwiw I thought it was a missed opportunity to not have JD's body dropped in the gorge and Levi and Drasa then encounter a mutated version of him to reveal the source of the hollow men, but admittedly the horse mounted cavalry was pretty cool.
posted by subocoyne at 9:54 AM on February 15 [5 favorites]
The logistics behind the secrecy were indeed ridiculous, like there's clearly a team of mercenaries to murder the sentries when they rotate out, but then who enforces those mercenaries' secrecy? And yes, to say nothing of the platoons of delivery drivers. I think they spent roughly 200 pounds of ammunition during that first attack.
Fwiw I thought it was a missed opportunity to not have JD's body dropped in the gorge and Levi and Drasa then encounter a mutated version of him to reveal the source of the hollow men, but admittedly the horse mounted cavalry was pretty cool.
posted by subocoyne at 9:54 AM on February 15 [5 favorites]
Dumb Fun with Miles Teller and Anya Taylor Joy is either an alternative title or the podcast this movie should spawn.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 4:15 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]
posted by Ignorantsavage at 4:15 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]
I had an inkling Sigourney Weaver was up to no good in this!
posted by uphc at 5:06 PM on February 15 [3 favorites]
posted by uphc at 5:06 PM on February 15 [3 favorites]
Miles has been working on his abs.
Those buildings behind Sigourney Weaver’s office were hella cool.
The tree root mouth thing had me increasingly panic shouting no no no no as it triggered some sort of visceral fear. Cool design.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 7:32 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]
Those buildings behind Sigourney Weaver’s office were hella cool.
The tree root mouth thing had me increasingly panic shouting no no no no as it triggered some sort of visceral fear. Cool design.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 7:32 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]
I’ve only seen the first half or so, but I did have to give the film a slow clap for showing Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy playing makeshift drumkits and playing chess in quick succession.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 11:15 PM on February 15 [8 favorites]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 11:15 PM on February 15 [8 favorites]
Wow I started this last night and quit, it seemed so bad to me that I had secondhand embarrassment for Anya Taylor-Joy.
I understood the existence of his whiteboard, but her giant blank spiralbound paper that never seemed to run out?
His alcohol, at least they had a throwaway line about maintaining the recipe.
This thread has somewhat convinced me to finish it? This is one of those times I'd love to be like my 11 year old, watch the 15 min. YT "recap" and skip the long version.
posted by fennario at 5:15 PM on February 16
I understood the existence of his whiteboard, but her giant blank spiralbound paper that never seemed to run out?
His alcohol, at least they had a throwaway line about maintaining the recipe.
This thread has somewhat convinced me to finish it? This is one of those times I'd love to be like my 11 year old, watch the 15 min. YT "recap" and skip the long version.
posted by fennario at 5:15 PM on February 16
I did have to give the film a slow clap for showing Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy playing makeshift drumkits and playing chess in quick succession.
I cheered at that. Fun!
The logistics behind the secrecy were indeed ridiculous, like there's clearly a team of mercenaries to murder the sentries when they rotate out, but then who enforces those mercenaries' secrecy?
During the slower moments, I started thinking about the degrees of people they'd need to eliminate to erase all knowledge. Reeeeeally had some time to dig in on that thought If You Give A Mouse A Cookie style... Like, the guy who killed JD, was he taken out by the helicopter pilot? Was the helicopter pilot poisoned on his way home? Was the poisoner stabbed with a ricin dart? Did the scientist who made the ricin dart perish in a sudden, horrific hot air balloon accident?
Silly things:
- Manic Pixie Dream Sniper
- Resupply logistics, what?
- Feeling the repeated and constant need to explain to Miles that if he connected an extra rope to the pulley from either side, they could reel supplies and themselves back and forth, wheeee
- Wouldn't the automatic guns have sliced them into Swiss cheese when they arrived at the top of the gorge?
- Still not sure how modern computer equipment was set up in the underground locker?
But overall, I really enjoyed it! The premise is fun, the actors were game, the creatures down in the gorge were terrific, the spider jumpscare totally got me, and I liked the creepy stillness of the bottom of the gorge.
And I'd been sort of lamenting the natural death of the romcom format and this seems like the kind of thing that might rightfully take its place. The visual of the two towers with the gorge in between = a nice metaphor for two isolated people who had to cover a great distance, emotionally, and face Scary Truths together to arrive at a place of trust, happiness, and commitment. And the last shot of them is on a sunny cliffside paradise, and they've faced those fears, and they're on the same side of the cliff together. Aw.
posted by mochapickle at 6:03 PM on February 16 [3 favorites]
I cheered at that. Fun!
The logistics behind the secrecy were indeed ridiculous, like there's clearly a team of mercenaries to murder the sentries when they rotate out, but then who enforces those mercenaries' secrecy?
During the slower moments, I started thinking about the degrees of people they'd need to eliminate to erase all knowledge. Reeeeeally had some time to dig in on that thought If You Give A Mouse A Cookie style... Like, the guy who killed JD, was he taken out by the helicopter pilot? Was the helicopter pilot poisoned on his way home? Was the poisoner stabbed with a ricin dart? Did the scientist who made the ricin dart perish in a sudden, horrific hot air balloon accident?
Silly things:
- Manic Pixie Dream Sniper
- Resupply logistics, what?
- Feeling the repeated and constant need to explain to Miles that if he connected an extra rope to the pulley from either side, they could reel supplies and themselves back and forth, wheeee
- Wouldn't the automatic guns have sliced them into Swiss cheese when they arrived at the top of the gorge?
- Still not sure how modern computer equipment was set up in the underground locker?
But overall, I really enjoyed it! The premise is fun, the actors were game, the creatures down in the gorge were terrific, the spider jumpscare totally got me, and I liked the creepy stillness of the bottom of the gorge.
And I'd been sort of lamenting the natural death of the romcom format and this seems like the kind of thing that might rightfully take its place. The visual of the two towers with the gorge in between = a nice metaphor for two isolated people who had to cover a great distance, emotionally, and face Scary Truths together to arrive at a place of trust, happiness, and commitment. And the last shot of them is on a sunny cliffside paradise, and they've faced those fears, and they're on the same side of the cliff together. Aw.
posted by mochapickle at 6:03 PM on February 16 [3 favorites]
Miles and Anya weren't so hot on the chess and drums - YTshort
I got increasingly annoyed with the musical score and needed to pause and find out who was so poorly imitating my beloved Trent & Atticus. Turns out it's by Trent & Atticus. I am suitably ashamed.
posted by Molesome at 3:47 AM on February 17 [2 favorites]
I got increasingly annoyed with the musical score and needed to pause and find out who was so poorly imitating my beloved Trent & Atticus. Turns out it's by Trent & Atticus. I am suitably ashamed.
posted by Molesome at 3:47 AM on February 17 [2 favorites]
I both loved and hated the visuals of the Gorge floor. The missiles billowing smoke looked cool, but then I’d think “still billowing new smoke after 80+ years?”
When the cavalry rider captured Taylor-Joy, I thought for sure they were working towards a “the zombies are actually sentient” twist
posted by funkaspuck at 4:05 AM on February 17 [2 favorites]
When the cavalry rider captured Taylor-Joy, I thought for sure they were working towards a “the zombies are actually sentient” twist
posted by funkaspuck at 4:05 AM on February 17 [2 favorites]
got increasingly annoyed with the musical score and needed to pause and find out who was so poorly imitating my beloved Trent & Atticus. Turns out it's by Trent & Atticus. I am suitably ashamed.
When I mentioned this fact to Shepherd, he chuckled and said, "At this point, you could get them to score a Taco Bell commercial."
posted by Kitteh at 6:29 AM on February 17
When I mentioned this fact to Shepherd, he chuckled and said, "At this point, you could get them to score a Taco Bell commercial."
posted by Kitteh at 6:29 AM on February 17
Wait, then what's the horror element? The scary mutant creatures?
posted by wenestvedt at 10:47 AM on February 17
posted by wenestvedt at 10:47 AM on February 17
+1 fave for meet-shoot.
This was fun, but I felt like it was a lot more interesting *before* they fell into the gorge, with the mystery slowly unfolding in a what-the-fuck-is-happening way, than after. As soon as they hit the bottom of the gorge it turns into a rail shooter.
Agree too that it doesn't really hold up to much actual thought. Where do supplies -- food, ammo, toilet paper for heaven's sake -- come from? Why just one watcher per side for something which clearly seems to be a 24-hour job? Why are we watching the middle of the gorge and not the ends? Why the decades-year game of telephone?
I understood the existence of his whiteboard, but her giant blank spiralbound paper that never seemed to run out?
I read his whiteboard vs. her flipchart paper as a bit of a "the Russians used a pencil" nod.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 5:13 PM on February 18 [3 favorites]
This was fun, but I felt like it was a lot more interesting *before* they fell into the gorge, with the mystery slowly unfolding in a what-the-fuck-is-happening way, than after. As soon as they hit the bottom of the gorge it turns into a rail shooter.
Agree too that it doesn't really hold up to much actual thought. Where do supplies -- food, ammo, toilet paper for heaven's sake -- come from? Why just one watcher per side for something which clearly seems to be a 24-hour job? Why are we watching the middle of the gorge and not the ends? Why the decades-year game of telephone?
I understood the existence of his whiteboard, but her giant blank spiralbound paper that never seemed to run out?
I read his whiteboard vs. her flipchart paper as a bit of a "the Russians used a pencil" nod.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 5:13 PM on February 18 [3 favorites]
Watched this last night. Really disliked it. Stupid, but not fun-stupid. The male lead had zero charisma. Taylor-Joy wasted her time, hope it was a fat paycheck. Some interesting monster designs, but it just felt like a video game. CG felt weightless and overwhelming at the same time. None of the stakes ever felt real or scary or even dangerous. I often love dumb movies like this but I take an exception with The Gorge.
posted by SoberHighland at 6:00 AM on February 19
posted by SoberHighland at 6:00 AM on February 19
I'm also in the stupid-but-not-fun-stupid camp. The plot was more holes than substance and chemistry worse than a 7th grade science lab.
I guess sketching and/or solo pictionary is a popular pastime with watchers (only need 2, right!?) what with all the pads and markers sitting around.
Also disappointed they didn't come across any mutant women and children huddled down there to give the "bad guys" more humanity.
Finally, nobody ever, ever gets ziplines right in movies. That thing would be sagging 50 feet in the middle unless it was cranked tight enough to cut steel.
posted by gottabefunky at 3:30 PM on February 19 [3 favorites]
I guess sketching and/or solo pictionary is a popular pastime with watchers (only need 2, right!?) what with all the pads and markers sitting around.
Also disappointed they didn't come across any mutant women and children huddled down there to give the "bad guys" more humanity.
Finally, nobody ever, ever gets ziplines right in movies. That thing would be sagging 50 feet in the middle unless it was cranked tight enough to cut steel.
posted by gottabefunky at 3:30 PM on February 19 [3 favorites]
It was a bit saggy though; enough that he had to sweat hard to pull himself up to her side and thus the post-shower butt-shot.
In retrospect, convenient that the gorge was wider than it was deep to enable the "winch the jeep up the dangling line" escape. But really in such things the geography is whatever the plot requires it to be.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:58 PM on February 19
In retrospect, convenient that the gorge was wider than it was deep to enable the "winch the jeep up the dangling line" escape. But really in such things the geography is whatever the plot requires it to be.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:58 PM on February 19
I didn't come into it with high hopes after reading some reviews, but it really was quite a bit of turn-off-the-critical-brain fun. Miles and Anya were very likeable, even if the story had plot holes wide enough to ride demon cavalry through.
posted by lhauser at 11:33 AM on February 23
posted by lhauser at 11:33 AM on February 23
The romance is so straightforward, I was expecting there to be more turns to it. But it proceeds to "I would die 4 u" in a quick and orderly fashion. Also a surprisingly small amount of sniping!
Some nice creature designs I guess. The highs just aren't high enough though.
posted by fleacircus at 1:44 AM on February 25 [1 favorite]
Some nice creature designs I guess. The highs just aren't high enough though.
posted by fleacircus at 1:44 AM on February 25 [1 favorite]
We thoroughly enjoyed this. It was exactly as dumb and fun as we had hoped. And the chess/drumming thing was adorable.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:27 PM on February 26
posted by hydropsyche at 5:27 PM on February 26
This movie is fantastic.
Do you love the vibe of THIS IS NOT A PLACE OF HONOR? This movie is for you.
Do you love the vibe of Silent Hill because holy shit is that here.
10/10 drunk watch
posted by Slackermagee at 7:24 PM on March 7
Do you love the vibe of THIS IS NOT A PLACE OF HONOR? This movie is for you.
Do you love the vibe of Silent Hill because holy shit is that here.
10/10 drunk watch
posted by Slackermagee at 7:24 PM on March 7
The entire movie seems to be setting up a Jimi Hendrix song outro.
posted by Slackermagee at 7:26 PM on March 7
posted by Slackermagee at 7:26 PM on March 7
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posted by kokaku at 10:35 AM on February 14