"The Road" Movie

[irishfan]

Anybody with kids will definitely be hit by this movie. Honestly, this was one of the most shocking movies to me in quite a while. It really makes you think how things could be and the real world in a national or global disaster.

 

[Sanguine Samurai]

I really liked this movie. It gave me an earie surreal feeling. Human nature at the brink. It made me wish I was more prepared for the worst than I am. I got in an argument with a buddy of mine on the demeanor of the father charactor. He thought the father was mean. I argued that in desperate times like that there is now time to let your guard down. One mistake is all it takes, and the father son duo were lucky the mistakes they had made by the begining of the story did not cost them their lives. Surviving doesn't necessarily mean living comfortably. They couln't afford the luxury of being nice. It would eventually cost them their lives. anyway... I wouldn't mind discussing the movie bookclub style (not something I am typically in to) because it raises a lot of issues I feel are worth the time to discuss. But I woulnd't want to spoil it for anybody. I will buy this movie, but I can see how it wouldn't appeal to everyone.

 

[oldfb]

There were several subject themes that I picked up on.

The son was a good guy. The father lost his ability to trust anyone which ultimately led to them ditching the old man and leaving that preppers shelter.

The dog was what caused them to hear and leave the shelter behind. Had they risked seeking other good people they might have been killed how he feared.
But if they had made the connection their chances of survival would have been greater.

It appeared that viggo had basic preppers knowledge but since he had no msg he died leaving his sons fate to suicide.

The family appeared to draw him in but because they watched (observed) they knew that until the father died there was no way to approach without the father being too distrustful.

Sad that will probably be why many of the "good" guys are picked off one by one because who can you really truly trust in that world.

So many will die alone never knowing a true fellowship.

Even his wife wanted to kill them all just to end the struggle before something horrible could happen to them.

Sad sad crazy people with no faith, mans plan and two bullets.

Sorry for the rambler.

Be safe.

 

[irishfan]

It definitely opens your eyes to how things could be. Unfortunately, they never really show what caused the destruction of the earth or how the son turns out. I know he goes with the family but it still makes you kind of wonder if they were sincere even though they seemed it. Also, the guy who is killed with the flare gun is a wild way to go.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

I saw it for the first time last night. I didn't think Viggo was a bad guy and the son necessarily a "good" guy. He was a guy who had his son's survival during and beyond his own life as the only mission in his mind and was trying to harden his son into someone who could live in a world of cannibals. It's sad, but if the SHTF, the truth is your kids probably won't get to have a childhood aside from short moments of it. No wild animal gets too. I'm betting the other family kept their distance because the father of that family knew exactly what Viggo had in mind and was respecting that.

I can't watch these movies without thinking about what I would do. Some lessons I picked up from the film is:

1. I'm adding a bow and some arrows to my BOV. Probably a take down fiberglass limb one. I don't think it will be my compound. Haven't decided for sure though. There is a bowfishing take down kit that would probably be the best for this (PSE Kingfisher) and still work for land critters.

2. Portable reload kit. Putting yourself in a situation of only 2 bullets left....unacceptable. At the least you should be killing the "bad guys" and stripping the bodies for more arms.

3. Flare guns don't kill....lol...but one may come in handy for the BOV. Not only for signaling but for fire starting, diversion, dispersing a crowd, and a civilian-legal flashbang room clearing type use.

4. A primary rifle is critical. It was mentioned above that making friends with the right people is hard. It's easier when you take out other people chasing them, trying to eat them. That mother/daughter being chased by that mob into the middle of the lake could have been saved by about 10 aimed rifle shots. That could have been 4 more eyes watching out for everyone's safety all hours of day and night.

5. Weapons need to be able to function in dirty, gritty conditions - bone dry with no lube readily available. For a rifle, I have a lever action 45-70 but I'm thinking some sort of military grade rifle but with a little know-how you can make the blackpowder that you can reload a 45-70 with (so I hear). Same with pistols. I used to have a model 1910 revolver in .45 long colt that was carried by a marine into the phillipines and served and survived to shoot just fine 100 years later. It got stolen and I'm always on the lookout for another.

6. Shoes. Never thought of this one. Buying a spare pair of boots for the BOV immediately. I tend to go through some boots faster than others. Now's time for a little research to see who lasts the longest.

7. Hitting the gym - low impact style. It looks like Viggo had a bum knee throughout the movie. If I don't drop at least 50 pounds that's going to be me.

 

[Sanguine Samurai]

Early in the film it was mentioned there was a bright light fallowed by a series of rumbles. Afterword most everything flamable caught fire. Everything left is dusty/ashey. The atmosphere is left hazey.
I have narrowed the catastrophe that left the world desolate down to one of two plausible events:

1.) A large distant astroid impact, or a series of large impacts.
2.) A volcano... i.e. The Big One!

Niether explanation is 100% though. Nor do they explain why nothing seemed to survive other than a few people, a beetle, and one lucky dog. Or if the event was global (I get the impression it was). I don't think it was nuclear due to the lack of the the after effects of radiation, but that could possibly explain the lack of life. On that note, where were all the cockroaches biologists say would inherite the Earth?

 

[bft131]

We watched it at the firehouse the other night....depressing....

 

[rhart]

I thought it was decent

I thought it was decent. It is a bit dark but I think that that would be appropriate.
The book was much better because it went in to lots of details of actually surviving.

 

[acase20]

It was a decent story but i thought it was a little bit boreing

 

[hiram762]

This is a very disturbing movie!! I watched it several months ago & am still bothered by it,even to this day!!

 

[Blackhawk2001]

From what I've read about an asteroid-impact scenario, we could expect a world-wide cooldown, if not another ice-age, and it would happen quickly. It wouldn't necessarily kill all vegetation, but there wouldn't be alot of sunshine for probably a couple years afterwards. Food would get scarce, but not disappear.

Another, unmentioned, scenario could be a massive solar flare large enough to cook the side of the planet facing it when the front reached us, but not of duration long enough to cook the entire planet. The devastation would be complete in the impact area, and the resulting thermal bloom in the atmosphere would result in the same sort of semi-permanent cloud cover for several years until the Earth's biosphere reached equilibrium again.

Life would be tough, but probably not un-survivable.

 

[thompbarn]

I don't see the father as a bad guy. I see the father as someone that became who he needed to be in that time and place while preserving some essential humanity in himself and his son. Yes, he was distrustful, but how could he not be. Yes, he was stingy with the old man, but how could he not be. He sacrificed everything to preserve all that was good to him -- his son. The movie implies that the son and his new family survived and prospered because we can hear laughter and (sounds like) family games while the credits are rolling. In the book, it describes catching fish in the streams, indicating that the earth was coming back. Ultimately, I think the book and movie are about sacrifice and hope.

I've often thought of how one of the hardest things if SHTF will be the drastic reconditioning of my family that would have to occur. What will you do when your child turns her nose up at freeze dried food. I'm pretty sure you aren't going to let her waste it. What will you do when your wife (okay, maybe not your wife) collapses and says she can't go on (sorta like the wife in the Road). We would all have to become harder and stronger. The challenge would be doing that while retaining our humanity.

 

[TriggerWork]

I did not expect the locked basement. Overall, I thought it was a very fair movie.

 

[Bendrx]

Oddly enought I just got this on Netflix. Excellent story. Definately dark and where most end of the world movies focus on the "cool" side of things, this one was more sobering and lacking in heroism. The father was a hero but in a desperate way. Just as the earth was beginning to recover, the son was gainning the humanity that the Man had to shed to survive. Essentially in my eyes both were the same in heart, but still in differant worlds. Great movie, if you haven't seen it, you should.

 

[Bill B]

"The Road"...what can I say that hasn't already been said? Oh yeah, I want my two hours back.
I have not read the book, but the movie was utterly ridiculous. The father/son story wasn't bad, but the lead in was terrible. The movie implies much without saying it. For example, something happens that destroys all plant (and maybe animal) life and creates massive firestorms without killing the people too. What would that be?
There was not enough of a back story to allow me to connect with any of the characters, except the dog. Could I understand the father's psychosis? Yes. Did I feel it? No.
And I hate when directors use cheesy tricks to make up for lack of story. The overuse of the gray and washed-out coloring was bad enough to be distracting to the story.
I was left feeling like I watched 10 minutes of a 3 hour movie. In the end I didn't know enough about any of the characters to care.
I guess you can tell I didn't like it, huh?
By no means am I implying criticism of anyone that does like it.

 

[Kutnupe14]

"The Road"...what can I say that hasn't already been said? Oh yeah, I want my two hours back.
I have not read the book, but the movie was utterly ridiculous. The father/son story wasn't bad, but the lead in was terrible. The movie implies much without saying it. For example, something happens that destroys all plant (and maybe animal) life and creates massive firestorms without killing the people too. What would that be?
There was not enough of a back story to allow me to connect with any of the characters, except the dog. Could I understand the father's psychosis? Yes. Did I feel it? No.
And I hate when directors use cheesy tricks to make up for lack of story. The overuse of the gray and washed-out coloring was bad enough to be distracting to the story.
I was left feeling like I watched 10 minutes of a 3 hour movie. In the end I didn't know enough about any of the characters to care.
I guess you can tell I didn't like it, huh?
By no means am I implying criticism of anyone that does like it.

I like Book of Eli better too....

 

[swatdoc]

It's hard for me to judge the movie in an unbiased way because I read the book first. I'm not a speed reader, but it probably took me 4 or 5 hours to read. The movie's less than 2 hours, so obviously there's going to be some things lost from book to film. The book fleshed out a lot more details of the situation the boy and his father were facing. However, what was left unsaid in both book and movie were the details of how this situation came about. Perhaps that provides us a greater focus on what the story was about--the relationship between a man and his son while providing for his sustainment and ensuring his education into how (and most importantly why) he must survive in an uncertain and bleak reality.

 

[zombiehunter]

ok, all this talk has made me decide to watch it...I'll give it a go tonite!