4 votes

Why Thor (2011) is still the best Thor movie

9 comments

  1. [8]
    cloud_loud
    Link
    I did a re-watch of Phase 1 films and it was kind of incredible how good those movies are. I think it might actually be my favorite phase. The movies look so good, especially compared to the...

    I did a re-watch of Phase 1 films and it was kind of incredible how good those movies are. I think it might actually be my favorite phase. The movies look so good, especially compared to the recent entires in the MCU. They look... cinematic. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Thor were all shot on 35mm and man what a difference. Even Captain America which was shot on digital has a distinct look and style to it. They all look so textured. Makes me miss the excitement of that first phase before hegemony took over.

    4 votes
    1. [7]
      Whom
      Link Parent
      That's a really interesting take, especially because the consensus as they progressed seemed to be that they all looked incredibly flat and dull. Having watched through them recently, I found them...

      That's a really interesting take, especially because the consensus as they progressed seemed to be that they all looked incredibly flat and dull. Having watched through them recently, I found them all to have awfully bland color palettes that matched what was going on in video games at the time, with Iron Man being the worst offender.

      Personally, I found that apart from some earlier departures like season 1 of Daredevil, they didn't really start to fix this until partway through phase 3, where we started getting more colorful movies that really felt like they embraced being comic book adaptations.

      4 votes
      1. [2]
        cloud_loud
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        Even Patrick H Willems who made the “Why do Marvel movies look kind of ugly?” video all the way back in 2016 said that the first two Iron Man movies and Thor looked the best, and cited the use of...

        That's a really interesting take, especially because the consensus as they progressed seemed to be that they all looked incredibly flat and dull.

        Even Patrick H Willems who made the “Why do Marvel movies look kind of ugly?” video all the way back in 2016 said that the first two Iron Man movies and Thor looked the best, and cited the use of film as a reason why.

        I don’t play video games so I can’t comment on that, but they look like movies to me. Even if the color palettes are limited (often to match or compliment the costumes of the main character) they aren’t neutralized like they are in the Russo directed films.

        Recent exceptions to this I would say are Guardians vol 2 and uh... I guess Multiverse of Madness.

        4 votes
        1. babypuncher
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Digital photography has become a scapegoat for bland cinematography, just like CGI has for many other aspects of filmmaking. There are plenty of great looking movies shot on digital. It is also...

          the first two Iron Man movies and Thor looked the best, and cited the use of film as a reason why.

          Digital photography has become a scapegoat for bland cinematography, just like CGI has for many other aspects of filmmaking. There are plenty of great looking movies shot on digital. It is also not particularly hard to make a digital movie look like it was shot on 35mm if that is what the filmmakers want. So when I hear someone say something looks bad "because it was shot digitally", I struggle to take them seriously.

          3 votes
      2. [4]
        deknalis
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        The phase 3 movies are "colorful" in that they have more zany designs and locations, but they're actually much more lacking in actual color and contrast a lot of the time. With the exception of...

        The phase 3 movies are "colorful" in that they have more zany designs and locations, but they're actually much more lacking in actual color and contrast a lot of the time. With the exception of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, MCU movies post-Avengers 1 or so seem to perpetually take place during drab overcast days and look like the colorists just forgot to finish grading them. They're all washed out and never have proper black levels like it's just raw footage.
        Look at Asgard in Thor 1 compared to Ragnarok.

        3 votes
        1. [3]
          babypuncher
          Link Parent
          FYI, your image links are broken

          FYI, your image links are broken

          1 vote
          1. [2]
            deknalis
            Link Parent
            That's odd, they were still displaying for me. Replaced anyway.

            That's odd, they were still displaying for me. Replaced anyway.

            1 vote
            1. babypuncher
              Link Parent
              Your browser probably had them cached. I was getting a placeholder image that looked like the server was preventing the image from being embedded/linked to from elsewhere.

              Your browser probably had them cached. I was getting a placeholder image that looked like the server was preventing the image from being embedded/linked to from elsewhere.

              3 votes
  2. NoblePath
    Link
    Maybe. But ragnarok was hilarious.

    Maybe. But ragnarok was hilarious.

    4 votes