The Host [Blu-ray]

Tuesday 9th April 2013The HostFrom the book of the same name by Stephanie Meyer. Time of show, 1305hrs, Cost of Tickets $6:00 each.Cinema AMC Colonial 18825 Lawrenceville-suwanee RdLawrenceville, GA 30043After all the hullaballoo surrounding the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, of course I had a little look at the books at the library. I'm only marginally interested in what has become Young Adult writing, and I've never had any interest in Vampires whatsoever. They weren't my thing at all.I wasn't much interested when the book, "The Host," came along, but the original cover was so creative and was such a beautiful haunting image, well, I bought the book.So sue me. I had no idea it would become my favourite book ever. Even eclipsing the riotous, "Fat Ollie's Book," by Ed McBain.They HAD to make a film out of it. For some time, despite the clamour of the fans, not much happened until Saoirse Ronan signed on in about 2010. It meandered about in development hell until we were finally informed it was coming out in 2013.It is fair to say that the critical acclaim has been missing. At Rotten Tomatoes the procrits give it 11%, while the audience gives it closer to 60%. Both are ridiculous low numbers, and would be for films which are utter crap. There's something else going on here, as if someone doesn't like Meyer's view of the world, or what, I don't know. The critics are unreasonably harsh, when they were gaga over the complete tripe that was, "The Avengers."Do we not seek drama with tragedy and a happy ending any more? Do we just want explosions and gals dressed in leather? Big, hairy men dressed in spanx?Maybe that is what we want. Shoot, weez in trubble.The Host's essence is love, or perhaps the power of love. I have opined many times that it has parallels to the story of Jesus of Nazareth. That view has been universally mocked. Which makes me think I am an alien or as mad as a box of frogs. The similarities in the stories, the sacrifice, the re-incarnation, the trans-substantiation of a spirit/soul into another body?Seems clear to me. Hah, wouldn't be the first time I've disagreed with the entire world.The action takes place in some Western Desert location, later revealed to be New Mexico. I liked the peculiar white look of the scene making and the simple construction of the shops and their contents. Susan, my spouse stated that perhaps there could have been more introductory exposition as to why the Aliens/Souls came to Earth and took it over. On that point, there wasn't much exposition in the book, so if Director Niccol added it, I would have found it outside his aegis. Which is to tell the story in the book, even if he must truncate that, as film must.Wanda's wander into the desert is much shaved from the book, which is a good thing. The spectacular car crash was a bit daft. Safe Volvo's might be, but surviving a roll-over at that speed would be beyond any human I know of. Dis is da movies, don't try that at home.William Hurt out-Jebbed Uncle Jeb. He was perfect in a role which could have been cloying, but it was deftly done. Excellent work by a fine actor. Susan thought Hurt was Jeff Daniels. (She identifies anything in a beard and above 40 as Jeff Daniels.)The young men, were handsome young men. Very tall logs of wood. Not required to do much acting, as is the modern way, and they had spent much time in the gym getting ready for their roles.Diane Kruger was excellent as The Seeker. Not quite the creature of the book, but compelling and vulnerable at the same time. Long and lean, the camera enjoyed looking at her and her impossibly long, graceful legs.To be fair, so did I:)There's been a lot of rabbiting about how the double indentity of Wanda/Melanie was to be handled. Some people have been critical, but here's the thing, if you can't tone down your skepticism for a movie about Aliens coming and taking us over, when is it that you do? You must suspend disbelief, or no movies makes sense at all. Movies are about magic, and this was magic.I found the voices off, with a different tone and accent to delineate the two characters convincing. Saoirse Ronan's facial expressions during this difficult technique just right. It was a fascinating challenge for the film maker and the actor, and they pulled it off. I have always said that I would have chosen Summer Glau for this role. Glau is perhaps too subtle, very technical and has an ethereal nature that would have given the role a different feel, for me.Ronan was chosen and that's it, she did a great job. Whaddoino? I'm no director.There is a scene in the book, in, "The Docs," room. Wanda stumbles on humans attempting to extract souls from taken over human bodies. This process kills both parties. It is a pivotal and tragic scene. The filming and drama of this scene and those that follow, with the representations of the souls/aliens was very convincingly done and beautiful, if tragic. It reflects the question Capt Adama asks at the beginning of Battlestar Galactica. "What we did, what we do, there has to be a purpose, what is it and is it worth it?"At the end of the movie, I asked a few people close by what they thought of it. Most gave it 8/10. Maybe they were reacting to the rather strange man with the odd accent who isn't from rahnd heah. I choose to hope they were being honest.I said right from the start that I would be happy if Niccol and his band of players took the project seriously and addressed its themes with care. They did that, in spades. In my opinion, it made a super movie. The haunting themes of vulnerability, love and the power of that love to supersede everything came through loud and clear.I loved it. Ignore the critics and go and see it. 9/10brendan

when I first read the book, I wondered what it would look like to be a movie. I liked both, nay, loved both. the book felt different for me, but I cannot wait for Stephanie to finish and get the green light on the next two. Like I said, yehaw! Bring it on!

not all of them are positive in this movie but some of them are and it's refreshing to see a movie that has a message of unity and working together. great movie

I bought this movie for my girlfriend because she is a book nerd and has to read the book before she sees the movie so it makes sense. She doesn't always say the book was better. Sometimes she likes the movie better. In this case, she thought they complemented each other. The movie follows the book closely. It has to condense some for time allowed, that why so many movies are cut up in two parts these days. The YA genre is full of paranormal romance. This story was a refreshing spin off the usual formula of teen angst with supernatural/futuristic elements. I have to say, that I watched it too and while I wasn't as engrossed in it as my girlfriend was, it was easy to follow, well-written, and had a strong leading player. I recommend this movie whether you have read the book or not. Adapted from Stephenie Meyer's novel of the same name, the Host is a sci-fi film with a vague premise that asks viewers to imagine our world after an alien invasion. On a grand scale, this film had the potential to ask "what if?" questions, especially if you have seen any or all versions of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. But once you get past the opening act, it won't be long before you realize that at the core, this film is a silly romance for high school co-eds and sorority sisters. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the plot is set in the future where a vast majority of the human population are hosts to an alien species called "Souls". These are alien entities residing in human bodies but stripping the human hosts of emotions and memories. We don't get to see the initial invasion or the part where I presume NASA decodes an intergalactic message that reads 'we come in peace' just before calling the Whitehouse and stating the cinematically overdone "We have a problem". But in keeping with Meyer's tendency for bloodless melodrama, Niccol skips forward and begins the narrative where Earth is virtually pristine — no wars, no famine, no pollution, no disease, no lies and no corruption. As good as this sounds, a tiny band of human resistance exists somewhere in the Utah dessert with no intention of being 'turned'. The Seeker (Diane Kruger), an authoritative alien in human form knows this. So when Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) is captured, surgically induced with an alien parasite and renamed Wanderer, Seeker expects to learn where the surviving bands of humans are hiding. Yet, somehow, Melanie doesn't let go even as Wanderer tries to take control. Inevitably, Melanie and Wanderer become BFFs (best-friends-forever), before leading Seeker to a near-extinct volcano ingenuously improvised for self-sustenance. This is where Melanie's family resides but also much of the film's melodramatic romance, watered down action and huge deficiencies in logic. Just when you start to question how intelligent or powerful the alien race really is, Meyer's signature love triangle takes center stage; only this time you get two love triangles for the price of one! Although unintentionally humorous, this somehow works in Niccol's favor. There is a lot of contradictory cross-talk between Melanie and Wanderer (who is re-christened Wanda) when it comes to ogling hunks at the volcano but this doesn't help the narrative from steadily descending into a lumbering snooze fest. There is a little bit of action involving all manner of chrome gilded vehicles and I suspect this is how Niccol preferred to depict the luminous nature of this particular alien race, but that's about it. If sci-fi action is what you dig, you are best suited for 2013's share of alien invasion movies like Oblivion or Pacific Rim. On the upside, The Host is marginally better than the brazen Twilight franchise and thanks to Niccol and Ronan, Stephanie Meyer's Melanie has more soul (excuse the pun) when compared to Kristen Stewart's Bella Swan. No doubt there. However, there is a lot lacking given the director's panache in depicting the innate values of a human being's individuality and identity in society (think Gattaca and The Truman Show).

This was a a great movie. Hard to find locally. It arrived very quickly in great condition.

Hat mir sehr gut gefallen, da es einmal eine etwas andere Story war als üblich. Da ich sehr viel Fantasie habe und mir vieles vorstellen kann, kam es mir sehr entgegen.Wer sich mit Seele oder dem Übersinnlichen beschäftigt und auch glaubt, dass es etwas außerhalb der Norm gibt, ist mit diesem Film sehr gut beraten. Darsteller sind auch sehr sympathisch

The case was a little beaten up and it had a sticker on it that clearly showed it was purchased from an old video rental store. Both of those things made me quite nervous, but the disk itself was in great condition and I've already watched it without any issues!!

Me ha gustado!

Muy buenos y de buena calidad.

Film bellissimo per chi ama il genere di fantascienza. Un film che non ti stanca mai, ed ogni volta noti qualche particolare che ti è sfuggito la volta precedente.