James Jude Courtney is pretty overrated as Michael.

shapeinillinois · October 26, 2021, 6:58pm

John Carpenter actually did some uncredited directing on Halloween II. I agree that both Halloween and Halloween II look and feel like the same movie.

In fact, the more I think about Halloween II, the more I realise how great of a sequel it was. It was only 3 years apart so nothing had changed all that much. It was filmed in the same location. Used the same cameras. Had the same actors that all looked the same age from the first film, including a very much real and alive Donal Pleasance. We had the actual hero mask from the first film. Just on all those merits alone that’s enough for us fanboys and gals to wet the bed. On top of that, we had the great direction from Rick Rosenthal that captured the atmosphere from the first film perfectly and makes it incredibly hard to tell the difference between the first and second film. They genuinely feel like the same exact movie. It was written by the man himself who created the whole thing, Mr John Carpenter. Halloween II has many great iconic moments like Myers lifting the nurse up by the scalpel stabbed in her back and the blood tears scene. How can you get any better then that? Although the film really dragged out and honestly can get a little boring, I feel like all the above merits completely outweigh those negatives and make it very easy to look past.

Halloween 2018 was promised to be ‘the true sequel’ to Halloween 1978. Considering the fact it’s 40 years later, we no longer have Donald Pleasance or the original mask, we no longer are shooting in the same location, cameras have advanced so nothing about the film will look authentic to the first, legacy characters are all old now, you would think they would have needed to get everything they could have gotten right spot on in order to even attempt it being a ‘true sequel’. The fact that the atmosphere was non existent, there was hardly any suspense and any suspense that was there was killed with comedy, the overload of comedy itself is a bummer. There are really no iconic moments in 2018 either. All those ‘special moments’ are just replicating what the first film did as fan service. Just a tip of the hat. That’s pretty much what these films are. They’re fan service films. I don’t know how they could possibly say it’s the ‘true sequel’ when they’re competing with something as successful as Halloween II 1981.

You pretty much summed it up perfectly. Halloween 2018 has no identity of it’s own. Like you said it has no iconic moments of it’s own, it’s basically just a greatest hits compilation.

By the way in my honest opinion, digital will never look as beautiful as film. There’s just something about the way film captures the look of light, colors, and shadows. Whereas with digital it just looks flat, dull, and artificial. Dean Cundey knew how to film a movie.

Absolutely 100% agree with everything you just said.

theSHAPEofaBAT · October 26, 2021, 9:28pm

I agree with this SO hard! However to the OP to each their own!

theSHAPEofaBAT · October 26, 2021, 9:28pm

I agree with this SO hard! However to the OP to each their own!

MATBAN96 · October 26, 2021, 9:41pm

It’s cool dude, we’re all fans of the same franchise at the end of the day.

Riddict · October 27, 2021, 1:05am

Cleaned this thread up. Stay on topic.

theSHAPEofaBAT · October 27, 2021, 3:35am

Exactly! There’s plenty for everyone to love!!

shapeinillinois · October 27, 2021, 9:26am

Thank you!

nitroangus23 · October 27, 2021, 3:30pm

JJC is the best Myers we’ve had since '81 easily. Highlight for me in these films.

MATBAN96 · October 27, 2021, 6:17pm

In fact, the more I think about Halloween II, the more I realise how great of a sequel it was. It was only 3 years apart so nothing had changed all that much. It was filmed in the same location. Used the same cameras. Had the same actors that all looked the same age from the first film, including a very much real and alive Donal Pleasance. We had the actual hero mask from the first film. Just on all those merits alone that’s enough for us fanboys and gals to wet the bed. On top of that, we had the great direction from Rick Rosenthal that captured the atmosphere from the first film perfectly and makes it incredibly hard to tell the difference between the first and second film. They genuinely feel like the same exact movie. It was written by the man himself who created the whole thing, Mr John Carpenter. Halloween II has many great iconic moments like Myers lifting the nurse up by the scalpel stabbed in her back and the blood tears scene. How can you get any better then that? Although the film really dragged out and honestly can get a little boring, I feel like all the above merits completely outweigh those negatives and make it very easy to look past.

Halloween 2018 was promised to be ‘the true sequel’ to Halloween 1978. Considering the fact it’s 40 years later, we no longer have Donald Pleasance or the original mask, we no longer are shooting in the same location, cameras have advanced so nothing about the film will look authentic to the first, legacy characters are all old now, you would think they would have needed to get everything they could have gotten right spot on in order to even attempt it being a ‘true sequel’. The fact that the atmosphere was non existent, there was hardly any suspense and any suspense that was there was killed with comedy, the overload of comedy itself is a bummer. There are really no iconic moments in 2018 either. All those ‘special moments’ are just replicating what the first film did as fan service. Just a tip of the hat. That’s pretty much what these films are. They’re fan service films. I don’t know how they could possibly say it’s the ‘true sequel’ when they’re competing with something as successful as Halloween II 1981.

You pretty much summed it up perfectly. Halloween 2018 has no identity of it’s own. Like you said it has no iconic moments of it’s own, it’s basically just a greatest hits compilation.

By the way in my honest opinion, digital will never look as beautiful as film. There’s just something about the way film captures the look of light, colors, and shadows. Whereas with digital it just looks flat, dull, and artificial. Dean Cundey knew how to film a movie.

Absolutely 100% agree with everything you just said.

Speaking of Dean Cundey’s cinematography, I’m really looking forward to the 4k releases. Halloween II was so beautifully shot, it’d be cool to see what it looks like in 4k.

Regarding JJC’s Michael. Imo his physique in Kills looks more similar to Don Shanks’s physique. JJC doesn’t really look or act like the classic Michael imo. The OG Michael is meant to be a little slim, JJC looks a little too bulky imo.

ColdBlooded_Killer · October 27, 2021, 6:24pm

I think he is awesome, but seems much more like DW than Nick. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but it does stand out.

Shapeandforms · October 27, 2021, 7:22pm

Yeah kinda think he’s very good at portraying Michael. His size and build is perfect for the role. 6-3 and moderate build is enough to be intimidating and very frightening. Castle will always be Myers absolutely but JJC is degree worthy.

Riddict · October 27, 2021, 7:55pm

You pretty much summed it up perfectly. Halloween 2018 has no identity of it’s own. Like you said it has no iconic moments of it’s own, it’s basically just a greatest hits compilation.

By the way in my honest opinion, digital will never look as beautiful as film. There’s just something about the way film captures the look of light, colors, and shadows. Whereas with digital it just looks flat, dull, and artificial. Dean Cundey knew how to film a movie.

Absolutely 100% agree with everything you just said.

Speaking of Dean Cundey’s cinematography, I’m really looking forward to the 4k releases. Halloween II was so beautifully shot, it’d be cool to see what it looks like in 4k.

Regarding JJC’s Michael. Imo his physique in Kills looks more similar to Don Shanks’s physique. JJC doesn’t really look or act like the classic Michael imo. The OG Michael is meant to be a little slim, JJC looks a little too bulky imo.

The 4K’s are already out and they look great.

As for Myers’ size, what you’re saying is that he couldn’t of possibly put on a little weight or muscle in 40 years of sitting in Smith’s Grove?

You could probably just avoid these new movies and watch the originals and keep it at that. They still exist, they didn’t disappear because new movies were made. You obviously were never going to be happy with these new movies so why bother? Who cares?

The only reason I say that is that you had to of known the same writers and director were doing Kills, so you should of known exactly what you would be getting if you saw H18. It wasn’t all of a sudden going to be miraculously amazing. The shining spot for me is actually James Jude Courtney. In my opinion the best to put the mask on since Castle and Warlock. I will take him over any other version outside of Castle and Warlock. I personally think he has a good balance of both Castle and Warlock in his style.

With that said, nothing beats the original EVER, but I personally just like to have fun with the new entries. I certainly am not looking for something to top the original. If I want the original, I will just pop in this new beautiful 4K version I just added to the collection.

But hey, that’s just me. I don’t usually torture myself with things I don’t like. I just move on.

MATBAN96 · October 27, 2021, 8:17pm

Absolutely 100% agree with everything you just said.

Speaking of Dean Cundey’s cinematography, I’m really looking forward to the 4k releases. Halloween II was so beautifully shot, it’d be cool to see what it looks like in 4k.

Regarding JJC’s Michael. Imo his physique in Kills looks more similar to Don Shanks’s physique. JJC doesn’t really look or act like the classic Michael imo. The OG Michael is meant to be a little slim, JJC looks a little too bulky imo.

The 4K’s are already out and they look great.

As for Myers’ size, what you’re saying is that he couldn’t of possibly put on a little weight or muscle in 40 years of sitting in Smith’s Grove?

Here’s a novel concept, you could probably just avoid these new movies and watch the originals and keep it at that. They still exist, they didn’t disappear because new movies were made. You obviously were never going to be happy with these new movies so why bother? Who cares?

The only reason I say this is that you had to of known the same writers and director were doing Kills, so you should of known exactly what you would be getting if you saw H18. It wasn’t all of a sudden going to miraculously amazing.

With that said, nothing beats the original EVER, but I personally just like to have fun with the new entries. I certainly am not looking for something to top the original. If I want the original, I will just pop in this new beautiful 4K version I just added to the collection.

But hey, that’s just me. I don’t usually torture myself with things I don’t like. I just move on.

Don’t worry I’m not torturing myself over it. I actually have fun discussing, and critiquing stuff about the franchise. Even if I’m talking about an entry I’m not a big fan of, I’m still talking about a franchise I love, so it’s still fun either way.

By the way, thank you for cleaning up the thread yesterday, I really appreciate it.

FineArts · October 28, 2021, 1:02am

James Jude Courtney is on par with Nick Castle. No question IMO

ClosedCasket · October 28, 2021, 1:31am

shapeinillinois:

James Jude Courtney is pretty overrated as Michael. Michael is meant to be creepy, and stealthy in how he acts. In 2018 he was ok, and had some moments that seemed Nick Castle like. However in Halloween Kills He acted more like Jason.

James Jude Courtney is pretty overrated as Michael. Michael is meant to be creepy, and stealthy in how he acts. He acted more like Jason in Halloween Kills.

I think that’s more to do with the writing than anything else. I think JJC is a good Myers! I think he really nails it and I can actually believe he’s the same Myers from 78 (if you look past the height difference).

The writing in Halloween 2018 and Kills are terrible in terms of Halloween 1978. They stated they were ‘going back to the roots of the first film’ when Halloween 2018 was announced. I’m not sure what they meant by that, but I was sure thinking we was going to get the 78 shape who stalks and plays hide and seek type of games with the victims which drag out until he gets them closer and closer and then pounces. We didn’t get that. In fact, I’m not sure what we got at all that ‘went back to the roots’ a part from bringing back legacy characters. It was only until Kills that they even brought back the blue lighting.

IMO, they made a big mistake getting David Gordon Green and Danny Mcbride to write and direct the films. They’re good films in terms of a comparison against (5,6,H20 & Resurrection). But honestly DGG and DM seem more like casual Halloween fans. I think if it was someone that really knew what made Halloween 1978 the greatest of all time, we would have gotten everything the fans have been craving since that first film. Actually, I think Halloween 2 1981 is the best sequel ever. It’s a very slow and boring movie admittedly, but honestly if you never told me it wasn’t John Carpenter directing, I would have sworn it was. I honestly can’t tell the two films apart. Hats off to Rick Rosenthal for making Halloween 2 a really believable film that it literally was straight after the first. I would suggest Rick Rosenthal would have been a good choice, but after Halloween Resurrection, I would say he’s lost his touch with that…

Perhaps we should just be grateful for Halloween 1978 and 1981 and stop hoping to get better than that. This was our last chance to do anything, all the legacy characters are too old including Michael and I think 2018 and Kills really missed the last opportunity to really do it right again.

Funny you mention about the JC thing with Halloween 2 as alot of what you see in the final cut of Halloween 2 was shot by John Carpenter in terms of blood and Kills etc, so although alot of it was Rick, some of it was Carpenter too so in a way you are still watching some of that classic Carpenter action Halloween 1978 and Halloween 2 1981 are my go to films for Myers. The story ends after that with Halloween 3 being its own thing and effectively ending the Halloween trilogy. Everything else is a “What if” to me.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

shapeinillinois · October 28, 2021, 2:37am

shapeinillinois:

James Jude Courtney is pretty overrated as Michael. Michael is meant to be creepy, and stealthy in how he acts. In 2018 he was ok, and had some moments that seemed Nick Castle like. However in Halloween Kills He acted more like Jason.

James Jude Courtney is pretty overrated as Michael. Michael is meant to be creepy, and stealthy in how he acts. He acted more like Jason in Halloween Kills.

I think that’s more to do with the writing than anything else. I think JJC is a good Myers! I think he really nails it and I can actually believe he’s the same Myers from 78 (if you look past the height difference).

The writing in Halloween 2018 and Kills are terrible in terms of Halloween 1978. They stated they were ‘going back to the roots of the first film’ when Halloween 2018 was announced. I’m not sure what they meant by that, but I was sure thinking we was going to get the 78 shape who stalks and plays hide and seek type of games with the victims which drag out until he gets them closer and closer and then pounces. We didn’t get that. In fact, I’m not sure what we got at all that ‘went back to the roots’ a part from bringing back legacy characters. It was only until Kills that they even brought back the blue lighting.

IMO, they made a big mistake getting David Gordon Green and Danny Mcbride to write and direct the films. They’re good films in terms of a comparison against (5,6,H20 & Resurrection). But honestly DGG and DM seem more like casual Halloween fans. I think if it was someone that really knew what made Halloween 1978 the greatest of all time, we would have gotten everything the fans have been craving since that first film. Actually, I think Halloween 2 1981 is the best sequel ever. It’s a very slow and boring movie admittedly, but honestly if you never told me it wasn’t John Carpenter directing, I would have sworn it was. I honestly can’t tell the two films apart. Hats off to Rick Rosenthal for making Halloween 2 a really believable film that it literally was straight after the first. I would suggest Rick Rosenthal would have been a good choice, but after Halloween Resurrection, I would say he’s lost his touch with that…

Perhaps we should just be grateful for Halloween 1978 and 1981 and stop hoping to get better than that. This was our last chance to do anything, all the legacy characters are too old including Michael and I think 2018 and Kills really missed the last opportunity to really do it right again.

Funny you mention about the JC thing with Halloween 2 as alot of what you see in the final cut of Halloween 2 was shot by John Carpenter in terms of blood and Kills etc, so although alot of it was Rick, some of it was Carpenter too so in a way you are still watching some of that classic Carpenter action Halloween 1978 and Halloween 2 1981 are my go to films for Myers. The story ends after that with Halloween 3 being its own thing and effectively ending the Halloween trilogy. Everything else is a “What if” to me.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

I agree!

Constol78 · October 28, 2021, 2:42am

I think JJC is great as Myers. He makes the part his own while channeling what Castle did in the original film. I can’t blame him for the direction the filmmakers choose to go with it, thats out of his control

wtrailer · October 28, 2021, 12:14pm

JJC’s portrayal of Myers is really the only good things about these new movies.

MATBAN96 · October 28, 2021, 11:24pm

Personally I thought Halloween 2018’s soundtrack was really good.

sjm_86 · October 29, 2021, 12:41am

Lawson said it very well and I condensed his quote for the sake of reading. Personally between Carpenter and his son Cody doing the score for 18’ and 21’ and DGG/McBride being fanboys of the franchise much like us, I’m very happy with JJC’s performance and both movies. He had Nick Castle there so when he questioned how Nick would have done it, he asked. DDG said the same about Carpenter with the directing aspect. Dead Meat interviewed DGG where he stated the above. I never expect any incarnation in this franchise to top ‘78. It was an original idea in 78 with a perfect storm of everyone coming into their own at once (Director, Lead Actress, Production staff, etc). JJC had the posture, breathing and movements down. We as a community especially since we are impassioned sometimes nitpick including myself. I think our ideas of the best Myers sometimes derive from our first movie seeing the character hence why some like Shanks, Durand, Mane etc.