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S4.E3. Bullet Train: Styled to Perfection or a Messy Train Wreck? w/ The Kilt and the Redneck
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The doors are closing and the luck is running out! 🚅💥 Welcome to Season 4, Episode 3 of The Average. Tonight, we are stepping onto the fastest train in Japan for a high-speed, neon-drenched deep dive into the 2022 action-extravaganza: BULLET TRAIN. Joining us in the cabin tonight is the fantastic Evan from @thekiltandtheredneck! Together, we’re breaking down why this movie—directed by Brad Pitt’s former stunt double, David Leitch—might just be the most underrated action flick of the last five years. From the "Seven Samurai" vibes to the legendary chemistry of Lemon and Tangerine, we’re putting this film through our 9-Category Scorecard. Does the stylized "Volume" cinematography and Guy Ritchie-esque dialogue earn it a spot at the top of the Season 4 Leaderboard? Or does the "luck" run out before the final station? In this episode, we discuss: Stunt Double to Director: The incredible connection between Brad Pitt and David Leitch. The Soundstage Secret: How they filmed the Japanese countryside in the middle of LA. Character Arcs: Why Lemon, Tangerine, and even a bottle of water stole the show. Style vs. Substance: Does the frantic pacing help or hurt the story? THE FINAL VERDICT: We average our scores with the LIVE chat to find the definitive rating. Join the Conversation: On The Average, YOU are the third host. Grab the scorecard from our link below, rate along with us in the chat, and let’s see if your scores can derail our averages! ✍️ GRAB THE SCORECARD 📸 FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: @theaveragepodcast 🎙️ FOLLOW OUR GUEST: @thekiltandtheredneck This is The Average, where the real review happens with your friends. #BulletTrain #BradPitt #MovieReview #TheAveragePodcast #ActionMovies #DavidLeitch #TheKiltAndTheRedneck #MovieScorecard #NeonAction #UnderratedMovies
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Transcript
Humorous Train Incident
00:00:30
Speaker
Stomper. Hi. There's a gun under this. Shh, bro. This is the quiet car. You got your small inside voice in here, son.
00:00:42
Speaker
There's a gun underneath this table pointing right at you, so I can't really hear where it's at. There's a gun. I'm just fucking with you, mate.
00:00:54
Speaker
It's been a long time since Johannesburg. Yeah. Who the fuck are you? Really? You don't remember me?
00:01:04
Speaker
You look like every white homeless man I've ever seen. Okay. Well, I have something believe you're looking for. Really? You don't remember me? I'm sorry, man. I remember Johannesburg, but I don't remember you, all right? You shot me. I shoot a lot of people. You shot me twice.
00:01:22
Speaker
Or you also have shootable face.
Introduction to Bullet Train Discussion
00:01:55
Speaker
Welcome back to The Average. That was just a taste of the high-speed neon-drenched chaos we're diving into tonight. We are officially on the rails for Season 4, Episode 3, and we're talking about the 2022 action-comedy spectacle, Bullet Train.
00:02:11
Speaker
This movie is a wild ride, and we've been saying for a while that it's a shame we don't hear more people talking about it. It's got a Guy Ritchie energy mixed with some great stunt work and sharp dialogue. And tonight, we aren't riding solo. We have a very special guest in the cabin with us.
00:02:31
Speaker
Oh, yes, yes. Well, I will say a quick quickly is that I love lemon drops. I love everything about lemons. So it's great to be here while we talk about a train about lemons.
00:02:46
Speaker
I love lemons.
00:02:52
Speaker
Oh, I'm Evan. yeah My bad. We lost you there, Jonathan. Yeah, I know. I don't know what happened. lost connection for a second. Now I'm back. No, I'm like, oh, we're OK. OK, well, we just introduced we just introduced Evan. So proper introduction, evan ah from the Kilt in the Redneck podcast. Tell us about that. Where can people find you? What what what is all of that?
00:03:13
Speaker
Oh, yes. Kilt in the Redneck podcast. We are two friends from across the world. ah I'm Evan. I'm from Tennessee. My co-host is Ian. He's from Scotland, lives in Scotland.
00:03:27
Speaker
And we just like to go down every different type of movie that we can go through. And right now we are in season two, which we are doing Oscar only seasons.
00:03:38
Speaker
So Oscar only only every movie that we we review has either been nominated or ah has won an Oscar. That's what we're doing.
00:03:51
Speaker
That's pretty cool. Awesome.
Direction and Visual Style
00:03:52
Speaker
So Evan, we are stoked to have you. And before we get into the scorecard. Before we get into the scorecard, we've got to talk about the pedigree of this film. It was directed by David Leitch, the man who is responsible for movies like Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2.
00:04:09
Speaker
And there's some awesome history here. Leitch was actually Brad Pitt's stunt double five different times earlier in their careers. Seeing them reunite with Leitch in the director's chair is such a cool full circle moment. It's probably why Brad Pitt actually performed about 95% of his own stunts in this movie.
00:04:25
Speaker
which is kind of crazy at his age. He's getting up there. He's I think he and Keanu are probably about the same age and the John Wick. And, you know, this kind of reminds me of John Wick in a ways, and we'll get into that. ah But it wasn't just Brad.
00:04:41
Speaker
This is a massive ensemble. You've got the legendary duo of Aaron Taylor Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry as Tangerine and Lemon, who fun fact, the director actually appears In a cameo, he's the 17th person that they accidentally kill their.
00:05:01
Speaker
Their spiel about counting who they kill. Sweet. Wasn't he the one that was riding the motorcycle? No, no. It was the guy who came up and was like, hey, are you okay? Oh, that's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Plot Complexity and Production Challenges
00:05:15
Speaker
So for the book nerds out there, this is actually based on the 2010 Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Kotaro Isaka. Even though they shot the whole thing on a soundstage in LA using giant LED screens because of the pandemic, they really captured that fra frantic Shinkansen energy.
00:05:33
Speaker
So we're going to find out if that energy holds up under our nine category scorecard. We're looking at the stylized cinematography, the Thomas, the tank engine philosophy and whether the luck actually pays off.
00:05:49
Speaker
Evan, Tim, the doors are locking and the train is leaving the station. Let's get to the scores. This is the average where the real review happens with your friends. All right, let's kick off with our first category, the story. What do we have here, guys? Jump in on it.
00:06:06
Speaker
I came in high. I came in high as a at a and a five. Ooh. This was a so it was it was extremely unique um to the fact that, you know, it was so many different stories intertwined into such a small little area. And and you'd think that, you know, ah I guess with the COVID, I guess that's what this was made in the COVID era, wasn't it?
00:06:35
Speaker
yes Yes. I mean, the fact that they were able to do so much with so little, you know, of course you had such stellar actors to go with it that, ah yeah, the story to go through so many different plots, um you know, the father, you've got the print, you've got all these other characters, Lemon, everybody.
00:07:00
Speaker
It's like, how? How did you do this in such a constrained space? And you've, it's COVID. hey Like we've all seen movies during the COVID era and most of them were not great.
00:07:19
Speaker
What are you talking about? What am I talking to about? but No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I know what you're talking about. I'm just. Yeah, come on, Matt. No, I I actually think the finding out that it was filmed during COVID.
00:07:35
Speaker
I think it kind of makes it cooler knowing what they did under the constraints, because I wouldn't have even thought about that watching this movie. I didn't think about that. I actually thought this movie was from last year. I didn't realize it was from three years ago, so I'm way behind on that.
00:07:53
Speaker
Uh, but it's got that contained like strangers on a train or snakes on a plane. It's got the murder on the Orient Express. Everybody is trapped on this one vessel.
00:08:08
Speaker
and the story is going to take place on this one vessel and this this movie does a little bit with the opening and cut it cut-ins about expanding the world a little bit but for the most part we're taking place on this bullet train and i think it's brilliant i don't know that it's it borrows a lot of ideas from other movies from like 10 assassins all here for one reason and then the revenge plot that's revealed at the end You know, I think it's got a lot of ideas that it weaves into something unique and a lot of fun.
00:08:44
Speaker
And then don't ever forget about Snowpiercer at the same time that everybody stuck on a train. Dude, I have not seen Snowpiercer. Oh, my goodness. I check that out. It's awesome.
00:08:56
Speaker
The movie or the show? Because I try to watch the show and I didn't care for the movie. I've seen the movie. I like the movie. I haven't seen the show, so I can't see anything about the show. OK. I like the movie and the show.
00:09:07
Speaker
The movie
Character Dynamics
00:09:08
Speaker
is Chris Evans, isn't it? Yes. OK.
00:09:13
Speaker
All righty, Jonathan, what do you think of this story? So I love this movie. I love this story. At first, it seems like you're getting in bits, pieces. You got one story here, one story here, and then halfway by about halfway through, everything kind of coalesces into the one story and and the magic that they put together in this, which is so awesome, dude.
00:09:35
Speaker
There's so many different things happening between each set of characters and man, the way just all blends and the come up is the revenge is all the different murders, the hiding and finding and you know learning all these different stories, like everyone's personal thing about why they're hung up on this, why they're hung up on this and all la la that all different shit.
00:09:55
Speaker
And it's pretty cool, man, because mean, you got Brad Pitt who's going through this whole like self healing journey after going through bad shit. You know, then you start learning about each and every character's little eccentricities that they have.
00:10:08
Speaker
And it's like, man, these feel like like some people would be like really crazy true themselves. You know, it's just it's I know it's fantasy. It's crazy, but man, just wonderful.
00:10:20
Speaker
No, it is. And I like how you mentioned it. We kind of start off with a narrow focus and we slowly are introduced like the first character we see. I don't even know his name. I'm terrible at that. The dad.
00:10:33
Speaker
Yeah. The dad whose kid is in the hospital. And then we don't really see him again for a minute because we then go to Brad Pitt and we're hearing this dialogue going on with Brad Pitt about who he is.
00:10:47
Speaker
and kind of what he's got going on. And then he gets on the train and we see these background characters and this is, I'll get into it in direction, but the way like he passes by people on the train and then we go back to them and we get to know, uh, lemon and tangerine and we just get to see how they interweave all of these stories together.
00:11:09
Speaker
It's, it's a lot of fun. It was definitely more than I expected. Well, before Brad Pitt gets on the train, he runs into the father as well. ah Oh, yeah. He knocks the key out of. Yes.
00:11:21
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. So you've you've already got your first character interactions. It's like, all right. So this is going to be an intertwining movie. You get excited about it.
00:11:33
Speaker
yeah Yeah. So I was. Go ahead. Oh, yes. I just like how old you've got like these these brief passing brushes from one character to the next until they actually start realizing who is who and what's going on and who's part of the plan and what's not.
00:11:48
Speaker
And yeah, Prince and her bullshit. Oh, God, dude.
00:11:53
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's me being dressed like all right. pit In the movie with my bucket hat, my glasses and a zip up jacket. I'm glad you brought that up for the people listening.
00:12:07
Speaker
All right. So I was at I was a four on this. I think the story is great. It is based on a book from what I hear. It is wildly different from the book. I have not read it, but I kind of want to now.
00:12:20
Speaker
Yeah. so So it's a four. Oh, sorry. I'm a five. My bad. Okay. And as it was said you said, I said I was a five. Yeah. I I'm sorry. i said it right off the bat. I was, I was spoiling the shit out of everything.
00:12:34
Speaker
you were excited that's okay you're normally in the evan is normally in the chat for talking with us he actually was on our first um episode of last season for oh gosh what was that movie clue yeah clue you've done quite a few with us you've done quite a few with us at this point all right so then the next yeah and we're always happy to have you on to the next one is the character we have some awesome characters in this one
00:13:02
Speaker
Boy, howdy. Do we ever. I mean, you got Brad Pitt, who becomes kind of like the main character focus of the story, even though the overall is about revenge with white death.
00:13:14
Speaker
And the elder, was it Yoshi, the father? And then his young son, Wateru. But it's his father, Hiroyuki, who used to be part of like um of the Yakuza.
00:13:27
Speaker
Yeah, Yakuza, yeah. Yeah. Man. a Crazy, crazy, crazy.
Humor and Dialogue
00:13:35
Speaker
But sorry. Yeah. So but yeah, from there, you've got like a really packed cast here. i mean, you've got Bad Bunny playing the wolf. Then you got other crazy people i like the handler. Zazie Beetz.
00:13:50
Speaker
What? Zazie Beetz. Zazie Beetz. Yeah. Yeah. The Hornet. She's the poison. Just her. Just bitch, bitch, bitch. Bitch, it's ridiculous. It's like said, it's one of those weird eccentricities that you find out each character has about something.
00:14:07
Speaker
You know, Lemons hung up with Thomas the Tank Engine. Tangerine hates it, but it's like whatever. But he's the one who's more focused in control as far as their duoship. The handler at the end, is Sandra Bullock, you know, coming out to help Ladybug, Brad Pitt, as it were.
00:14:23
Speaker
Little Prince, the daughter of White Death, who's just crazy with her wanting to be seen by her father. It's like, oh, so much and then there's like so many other characters i don't want to take a ball space on it dude like there's so much going on here with cast i love my favorites are lemon and tangerine i mean they stole the show for me i i like brad pitt's character a lot but lemon and tangerine i can watch probably 10 more movies about them i love aaron taylor johnson first of all he's fantastic but watching this one i'm like i want him to be the next james bond
00:15:00
Speaker
That's it. I'm watching this going. That guy should be the next James Bond. Well, this movie, he's snarky and foul mouth and funny. He can do the action role. He pulls off the tuxedo look, the suit real good. He can. He can play James Bond. Yeah. So that's I'm watching this and i'm like, yeah, I want you to be James Bond, but that's probably not going to happen.
00:15:23
Speaker
ah But they're dynamic. ah True. But their dynamic is so good. just their witty dialogue at first, like they're bickering like an old married couple.
00:15:35
Speaker
And I love it. And then we've slowly find out like they're known as the twins, even though they're clearly not twins, but they refer to each other as brother. And we eventually get a flashback showing that like they grew up together as kids and we don't get a whole bunch of expansion on that, but they also have the most tragic arc of the film.
00:16:00
Speaker
So spoiler alert. I hate when, i is it lemon? No, when tangerine dies.
00:16:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:14
Speaker
Yeah. Lemon ma when ta on makes attack.
00:16:22
Speaker
Okay. That's right. He wakes up. And then... do just the way also the way tangerine dies is brutal on screen it's it's a rough one to watch it's the most visceral of them all but i love their dynamic i kind of like the zen assassin approach with ladybug just about his bad luck you know he's always got the bad luck and his uh his talk with the grandfather at the end about maybe you're just meant to take everybody else's bad luck. And I actually love his reluctant like i don't want to do that. i i like that because it's consistent with his character. He's like, I don't want to be that guy. And I enjoy that character a lot.
00:17:10
Speaker
Also finding out that the whole time it was supposed to be Ryan Reynolds on the train and not Brad Pitt Carver fucking Carver. Yep. It's great. It's great. So as far as a character arc goes, I don't think there's anything super compelling, but there's good stuff here. There's good stuff. I think probably finding out that the why can't I think of her name? Joey King, the girl that Prince Prince.
00:17:43
Speaker
I think her arc is probably the she doesn't really grow, but we find out more about her. That's kind of how this movie is. No one really grows by the end of it, I don't think.
00:17:55
Speaker
But we understand them better by the end of it. we get them. And so I think that's something unique that this movie does is, is that narrative choice. So yeah, there's some good, good character work
Character Arcs and Development
00:18:09
Speaker
in this. And like I was saying, Prince, she just starts stuff as this sneaky girl. And you kind of think she might be one of the assassins at one point, cause she's very conniving and intelligent.
00:18:23
Speaker
And then we find out that she's actually the daughter of like a legendary assassin. So it's, it's a nice little reveal. It works.
00:18:34
Speaker
It's good. So on the, uh, on the touch of, uh, the Prince is, you know, of course, as she said it in the movie was, um, my, my parents wanted a son and instead they got me.
00:18:51
Speaker
and she just you know developed that whole mentality of being the prince it's not that she wanted to be a princess or a prince of any sorts but i mean who could who could you say when you're dealing with i guess i'd say the yakuza the mafia anything like that who's to say how do you live you know at the end of the day um That being said, i did like, a I like Lemon.
00:19:24
Speaker
You know, his character arc in this. ah
00:19:28
Speaker
I like Brad Pitt's character. i cannot, for some reason, just think of it. um
00:19:36
Speaker
But I liked how the prince dealt with the the father and she was such a turd. Yeah. She was such a turd to, you know, say, well, we'll kill your son. Uh-huh.
00:19:53
Speaker
She's a total shit. brand finished i ship yeah i was I was trying to be as trying to be ah friendly on this. and Evan, be yourself. um what no If you've listened to the Kilt in the Redneck, you know. No, that's why we invite you.
00:20:10
Speaker
just I just cussed up a storm. You're allowed to. You're allowed to be yourself on our show. i don't i think people come on this because i don't swear a lot and people come on here and they think they have to not swear a lot and it's like no you be you you be you make jokes swear yeah i swear plenty so yeah thank i understand that too but at the same time at the end of the day um
00:20:38
Speaker
character arc you're right there's not a whole lot to it But in the fact of that, there are a lot of different characters that you need to watch out for and look at.
00:20:49
Speaker
i I, I consider that something extremely good. Like there's many characters and you're getting character development throughout the whole movie. And it's like, okay, great.
00:21:01
Speaker
Yeah. your Character development. I love that. Even if you don't have an arc, it's still awesome to see so many high, high caliber celebrities. made a hell of a fuck movie.
00:21:14
Speaker
Yeah, indeed. But yep. So here's my take as far as arc in the movie. Okay, there is one. Absolutely. There is a hook on that. um And it's all with the Yakuza story with the white death.
00:21:28
Speaker
You know, you've got um I but spoke earlier about the young father if that was you each and his son water who got pushed off the roof. You each his father, the elders, they named him. That's just it. They just call the elder.
00:21:41
Speaker
he was part of the yakuza when white death took over and killed his wife almost killed his son so when white death is finally dead at the end especially after the train crash and how elder and white death have that battle in the train towards the end before everything goes to shit um once white death is dead the elder he gets at that flower for his wife and places it on his dead body and that's his closure for what happened he got his revenge and come up it's against white death for fucking murder his wife wow so there's your arc right there buddy see and i think i missed the depth of that because
00:22:22
Speaker
The elder is such a minor character compared to everyone else. I know, but he's super important. He's super important, but he is fairly minor. And we the elder will get into the cast later, but ah Man, what was I going to say about that? Getting to my ass. what are you talking about? Well, we'll get to the cast. Well, you think about, though, man, the little lady, the little old lady that lemon tells to fuck off, which is getting on the train and then her shushing. like and Yes, like the sign where they're talking, man.
00:22:53
Speaker
like there's like three main interactions with her and I love that it's I know there's no arc there but still a fun little side character absolutely yeah yeah you love weird stuff and then like Channing Tatum being like the weird dude trying to get saucy on the train with a pi like that I lost it I thought that was so funny when Brad Pitt you want to make 200 books Is this like a sex thing?
00:23:19
Speaker
I guess that's that probably where they got the idea for, ah what was that? ah The horror movie, I guess not really horror movie, but disaster movie of ah this is the end. And instead Danny McBride kept saying, oh, Channing Tate, yum.
00:23:41
Speaker
Nice. I like that. so as far as scores for the characters i ended up at a four i thought the character arcs were pretty great even if i didn't initially see what jonathan described i can appreciate that i actually brought my score up to a four but i'm pretty great character arcs here it surprised me i did not expect this much character arc from this movie you know what there's another one i could think of actually but it's not in a positive way
00:24:13
Speaker
Negative arcs count. Okay. So one of our side characters, the wolf. Early on in the film, when you get that first flashback, you know, 26 years earlier, you see the wolf when he's just a kid.
00:24:27
Speaker
you know, the mother gives him the next telling him to be strong, passes away. He's on his own, comes up in the streets. You know, it becomes tough, gets his own group of guys, takes on some dudes, gets his respect, gets brought into the cartel, falls in love.
00:24:45
Speaker
is finding happiness, is being successful as an assassin for the cartel. You see him striking out, striking out, striking out. And with each kill, he collects a piece of clothing, some boots, a hat, you know, all this different stuff.
00:24:59
Speaker
And then gets to his moment of fulfillment with the wedding and his whole family. And there is bride cartel and all their families dead, all dead. And now it's a revenge plot of its own on the side next to what's going on with white death.
00:25:15
Speaker
And then him finally like fight seeing Brad Pitt thinking he's found the person who murdered his wife and everyone, you know, and then meeting his sad end just by bad stroke of luck with the knife bouncing off and hitting him. Yeah.
00:25:30
Speaker
like It's sad. He goes through all this, comes up strong, thinks he's about to get his revenge and denied, denied rug pulled like a son of bitch.
00:25:41
Speaker
So that's that's ah another so the negative argument. So you did mention the bad luck of the knife bouncing off of the case and into bad bunnies character, the wolf.
00:25:54
Speaker
Um, I think that's interesting. One of the things I was noticing on the rewatch, we hear a lot about ladybugs, bad luck, but there are numerous times in this movie that he has good luck that he scrapes by on like,
00:26:10
Speaker
already having the anti-venom in him when he gets bitten by steak good luck the knife bouncing off of the case to kill bad bunny good luck like there's a lot of moments where he's just scrapes by he's almost like where john wick is a precise efficient assassin ladybug is like the accidental one he's oh oh man i succeeded somehow like i didn't mean to And I like that about I like that about this character. There is a bullet train to in the works. oh And yeah I don't know how you do that.
00:26:47
Speaker
You put them back on a bullet train. i don't see that necessarily. Maybe a different cast of characters. I would hope not, though. That's like I want to follow Ladybug again.
00:27:00
Speaker
Ladybug. Or lemon. Yeah, put put lemon and Ladybug on a case together. i want to watch that. but and i don't care lllc if you put them together that's going to be an incredibly watchable film it's going to be a great time but i don't know where the bullet train 2 comes in just change the name and keep it part of the same thing but i was out thing yeah exactly a a bullet train story so i gave it a four you guys did you already give yours not yet what'd you get evan
00:27:36
Speaker
I got a five. You got a five? Guess what? I'm a five as well. And it's wonderful when you're talking about Ladybug's luck because instead of viewing it as a curse at the end, he finds the silver lining and seeing the good in it because of it being like, well, maybe that's the universe's fate. It doesn't want us to take that car.
00:27:55
Speaker
Maybe it doesn't want us to do this. That's why this happens. So it's saving me. He finally sees his curse, his bad luck, all that as a good thing at the end. So it's almost like journey of healing for himself and changing his his perception of things is helping him.
00:28:08
Speaker
Yeah, it's almost like Ladybug is almost. um Oh, Domino from Deadpool 2. Deadpool 2. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of how I was thinking. I was like, it's almost like that.
00:28:23
Speaker
No, I was thinking the same thing. And Zazie Beats is in this and I'm pretty sure did David Leitch directed Deadpool 2. Oh, fantastic. That's what I was saying. I was like, it all right, so it's the same person, but it's all so well yeah well done. Brad Pitt was also in Deadpool 2 for all of three seconds. Yeah. Yeah. za yeah All right. So on to the next one. This is, did you have something else?
00:28:49
Speaker
you um good okay
Sound Design and Music
00:28:51
Speaker
evan anything else for me gotta be real quick okay do you think bro all right on to the next one while he does that and we'll get we'll get his score when he gets back uh music and sound design music and sound design so i do really like the uh
00:29:12
Speaker
japanese covers of popular american songs that he used throughout this movie we have holding out for a hero at the end which is or is it just hero by holding out for a hero that's correct yeah uh fantastic there's a i think there's also a japanese cover of staying alive used that was crazy
00:29:40
Speaker
And i like the I mean, we've seen it done before. ah Matthew Vaughn movies use it. ah Tarantino style movies use it. It's a very popular thing to cut away to like flashback action scenes or just crazy action scenes that have upbeat, positive music that don't exactly fit with what's going on.
00:30:01
Speaker
so this movie uses that a lot but i think the standout for me is using the japanese covers of american songs i think that is nice work it's staying alive right at the beginning wasn't it what staying alive was right at the beginning wasn't it yeah yeah and then holding out for a hero is like building up to the climactic fight scene yeah the music itself, the composed music for the film is fine. It doesn't really stand out. It fits the scenes appropriately. I also think the sound design on this movie is a ton of fun. Just a little bit like when he punches the momoko doll thing mascot.
00:30:48
Speaker
when he punches that and it squeaks like a squeaky toy, i know that costume wouldn't really do that, but it's a fun effect added to the film that fits the tone nicely. So I, I liked the sound design a lot on this film.
00:31:06
Speaker
Yeah. I, I echo you with ah the sound on this. I couldn't hear Jonathan at all. for I forgot was muted. I muted too, so i was like, is Jonathan going to start talking or do I need to start talking somebody?
00:31:20
Speaker
Good times. I agree. The whole Japanese different takes on American songs, that was amazing. um Yeah, nothing really stands out, like score-wise.
00:31:36
Speaker
um That being said, yeah, sound effects, We're always really good in this. And I mean, I watched a movie last night and I was like, somehow, someway, I'm starting to hear more sound effects that really sometimes sound better than some of these scores.
00:31:56
Speaker
And even that I'm like, it's kind of shitty to think to myself, but i like how, how are the sounds sounding better than the score? And it's like, well, it works. And for for Bullet Train, it works. The sound effects, the the music, it all works. I didn't really care much for any type of s score because hell, there was always something always something going on.
00:32:22
Speaker
So yeah, I'm high.
00:32:28
Speaker
i don mean i'm I don't mean I'm high. I mean, I'm high on. oh i I definitely thought you meant you were high right now. like no no no you know No, no, no, no i've had a few hearings that oh man so but yeah what i was going to say while i was muted um yeah like everything was just popping throughout the whole thing there was great soundtrack like all the background music even Aside from the songs themselves, it all fit really well.
00:32:57
Speaker
um I like all the different kind of sounds of stuff of everything on the train when you're moving between cars, the door sliding, when Ladybug is sitting there locked in the bathroom playing with the bidet, you know, even goofy stuff like that, you know, you know, they'll sound if it press the buttons and the water spray and all the sound of that, you know, I think they did a really good job with that.
00:33:16
Speaker
And just the sounds from all the action fight scene choreography and all that stuff, all the bullet work and the sword clashes explosions from like flashbacks with like Tadri Levin killing all those dudes, you know, it's pretty rad.
00:33:31
Speaker
So I'm a five on that. All right. I'm I am a four on the sound effects and music. Jonathan, I think I might be echoing you all night long because I was a five as well.
00:33:46
Speaker
Hey, you're right. Wow. Man, so far we're on track to like we might be ah bring her back with these scores. So it's so good.
00:33:58
Speaker
huh Editing and special
CGI and Editing
00:34:00
Speaker
effects then. This is actually one where I have to knock the movie a little bit. I think the editing on this movie is brilliant. It's tight. It keeps the pace moving and it is some of the transitions are awesome.
00:34:15
Speaker
some of the like we saw in our intro like being in the tight space of a train car and switching perspectives on who you're looking at great work on all of that my biggest complaint comes at the end of the movie when the cgi looks a little fake it looks a little bit rough over the top when basically ladybugs like flying through the train cars as they crash it.
00:34:47
Speaker
It looks super rubbery. It's not the most realistic. I almost wish in some ways that the movie had done less with the special effects and just focused on inside of the train. i think that would have been amazing.
00:35:05
Speaker
I don't think it ruins the film at all, but it, I do have to knock it a little bit because the ending is very CGI heavy and I don't think it needed to be. I mean, even the set that they crash into, you can see where the set ends and this backdrop is like, it's very clear. It's just, I get, it was a small soundstage during COVID. They did the best of what, what they could. And in that regard for the editing and special effects,
00:35:34
Speaker
you don't notice. I don't notice how cramped the quarters are. I feel like I'm flying through the Japanese countryside in this film. It's at the very end that I notice it's CGI heavy. So i think they actually used for the windows during filming, there were led screens on the outside of the train windows to give it that little bit more realistic look.
00:36:03
Speaker
Okay, all right. I can't fault him for the CGI effects at the end, though. I mean, like said, it's COVID. And it it all kind of moves so fast that it it most people probably don't notice it so much.
00:36:15
Speaker
But yeah, when you get that slowdown shot of Brad Pitt kind of going through each car, you know, once again, that kind of Deadpool effect, you know, because you see that kind of same situation in that movie.
00:36:25
Speaker
um It's still pretty awesome. So you got to rock it for what it is. mean, I like the blood effects of everything. i thought those were great. You know, and even even though it's like CGI stuff, when you see the outside shots, when they're like hanging out of the train and stuff like that, I still thought it looked amazing.
00:36:45
Speaker
So I'm i'm go be using a five all day on this one. I got to give it credit. You you said the blood effects. I don't think the blood was CGI in this film. I think they did that practically. It looked because it it doesn't it looks really good. It does look really good. The especially my least favorite scene when tangerines plug in the neck like that was some.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yeah, that was some visceral arterial spray that was definitely not cgi so i give him credit for that because that's i hate cgi blood in movies because it just looks so bad and then it it's not on the set it's not on costumes in the next scene they can never get that right so using the real blood during the action scenes on this i think it was effective and good choice evan so aaron tara johnson may be quick silver
00:37:44
Speaker
Okay. He may be ah the fastest man alive. But not fast enough to outrun bullets. Yeah, and not fast enough to get on a bullet train for any reason. But goodness gracious, he sure did make it look good when he did it.
00:38:01
Speaker
and As for that, yeah, no, there was, like you guys were talking about, you know, at the very end, the whole movie was looking really, really good. And it's the same problem I had with, uh, with snow piercer is there are only certain times that you see this CGI i look to it, that it just turns you off like a robot.
00:38:28
Speaker
And you're just like, eh, I really care much for that. Um, yeah. And it's it's like, uh, like you said, when, uh, when they're flying through the train, cause it's wrecked and everything like that. And they're just kind of zoning through the train, just like gravity has nothing to do.
00:38:48
Speaker
It's like, I saw this once in Ron Burgundy. I saw them wreck the RV. I saw them all fall and do.
00:38:59
Speaker
Yeah. and I saw this. um happy That being said, I loved it. I loved, uh, I loved all the special effects and and you saying that the blood seemed more practical. I agree.
00:39:13
Speaker
i agree that it was very practical. This is something that we on the kilt and the redneck, we're big. If you're going to do CGI, do CGI. You're going to do practical, do practical, please don't mix the two unless you can actually do it correctly.
00:39:31
Speaker
And I guess with this being 2020, you know, the COVID era, It's like, well, do what you can. I'm not going to hit dock you on it. But unfortunately, i I did dock them because.
00:39:46
Speaker
I had to. Would you would you give them? I gave them a four, ah four out of five this time. I gave them a four, a four is still great. A four is great. Five is amazing. So I still think four is a good score.
00:40:01
Speaker
Oh, yeah. That's OK. Jonathan, where did you land?
00:40:09
Speaker
All right. right I'm glad Jonathan likes this one after death spot. I feel like Jonathan is about hit five out of five on every single one.
00:40:20
Speaker
It's not the worst movie I've ever seen. Let me tell you. and But it's it's up there. It's up there. All right. So the script on this one, this one is where I got a this is where I gush
Script and Running Gags
00:40:35
Speaker
over the film. So I docked the story as great, but I think the script makes the story that much better. I think the script is as responsible for how good this is.
00:40:46
Speaker
as anything else the script is tight it is sharp it's witty uh it relies on running gags that make sense and affect the story when you first hear that thomas the tank engine and philosophy you're like what is going on this is ridiculous and it's just kind of funny but then it becomes a vital part of the story you have little things like that that are just i i was blown away i was like that is awesome and then with his uh man his diesel you're my diesel it's so good and the little things that you pointed out about how all of these stories connect and weave together at the end and we get the little threads as we go
00:41:40
Speaker
the script is where this movie i think shines it's so good i also think it's hilarious this is my type of humor i think it is so funny i think think it's so funny so i i love this movie um i love the script a lot so i i don't think the script is super deep and I don't think it's trying to be, i think we get some depth there from the elder at the end when he is specifically talking about like you carry the bad luck so that others can move forward.
00:42:13
Speaker
That kind of depth. I think it's good stuff. I yeah, and Jump in on the script. I do have a lot of good to say about the script here. I like the dialogue. The dialogue is what gets me, man. Like there's some so, so cold lines in there, but some really funny lines in there. And when it comes to Prince early on, she, she says, it's the best say but she's explaining yes, so yeah you know what I'm talking about. I'm not in someone else's story.
00:42:43
Speaker
You're all in mine. and it's like, dude, like she is on a fucking trip. Like, big time. She's on a whole other level. like Like, she isn't even on the train anymore. She is omnipotent to the train.
00:43:01
Speaker
It's crazy, man. with But then you get those funny lines like with with ah with Ladybug. He's like, oh, let that be a lesson in the toxicity of anger. you know, after he kills dude. And I'm like, oh, sucka. And then you got Lemon in his wet, you know, talking to Ladybug. Be like, you look like every homeless man. like like a home ever was Every homeless white man I've ever seen. Hilarious. ha Lemon is cutting with the wit.
00:43:28
Speaker
when lemon is dealing with Prince and she keeps crying and he's like, you're so good. White girl tears get like, it's so funny and it is so good. Oh God. Yeah. So I love dialogue. the script writer is the writer is Zach. Okay. Wicks and he hasn't done a lot. He wrote fear street part two.
00:43:56
Speaker
Okay. 1978, which good movie. I love that one. Bullet Train and The Last Voyage of the Demeter. That's it. Fuck. Fantastic. All of them.
00:44:08
Speaker
yeah I mean, I'm keeping my eye out for what else he's got. He's got resistor coming up and ushers, which I have no idea what any of those are for us to all look forward to.
00:44:20
Speaker
yeah the resistor stars will smith so that will be interesting it's a sci-fi thriller and then ushers both are in uh ushers is in post-production and this is it's a it's a comedy short okay about the daily life of movie theater employees i was thinking it was going to be a theater to your employee good And if it's anything like the humor in this movie, it's probably very funny. So I would probably check it out based on this guy's writing alone. I'm very impressed with how tight this is. The book author is credited as a writer. And I don't know if that is just because wrote the book or because they helped. I don't know.
00:45:12
Speaker
so as for as for unique on the script yeah maybe not so unique but the fact of you know everybody was it seemed like everybody was having a really good time throughout this whole film um i'm with print like i'm with you on prince i like that's my favorite character of the whole movie um her just kind of screwing over the father continuously of if I don't enter this phone your son's gonna die like it's like that's one of those things that you're like mmm bitch she's very conniving very very crafty yeah crafty and conniving like a son bitch she is very crafty and conniving um of course the conversations with
00:46:08
Speaker
Lemon and ah Brad Pitt's character. Ladybug. Ladybug. Thank you. Thank you. but Ladybug is... What was it he said to him? it It made me laugh so fucking hard. was Oh, it was a... Shh.
00:46:26
Speaker
You gotta to be quiet. We're in the quiet car. and he And then he started yelling. he started speaking quietly. i can't hear you. Well, let me speak louder. And... This is a quiet car. Calm down. chesh And even the even the even the people that were on the train, they were, ah you know, of course, saying, shush, I'm just with you, man.
00:46:49
Speaker
Like, I like that type of stuff. I like like this is my type of humor. ah i I enjoy a little bit of banter. I like I enjoy banter between different characters.
00:47:02
Speaker
so and it's sharp it's fast paced it's witty it's a ton of fun to watch and that's so and it's intelligent sometimes that sometimes can be unfortunate because you know that's when you know that you're watching a movie is that banter comes too damn fast but with this movie i don't feel like it came too fast It just came at the right moment.
00:47:30
Speaker
Important distinction. And I do think that is something. yeah I see you.
00:47:40
Speaker
I do think that that is something to mention. And I was going to bring this up at the end is like, it's okay if we acknowledge that we're watching a movie like that's. Oh yeah. We're here for entertainment purposes. And sometimes I think modern movies try to transcend that.
00:47:57
Speaker
And it actually takes away from the fact that movies are supposed to be entertaining first and foremost. Absolutely. can make an entertaining piece of art, but as Quentin Tarantino says, this is the working man's recreation.
00:48:14
Speaker
Yep. He, he basically says movies aren't supposed to be highbrow. And I kinda, I kinda agree. There are highbrow movies that are fantastic, but.
00:48:27
Speaker
That's my tangent. On to the acting.
Cast Performance
00:48:30
Speaker
Oh, I Jonathan. Do you know you give your scores? I do, too. ah Did you give yours, Jonathan?
00:48:37
Speaker
No, I did. That's five. I was i on the script. I had a five as well. I was. a i was a five on the script. So the acting then let's get into we have mentioned the cast.
00:48:52
Speaker
There is a great cast in this film.
00:48:58
Speaker
I feel like I already fuddled this up.
00:49:02
Speaker
We have Brad Pitt, Joey King, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry. Andrew Oji is Kimura, who is the father whose son is being manipulated by Prince, which he is in.
00:49:17
Speaker
um man we have Sondra Bullock. But she's only in for just so long, you know, like she's not there for long enough. She is. ah The one that surprised me was Logan Lerman plays the son. The original Percy Jackson is the son in that. Wait, what? Yeah.
00:49:36
Speaker
Holy shit. He's the son with the face tattoos. Really? Yeah. Damn. did not realize. Okay. and the conductor The conductor, Masi Oka, is from the TV show Heroes yeah years ago.
00:49:50
Speaker
Oh, no shit. He hasn't aged a day a day. He looks the exact same as he did then. But Andrew Koji, who plays the father, he is fantastic. He is coming out in. um I think he's in. Yeah, he's in Street Fighter coming up. He plays Ryu in the Street Fighter movie that's coming up. But I have to bring him up because he plays awesome in the TV show Warrior.
00:50:24
Speaker
Love that show. If you have not seen the TV show, warrior, it is fantastic. It is so good. yeah It's only 30. It's only 30 episodes. i hate that it's only 30 episodes. I wish it would have gone on more. Season two is probably one of the best seasons of television I've ever seen.
00:50:44
Speaker
um So choice, but it's like gang wars in the late eighteen hundreds in San Francisco. Fuck yeah. it's It's so good. So if you have not seen Warrior. gangs though Nope, that happens in the movie too. Oh, good! yeah Hey! yeah theres you g I'm pretty sure it was my favorite it was a stars show, which if you ever saw Spartacus, it's a lot And that's the first season. There's a lot less of that in the second season, but the action is insane in the second season. But ah yeah, Warrior, HBO picked it up for a third season, but then it looks like it was cancelled in 2023, which just
00:51:30
Speaker
Yep. But that's the cast. The cast is stacked. But and ah don't care. And Fukuhara, she plays one of the characters on the boys. ah Yeah, she plays like the the mute girl who like comes back to life after being killed all the time. Oh, shit. um
00:51:48
Speaker
I know her. um Can't remember the character. Oh, no. Kimiko. Yeah. Yeah. She plays Kimiko. Yeah. She's like kind of hung up on the the French and French dude.
00:52:01
Speaker
Okay. Yeah.
00:52:05
Speaker
Yeah. She's got some good fight scenes. yeah And we have Hiroyuki Sonata is the.
00:52:12
Speaker
Yeah. He's the elder. He's Scorpion. He's Scorpion. He was also in The Last Samurai, wasn't he? Yes. Yes, he was. Yeah. he's scorpion he's scor he was he was also in ah the last samurai wasn't he yes yes he was yeah
00:52:27
Speaker
he was in john witch after four he was in mortal combat uh he's in a lot he was in avengers end game i didn't know that oh what he's been in a lot he's been a lot of things uh that you you wouldn't expect him to be in but He's prolific. Recently he was in.
00:52:44
Speaker
Yeah, he was in Shogun, the TV series, which I have heard is fantastic. I've been meaning to watch that. I've been told by people at work that it is definitely worth the watch on that one.
00:52:55
Speaker
The food is always good. yeah I've heard that.
00:53:00
Speaker
what was that? Talking about food is show good is it a restaurant by you or something. It is a food. It is restaurant by me. Oh, and it is. It's awesome. It's great food. are you sure? but Yeah, well, he's getting the mungies. Not yet.
00:53:21
Speaker
Well, we mentioned the cast. How do they actually do as performances, guys?
00:53:28
Speaker
Hmm. Really thinking that one through? No, I don't have to think it through. It's a. They did excellent.
00:53:39
Speaker
um I'm not going to say this like this was the best acting that I've ever seen in my life. um Nor would I say it's the worst acting in my life. um I always... i'm not going lie. I love Brad Pitt in damn near everything he does.
00:53:58
Speaker
um I never had seen Joey King in a movie. I didn't even know who the hell she was until I know this. No, not until.
00:54:10
Speaker
Oh, did you ever see the act about the Gypsy Rose Blanchard story? The girl who was ah her mother, her mother?
00:54:20
Speaker
Yeah, her mother kept her sick so they could keep getting sympathy and money and all this stuff from other people. Was that she did the housing syndrome? uh munchausen's by proxy was this case yeah but then the mother was keeping her sick and then the girl figures it out and has her online boyfriend kill her mother it's based on a true story joe king that was that was her breakout breakout role uh she's done you she was in despicable me 4 she's done a lot of stuff that you don't even realize she's in creep show the tv series creep show oh um she's a hulu original movie the princess
00:55:06
Speaker
Dude, you got to watch that one. That's a great fucking movie. She kicked ass in that movie. So fucking hard, dude. Like literally kicking ass. She was rocking action fight scenes throughout that whole movie. She goes from being the damsel in distress to being a heroine. And dude, it is so rad.
00:55:26
Speaker
i I kind of wanted a sequel to it. i wanted to see it, but it's not. It's not on the upcoming. ah But yeah, she's she's pretty prolific. You just she's one of those that you don't think about until you know it's her. And then all a sudden she's everywhere. So so she's like she's like a secondary side character that you don't know who she is at first. And then you realize and then you're like, oh, my God.
00:55:51
Speaker
yeah this was the first time i've seen her with black hair though so it did confuse me for a minute i i that my little my red hair and princess was like whoo what's up yep
00:56:03
Speaker
um she she is one of my former athletes uh she is her aunt no shit yeah your former athlete is her aunt no joey king is the former athlete's aunt Well, make sure I'll see them post like ea King comes in there and tells her that all of her food exp expired because she's her aunt.
00:56:29
Speaker
Mom will post like Christmas photos and Joey King's just sitting on the couch with everybody. And i'm like, crazy, crazy, small world. ah anyways yeah i'm sorry i'm sorry go ahead no you're okay the acting is brad pitt is brad pitt being effortlessly charismatic as he always is and i enjoy watching it i do think he brings a different flavor to every character like i don't feel like i'm watching cliff booth from once upon a time in hollywood that's fantastic even though i know i'm watching brad pitt
00:57:03
Speaker
or interview with vampire he's not a what was he listat yeah 90s yeah and then i mean Aaron Taylor Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry steal the show like I said ah Aaron Taylor Johnson gets my vote for James Bond after seeing this movie that's dude do you see him in Craven Did you see in Craven? I heard Craven was terrible.
00:57:27
Speaker
yeah I liked it. I thought it was pretty decent. I did not i actually i enjoyed that movie, so I recommend giving a watch. He did great in that movie. okay The way he had a move in that one was amazing.
00:57:38
Speaker
That's where we got to look at people's other thoughts and say, f fuck you. I'm going to watch it the way I want to watch it. yeah well i i did that and i tried watching um what was the one with jared leto nothing against you jonathan was talking about other people i watched i watched morbius and i was like i don't know if i need to watch any more of these movies
00:58:05
Speaker
but for acting i gave it a where's my score i gave it a four i thought that everybody did a great job
00:58:16
Speaker
like every and almost every character was very distinct in their personalities and i really loved how they did that so i'm i'm fiving it bro i'm fiving it do it all right so the next category is the direction the direction so for me um the direction is how well all of these various elements come together and david leach was not really on my radar after
David Leitch's Direction
00:58:50
Speaker
deadpool 2. i thought he did a good job i enjoyed deadpool 2. i enjoyed deadpool 2. i didn't i watched atomic blonde but i don't remember anything about it oh um i enjoyed that one too
00:59:02
Speaker
Yeah. I, I even think I owned the digital version of that film. I think my sister bought it on my account, but I, I haven't watched it in a long long time. Um, but this movie,
00:59:18
Speaker
makes me want to watch David Leach films. This movie is like, all right, what's next? I'm tuning in because it's got a visual style. It's fast paced. It's well shot. It's brought together. Well, he takes all these different elements and then combines them in something that is very effective. And I know he did the fall guy last in 2024.
00:59:42
Speaker
as okay which I also heard was great. <unk> Yeah, I heard that's great. I haven't seen that one yet. but Yeah, but I need to Aaron Taylor Johnson. He's got a bunch. come in
00:59:55
Speaker
He's directing Gears of War movie. He's directing. Yeah, I'm excited about the Gears of War movie. He's got a bunch of stuff. Ocean's 14.
01:00:09
Speaker
But there's ah there's a lot of stuff coming up that he's attached to. He has seven movies that he is directing in the upcoming. Most of them don't have a date yet, so that'll be interesting. But yeah.
01:00:24
Speaker
Nice. As for direction, every bit of this movie, ah from beginning to end, I had a good time.
01:00:36
Speaker
I saw it.
01:00:40
Speaker
couple years ago and when you texted me the other day Tim because i said oh yeah I'm watching i'm watching this and you're like oh is this your first time i was like no is is one of the it's one of the movies that I personally enjoyed and I loved and the only reason I said it is because I was like oh Jonathan loves it I love it it's one of them that we can all get agreements on I feel like direction wise though yeah du this is he did a damn good job and i want to see anything that he puts out um so i will be looking for more more movies from him but at the same time it's also part of the actors as well that you have you know it's easy to direct uh specific actors to do specific things
01:01:38
Speaker
But at the same time, to think of 2020, COVID, these motherfuckers were losing their brains to say, oh, we shouldn't be probably doing this. We shouldn't be doing this. We shouldn't be doing this. But you're close quarters with each other the whole movie.
01:01:56
Speaker
So, yeah. Yeah. it awesome. They they did a really, really damn good job. And that leads me to what I was going to say about it is the use of space and the environment within the train, especially through the fights, the way they they kind of got those angles in in such narrow space to capture all the movement and all the hits and just all the other small things was amazing. And I like how they they put in where those little so those little shots you get that lead into like, oh, I wonder where that's going to come up next.
01:02:30
Speaker
Like the the boom slang snake. Once it's out of the cage, yeah multiple people are seeing it on the train. You're like, oh, my God, when is that going to get somebody, you know, until it finally hits the mark with chomping on Brad Pitt ladybug for a little bit there.
01:02:45
Speaker
But, you know, all the times you see it, it's like, oh, when is that to happen? When is happen? keep you in suspense with waiting for something to happen with the snake, which is awesome. and And you've also got the water bottle when Brad Pitt puts the sleeping powder in and waiting and waiting and waiting to see something happen with that, seeing it kicked around the the train cabin and finally getting drank by Lemon towards the end when it knocks him out.
01:03:08
Speaker
you know, you see all those little things that you're waiting to see when it comes back up or if it will. And I like how they did that. I really appreciate that. And like the other small moments of those those brushes by with other characters, not them knowing who's who or what's what yet.
01:03:22
Speaker
when you're when you're anticipating when they're going to make connections. And especially like when you start out when Brad Pitt and the young dad, Yuichi Kimura, when they brush past and they bump and loses the key to the locker.
01:03:37
Speaker
And then the story goes on with Brad Pitt and it seems like it's becoming the story about Brad Pitt's character until everything else rolls in with all the other storylines of each other character that gets involved.
01:03:49
Speaker
i thought it was fantastic i i think that was so good and this is like keep on this is one the first times been able to really be cognitive of like try to explain myself in direction that's what i was wondering was like you're not normally i don't see hardly directions this is one of the few times i'm able to really really get it out there so for me directions of four on this you had it awesome i gave the direction of five i gave the direction of five Awesome. All right.
01:04:21
Speaker
So the it factor, I'll be honest, guys, this one, you can try to change
Cultural Impact
01:04:25
Speaker
my mind. I gave it a two. I knew this movie existed. i knew it came out, but I heard next to nobody talking about it. Nobody recommending it those who have now when I'm like bullet train, they're like, yeah, I like that movie. But like nobody was out there praising this movie. Nobody was promoting it everywhere. So I gave it a two. I don't think it had much of an impact on social media, on culture at all, which is kind of a shame and kind of why I put it on the list this year, because more people should see this movie. I think it's a blast. It's so good.
01:05:04
Speaker
that's I'm with you on that one. I didn't rate very highly. I went one above you just because I had remembered hearing about it before I saw it.
01:05:18
Speaker
You know, people saying, oh, check out Bullet Train, check out Bullet Train. I was like, the fuck is Bullet Train? And then I was like, what is it, Snowpiercer 2.0?
01:05:30
Speaker
And then I watched it and I was like, oh, wow. It was actually really, really good movie. um And take it from somebody who's not a big Brad Pitt fan. Because i'm just I never was.
01:05:47
Speaker
But I loved it. And I was like, you know what? Maybe Brad Pitt's chosen himself a little bit bit better and higher up. I like it. ah But as for an it factor, I don't hear anybody talk about it.
01:06:01
Speaker
But the fact that somebody told me to watch it, I put it at a three. Yeah. I dig that, man. See, i it's hard to say that it has any really like big impact.
01:06:16
Speaker
um I mean, it has that. It's a film that persevered and still made it out, even if it came out much later than they wanted it to, despite the pandemic. They found a way to make it work.
01:06:27
Speaker
You know, they made sure everyone was safe and they still put together something that is fantastic. So I think it really speaks to their determination in the industry, even when times are tough.
01:06:39
Speaker
And, you know, you have so many different things that you have to follow in order to get things done in such dire situations. um But aside from that, it's hard to really say much other.
01:06:52
Speaker
But I mean, it's it's cool. It just lends to action films, depth of story and people utilizing space. But other than that, it most people probably just see it as another action film, you know, so um I like it. It's not awful, but it's not amazing. But I give it a three and hit factor as well.
01:07:15
Speaker
yeah i think it's interesting just looking at the imdb page that i heard a lot of talk about the fall guy with ryan gosling and emily blunt so good it's a lot of talk about that film from david leach and it's sitting at a 6.8 on imdb but bullet train is sitting at a 7.3 so even though i heard less people talk about it they praise it higher than fall guy Fall Guy is just... It's excessively long.
01:07:47
Speaker
It is like damn have near three hours and some change. And you serious you can get you can get bored ah if you're not really into it.
01:08:01
Speaker
So i was going to say that that is my one drawback to this movie. So we're going to know the how entertained.
Entertainment Value and Pacing
01:08:11
Speaker
Well, I'll dive into it right now.
01:08:13
Speaker
I do think this movie lags just a little bit right at the beginning of the third act. just a little bit not a lot i would say 15 minutes trim trim it 15 minutes and it helps that pacing because i think it starts off really brisk the middle is really brisk but then kind of once ah lemon fake dies until the white death shows up
01:08:45
Speaker
It lags just a little bit at a couple moments in that. And I don't know where that's at. I don't know where to trim it exactly because there's so much good in this movie. but It's hard.
01:08:56
Speaker
Yeah. But I do feel like it is just 15 minutes too long for this type of film. That's my thought. so for me my enjoyment of it is an eight i think this movie is a blast more people should talk about it i have so much fun watching this movie i'm not going to put it on again immediately but i am going to watch it again probably before the end of the year i'll probably re-watch it again this year because it is just that much fun jonathan i'm going to go ahead and take over before you just come in here and just wrap your feelings on it
01:09:34
Speaker
Because I know you like this. But I will say myself, ah I consider this an absolute 10. yeah Like, on my feeling of it, I love this movie. I loved it the first time I saw it. I loved it the other day. i guess it was last week when I saw it. I texted you, Tim, about it.
01:09:51
Speaker
And I watched it today. i was in a bummed out mood. And I'm still bummed out. I'm not having a great time. and not Not because I'm with you guys. I'm just not having a great day in general. Yeah. But I can say that talking with you fellas about this movie has made my day a lot better. Good.
01:10:14
Speaker
Because enjoyed this movie so much. I enjoy you guys so much. but We enjoy you, Evan. But goodness gracious to do this movie and talk about it with with you guys who who know it. you know Y'all know it better than I do, and I feel like I've watched it plenty. But ah yeah, not this is ah this is a 10.
01:10:40
Speaker
ah I will watch this again very frequently. um Probably put it on once a year. Yeah.
01:10:50
Speaker
I need to. I can dig it, man. So as you all know, you're like, like I, man, could I handle this movie? Oh, no no, you know, I love this movie, dude. This is such a great film. I find it very entertaining. There was so much to draw your attention, all different details, so much happening.
01:11:10
Speaker
And I felt very, very full watching this movie. And I, I, I love that so much. So I'm, you know, I'm a 10 all day on this. Yeah. Awesome.
The Value of Discussing Films
01:11:23
Speaker
And Evan, what you said is kind of our whole purpose here. What streaming has taken away from us is that experience of watching a movie and talking to your friends about the movie that you all just watched. And that's what we want the average to be. People hanging out, talking about a movie, whether they liked it or not.
01:11:42
Speaker
The experience of hanging out and talking together makes a movie better. Nine times out of 10 for me talking about death spa last week.
01:11:52
Speaker
It's a garbage film, but I had so much fun talking about that movie. It was a blast to just hang out and talk about the movie and it makes the movie that much more enjoyable the next time I go to watch it. So I'm glad we brightened your day a little bit with this chat because I agree. I think hanging out and talking about it is often just as fun as the movie or more fun than the movie for me.
01:12:19
Speaker
Absolutely. Agreed. That fell as I appreciate. Are we ready? appreciate oh yeah sorry okay good Go ahead. We got our final. We get our final scores in there. Okay. Do you have your total, Evan? or you If you don't mind scoring me out, I do not have my total.
01:12:37
Speaker
But I'm sure it's all. I can get it for you. Jonathan, you have yours. Yes, I am at a glorious 47.
01:12:47
Speaker
Despite how offended I was by this movie. Oh, my God. 45. 47. Evan, you are at a 46. 46. I'm at guy on you, Jonathan.
01:13:00
Speaker
Yeah. And then i so you two are essentially at four and a half stars out of five. And then I am at a 40. So I'm four stars out of five.
01:13:11
Speaker
That brings our average to 44.3 or four and a half stars out of five. yeah gift stars out of Yeah. So in creat i wouldn that would put this movie. I do believe that would put this movie in the, uh, great category on our, on our category sheet.
01:13:32
Speaker
So meaning it would most likely be excellent for a, party of some sorts, some gathering. Yeah, 45 actually 45 puts it at um amazing. So for social settings, this is going to be an amazing choice based on the three of us. If you're out there watching, join us live in the chat and you can score it live with us as Evan frequently does.
01:13:57
Speaker
and affect what that final average is. So you can influence it that way. Don't just drop in the comics and be like movie shit. Actually go through and score it with us. Okay.
01:14:09
Speaker
So it's like something i would do.
01:14:14
Speaker
Evan's a troll. i live under a bridge. Yeah. Online troll. You gotta, you gotta pay the troll toll to nevermind. little bit of coin. Uh,
01:14:28
Speaker
ah The boy's soul. Oh, with the boy. It's always sunny. Yeah, you got to pay the troll toll. Oh, shit. I forgot. Damn it. i forgot about that. it's It's I love it's always funny. All right, Jonathan, you ready to read us out?
01:14:45
Speaker
Yes, I am ready, sir. So everyone out there with that, the train has finally reached its destination. The scores are tallied. The audience has spoken and the bullet average is locked into the season four leaderboard.
01:15:01
Speaker
Huge. Thank you again, to Evan from the kill and the redneck Evan. It was a blast having you in the cabin tonight. Everyone make sure to go follow his show. It's top tier conversation and you won't regret it. It's hilarious.
01:15:16
Speaker
Evan, you can say something. Oh, I going to say, well, we may be foul mouthed on our podcast, but ah it's always great to hang out with Tim and Jonathan. ah If you guys want to hear how, don't know, how rude and how dashing us from ah the kilt and the redneck can become, come on, check us out. We're on Instagram. We're on Spotify, everywhere that you can get your podcast from, we're there. Except for Facebook. Because Facebook sucks.
01:15:54
Speaker
yeah I can dig it, man. But, you know, looking back at our scores tonight, i think we arrived at a really important realization. is Bullet Train a perfect highbrow cinematic masterpiece?
01:16:07
Speaker
Probably not. But it is a damn good action film. Exactly. It's slick, it's well-made, it's visually appealing, and most importantly, it is vastly entertaining. We seem to live in a world right now where we've forgotten that entertaining isn't a dirty word.
01:16:25
Speaker
Movies are allowed to be wild, fun rides that just make you enjoy the time spent watching them. If you're looking for a reason to grab some popcorn and just watch some incredibly talented people do incredible stunt work, this is the one. It's a shame it's been a bit slept on, but hopefully tonight we've convinced a few more people to hop on board.
01:16:44
Speaker
So we'll be back next Tuesday at 8 p.m. ESD with an, or not next Tuesday, in two weeks, sorry, in two weeks on a Wednesday with another deep dive. Make sure you're following on Instagram and Letterboxd to see where this landed on the rankings and to find out what we're reviewing next.
01:17:05
Speaker
But before we get out of here, we have a little something special for lovers and the loathers out there. Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, we're preparing to trade the box of chocolates for a pickaxe.
01:17:16
Speaker
That's right. Just after the holiday of love, we're heading into the mines to cover the 1981 slasher classic, My Bloody Valentine.
01:17:26
Speaker
And because a massacre is better with company, we've got some awesome guests lined up to help us break down one of the greatest Canadian horror films of all time. We're keeping the guest list under wraps for just a few more days. But trust us, you aren't going to want to miss this one. It's going to be heart stopping, literally.
01:17:46
Speaker
So enjoy your roses while you can, because the Harry Warden era is coming to the average very soon. This has been The Average. Because at the end of the day, the real review happens with your friends.
01:17:58
Speaker
We'll see you next time.
01:18:24
Speaker
you