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Jumanji

Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 3:18 pm
by bookworm
I was just posting the trailer for the upcoming sequel and saw we don't have a thread on the original so I wanted to start one.


Re: Jumanji

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 1:10 pm
by Knight Fisher
As someone who hasn't seen many Robin Williams films, is this worth watching?

Re: Jumanji

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 2:04 pm
by bookworm
This movie is special to me. Not just due to the movie itself, but because of the circumstances surrounding my personal history with it. It holds a very distinctive place as being the one movie my opinion has changed the most on. It was literally a 180 degree flip. Not just from thinking it was bad to thinking it was good, truly flipping from one absolute extreme to the other.

The first time I saw it I thought it was the most stupid thing I'd ever seen. I not only hated it, I actually said 'Why was this made?' I'd never had that thought before. Even if I didn't like a movie I wouldn't wish it didn't exist because I thought it just wasn't for me personally but it might have some value to someone else. But this one I actually felt was a waste of time for everyone involved. I was that extremely negative on it. I absolutely hated it and I was sure I would never watch it again.

Some years later though, I did. I have no idea why since I was so strongly opposed to it, there had to have been some special circumstance that made me open to giving it another chance but I don't remember what it was. But whatever the reason I am so glad I did because to my great surprise I absolutely loved it that time! I couldn't believe this was the same movie I had been so hateful of before. I was shocked. I thought 'What in the world was wrong with me back then? Was I just in a bad mood that night? Or did I really think it was bad then and my taste in movies has just changed that much since? Whatever the case, I was an idiot. This movie is awesome!'

I've watched it again multiple times since then and my opinion hasn't reversed back to negative, if anything it's gotten increasingly more positive with each viewing. I don't simply like this movie now, I would actually put it on my list of all time favorite movies! Never has another movie gone through such a dramatic change in my mind, from thinking it was literally the worst movie ever made to being something I now truly enjoy.

I even have the board game! It's not entirely complete (I got it at a thrift store) but I had to have it as soon as I saw it. I was like 'It's a real game?? :shock: '

Re: Jumanji

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 8:46 pm
by Catspaw
I had never seen this movie before, and I watched it this week when it was on TV. I give all the credit to bookworm for my interest. Since he spoke so highly of the movie, I thought it must be worth a watch! I was surprised to notice this thread was from 2017, but I think maybe bookworm linked to this thread from the thread for the reboot movie, since my memory isn't that good. ;)

I did enjoy the movie! It was very different from the newer one. It was fun in a different way. I enjoyed it overall, though it seemed to go on a little long at some parts for me. I loved the sweet ending! Great payoff on that.

Re: Jumanji

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:32 am
by bookworm
Yes, it is very different from the sequel(s). Those go hard into comedy, and are a little raunchy. This is completely family friendly, and is a character driven drama actually which isn't what you'd expect from the premise. Yes it's an action adventure, but there are a lot of deep issues under the surface. The aftermath of Sarah having to deal with what happened and how it affected her is really heavy to think about, which you might not do too much at first because it's played for humor for the most part, I think so it doesn't bother kid viewers too much, but it's really impactful when you're older and can realize what she went through. The scene where Alan goes back to the old factory is incredibly powerful if you pick up on what's going through his mind as he learns what happened, we saw at the beginning of the movie that he thinks all his father cared about was his business but now he sees he cared about him more than anything, literally forsaking his company to do absolutely all he could to try to find him. And yes the ending is so sweet.

This is a true all ages adventure story with genuine emotions throughout. The reboot is fun, but that's all, there's nothing deeper to it. It has nowhere near the heart this movie has; and because of some of the content it may not be all ages appropriate like I think this is.

Re: Jumanji

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:47 pm
by Catspaw
Yes, you're totally right about the difference between a "laugh at almost any cost" approach versus the genuine emotions seen throughout the original. Both types of movies have their place. After seeing the original, I could see how people seeing the new one because they loved the old one would have a few surprises!