Borderlands

[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Pugsley Crew Reviews, the podcast where we talk about all manner of films, be they good, bad or anything in between. Today we have a Q9000 returning. It's been a while, dude. How you doing? [00:00:19] Speaker B: I'm doing well. How you doing, mate? [00:00:21] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm doing good. I'm doing good. You've been up too much, man. [00:00:26] Speaker B: No, not really. Went on a holiday down to Skeg and Mablethorpe and went through the arcades. [00:00:33] Speaker A: Nice. Yeah, I didn't see it, but I think it was Cumberdane's, I think. Who said that there was a arcade machine you posted of and it was of. [00:00:51] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a really big Halo machine. It's a Halo light gun game and you get little machines of it here and there. But there was one in Mablethorpe that was like a massive dome, that same game, but they just put this big dome around it that really made it stand out. [00:01:10] Speaker A: That's cool. Is it on Tick Tock? I'll check it out. [00:01:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's on TikTok. The other one that I think I've put up on TikTok is the Mission Impossible machine. That is crazy because that's a four player light gun shooter where you play as two teams of two and you have to like get through a spy situation quicker than the other team and that is massive. It's like as big as a small room in your house. [00:01:34] Speaker A: That's really cool. I have to check those out. I believe Your name is cure9000 on TikTok so everyone can look you up. Check out the Halo game and the missionary basketball game. They got no excuses not to know. So this week we are discussing a film which is based on a video game. It's called Borderlands. That's. Anyone who you know will have seen the title. P reviews Borderlands, they're gonna know what it is. But I think with films like this particularly. Right. Just before we get into the nitty gritty of it is when you hear like not specifically this, but like a film where you're really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad or you're. A film is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really good. Sometimes you go into it with these high expectations or low exceeds those expectations in the sense of the it'll be better than you thought when it's the shittier end of the scale or it will meet those expectations and it will be bad in comparison to what you expected it to be. So you can come away disappointed or surprised from that. It's very rare. You go into a film the ju is really, really bad and come away thinking, no, that was really, really bad. Or you go into film thinking, being told how amazing it is and come away going, no, I agree with H. Not often that happens, at least for me anyway. So there you go. Anyway. Would you agree or disagree with that? [00:03:22] Speaker B: Oh yeah, I definitely agree with that. I mean, I'd heard everybody say that Borderlands was terrible, worst film of all time, awful. And I think it does set your expectations up or down. [00:03:33] Speaker A: And that's the thing. It's like I went into this expecting it to be completely and utterly. But in all honestly, I thought it was right. I didn't think it was as bad as you said. I, I think coming from. If you look at it in the perspective of you really like the games, then I think you'd be very disappointed because the story is just. Well, I don't know what the story is, but it's an action comedy film. It's not bad. [00:04:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I, I didn't think it was bad at all. I mean, I like the open trail started and there was speaking and I was. I just kept thinking, when is this gonna get really awful? And it never did. [00:04:14] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. I, I like, I think maybe the major negativity surrounding this film is they probably are people who are like, oh, it's based on the game. It's probably simply because of that. Then you have people who give it a chance and probably enjoy it or not like a. Fair enough. But I think the biggest thing is going to be people who come to this liking Borderlands going Tiny Tina is like her. [00:04:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:41] Speaker A: What the is wrong with Lilith? Lilith isn't like that. Lilith knows from the start she's a siren. You know, it's not like some special thing that happens at the end of the game, you know, it's. And things like that. It's kind of like the story is completely apart from some characters which are in different Borderlands games as well as the first. Like Roland's in the first game and so is Lilith. I'm not sure about Tiny Tina. I thought she came in the second game, but I could be wrong. And then Krieg, I think, was a DLC character for the second game only. So I think, yeah, it's like a couple of characters are just slapped in there for the like, randomness of it. And the whole Aridian princess thing is another thing that I'm just like, what you talking about? I don't know. [00:05:34] Speaker B: That's the thing I've Only played like I played Borderlands 12 and is it the pre sequel they call it But I've only played them in tiny amounts. I'm a very casual Borderlands player so although I found them fun, I'm not like Die Hard on they have to be this age, they have to be that they need to be. I'm like that's a Hollywood adaption. It's gonna go all over the place. [00:05:56] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I get that. My thing is is I think with people it'll be more that it is so different with from the original like whole thing. Like I don't even think like Lilith is like I'm from this place and I'm like in the games I don't think she is. And like they're all they vault hunting, that's the whole point of the series. Like is they vault hunters? And then obviously more happens throughout but in the first game it's like yeah, we down a vault because we hunt vaults. Cuz we vault hunters. And this one she's like I'm not a vault hunter. Fair enough. But I think overall the game was actually all right but like story wise it wasn't particular, it wasn't anything special in any way. Like Borderlands is not exactly the most spectacular story wise thing. It is pretty funny and you do have some interesting things going on. But a lot of Borderlands is like silly memes and stuff and like very childish comedy. But the film is kind of very different in that respect. Like the story is just kind of as you expect it to go. You'd be like all right. Yeah, she's going to, it's obviously Lilith is going to end up being this special person and not Tina. But all in all it was right, it was fun, I enjoyed it sort of. I think it was all right. I think it was all right. I, I, I would think it's all right. I wouldn't say it was really good or it was really bad, but it was all right. [00:07:28] Speaker B: I'd say it's one of those films that's good for a one off watch through it keeps a good pace, there's always something happening. It's quite entertaining. It's filmed in a very fast cinematic way. But I don't think you'll ever feel the need to go back to it. [00:07:45] Speaker A: No, not unless they go, oh, we bring that aboard. Lands 2 and they're like I better watch the first one again to catch up on the story or just go on the Internet and type in Give me the Borderlands film backstory. Something like that. I've never done that, so I don't know exactly how you would write that up. [00:08:09] Speaker B: No, I mean I think it did have too much money thrown at it. It's a case of everybody has to be famous because they have to be famous. I think you could have done it with like one mainline famous person and then sort of lesser celebrities. There was a lot of money spent on the effects and I think some of them were over the top and not needed. It was finished about three years ago and then I think they went back and re edited it and recorded a new musical score and didn't know that. [00:08:43] Speaker A: I wonder why. I wonder if it was like pretty bad back then and then they tried to improve it or if they thought that but the original version was a little better, who knows? [00:08:54] Speaker B: Yeah, it'd be nice to see like an original cut to go. Well I've. Either you made it a lot better or you were just wasting money changing it back and forward sort of thing. [00:09:03] Speaker A: But yeah, I wonder how much like I know Randy Pitchford was in involved in some ways because there's videos of him on the set and that but I wonder how much like the game side of it was involved with the creating of this because they such vastly different story lines. Like you would have thought the people behind Borderlands would be like, try and keep her a bit more true to the game. It doesn't have to be like for like. But you know, try and make some of it similar. [00:09:34] Speaker B: Yeah, you'd have thought that put somebody from the main sort of office of the game and gone. You stay on set, you are a consultant, make sure it doesn't go too far from this or. But they probably just got money bags and went, yeah, do what you want with it. [00:09:52] Speaker A: Yeah, well I think Jack Black's now going to be known as the video game actor because he's been in Mario as Bowser, he's in this as Claptrap, he's coming up in Minecraft as Steve. You know, it's just going to be the video game guy. He was in Brutal Legend as a character so you know that was a game itself. [00:10:15] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I mean I like him but I do think he's getting a bit where he's in too many things and you're like, oh, Jack Black again, that's fair enough. [00:10:25] Speaker A: I don't watch a lot of. Well I don't know, I've seen him in a few things but I think he's not too bad in the sense, sense of outstanding as well. If I Think if he was in. If it continues to be the case, if he's in like five films a year, it might get that case, like. But at the moment, it's not too bad for me personally. But then again, I don't think it make much of a difference. Not. I'm not gonna be like, oh, Jack Black's. And I'm not gonna watch it. I wouldn't. No. You know. Yeah. [00:10:51] Speaker B: I don't. He wouldn't draw me to a film particularly or sort of put me off. I think his best stuff's probably his earlier stuff. I liked High Fidelity that he was in. [00:11:01] Speaker A: Don't think I've seen that. [00:11:03] Speaker B: It's a John Cusack film and he's like the funny best friend. [00:11:08] Speaker A: I may have seen it, but I don't know. I'm terrible remembering things. Really awful at the. Because that's the kind of guy I am. I just forget things. [00:11:24] Speaker B: I did find a little weird with the characters. Is the Jamie Lee Curtis character, Tanis? I know Jamie Lee Curtis said that she'd decided, either through reading some or whatever, that Tanis was autistic. [00:11:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:43] Speaker B: And that's how she based a lot of how she acted. And I thought she was an awful stereotype. It's like when she took the gun and didn't realize you're supposed to ask to take somebody's gun. And I'm like. It was like a lazy, rubbish stereotype portrayal, if you know what I mean. [00:12:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I get you. I'm not autistic. So for me, it's not something I would notice and. Because I wouldn't. And I think if you're like, my son is autistic, but if you're autistic, I think you're going to pick up on the. The stereotype in more because, yeah, I am. So that's why you're gonna not. I don't think it's like something you'd intentionally pay attention to, but because you're like. Well, actually, I think they're trying to play a certain way. And it's kind of like. Because I. Like, I. My son is autistic and obviously he had several. There were several people in his school who was autistic. And I wouldn't say any of them are alike. And the stereotypical thing is all autistic people. Old and like, contact, older, like this. All like this all. All are really intelligent. All of this. And it's like, no, they're just like. Any people with autism are just like anyone else. They're different. You're not going to be like that person's the same. That person's the same. It's like saying people who don't have autism are all exactly the same. [00:13:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:12] Speaker A: It's just not the way it is. Thing is though, with Tanis, to talk about Tanis herself, not the, the autistic side of things, there is Tanis doesn't in the games to me come across as autistic. She just comes across as nuts because she starts off normal enough and as you progress through the game she gets more and more crazy and I'm pretty sure she ends up killing some of her. Either she ends up killing some of the people who are wet were working with her or by that point she's killing her chair thinking that the chair is her enemy. It's really weird. She gets messed up because she's on a loan alone on a planet for fucking years just researching the Rydian stuff. [00:13:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean that probably would have been a better avenue to get out to make her a bit more nuttier rather than. [00:14:05] Speaker A: Yeah, well that's the thing. When I, when I saw it and it was on, I was like, oh, she's nowhere near crazy enough to be Tanith. Tanith is nuts. I think she becomes a little less crazy in as the games progress but in the first game you literally find recordings of her talking about stuff and she's like, oh yeah, this is my best friend and it's a chair. I think something like that. Yeah, she, I'm sure that's what it is. So she does go down the route of crazy, you know. Yeah, but I, I, it's been a long time since I played Borderlands, so now I've played one, two pre sequel. I did start three with my brother in law but we never ended up finishing it. I think he finished it on his own. But I enjoyed the games. I don't think they're amazing, but they are fun. Which is kind of like, like this film is. It's kind of fun. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I'd agree there for the games. [00:15:02] Speaker A: Because I'm in the interactable and I think like the story stuff is a lot more interesting and I think that's because I think they do drag out a bit because they are big games. This obviously is kind of too short for all that goes on in the first game. And there's also missing some of the characters from the first game like Mordecai and the other guy whose name I forgot all of a sudden. Brick. Brick, yeah. [00:15:31] Speaker B: I think, you know, probably your enjoyment of this depends upon how into the games you are and also just how generous you are to films in general. Because I think some people want every film to be like some kind of Oscar winning thing. And primarily most films are just entertainment. If you can kill an hour and a half, two hours and you enjoyed it, that's enough really for a film. Not every film is gonna change the world or change your perspective on things. [00:16:03] Speaker A: Exactly. And most Oscar films are anyway. [00:16:06] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:16:09] Speaker A: I see that. I don't know many Oscar winning films I've watched over the last 40 years. To be honest. I'd have to check. [00:16:19] Speaker B: Most of what I watch is horror and I think the only horror film that won't. Oscar level stuff's like the Exorcist. [00:16:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:28] Speaker B: Yeah. I think a lot of horror just doesn't get, I suppose the Shape of Water got nominations for stuff and that's kind of horror. [00:16:38] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess it's all about. I don't know because like when you hear about films getting Oscars and that, they tend to be like a certain type of film and they tend to have like a very not particular story, but they tend to be like. It's not just like a. Like an action film. Like you wouldn't see Commando again and let's go back a few years, like, but Commando, Garen and Oscar. It seems to be like a very specific, very specific kind of film type. Then they tend to be kind of like, from what I remember of them recently, at least, they tend to be kind of, I don't know, kind of just Hollywood film sort of, so to speak. I don't know, it's just weird. It's like there's no. There's not a lot of variety there in the set, in a sense. [00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I know what you mean. It's usually some kind of adversity over some human tragedy. [00:17:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And it tends to be something with like a message or store a message behind it, that kind of thing. I don't know. [00:17:53] Speaker B: Commando's got a Message. Don't. With Arnold Schwarzenegger's Child. [00:18:00] Speaker A: Yes. [00:18:00] Speaker B: There's an Oscar winning performance when he's killed the guy on the plane and he goes, don't bother my friend, he's dead tired. [00:18:10] Speaker A: Is a great film. I haven't seen Commando for a while. I might have to rectify that. [00:18:15] Speaker B: Oh yeah, it's great. [00:18:18] Speaker A: Yeah, it is a great film, actually. Should have got an Oscar. That's the thing. Like, I don't watch the Oscars. I just hear about it when it comes on the news every year and I'M just like, oh, it's a film. And I probably haven't seen most of them, to be fair. I don't really care. I'd rather just watch whatever is picked for this or whatever I pick for the Mrs. To watch. And then she looks at me with evil eyes. It's. Some of the films I've made her watch have been awful. A cocaine shark. [00:18:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:57] Speaker A: I think that's the worst film I've ever seen. [00:19:00] Speaker B: The key is give her the remote and let her pick. Because then you can go, that was crap. After I've learned that lesson, I keep going, mama, says the remote, and going, it's your turn. Because then I can complain because you complain when I met you watch rubbish. So you pick Summer. And then that was bloody awful. Why did you pick that? [00:19:21] Speaker A: That's the thing. When I watch stuff with the Mrs. It's either it was crap or it was all right. I could pour on Citizen Kane as people have the spot about how amazing that is. And she goes, so. [00:19:35] Speaker B: I put on. [00:19:36] Speaker A: Some films I've genuinely really liked. And then this is like, was. I was like, do you like anything? All right. If it's all right, it means that she enjoyed the film enough. If it's bad, then you know it's bad. Yeah, But I think she said with this. She said she expected to be worse than what it is and she assumed that from. I don't know why, because I picked it, put it on. Probably that's the only reason why I expect to be because you put it on. That's probably what it is. I do know follow like the game news and the film news and stuff like that. So there wouldn't be any expectations in that sense. The expectations on, am I going to put a good film on or not? [00:20:22] Speaker B: I'd sooner watch this again than Cloud Atlas. I know that. [00:20:28] Speaker A: I don't know. There is one scene in Cloud Atlas that I'd liked, involved a naked lady. This doesn't have any naked lady. I'm only joking. But yeah, I would as well. Cloud. The problem with Cloud Atlas is, I think I've said this a few times now. It's. It's just boring. It just feels like it goes on forever. And it does go on for a while because it's over three hours long, I think, or just under three hours long, but it feels like it goes on for nine hours and you feel your life being sucked out of you as you watching it. There you go. Can't win them all. [00:21:11] Speaker B: I'm not even sure how long this film was. Because it seemed decently paced. I'm guessing 90 minutes to two hours. [00:21:18] Speaker A: I can tell you exactly how long it is because I've got it on the obs overlay. It was one hour. One hour, one hour and 41 minutes long. [00:21:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think that's good. [00:21:31] Speaker A: It went pretty quickly. The first 10 to 20 minutes went quite slowly because the kids kept interrupting us while we're watching this. I love to pause her all the time. So that's why it took a bit, so I had to pause it and that. But then after that I was like, oh, yeah, just chill and watch the film. Because I put it on last night because, like I always do, I plan on taking notes and then I don't write any down. [00:21:56] Speaker B: No, I didn't write anything down. But that's a good thing. [00:22:01] Speaker A: It is, yeah, in some ways. But like, I know that, like people who do traditional reviews of films and that from what I've heard, they'll like, pause the film, write stuff down, carry on watching, pause the film, write stuff down, pause the film and. And then. And I'm like, they'll just ruin the flow of the film. Just watch the film and then try and write. And I try and write stuff down as I'm watching. So half the time my writing's all zigzagged across the page as I'm writing, but I'm looking at the screen while doing it so I don't miss anything. [00:22:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:33] Speaker A: The last couple of times, say 10, I've tried writing notes and I've ended up writing down like a two or three and it's just like gone, gone. Because I'm just watching the film. You know what I mean? Yeah. [00:22:49] Speaker B: I mean, if it's a good enough film, you'll not want to stop it to write notes. If you're willing to stop it loads of times, you're probably not enjoying it that much. [00:22:58] Speaker A: Yeah. And if you are enjoying it that much, you probably enjoy more if you didn't stop it. Like, you know. [00:23:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:08] Speaker A: So we've been going now for 25 minutes. What would you like to say about Borderlands before we end? [00:23:17] Speaker B: I just think I'd say if you've heard that it sucks, give it a try. Providing you're not obsessed with it being directly the same as the game and you just take it as a fun, action packed sci fi film, you'll probably enjoy it a lot more than the sort of. I think it's got about 26 on Metacritic and all that stuff. It's a Lot better than that. It's probably 7 out of 10. Watchable, enjoyable, but you'll forget about it equally as fast. [00:23:46] Speaker A: I would say if you like Borderlands a lot, you're probably not getting as much enjoyment out of this because it is very, very different to the games. I didn't enjoy it as much as yourself. I thought it was all right. I'd probably give it like 5, 6, but I enjoyed it enough to actually stick with it and not mourn constantly. Compared to like Cocaine Shark, where most of the time I was just laughing at the screen, to be fair. And Norrin the Good. Hahaha, this is funny. I was. Hahaha, this is awful. Didn't get that with it. But yeah, it's definitely, it's definitely worth checking out. It is. It's worth looking at. At the end of the day, you've got a. We're in 41 minutes on your hands, give it a look. There's a lot worse out there that you could be watching than this. So there you go. I think that is going to be us. I will say goodbye and thank you again, Kurt, for taking part. It's been a pleasure, as always. [00:24:52] Speaker B: Yep, you're very welcome. It's been a pleasure. And thank you everyone for listening. [00:24:56] Speaker A: Yep, thank you. And thank you again. As Kurt said, thank you for listening. Bye. [00:25:01] Speaker B: Bye. [00:25:10] Speaker A: No one knew I was coming here. [00:25:11] Speaker C: Not even me. Who programmed you? I don't know. Which is a shame, because you're an awful person and I'd love to know who to blame for this, since I don't. I have no choice but to serve you until you're dead. Did that sound like a threat? Sorry. Anyway, as long as you're not dead, I'm here to help.