# Mortal Engines (2018)



## Harpo (Jul 19, 2018)




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## picklematrix (Jul 19, 2018)

I hardly ever go to the movies nowadays but i will for this.


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## REBerg (Jul 19, 2018)

I've never seen such a crazy premise that looks so "must see.." _Mad Max_ on steroids.


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## BAYLOR (Jul 23, 2018)

REBerg said:


> I've never seen such a crazy premise that looks so "must see.." _Mad Max_ on steroids.



It's unique no question. But will there be an audiences for it?


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## Mouse (Jul 23, 2018)

Philip Reeve signed my copy of Mortal Engines (and drew a Zepellin in it) at BristoCon. Does that mean it'll be worth something if this film's a hit?


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## picklematrix (Jul 23, 2018)

Mouse said:


> Philip Reeve signed my copy of Mortal Engines (and drew a Zepellin in it) at BristoCon. Does that mean it'll be worth something if this film's a hit?


 a copy of 'moonraker' once went for 50k, so maybe if its a real big success you'll be in luck.


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## Mouse (Jul 23, 2018)

Ha! That'd be nice.


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## Al Jackson (Jul 30, 2018)

When I first saw a trailer for this I thought Gee, someone must have read James Blish's Cities in Flight! This just seemed a goofy translation.  At some future date whole cities take to flight off Earth , out of the solar system, going interstellar by way of some super science with force fields, FTL by way of Spin Dizzy's and other gizmos. Blish handles this somewhat bizare story sophisticated space opera with a lot of verve and nuance. Lord it would make a great TV series. I didn't even know Mortal Engines was a book series. Never read it.


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## NerMike (Nov 26, 2018)

That's a cool post for any mortal engines fan 

__
		http://instagr.am/p/Bpz0Qo-ANcb/


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## Rodders (Nov 26, 2018)

This looks pretty good.


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## psikeyhackr (Nov 26, 2018)

Maybe I can watch the movie.  The book got too ridiculous.


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## Al Jackson (Nov 28, 2018)

Yeah after watching the most recent trailer I got the feeling David Frankland got the idea from James Blish's Cities in Flight first novel printed in 1956.


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## TheEndIsNigh (Nov 28, 2018)

Seems OK.



Mouse said:


> Philip Reeve signed my copy of Mortal Engines (and drew a Zepellin in it) at BristoCon. Does that mean it'll be worth something if this film's a hit?



@Mouse, 

Surely it has intrinsic value with emotional attachments.

I can't believe you would be interested in filthy cash!


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## Mouse (Nov 29, 2018)

Yeah, it's not for sale!


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## Al Jackson (Dec 2, 2018)

Al Jackson said:


> Yeah after watching the most recent trailer I got the feeling David Frankland got the idea from James Blish's Cities in Flight first novel printed in 1956.
> 
> View attachment 48440



Hmmm.... should have said  Philip Reeve and David Frankland seem familiar with Blish's Cities in Flight.


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## Narkalui (Dec 9, 2018)

So basically it's The Hidden Fortress, again, but with different aesthetics?


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## Teresa Edgerton (Dec 9, 2018)

I enjoyed the books.  To me they seemed fresh in plot and conception.  They were a lot more grim than any other YA I can think of at the time.  Very intense.

What the movie will be like, who knows—the screenwriters may have brought in influences from other, older writers—or newer writers for that matter—as well as their own notions of how to "improve" the original, and thereby strayed from the books a lot.  Who can say?  Trailers can be so deceptive, so can producers when promoting their movies.  Guess we'll have to wait until the movie comes out and read some reviews.

For now, going by the trailer it looks like the acting will be less than stellar, but at least the visuals look like they'll be interesting.


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## HareBrain (Dec 9, 2018)

Teresa Edgerton said:


> Guess we'll have to wait until the movie comes out and read some reviews.



I've read a few newspaper reviews over the past week, and they've all said it looks good with some spectacular action, but with a weak script. And most have trouble accepting the city on tracks idea (as I do, to be fair, even as fantasy).


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## Narkalui (Dec 9, 2018)

Wilful suspension of disbelief is something in which I am certainly not lacking. I have not read the books, I have just seen this trailer and it seems to me that I have seen this film dozens of times before


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## Toby Frost (Dec 9, 2018)

I once met Philip Reeve. Really nice chap. In fact, I was once featured on his blog, as he read _Space Captain Smith_ and enjoyed it. Years later, I was at a station in London and spotted him with Sarah McIntyre, who works with him on some books. I said hello. They were really friendly (once they'd figured out that I wasn't mad).

A Conversation with Toby Frost | The Solitary Bee


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## scarpelius (Dec 11, 2018)

Sooo...
Been there, seen the movie.
Great visuals, decent characters, a MC which hardly talks, an interesting robot, decent action.
Not enough time to develop the characters to their potential.
What did bothered me it is the premise of "predatory cities", gigantic mechanical moving cities, with a touch of steampunk (ok, a lot of steampunk), running on some non-identified fuel. I mean, we have the classical Armageddon which wipes the actual civilization (there is a reference in the movie to 2018) and one thousands years latter the survivors have the ability to build gigantic cities and roam the continents on their back.? Mind that the earth is not contaminated by the Armageddon to justify such an effort.
It seems to me the movie is made for a degraded IQ spectator.
P.S. It is fun to see how an electric bread toaster is a highly prized museum artifact, but they had jet engines.


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## Al Jackson (Dec 13, 2018)

With 64 critics reviews it is running 33 percent over at Rotten Tomatoes , general opinion is the VFX are fine but not much of a story.
I have not read the novels so I did not know these are characterized as 'young adult'.

Interesting to see the audience ratings.


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## Narkalui (Dec 13, 2018)

Al Jackson said:


> With 64 critics reviews it is running 33 percent over at Rotten Tomatoes , general opinion is the VFX are fine but not much of a story.
> I have not read the novels so I did not know these are characterized as 'young adult'.
> 
> Interesting to see the audience ratings.


Not surprised...


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## Toby Frost (Dec 14, 2018)

I've also heard that the story isn't great, but frankly the stories of most big-budget films are pretty predictable, so I'm not sure what to make of that.


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## Al Jackson (Dec 14, 2018)

Toby Frost said:


> I've also heard that the story isn't great, but frankly the stories of most big-budget films are pretty predictable, so I'm not sure what to make of that.



That is the challenge is it not?
Lord of the Rings is big vista but it has a great story.
It can be done, Lawrence of Arabia , even the 2000 film Gladiator (not very historical, but a good yarn).
It can be done but does take a measure of imagination , from what I have heard the source material here needed better fixing than it got.


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## Toby Frost (Dec 14, 2018)

Definitely. Earlier this year I watched The Winter Soldier, the second Captain America film. I thought it was really good until it became about superheroes punching each other. But then, that's kind of the point!


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## Al Jackson (Dec 14, 2018)

Toby Frost said:


> Definitely. Earlier this year I watched The Winter Soldier, the second Captain America film. I thought it was really good until it became about superheroes punching each other. But then, that's kind of the point!


I may have mentioned this elsewhere but I saw a movie review this year where the critic said he thought all the character stories , in a comic book movie, were so interesting that he wished they had left out all the action!!


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## Teresa Edgerton (Dec 14, 2018)

It's been a long time since I read Mortal Engines and its sequels, so I don't remember my reactions to them as well as I might, but I did read all the books, so I imagine I must have liked them. Perhaps remembering background from the books that was left out of the movie might enrich my enjoyment of the film, always supposing I go to see it, which I am somewhat conflicted about, because it might just as well make me annoyed if I feel they left out important parts (always supposing that I remember those parts myself).

But as for having difficulty suspending my disbelief about the predator cities moving across the landscape on wheels, I do recall that I didn't let it bother me, because I saw quite clearly that the cities were a metaphor for ... well, a whole list of things ... and a warning of how desperate and dangerous humanity might become if we carelessly used up natural resources and didn't find positive ways to adapt but continued greedy and acquisitive.   At the same time that I was aware of the metaphor and the warning, I didn't feel preached to, because so far as I recall the characters didn't make speeches about the lessons we should have learned, but just kept busy trying to survive in a hostile world.


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## Al Jackson (Dec 14, 2018)

Ouch! Over at RT Mortal Engines is running 29% with 100 critics reviews.
51% with nearly 1000 audience reviews.
Has a 45 at Metacritic.

Gee I think Peter Jackson calculated wrong on producing this one.


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## BAYLOR (Dec 15, 2018)

Al Jackson said:


> Yeah after watching the most recent trailer I got the feeling David Frankland got the idea from James Blish's Cities in Flight first novel printed in 1956.
> 
> View attachment 48440




I went thought my book pile and discovered that I actually had this book.


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## scarpelius (Dec 15, 2018)

@Teresa Edgerton I can assure you there is no room for metaphors in the movie. When London "walks" the landscape is changed. 
Then the suspension of disbelief is gone in the human hunt scene at night, when some pirates cities (or at least very big machinery) are burning a lot of fuel to catch humans in the middle of nowhere. If that wasn't enough, after that comes the scene where the slave are sold to an improvised market for 5 coins (forgot the name of the money). It doesn't sound very profitable to me.


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## picklematrix (Dec 15, 2018)

Most of the reviews are lukewarm at best for this film. I'm thinking I may not rush out to see it at the cinema.


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## HareBrain (Dec 15, 2018)

This amused me from Glenn Kenny's review:



> Never mind that the whole concept of the movie is like someone decided to take Terry Gilliam’s “The Crimson Permanent Assurance” way more seriously than it was ever intended.


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## Pyan (Dec 16, 2018)

Well, I went to see it yesterday, sat in the cinema, _turned off my critical analysis programme_ and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle, the steampunk tech, the battle scenes and the inventiveness. 
Worrying about fuel consumption, to my mind, is like worrying about the veracity of radioactive spider bites, or the energy requirements of a Starfleet transporter system...


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## Al Jackson (Dec 17, 2018)

pyan said:


> Well, I went to see it yesterday, sat in the cinema, _turned off my critical analysis programme_ and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle, the steampunk tech, the battle scenes and the inventiveness.
> Worrying about fuel consumption, to my mind, is like worrying about the veracity of radioactive spider bites, or the energy requirements of a Starfleet transporter system...



VFX cannot make up for the entertainment value of a good story well put.
The 'It is only a movie' attitude says to me even if I don't like the film I am supposed to, that passes beyond my understanding.
Either one is entertained or one is not.


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## BAYLOR (Dec 17, 2018)

picklematrix said:


> Most of the reviews are lukewarm at best for this film. I'm thinking I may not rush out to see it at the cinema.



Its doing dismally at the box office.


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## BAYLOR (Dec 17, 2018)

HareBrain said:


> This amused me from Glenn Kenny's review:



There are more then a few occasions in which ive gone to a film not like by critics only end up liking the film.


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## picklematrix (Dec 17, 2018)

Sounds as if the script is the issue. Vfx looks good. I'll have to watch to see for sure, but that sounds about on trend with a few big properties in Hollywood right now. A badly written script is nigh impossible to salvage.


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## BAYLOR (Dec 17, 2018)

picklematrix said:


> Sounds as if the script is the issue. Vfx looks good. I'll have to watch to see for sure, but that sounds about on trend with a few big properties in Hollywood right now. A badly written script is nigh impossible to salvage.



Good Scripts tend  to be not very high priorities with movie executives.


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## Al Jackson (Dec 18, 2018)

It movie is really crashing at the boxoffice , world wide sales are no making up for the US market.
This film does not have Star Wars or Tolkien niche like thing …
You never know, The Martian was made for 100 million, did 228 million US , but 630 million world wide which is good. Gravity was a 100 million dollar production and made 700 million world wide. I head that Sandra Bullock made 70 million because she took a percentage as a salary. 
Those movies had a good story and a good screenplay.
Blade Runner 2049 , which after watching again , a year later, is , I think , the best film of 2017, really got little love in the money department.


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## AlexH (Dec 18, 2018)

I enjoyed Mortal Engines. Reading this thread, it sounds like it may not get a sequel, which I think is a shame.

Is it out in China yet? That could make-or-break it.


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## Al Jackson (Dec 19, 2018)

AlexH said:


> I enjoyed Mortal Engines. Reading this thread, it sounds like it may not get a sequel, which I think is a shame.
> 
> Is it out in China yet? That could make-or-break it.



It has not , it really seems to have cratered. Worldwide , 43 million, so would have to make about 150 million in China to break even or 250 million to turn a profit.
Aquaman has already pulled in nearly 200 million in China and nearly 300 million world wide , I think that is gonna kill Mortal Engines.  Even tho Peter Jackson did not direct he sure had a lot of hands on , I don't think he could have saved it.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Dec 19, 2018)

Sounds like this is one I am definitely not going to see at the movie theater, but if it is available on Kindle later I may be just curious enough to watch it then and compare with the book.


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## Happy Joe (Dec 20, 2018)

Mortal engines is already in my Netfix queue.. like others I will probably forgo watching it in a theater at least until after the local schools restart post Christmas break.

Enjoy!


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## Al Jackson (Dec 21, 2018)

Welpe, after a week* Mortal Engines *is sitting at approximately 45 million worldwide, I don't think China can save it with the other holiday movies coming out. 
*Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets* domestic take was about 41 million , *Mortal Engines* is about 10 million , ouch!  
Audience rating at RT is 56% which is better than Valerian which had a 53%. 
I wonder if Peter Jackson has come out with any comments about the poor showing?


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## Al Jackson (Dec 30, 2018)

I think Mortal Engines is about to be pulled from theaters..
It is on track to not even break 75 million that is really dismal.
I wonder if Peter Jackson has had anything to say about it?

Looks like Welcome to Marwen is going to do even worse!

You know when I saw the previews of both these films a tweet in the back of my head said , nope!, these are going to crash and burn.
Welcome to Marwen looked creepy.


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## Dave (Feb 16, 2019)

I liked this. A little too long, but all new films are, especially any that Peter Jackson has some involvement. The story was as good as anything else in the last few years. There was a comparison here to _Aquaman_ and I'd ask if you seriously want to argue _Aquaman_ was more cerebral?

it was escapist nonsense and easily watchable. I didn't see it as an accurate future prediction. 


HareBrain said:


> I've read a few newspaper reviews... and most have trouble accepting the city on tracks idea.


Doesn't the moving cities idea come from Japanese Anime? The James Blish _Cities in Flight _cities did also have a large atomic space weapon called the Bethé blaster, so maybe @Al Jackson has a point here.


scarpelius said:


> What did bothered me it is the premise of "predatory cities", gigantic mechanical moving cities, with a touch of steampunk (ok, a lot of steampunk), running on some non-identified fuel.


I got the idea was that big cities were living off smaller cities, consuming them entirely, until only the biggest cities remained and that was the point we had now reached, with nothing left to consume. In that regard, it certainly does act as the metaphor @Teresa Edgerton speaks of. 


scarpelius said:


> I can assure you there is no room for metaphors in the movie... the human hunt scene at night, when [they] are burning a lot of fuel to catch humans in the middle of nowhere... after that comes the scene where the slaves are sold to an improvised market for 5 coins... It doesn't sound very profitable to me.


Yes, that fails to make any sense on a number of levels, doesn't it? The burning of a carbon fuel (and as pointed out, they have jet engines on aircraft) and the fact that they do it to catch humans who are worth less than the fuel.

The ending was also confused. The peaceful people inhabiting the shield wall own a lot of weapons to defend it. Is the MEDUSA weapon the work of a single mad scientist or is it the official policy of the government? We were told that London was full of "innocent people" who should be saved if there was any other way. We then observe these "innocent people" cheering as the shield wall is destroyed with people living inside. Then, after London joins the multitude of other cities that have failed to breach the wall, the inhabitants are welcomed into the shield wall and go along willingly. If there are enough resources behind the shield wall for everyone, then what need is there for a wall and why didn't they just walk in without a fight?


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## Les (Feb 16, 2019)

I’ve seen the movie. As entertainment it’s not too bad, but the acting is not brilliant. Great CGI and action. Typically Peter Jackson I’d say. Worth a watch for a hoot. I’ve not read the book(s) to be able to comment on the faithfulness to the story.


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## AnnWanges (Feb 26, 2019)

just an overrated fantasy, nothing new


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## Teresa Edgerton (Feb 27, 2019)

Considering that the movie did so poorly, it doesn't sound like it was over-rated—unless it was _really_ abysmal (haven't seen it, so I can't say, all I know is the book).

But of course the story is not new.  It was written almost 20 years ago.


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## picklematrix (Feb 27, 2019)

The books by Philip Reeve seem to be a lot more popular than I first thought, as I'm the only person I've met who had read them. 
Unfortunately, That still doesn't mean the fan base is large enough for a big budget movie to make its money back, especially with so many competing blockbusters.
Genre fiction has had VERY hit and miss record of movie adaptations lately. I predict that the major studios will stick with properties along the lines of John Green novels for the foreseeable future.
I still hold out hope for a half decent adaptation of 'Red Rising'!


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## Teresa Edgerton (Feb 27, 2019)

There were a lot of people reading them here about the time I first joined, but of course he was still bringing out new books in the series then and winning awards, both of which no doubt kept interest high. If the movie had been made ten years ago ... and I suppose had been better ... it might have enjoyed greater success.


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## BAYLOR (Mar 4, 2019)

Teresa Edgerton said:


> Considering that the movie did so poorly, it doesn't sound like it was over-rated—unless it was _really_ abysmal (haven't seen it, so I can't say, all I know is the book).
> 
> But of course the story is not new.  It was written almost 20 years ago.



Until  I saw first trailer for the film . I was unaware of the Mortal Engine series.   On a whim I picked up book one and was impressed by the story . I went out and bought  the other three books in the series .  Im reading book 2* Predator's Gold* and liking it .  It is a pity the film didn't do well because this could of and should of become a major film franchise.


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## picklematrix (Mar 4, 2019)

Hollywood really need to up their game with these types of films. There are only so many YA properties with a big enough potential audience to be a success. A large fan base is pretty important for the studio to consider adapting a novel.


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