Our first introduction to the Hammer and the superhero who wields the powerful weapon was not a bad deal.
We watched Thor a short while ago and while we certainly didn’t leave the theater in a giddy euphoria, we didn’t feel shortchanged either.
Superhero movies often come with an extra dimension, the extraterrestrial dimension, and Thor doesn’t stray from the formula.
Our eponymous 12-pack blonde hero (Chris Hemsworth) hailing from the distant realm Asgard is banished to Earth and stripped of his Hammer-lifting and Hammer-hurling powers by his father, the King Odin (Anthony Hopkins), as punishment for his reckless attack on the Frost Giants, those ice-covered monsters.
Never mind that the seeds of a conspiracy are being hatched at the same time by Thor’s jealous younger brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
Asgard Meets Earth
The presumptive heir’s landing path on Earth is on the same course as a van bearing young astrophysicist researcher Jane (Natalie Portman) in New Mexico.
Before long our 12-pack Asgard immigrant is developing a fondness for coffee and other Earthly delights including Black Swan oops Jane.
To keep things moving, Thor director Kenneth Branagh and his team of writers get a secretive government agency on the researchers’ trail confiscating all their papers and computers and get the Hammer to conveniently fall nearby. But not all of the 12-pack hero’s tugs and pulls can move the Hammer even an inch.
Back home at Asgard Loki has declared himself King after Odin collapses. Soon, we are witness to Loki’s emissary, a gigantic metallic hulk, striding across the New Mexico town of Puente Antiguo emitting fire and destroying everything in its path.
As the hulking metal monster marches toward him, Thor now shows his true mettle.
Just when it seems like the metallic beast has killed Thor, he recovers his powers, the Hammer is back in his hand and all’s soon well in all the realms.
Go for It
Thor is very appealing visually, even in the 2D version that we watched (the 3D version hasn’t found much favor with some critics).
The action scenes are compelling, be it the fights with Frost Giants, the ones on Earth or the last fratricidal battle on the bridge between Thor and Lokie.
With his stunning physique and solid looks, Australian actor Chris Hemsworth is well suited for the role of Thor.
We didn’t expect to see any extraordinary acting sparks to fly from either him or Natalie Portman and we didn’t. But they were alright.
The story won’t get you wet between the legs but all in all Thor is not a bad deal.
This weekend when none of the Bollywood, Kollywood and Tollywood movies in the U.S. seem in the least appealing, Thor is a safe bet.
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I remember reading about the real thor when i was in high school,always wondered what it would look like on the big screen.off topic,anyone else see this about mars?
http://www.astronomy.com/en/News-Observing/News/2011/05/Mars%20Express%20sees%20deep%20fractures%20on%20the%20Red%20Planet.aspx
the only reason i bothered posting it is because the author compares mars to india in one paragraph,the rest is kind of boring,still interesting for those into astronomy
Searchindia.com Responds:
You write: I remember reading about the real thor
And where would you find this so-called real Thor!
i dont consider myself and expert but according to my shiksha guru, thor was an extraterrestrial from space who visited earth millennia ago.
if you want to know more about ancient astronaut (i know its spelled wrong) theology,feel free to visit erich von daniken’s website or read sadaputa dasa’s “god and science” (see link) for a much better explanation
http://www.godandscience.net/chap19.html
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We are aware of Erich von Daniken and his Chariots of the Gods but Sadaputa Dasa’s “god and science” is new to us. Will read the content in your link and update this response later.
BTW, some people believe Thursday was named after Thor.
Sorry rama dasa and SI, but von Daniken is a fraud, as in he actually committed tax-fraud and was jailed prior to writing CotG, and he’s been committing intellectual-fraud since.
I took his words as gospel too back in the 90’s, but I’ve wisened up since.
Your shiksha guru is a hack too, rama dasa.
And SI, Thursday is indeed named after Thor. Even the word “Hell” comes from Germanic/Norse mythology since Helheim (realm of the dead) is one of the 9 realms connected by the Yggdrasil/cosmic tree. The movie makes mention of the realms and the cosmic tree.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We never said we believe Erich von Daniken’s theories. Look at our response again. All we said was that We are aware of Erich von Daniken and his Chariots of the Gods .
That said, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that aliens might have visited Earth. But in the absence of definitive proof, it’s better to be skeptical of such claims.
“We never said we believe Erich von Daniken’s theories”
Never said you did. Just letting you know that von Daniken (among many who espouse such theories like Zachariah Sitchin, Immanuel Velikovsky, etc.) is especially a bigger fraud on account of having actually forged pottery shards with “flying vehicles” on them to stake his claim.
“it’s not out of the realm of possibility that aliens might have visited Earth”
There’s evidence for meteorites, cosmic dust and the like. Nothing more. Most “ancient alien civilization builders/builder-helpers” theories are based predominantly on arguments from ignorance e.g., “we don’t know how ancient man could’ve cut these rocks with such precision, therefore it must be the aliens.” and of course….loads of reefer.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Erich von Daniken (like another writer of a different genre Ayn Rand) tends to make an impression on impressionable minds.
When we were in school one of our friends got the Daniken books and they created a short-lived stir.
2. You write: Most “ancient alien civilization builders/builder-helpers” theories are based predominantly on arguments from ignorance….
Maybe in the past. But you ignore the bigger motivation of the last few decades – Money. Erich von Daniken would have languished in obscurity and maybe even penury but for his novel theories.
Tax evasion is not a real crime, molesting children is. Even if he was guilty so what?
What does not paying taxes have to do with the fact that aliens have visited this planet (you cant seriously say that in 50 million years we haven’t had one lousy visitor from space) or that murugan is actually from the pleidies.
I never said von deniken was my guru (hariprasad swami from junagadh was my diksha guru) nor my shiksha guru (nandanandana dasa) i just said that it’s possible. Also that doesn’t disprove any of his theories, just that he doesnt like paying taxes,and who the heck does?
LAD obviously hasn’t much experience with astronomy else he would know that there are literally billions of galaxies all of which have potential for life.also we have discovered several earth planets,bigger than ours,with,get this,WATER!(see link)
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/02/02/motherlode-of-potential-planets-found-more-than-1200-alien-worlds/
SearchIndia.com Responds:
OK, StrYngLad74 the ball’s in your court.
Rama Dasa does have a point on the tax issue. Tax evasion is not necessarily a harbinger of other crimes.
@rama dasa and SI
Errr….I’m illustrating my point to show that von Daniken, was just like his theories…checkered and fraudulent. This may sound like an ad hominem to you, but his act of fraud is directly correlated to his pervading another fraud viz., pseudo-archaeology/science bullshite.
@rama dasa: And who said tax evasion is not a crime? Just cos you think it isn’t doesn’t change the fact that it is. And equating it to child molestation….jeez, do you know what a strawman/moving the goalpost argument is?
Also, I never said von Daniken is your guru either. Do you even read properly? I said whichever guru said “Thor is an alien” was making crap up.
And here’s you’re going to get pwned….
“LAD obviously hasn’t much experience with astronomy else he would know that there are literally billions of galaxies all of which have potential for life”-
And you do? Please cite sources from journals which indicate all the galaxies with potential for life? And btw, POTENTIAL FOR LIFE =/= Life actually exists, k?
And yeah, I have been into astronomy since I was seven, so pipe down, kiddo. I also have a Ph.D. in engineering. Capiche?
“also we have discovered several earth planets,bigger than ours,with,get this,WATER!(see link)”
This is what happens when people make a cursory reading and strut around like big-d!ck swingin’ pimps. Did you bother to read this statement from the link?article?
“Now, to be careful, these are not necessarily Earth-like planets: they may be very close to their stars and very hot, or may not have atmospheres, or may have poisonous atmospheres, and so on. But you have to realize that the more Earth-sized planets we find, the more likely it is that some, just by chance, are in their star’s habitable zone where liquid water can exist on the surface. And to be clear, “Earth-like” doesn’t mean it’s a twin of our home planet, just that conditions are similar — Mars is Earth-like in many ways, for example. But this news by Kepler means it’s far more likely that we’ll eventually find a planet that looks very much like our own.”
Now read that again…SLOWLY.
And btw, WATER alone is not enough. You need LIQUID WATER to enable life. Mars has frozen water (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080620.html). Think it has life????
That said, providing evidence of earth-like planets with water (yes, even LIQUID WATER) is ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE for previous alien visitation or of technologically-advanced sentient life-form capable of traveling billions of miles in fancy space-ships to set up civilizations on teensy-weensy earth. This is a fallacious argument by generalization and selective observation.
Consider yourself pwned.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Since the points StrYngLad74 is making/responding to (above) originally flowed from Rama Dasa’s pen, we’ll let the humble servant of Rama respond. 😉
But as for your first paragraph about ‘direct correlation’ of one fraud to another in Erich von Daniken’s case that’s absolute hogwash. And you know it well too since you wisely refrained from elaborating or trying to adduce any proof.
Thor and Iron Man are part of the Marvel Studio plan to setup the big Avengers movie next summer. So you can think of it as an appetizer before a big entree (Hopefully not like the chicken tikka abomination you showed few days back).
Its always interesting to see how Hollywood merges character actors like Anthony Hopkins, Portman, Mickey Rourke, Jeff Bridges or Gary Oldman to bring life to what is average plots in these superhero movies.
Don’t you think Indian movies put similar veterans in cardboard roles like old uncles or boring villains which any person from the street could perform?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Thor and Iron Man are part of the Marvel Studio plan to setup the big Avengers movie next summer.
There was supposed to be a teaser at the end of the movie about Avengers. But for whatever reason, they never showed it at our theater.
2. You write: Don’t you think Indian movies put similar veterans in cardboard roles like old uncles or boring villains which any person from the street could perform?
Indian film-makers can’t/won’t make decent quality movies because most Indian moviegoers love to watch junk with those ugly, crude, vulgar item numbers and the display of the heroine’s midriff or the crass display of tits with the pallu slipping.
I just returned from watching the movie with my 5-year old son. I made sure that I stayed until the very end and caught the Avengers teaser. We had to wait until the last rolling credit was displayed. It wasn’t bad. Given that Captain America is going to be the next Marvel movie, things are being set up quite nicely.
Marvel has a tradition of putting in teasers at the end of movies (barring the Spider Man movies), after which they wait and build a sequel around the teaser if the original movie is successful. Of course, with the Avengers the situation is slightly different – they have committed to making the movie, independent of the success or failure of the individual movies:
1. The Silver Surfer was shown awake at the end of “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”. The movie flopped, so the franchise was aborted. Chris Evans (the guy who played the Human Torch) was picked for Captain America, though.
2. Samuel Jackson (Nick Fury) was shown after Iron Man. Iron Man was a mega-success, so Fury was in the sequel.
3. Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) was shown after The Incredible Hulk. The movie was a success, but Ed Norton had issues with Marvel, so a new Hulk is being brought into the Avengers movie.
4. The Mjölnir was shown after Iron Man 2, and Thor came out
Your statement would probably have been slightly different if you had been able to see the teaser 🙂
I like Thor as a superhero concept. As they say in the movie, the stories of Asgard made people (the Norse) adopt the figures into their own mythology.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
At our theater, the credits stopped abruptly or were never shown at the end of the movie. We and scores of others looking forward to the teaser were understandably disappointed to be denied it.
BTW, Bridesmaids (a movie belonging to a completely different genre) is even better than Thor. No, your son won’t relish it though you’ll enjoy the various positions (that men and women are known to deploy for purposes of procreation or recreation) right at the beginning of the movie. 😉
Hello SI
Long time reader first time commenter here. Haven’t seen this movie yet but I do not have high hopes for it. Seems to me one has to be wary of Hollywood action/fantasy/mythological movies which has a famous thespian in a supporting role. For example, Liam Neeson in Clash of the Titans, Ben Kingsley in Prince of Persia and now this. The sole reason for their presence seems to be to lend the movie some form of credibility.
On a different note, watching the original British version of State of Play. It’s very good.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Long time reader first time commenter here.
Welcome aboard Sweetie! We love first-time commenters…getting tired of the long-time commenters. 😉
2. You write: Haven’t seen this movie yet but I do not have high hopes for it
As we wrote, this weekend (like almost every weekend) it’s slim pickings in the U.S. as far as Indian movies. So, Thor seemed a better bet.
3. We’ve watched the Hollywood version of State of Play and the less than impressive Tamil version Ko.
4. Watched Lovely Bones (Saoirse Ronan of Hanna fame, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Stanley Tucci) Friday night. Will do a short review later today.
Stanley Tucci got an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film.
Old is gold, SI.
Btw, check this out. Beautifully made trailer – http://vimeo.com/23383181
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Looks interesting!
We just purchased Nee Korinal and AJ from 180 (Siddharth, Nitya Menon, Priya Anand) from Apple iTunes. 🙂
Nice numbers.
Desperately praying that they’re not stolen shit.
Hi SI,
The trailer offered a delightfully silly film, and they seem to have delivered.
Offtopic: half expecting you to say “Not our peg of Gin” I recommend for the n’th time Hayao Miyazaki
http://www.thefilmpilgrim.com/reviews/laputa-castle-in-the-sky-blu-ray-review/3156
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’ll buy a Blu-ray player first and then watch Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Unfortunately, we’ve no plans to buy a blu-ray player right now. 😉
Have you seen Deja Vu (Denzel Washington)?
Directed by the same guy who did Man on Fire and Unstoppable. More likely that this too is in the same league as the other two.
If you haven’t seen it, try to watch and review it.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
No, we didn’t see Deja Vu. We vaguely remember that the film didn’t open to glowing reviews.
We’ll watch it for sure, sweetie.
hey SI,
try to listen to this song – Old hits of TMS – Naan Kavignanum Illai from Padithal Mattum Podhuma…! (Music by MS Viswanathan.)
(Situation – Shivaji marries a girl, who is more educated & dominant, because of a mischief played by his brother Baalaji. She hates him and does not treat him like a husband rather a servant.)
http://www.hutke.com/music/tamil/song/naan-kavignanum-illai
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Listening now.
Hey, Sivaji forgot the words Naan nalla nadiganum illai (I’m not a good actor). 😉
I don’t need to respond, I don’t have time to waste on a kindergarten internet debate.
I would rather check out Priya Rai or Gaya Patel than waste my time arguing whether life exists on other planets or not.
@ramadasa: You were a loser to begin with. You lack basic cognitive and argumentative skills. You got kiboshed, so go watch your ‘desi’ porn stars, kiddo…and don’t let your fist hit your forehead.
P.S. Someone who made a claim about getting a lot of p#ssy, shouldn’t declare on the very same forum that he watches porn. Porn is for kids who don’t get much, k dumba$$?
@SI: “But as for your first paragraph about ‘direct correlation’ of one fraud to another in Erich von Daniken’s case that’s absolute hogwash. And you know it well too since you wisely refrained from elaborating or trying to adduce any proof.”
May I ask what more elaboration do I need to provide or proofs that I need to append to my argument? EvD used fraudulent means to swindle his government and his readers….as did one Kent Hovind. Both swindled money from institutions and masses on false-pretexts and claims.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Marlon Brando used to go for therapy in the 1950s and 1960s. Brando was also a great actor. Is that correlation?
Again for someone who claims to have a phd?????
Anyway life doesnt depend on water all the time.just because we humans need water doesnt mean life on other planets do,just that some species do.some jellyfish are immortal and some bacteria can live for millions of years,so why cant species live without water?as far as being a loser goes,i dont take criticism from someone in cyperland.
So what if von denikan was a cheater? That doesnt mean aliens didnt visit this planet,if anything YOUR the loser since you cannot explain why we have billions of planets with no life (as you claim).
If you want to keep this debate up, I have some more time i can make,and yes there is scientific evidence that life exists on other planets but I don’t want to keep posting links to other sites.
You sound, no offense, just like any typical anti hindu hindu,again no offense but that’s the impression im giving.if you like i can show you the links where scientists have CONFIRMED life on other planets
your servant
ram das adhikari
Sorry I was away on vacation, jackass…so here’s some more pwnage after my return.
“Anyway life doesnt depend on water all the time.”
What do you mean “all the time” you goalpost moving, a-hole! My argument was and is that ALL KNOWN LIFEFORMS ARE WATER-BASED. Find me one that isn’t, you dense dumbass!
“some jellyfish are immortal and some bacteria can live for millions of years,so why cant species live without water?”
Sure, why can’t they live on hammered s**t or your brain matter that surely is lumped s**t? Strawman fallacy and an argument from ignorance, jackass!
“So what if von denikan was a cheater? That doesnt mean aliens didnt visit this planet”
No, idiot…we have no evidence of any alien visitation of the kind that Daniken talks about. He LIED about it…ALL of it, going to the extent of fabricating archaeological evidence.
“if anything YOUR the loser since you cannot explain why we have billions of planets with no life (as you claim).”
Billions of planets have no life because these billions of planets don’t possess liquid water and that is probably due to the size of the stars they orbit or their distance from the stars, which causes water to either vaporize or freeze.
Eat s**t!
“If you want to keep this debate up, I have some more time i can make,and yes there is scientific evidence that life exists on other planets but I don’t want to keep posting links to other sites.”
You have no scientific evidence. You don’t know what scientific query and scientific method even are.
“You sound, no offense, just like any typical anti hindu hindu,”
Bwahahahaha! You sound, absolutely offense meant, like an idiot!
And to restate, your deeksha and shiksha gurus are conniving, lying sacks of s**t…like you.
“but that’s the impression im giving”
You “give” an impression? You can’t speak fooking English and you argue science?
“if you like i can show you the links where scientists have CONFIRMED life on other planets”
Like Ur-anus? Listen idiot…life being confirmed on other planets has absolutely no validity in explaining alien visitation on earth. Strawman fallacy…again!
As for providing me links, I bet you’ll pull out some bulls**t written by a basement-dwelling c0ck-boy posting nonsensical garbage. Post links by CREDIBLE ORGANIZATIONS working on space research- SETI, NASA, ASRI, etc.
And yes, don’t even discuss Panspermia- if you wish to make the argument that some random bacterium landed on earth and changed into THOR. As of now, it’s nothing more than hypothesis and not a scientific theory.
Do you even know the difference between hypothesis and theory?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Hey Rama Dasa, you’ve got fan mail. 😉
Wherefore art thou Rama Dasa?