Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods (Official Thread)

[Supa]

Spike has no understanding of subtlety

I really wish he would stop cutting to things that bring me out of the movie. Why are you showing a photo of Aretha Franklin after a character says her name? We know what Aretha looks like and even if we didn't you don't stop the movie to show us. The worst was when they mentioned the black Trump supporter and cut to him with that big ass arrow

Spike movies tend to have moments where the dialog is referencing current events in a ham fisted manner. Might as well have Keenan pop up

That BLM scene was cringey.

Another sloppy moment is Eddie slowly walking backwards. We know he's going to step on a mine. That's some bone headed film making to be that predictable.

David randomly finding the gold was handled poorly.

Delroy breaking the 4th wall

Movie was way too long. Could have cut this down to 2 hours.

Flaws aside the actors did a great job.

6.5/10

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

Spike has no understanding of subtlety

I really wish he would stop cutting to things that bring me out of the movie. Why are you showing a photo of Aretha Franklin after a character says her name? We know what Aretha looks like and even if we didn't you don't stop the movie to show us. The worst was when they mentioned the black Trump supporter and cut to him with that big ass arrow

Spike movies tend to have moments where the dialog is referencing current events in a ham fisted manner. Might as well have Keenan pop up

That BLM scene was cringey.

Another sloppy moment is Eddie slowly walking backwards. We know he's going to step on a mine. That's some bone headed film making to be that predictable.

David randomly finding the gold was handled poorly.

Delroy breaking the 4th wall

Movie was way too long. Could have cut this down to 2 hours.

Flaws aside the actors did a great job.

6.5/10

There was nothing wrong with the 4th wall break by Lindo. That was him clearly losing his mind. Thats why the camera pans away from him and sees Boseman the 2nd time he does it.

Its an 8.5 outta 10 for me. I do think we gotta acknowledge that Spike is a professor at NYU. So on one hand he's constantly sharpening his knowledge and skill on film. The downside is that professor/lecturer Spike creeps into his films every now and then.

I think it was more organic in films like Bamboozled when he was dropping knowledge in terms of dialogue. However, I get the feeling Spike is thinking longterm. He knows his films will analyzed long after he's gone so he wants them to educational as well as entertaining.

 

[Supa]

There was nothing wrong with the 4th wall break by Lindo. That was him clearly losing his mind. Thats why the camera pans away from him and sees Boseman the 2nd time he does it.

Its an 8.5 outta 10 for me. I do think we gotta acknowledge that Spike is a professor at NYU. So on one hand he's constantly sharpening his knowledge and skill on film. The downside is that professor/lecturer Spike creeps into his films every now and then.

I think it was more organic in films like Bamboozled when he was dropping knowledge in terms of dialogue. However, I get the feeling Spike is thinking longterm. He knows his films will analyzed long after he's gone so he wants them to educational as well as entertaining.

I don't like how that was executed at all. It's one thing if he's walking through the jungle talking to himself but he's standing there talking directly to the camera.

One minute he's running from the men chasing him, cut to the other characters, cut back to Delroy and he's standing still monologuing directly to the audience. That's jarring to watch. If men are chasing you with guns it would make zero sense for that to happen.

I don't care about all that other stuff. This was a poorly executed film with too many inconsistencies. No way would I sit through this again and it's not good enough to warrant any further analysis. No film class will ever discuss this

 

[lightskin jermaine]

Decent movie. The final gunfight was smh worthy, tho.

 

[IVS]

My interpretation was that

Spoiler

Jean Reno's French villain was actually wearing Paul's hat ironically to show how much he HATED all Americans and blamed them all for Trump. When he first met with the group, Paul tried to give him the old "We saved your French ass from eating Bratwurst in WW2!" speech. That gave the impression that he was dealing with a whole group of ignorant Trump-loving Americans that we was about to rip off.

He shows up with Paul's hat on basically to send the message that he had Paul killed and took his hat. Then, he takes the hat off, call it "shyt", and throws it down.

I actually think (even though he's a bad guy) in his mind he sees himself as morally better than the Americans. They came to Vietnam to basically steal the gold that was ALWAYS meant to be given to the Vietnamese people. Even though he's trying to make himself rich by ripping the 5 Bloods off (and murdering them), he's also sharing at least some of his money with Vietnamese officers who feel it rightfully belongs to them (and they're not really wrong).

I thought that gold was being brought there for purchasing opium from the warlords/generals.

 

[Ziggiy]

I don't like how that was executed at all. It's one thing if he's walking through the jungle talking to himself but he's standing there talking directly to the camera.

One minute he's running from the men chasing him, cut to the other characters, cut back to Delroy and he's standing still monologuing directly to the audience. That's jarring to watch. If men are chasing you with guns it would make zero sense for that to happen.

I don't care about all that other stuff. This was a poorly executed film with too many inconsistencies. No way would I sit through this again and it's not good enough to warrant any further analysis. No film class will ever discuss this

Have you NEVER seen a Spike Lee movie


He does the “talking into the camera” bit in almost all of his films, including Do The Right Thing, He Got Game, Clockers, and Chiraq. He also utilized the technique in the She’s Gotta Have It series. Its a Spike Lee staple

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

Decided to rewatch Miracle at St. Anna. Curious what went wrong since Spike had just did Inside Man.

20 mins in and notice Michael K. Williams and Ghost from Power. Already got the feeling they shoulda been the leads.

 

[Supa]

Have you NEVER seen a Spike Lee movie


He does the “talking into the camera” bit in almost all of his films, including Do The Right Thing, He Got Game, Clockers, and Chiraq. He also utilized the technique in the She’s Gotta Have It series. Its a Spike Lee staple

How many of those characters were running from assassins?

The timing and execution is what I didn't like.

 

[LezJepzin]

How much was it when you bought it

$100 + around $12 shipping from Brooklyn to CA

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

I don't like how that was executed at all. It's one thing if he's walking through the jungle talking to himself but he's standing there talking directly to the camera.

One minute he's running from the men chasing him, cut to the other characters, cut back to Delroy and he's standing still monologuing directly to the audience. That's jarring to watch. If men are chasing you with guns it would make zero sense for that to happen.

I don't care about all that other stuff. This was a poorly executed film with too many inconsistencies. No way would I sit through this again and it's not good enough to warrant any further analysis. No film class will ever discuss this

Breh he was moving at the same pace as when he walked off from his crew. That old man wasnt running with gold nowhere.

It wasnt until the 2nd time he did it that he was completely stopped and that was after losing the gold, getting bit by snake and clearly losing it even more. On that issue...Thats not the fight to have about this movie.


If you wanna say they could have written out the landmine group I'd agree. Cut

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

Decided to rewatch Miracle at St. Anna. Curious what went wrong since Spike had just did Inside Man.

20 mins in and notice Michael K. Williams and Ghost from Power. Already got the feeling they shoulda been the leads.

Man I dont know if I'm going to finish this in one sitting..

He needed stronger actors for these roles....the cinematography is much better in Da 5 Bloods as well. At least he learned from that experience.

 

[KingofthePenguins]

How many of those characters were running from assassins?

The timing and execution is what I didn't like.

That was before they began chasing him and after the snake bite from what I remember. It obviously exhibits that he is hallucinating as the other poster says

 

[KingofthePenguins]

Breh he was moving at the same pace as when he walked off from his crew. That old man wasnt running with gold nowhere.

It wasnt until the 2nd time he did it that he was completely stopped and that was after losing the gold, getting bit by snake and clearly losing it even more. On that issue...Thats not the fight to have about this movie.


If you wanna say they could have written out the landmine group I'd agree. Cut

A lot of people just say shyt to say shyt because he is even right about the context of that scene

 

[Black Lightning]

One of the best films I've ever seen.

5 Stars

 

[Ya' Cousin Cleon]

you know something

the more I think about it

the more I realized just how influential spike is to this generation of filmmakers

There was nothing wrong with the 4th wall break by Lindo. That was him clearly losing his mind. Thats why the camera pans away from him and sees Boseman the 2nd time he does it.

Its an 8.5 outta 10 for me. I do think we gotta acknowledge that Spike is a professor at NYU. So on one hand he's constantly sharpening his knowledge and skill on film. The downside is that professor/lecturer Spike creeps into his films every now and then.

I think it was more organic in films like Bamboozled when he was dropping knowledge in terms of dialogue. However, I get the feeling Spike is thinking longterm. He knows his films will analyzed long after he's gone so he wants them to educational as well as entertaining.