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The Elephant Man [DVD] (not really a review).

I was really looking forward to this film.

‘The Elephant Man’, I thought. He’ll be just like The Batman but with powers. Strong as an elephant no doubt, with the ability to shoot water from his long nose. Perhaps he can fly by flapping his big ears, like Dumbo. His grey costume would make it easy for him to blend into the night.

Imagine my surprise when this turned out to be about some disabled bloke in Victorian London. No battles, no explosions, no CGI, no villains. And it was in black and white!

Absolute rubbish and not recommended at all.

He didn’t even have an Elephant-mobile!

Never mind. The same director has done a film called ‘Eraserhead’. That sounds good.

Eamonn Murphy

August 2014

(region 2 DVD: pub: Momentum. 118 minute DVD. ASIN: B00005B73G)

cast: Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt

director: David Lynch

Editor’s note: It’s like ‘All Alone On The Western Front’. How many of you thought it was a cowboy film. The ‘Speed’ films were also not about drugs. Talk about ambiguity.

The Elephant Man [DVD] (not really a review).
The Elephant Man [DVD] (not really a review).

Eamonn Murphy

Eamonn Murphy reviews books for sfcrowsnest and writes short stories for small press magazines. His eBooks are available at all good retailers or see his website: https://eamonnmurphywriter298729969.wordpress.com/

9 thoughts on “The Elephant Man [DVD] (not really a review).

  • You thought this was a superhero film? Did you bother even reading what was described on the DVD case?

    “Absolute rubbish and not recommended at all.”

    It’s okay to not like the film but I would expect some insight from you unless your statement “No battles, no explosions, no CGI, no villains. And it was in black and white!” is it.

    This film is a classic, it actually deals with true emotions and makes a statement on humanity… I’ll stop there because that might be confusing for you.

    Don’t get me wrong, I had a friend that didn’t like a certain piece of literature that is widely viewed as a “classic.” That’s fine. But when I found he didn’t like (and with deeper digging) didn’t understand any of the breadth of work that is usually held up as the “best of the best” I realized he was a bit… shallow.

    “Absolute rubbish…” you say. Ha, I feel sorry for you. Anyways, go find a superhero film with lots of explosions and CGI and enjoy. (And yes, I can enjoy those also.)

    ~ Louis

    Reply
    • The review was a spoof I sent to Geoff. I didn’t think he would publish it. It’s a great film, a classic.

      I thought the review was so silly it was obviously a spoof.

      Reply
      • My apologies Eamonn. Your “review” was very over-the-top and I almost started my post with the question, “is this a joke or a satire piece?”

        But I didn’t, so I will admit I got caught off.

        I think I was sensitive because I still had in my head, the friend I commented on that shunned all literature as “haughty.”

        So very good. Your piece went over my head and I didn’t get it. I accept that fully. 😉

        Thanks for the followup.

        Reply
  • is that you with the bag on your head? 😉

    Reply
  • A wild guess . . . but is Louis from the USA?

    Reply
    • ColonelFrog,

      Yes, I am from the USA.

      If what “gave it away” was that I was in some way rude in my original post, then I do apologize to all. I never meant that.

      I reacted to the original review and didn’t let it sink in that it was so over the top that there might be more going on there. 🙁

      Ah well, I do get fooled occasionally.

      ~ Louis

      Reply
      • No, it’s more that exposure to Monty Python, bad weather and poor dental care at an early age means that it’s easy to mark a UK bod from a USA citizen when they comment (Australians and New Zealander count as hon. Brits as far as our silly humour goes).

        Reply
  • Never mind Louise, we all get fooled sometimes. When I was young there was a documentary on tv about a secret American colony on Mars. It was very convincing and as a mad sf fan I was so keen for it to be true I failed to note the date of transmission. April 1st – April Fools Day.

    They didn’t trick me with the spaghetti tree, though. I spotted that one.

    Best wishes

    Eamonn

    Reply
    • Eamonn,

      Yes, I have to be especially vigilant around April 1st, there are some clever news items during that time. Plus as you point out, if one is reading something that we want to be true… Oh goodness, it’s so easy to fall for it. (I have.)

      ~ Louis

      Reply

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