Film Limitless

[captainballs]

Limitless is a pretty cool guy, he takes drugs and doesn't afraid of anything

 

[Larson0]

i liked the concept but it got annoying after a bit. i figured it was made for the huge addiction thats in out culture nowadays to pills and the whole time was meant to be something like painkillers, meth, coke, etc.

i mean, you take adderall you get very euphoric, get lots done, have clearer thoughts, etc. then you are scatterbrained and fried.

 

[psood0nym]

Because it was on Netflix Instant I watched this tonight while nodding in and out of consciousness on a combination of buprenorphine (I have 0 tolerance, just use it for fun), 5-APB, ethanol, cannabis, and methoxetamine, and I've got to say: "it was god damned stupid." Imagine you're being pursued by a baddie with a knife, intent on gutting you good, so you take a smart pill -- suddenly, the deductive possibilities of your immediate future pump into consciousness through the capillaries of your prescience gland -- and you rush off through the winter chill of a park under hot pursuit. It occurs to you that the most salient defensive stratagem is to run across a frozen pond, biding time until your attacker is close, and then to spoiler

NSFW:

scoop up a small child who's ice skating and whirl them around, skates out, 180 degrees so as to gash your assailant's face with the blades, trusting all the while that her tiny legs will avail you of your lethal intent. Bravo Hollywood! That's smart writing.

 

[captainballs]

I don't think that's really a spoiler. More like a let-down. It would have been MUCH funnier if she improvised an impossibly complex rube golderberg machine using elements like leaves from trees, random pedestrians, bird migratory patterns, etc.

 

[axl blaze]

and Limitless was not based on Tales From the Darkside... it's based off of a sci-fi book

 

[HoneyRoastedPeanut]

I believe it's called The Dark Fields?

Anyways, solid movie worth a watch, especially if you can relate to the character's struggle with addiction.

 

[axl blaze]

^ yeah, correct. a good book. and I finally saw this movie - and I was pleasantly surprised

 

[Carl Landrover]

Because it was on Netflix Instant I watched this tonight while nodding in and out of consciousness on a combination of buprenorphine (I have 0 tolerance, just use it for fun), 5-APB, ethanol, cannabis, and methoxetamine, and I've got to say: "it was god damned stupid." Imagine you're being pursued by a baddie with a knife, intent on gutting you good, so you take a smart pill -- suddenly, the deductive possibilities of your immediate future pump into consciousness through the capillaries of your prescience gland -- and you rush off through the winter chill of a park under hot pursuit. It occurs to you that the most salient defensive stratagem is to run across a frozen pond, biding time until your attacker is close, and then to spoiler

NSFW:

scoop up a small child who's ice skating and whirl them around, skates out, 180 degrees so as to gash your assailant's face with the blades, trusting all the while that her tiny legs will avail you of your lethal intent. Bravo Hollywood! That's smart writing.

No dude, that was funny. When else would someone use a small skating child as a weapon? At first I thought she was going to use the small girl as a defensive shield, but her way worked out so an innocent girl didn't get stabbed to death. If I had NZT I could have thought of that too, but since I don't have NZT I only look at small children and see possible shields.

 

[psood0nym]

^You know, you're right. Just a week ago, after stopping at the market there was this runaway cart headed toward my car. Naturally, I held out my newborn daughter's head as a bumper. I figured the fontanel would give her unformed skull an elasticity that not only would stop the cart from marring the paint, but the dent that would have otherwise resulted from the force of the cart's momentum would be prevented as well. It worked of course, but had I seen "Limitless" at the time I'd have been inspired to toss her at the cart to deflect its trajectory instead, thus avoiding the severe brain damage. I think we've both learned something here.

 

[Glen Sykes]

SOMEWHAT SPOILERS

It was going great until around the end. The whole part with the blood was ridiculous. And the happy ending was totally out of place and ignored all the negative symptoms he experienced throughout the film. Book was way better.

Ima gonna read the book based on your comment because I felt the exact same way. I was really feeling this movie, and thought that it was doing a great job of showing how easy it is to get on a drug that makes you feel great and more productive. I enjoyed his 0h-shit-I-ate-way-too-much-speed-and-now-I'm-pale-as-fuck make up job. I really enjoyed that the female lead ackgnowedged the power of the drug but felt that she lost control opposed to being totally in control as the protagonist felt. I loved that there was a villan that said "you need to IV this shit, yo dawg, comrade bro flay-mon."

I felt that the writers had had a run in with designer drugs before, and that this was a great movie all bluelighters should see.

Then the blood thing. Ruined. Everything. I had suspended disbelief for the rest of the movie, sure, but I couldn't accept that portion.

I really liked the story though, and I will look into the book if someone thinks it's worth my time.

 

[Carl Landrover]

^
I had watched it a second time and I definitely like the story, but you're right on the blood scene. That definitely takes away from the movie.



Also spoiler-ish alert!

NSFW:

It's pretty much glossed over since you're focused in on Bradley Coopers financial and social rise and the people that are chasing him, but do you think he killed that woman in the hotel room? It seems like it could have been the people after the pills attempting to set him up, except that he completely blacked out. The place was "wiped clean" according to his lawyer. I'm pretty sure if someone were to combine all their knowledge on murder from shows like CSI and watching movies, then they would be able to pull off a murder while on a drug like NZT. If it was a setup then they didn't really do anything to set him up. He was only pulled in because of an eye witness, one who didn't point him out in the lineup.

So did he murder her? Power trip gone too far? It happened the night after he first met and impressed Robert Deniro's character. He had a meteoric rise, what couldn't he do? So yes, I think Bradley Cooper murdered her. To quote Kevin Spacey from a different movie, on a different topic, "He's taken justice outta your hands, and put it in his own." That doesn't have much to do with the movie, but I couldn't think of anything better.

 

[Glen Sykes]

/\ Carl: thankyou for demonstrating that NSFW thing. /\

NSFW:

You're totally correct, that got glossed over- only until you pointed it out did I realize how deliberate that was.
PERSONALLY I think he didn't do it. I think that dude in the gray jacket killed the woman and was also the "eye witness". Manufacturing a crime put Edward in a spot. The movie also glossed over how he came to employ the lawyer, but that lawyer was given instructions to get the NZT. It's just too convenient that the girl's murder is what lead to his stash being stolen. The only wildcard in that movie was the Russian crazy guy really... In addition: I don't think his nature in general would have lead to the murder. There was also no mention of how her body was found. Was she fucked to death? Dehydration is a bitch... THEN maybe he's at fault. But I don't think he'd murder a woman, even if he were blacked out. Everything else he did were things he'd have done if not blacked out.

SHORT VERSION: Murder seems out of place for Edward-I believe it was a plot device to have his stash stolen.

BASIS: I believe that drugs aren't the reason why people do things. "I was blacked out" doesn't fly with me. Things people say or do while blacked out reflect their true character. Edward was a sad man who needed to get over being a nervous going-nowhere mess. He wasn't some murderer of women that just never acted on murderous impulses because of social norms.

 

[Carl Landrover]

/\ Carl: thankyou for demonstrating that NSFW thing. /\

NSFW:

You're totally correct, that got glossed over- only until you pointed it out did I realize how deliberate that was.
PERSONALLY I think he didn't do it. I think that dude in the gray jacket killed the woman and was also the "eye witness". Manufacturing a crime put Edward in a spot. The movie also glossed over how he came to employ the lawyer, but that lawyer was given instructions to get the NZT. It's just too convenient that the girl's murder is what lead to his stash being stolen. The only wildcard in that movie was the Russian crazy guy really... In addition: I don't think his nature in general would have lead to the murder. There was also no mention of how her body was found. Was she fucked to death? Dehydration is a bitch... THEN maybe he's at fault. But I don't think he'd murder a woman, even if he were blacked out. Everything else he did were things he'd have done if not blacked out.

SHORT VERSION: Murder seems out of place for Edward-I believe it was a plot device to have his stash stolen.

BASIS: I believe that drugs aren't the reason why people do things. "I was blacked out" doesn't fly with me. Things people say or do while blacked out reflect their true character. Edward was a sad man who needed to get over being a nervous going-nowhere mess. He wasn't some murderer of women that just never acted on murderous impulses because of social norms.

NSFW:

I'm not really going with the "blacked out" being an excuse. That's mentionable because even he wasn't sure if he murdered her or not. He even says so to the lawyer. His blacking out wasn't exactly like blacking out while drinking either. He kept snapping back to reality in places that he'd never been to and he hadn't known what he had been doing.

NZT obviously changed him and his personality. I'm not saying drugs caused him to kill her, just that he was a different person while on them. He wasn't capable of doing the stuff he was doing before he took NZT. I don't think it's so crazy to think that he could have killed her. Anyways who says it had to be cold-blooded murder? The woman could have been working with the other people and could have tried to kill Edward and steal the pills. He could have killed her in self-defense

It could have been a set-up, though the actual set-up would largely be due to the fact that Edward was blacked out. The people following him almost definitely wouldn't know that he was in a state where he would not remember anything. If they did know he was in an irregular state, they could have just kidnapped him. Or even done something simple like take his wallet and leave it at the scene of the crime.

It's a good mystery

 

[Glen Sykes]

NSFW:

I'm not really going with the "blacked out" being an excuse. That's mentionable because even he wasn't sure if he murdered her or not. He even says so to the lawyer. His blacking out wasn't exactly like blacking out while drinking either. He kept snapping back to reality in places that he'd never been to and he hadn't known what he had been doing.

NZT obviously changed him and his personality. I'm not saying drugs caused him to kill her, just that he was a different person while on them. He wasn't capable of doing the stuff he was doing before he took NZT. I don't think it's so crazy to think that he could have killed her. Anyways who says it had to be cold-blooded murder? The woman could have been working with the other people and could have tried to kill Edward and steal the pills. He could have killed her in self-defense

It could have been a set-up, though the actual set-up would largely be due to the fact that Edward was blacked out. The people following him almost definitely wouldn't know that he was in a state where he would not remember anything. If they did know he was in an irregular state, they could have just kidnapped him. Or even done something simple like take his wallet and leave it at the scene of the crime.

It's a good mystery

NSFW:

They wouldn't need to know he was blacked out to follow him, and kill the girl he was with. Their purpose wasn't to confuse him- it was to get him involved in a crime so there would always be some element of control. If he knew the case was BS they'd have to extend the movie by hours.
But you're right- I was always wondering why they didn't just abduct him if they wanted the drugs so badly... it is a mystery.

NZT changed him, yes; and I'd be retarded not to acknowledge that. He became capable of incredible cognitive skills, but I don't think it changed his personality. IMHO! Just sayin`... Which is why I said that had Limitless been a better movie, it could be used to promote discussion about drug use and how everyone feels about it.

 

[VanWeyden]

I have to admit that I was disappointed with the ending at first, but contemplating on it really turned that around. I think the story is less about recreational drugs but about narcissism. It really caught me in the beginning as I thought "wow, fuck recreation, this drug is not great because it feels good but because it turns me into the superior being I always wanted to be. Screw the consequences." It is like a mirror to the paradigm our culture sticks to lately. We have a mad successful run right now, living standards never were as high as today. But the comedown is already included.

 

[marissaaaaaa]

i thought it was horrible. horrible writing, horrible directing, horrible acting.
the main character was an idiot and did so many stupid things for someone whose supposed to be SUPERPOWER SMART.
and there was nothing to make you care about him at all.
he sucked.
the writing sucked.
what was up with that random murder?
he couldn't figure out how to make the pills himself with all his new smartness?
he couldn't remember to pay off the russian guy who said HE WOULD KILL HIM?
o.
okay.


i usually never hate on films but this one was too bad.

 

[CoffeeDrinker]

^It's common that the rules of a genie state that you can't wish for more wishes.

Any movie that I can go see with my mom, not get too uncomfortable because of sex/language and yet have enough action that we both can enjoy it gets an A in my book.

Worst endorsement ever.

some friends thought it was a metaphor for meth abuse, others wondered if it was based around E/coke and its euphoric qualities, others wondered if it was highlighting an upcoming "drug" that were yet to experience, others wondered if it was a conspiracy (a drug thats been available for a long time to the higher powers, keeping them strict on their agendas); with others just enjoying the film for what it was.
|

Sounds like great meth conversation IMO.

 

[qwe]

it's like a psychedelic without disorientation imho

he couldn't figure out how to make the pills himself with all his new smartness?

i can't remember fully but didn't he think about this, and they threatened him about it?

 

[mariacallas]

I love this movie, it is my new favorite. It has motivated me on multiple levels.

Worrrrrd

 

[marissaaaaaa]

it's like a psychedelic without disorientation imho
i can't remember fully but didn't he think about this, and they threatened him about it?

or the movie just sucked and had bad writing with a shit-ton of plot holes.