You talk as if you have more authority to judge whether those scenes are accurate than Brian May and Roger Taylor do. And you casually insult them as willing to validate lies for money. Perhaps take a deep breathe and get over yourself a bit, Some Random Guy On The Internet?
Brian has been known to *ahem* veer from the truth on many occasions. As for Roger, I predict he will make some dismissive comments about the movie once it's firmly in his rear view mirror.
Anyone can discover for themselves that the story of Queen in the 80s did not happen as the film portrays it, by reading any history of the band, even their Wikipedia page.
What I meant was Queen pretty much kept to the program as a band. They never caused controversy like Elvis, Jerry Lee, the Beatles, the Stones, or the Sex Pistols. They were not overtly political like the Clash, the Jam, or Bob Dylan. Their lead singer did not make a horse's ass of himself in public like Jim Morrison or Axel Rose. Any intra-band strife was seemingly kept under wraps unlike the Beatles, Talking Heads, Eagles, Stones, and many others. They had no resident eccentric like Brian Wilson or Sly Stone. The singer's flamboyance came off as cool rather than cheesy like David Lee Roth. Their problems with record companies and management paled in comparison to those experienced by the Beach Boys or Badfinger. The only potential for controversy came with Freddie's off stage lifestyle, but he downplayed it and it never became much of a big deal outside of the tabloids- we should be thankful he did not live in the Internet age. And his death, which as you noted, they did not dive into completely. In short, Queen was no Fleetwood Mac. Of course they are interesting. Any great rock band is by default. But they lack that lurid history, especially in the 80s after they had "made their bones" and were established. And perhaps that is why the facts were played with so much.
As of 4 days ago, 285 mil worldwide at the box office. Film opens later this month in India, Italy and South Africa. Crossing the 100 mil mark in the US, its estimated to eventually gross 170-180 mil domestically. Of course the same experts predicted a 30 mil US box office for opening weekend. Film actually pulled in 51 mil.
Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bill Wyman had a thing for really young girls, if that's what you're talking about? But then, who wants that kind of controversy? Queen playing in South Africa proved to be a not so great controversial move at the time, as was Hot Space. Freddie was quite eccentric, or unconventional, and if you ever read up about Freddie's personal life, it's more shocking than what was made out in the movie. That's why some folks take issue with the film. It played Freddie down quite a bit. Then there's all the stuff about Freddie getting ill, still working, how he dealt with that. I always found the latter stuff more interesting than what happened in the 70s. Freddie's personal life was certainly made a deal of in the tabloids here in the 80s, and in the 90s (they camped outside his home as he was dying, based on rumours and his apperance). Even just after he died, some of them wrote the most horrendous things. The real story is more interesting than the dumbed down PG-13 version we got with the movie, and Freddie wasn't as one-dimensional as he was made out to be in the movie either. He was a much more interesting character, full of contradictions.
No, not the young girls. Well maybe in Jerry Lee's case, but she was also his cousin. Anyway, I did not say they wanted such controversy. They did not have any. Queen kept to the program. That is a good thing. Their Sun City gig would barely register in any film today. Yes, Freddie was eccentric, but it did not adversely affect the band. It helped make them who they were. Hot Space was not controversial. It was just a crappy album. Most bands have one or more of those.
Hot Space was the album that divided fans. Some like it, some think it's terrible. At the time, it lost Queen some of their rock audience.
Another friend of mine watched the movie - he's a casual fan. He said the movie made Freddie out to be a bit of a lost sad character. I agree with that. He wasn't as sad, lost and serious as the movie made him out to be. At least, not according to any of the books written about him and according to those who knew him.
Ha all these comments. They made him too sad and lonely. They didn’t make him sad or lonely or gay enough. They didn’t show more of his personal dark side or more of him dying. Where’s Flash ? No wonder they played it somewhat safe and told the basic story. It’s great to see folks search out more of their music and details in books and documentaries as a result of watching this movie.
No, I'm going with they were given $$$ and just went along with what the filmmakers wanted. The "real story" didn't need embellishment - and the fictionalized parts are so inane and cliche that they do more harm than good...
If Brian and Roger think that the band broke up in the early 80s and didn't tour for years and reunited for Live Aid, then yeah, I can more accurately judge the facts than they can. Perhaps you need to accept that people often compromise themselves for money, Some Random Guy On the Internet...
As I think I mentioned earlier in the thread, the decision to pretend the band broke up pre-Live Aid conveniently allowed them to avoid the Sun City controversy. It was a big deal that they went to S Africa in the midst of the apartheid uproar, but the movie didn't need to deal with it because in the movie's world, the band never played there!
Nobody just went along with the filmmakers. This has been going in for a decade. Various writers, scripts, actors and directors were considered. They finally arrived at a place they all agreed on. And ultimately it worked for them and their audience and they were successful.
I thought Hot Space was terrible when I bought it. Listening to it now, it has great grooves, but would have been better if they had gone in a heavier direction instead of all the synths.
You gotta try this DVD, as the Hot Space songs sound infinitely better onstage. It's a big ol' difference, I promise.
I’ve always said the HS material would sound better live, but never heard any of it. I’ll check that out, thanks!
In reality the Queen and Freddie Mercury stories are pretty mundane. Maybe someone can commission a multi-season series on HBO to get it exactly right. And yes, I love Hot Space. Their last good album to the spectacular Innuendo. I even wore my Hot Space t-shirt when we saw Queen with Adam Lambert back in September.
I don't think they are mundane so much as ordinary compared to some other bands. I despise Hot Space except for Under Pressure.
Oh come on. How can you not like Calling All Girls? Action This Day is pretty good too. I don’t know why the movie slagged on Roger’s songwriting so much.
It’s not a compromise for money but a trivial fiction to heighten the drama in a fun movie. You might find an academic treatment of the band history subject to scrupulous peer review more enjoyable, and I can only imagine what sitting down to movie night must be like for Mrs Oatsdad. If there was an Oscar awarded for cinematic pedantry you would be the clear front runner at this point
