Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" The Original Soundtrack

Probably a step down. That video is great and Queen are in it!

 

Better. Contrary to the first reviews, I think Rami Malek is a mediocre Freddie. He mimics his movements but doesn't manage to capture him. It's not enough to move from the same Point A to the same Point B as Freddie to "be" Freddie.
In order to be Freddie, you have to do the same movements with his force, his certainty, his Freddieness. You have to know that this is a very insecure man who when given the microphone was the king of the world and acted accordingly. This obviously is not an easy by any means. It takes a long time to prepare and requires a method actor like, you know, Sacha.

 

Equally, he may have been a caricature of Freddie. We'll never know, but the widely held opinion is that the actors make the film, but, by the same token, that may just be the *best* worst thing about the whole sorry affair.

 

People think that because they saw that caricature in Borat, but Sacha in BoRhap would be a whole different story.
He may be a comedy actor, but he takes his job DEAD seriously.

Think about Jim Carrey and Andy Kauffman. Method actor. Outstanding work. And from a comedy actor.

 

You're obviously a fan, but there's no knowing just HOW he'd have approached the character or, in fact, how he'd have been DIRECTED to play the character. Could have been incredibly good; could have been incredibly bad..........

 

That monumental bit of "artistic license" ensured that I wouldn't be going to see this travesty of a film.

Rami is not convincing at all.

But I'm one of those Queen fans who thinks that Brian and Roger have done nothing but cheapened Queen's legacy. I have nothing but huge respect for John for having very little to do with Queen since Freddie's passing.

Freddie was Queen for me.

 

I recently watched a biopic on a subject I know well. The story was so cockeyed I actually had to stop watching after about 40 minutes. The point I stopped watching was where the reality was a good story and what they changed it to was just so madly at odds with the facts that it was deranged.

It seems to be that biopics are fine if you know few details about the subject (I kind of enjoyed the "Five Pennies" for instance and that's apparently all nonsense but heck it has Satchmo in it). It has to drive real Queen fans nuts when the timeline is all over the place, everybody looks wrong and things are made up for no discernible reason.

 

I thought May and Deacon were exceptional in the movie, about as close to the real ones as you could get.
But Taylor's hair wasn't that long in the 80s, and Malek as Mercury is too bug-eyed. Another issue I had was he was played too serious.
Mary Austin was acceptable. Kenny Everet was done well enough.

 

Agreed. May and Deacon were the standouts. Geldof was good too. And Bono was also splendid. An Easter egg right at the beginning of the movie.

 

Exactly. Take Raging Bull, one of the greatest biopics of all time. There's hardly any boxing in it.

 

Saw it last night. It's meant to be entertaining. It's not a documentary. I don't normally read biographies (exceptions - Peter Cushing, Tom Petty, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Basil Brush) or watch them. They changed things around a bit. Enjoyed it. It hasn't destroyed my memories / listening / childhood. 'Brian' and 'John' seemed like I've seen them in footage. There was someone in the credits with the name 'April Kiss'. I thought that was amusing.

 

With or without the moustache? Leotard?

 

Retired and playing golf, apparently. Having a sneaky cig is his worst crime ha ha.

 

Freddie at Live Aid. Full on mustache (grew my beard for weeks to have it right), light jeans, sleeveless shirt, everything.

Nuno Bento on Instagram: “Are you ready brothers and sisters?! #freddiemercury #queen #bohemianrhapsody #bohemianrhapsodymovie #yamahaclavinova #carnabylondon…”

Nuno Bento

 

Not gonna lie... I enjoyed this film immensely.

I know the set up for the last scene - that Freddie told the band he had AIDS, and met his lifelong partner just before his Live Aid triumph - is ********. But I had a lump in my throat when they showed the whole of Wembley singing along with We Are The Champions.

Also, if there is an Oscar for 'Best lookalike in a motion picture' - just give it already to Joe Mazzolo for his portrayal of Deaky!

And yet, I feel this film is an opportunity missed. In attempting to cover so much ground in two hours, this film felt a bit too much like it was skimming the surface.

For me the most effective scenes, from a story telling point of view, were those that focussed more on Freddie as the man with millions of adorers, but who felt that hardly anyone really loved him. More focus on that part of Freddie's truth - the feelings he wrote about in songs live Somebody To Love, Living On My Own and Man Made Paradise - would have helped explore the man more fully.

Yeah there are scenes like him rattling around his mansion with only fats for company (again, it wasn't quite like that in real life), or bristling at Paul 'Yoko' Prenter's final betrayal, or sometimes alluding to his 'outsiderness'. I felt though that this part of the story was rather rushed past, in favour of the concert scenes. The concerts were done well, but one might as well stay at home and watch the original footage on YouTube.

But if they went for more emotional depth, then this Bohemian Rhapsody would be less entertaining. And no-one can deny that Freddie the entertainer is a crucial part of the story too.

Perhaps you can't have it all.

 

He who pays the fiddler, calls the tune.

I fully agree that theres another movie to be made here, much like you describe, for sure.
Of course, getting the Mercury estate/family to sign off on your version, and raising the money, is a whole different story.

When they started changing directors, leads, and scriptwriters like some of us go through socks, I think most knew at that point they
were going to get a cleaned up version of this story.

 

I liked all the cats as well.

 

Just got back from seeing only the first hour. Boredom, frustration and then anger. I walked out. Brian and Roger are a couple of d1cks and should be ASHAMED. Historically inaccurate, cliched script and utterly boring. An insult to knowledgeable Queen fans, movie goers and the dear Freddie Mercury.

 

Ouch....have tickets to the premiere next Friday, and my feelings are already ambivalent

 

Alas, the music isn't. The only song I skip on GHII.
There seems to be some unrealistic expectations of this Hollywood film.

 

So, critics are mixed, some die-hard fans take issue with the timeline or whatever.

But from what I'm seeing on social media, the general public is really liking this film a lot.

 

I think that was probably the intent - spin a story for the masses who don’t care enough to read into the history. And taken with that in mind, it is a perfectly enjoyable film!

 

That's the way I expected it to be after I heard Peter Freestone talking about it. Entertainment for the masses. As such, even as a fan, I didn't expect accuracy and was able to enjoy it for what it was. I found it to be a fun, if flawed movie. My main issue was that Freddie was written a little too serious and sentimental.

 

I've never read any such thing in any book about Freddie. He liked cocaine and he liked a drink, but there's never been any mention of heroin. I don't think it's true to say he was heading towards heroin.