X-Men: Days of Future Past (Unmarked Spoilers)

[Bedlam]

Um. I'm pretty sure that was Bishop.

Which mutant was the one whose weapon charged by Storm's lightning, seems it's one not seen until now?

That was Forge, some sort of energy absorption power I think. The gun seems to act as a focus.

Wasn't that Bishop?

Ooops, you're right. I'll slink off back to the DC universe now.

[Lost Soal]

The part that made me chuckle was the plastic revolvers and M9's. Go ahead and pull the trigger, not like you need that hand. Oh, it (somehow) didn't explode? Good luck hitting anything after the first shot, then.

You realise that compared to the polymer miniguns and non-metalic sentinal circuitry those revolvers are a high scool science project.

[Highlord Laan]

The part that made me chuckle was the plastic revolvers and M9's. Go ahead and pull the trigger, not like you need that hand. Oh, it (somehow) didn't explode? Good luck hitting anything after the first shot, then.

You realise that compared to the polymer miniguns and non-metalic sentinal circuitry those revolvers are a high scool science project.

Oh, the wonder plastics had me smiling the entire movie. They were easily within the realm of suspended disbelief, but I just couldn't stop shaking my head, given the level of technology those weapons supposedly came from.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

The part that made me chuckle was the plastic revolvers and M9's. Go ahead and pull the trigger, not like you need that hand. Oh, it (somehow) didn't explode? Good luck hitting anything after the first shot, then.

You realise that compared to the polymer miniguns and non-metalic sentinal circuitry those revolvers are a high scool science project.

Oh, the wonder plastics had me smiling the entire movie. They were easily within the realm of suspended disbelief, but I just couldn't stop shaking my head, given the level of technology those weapons supposedly came from.

We're already halfway there with the Glock pistol

[General Zod]

The part that made me chuckle was the plastic revolvers and M9's. Go ahead and pull the trigger, not like you need that hand. Oh, it (somehow) didn't explode? Good luck hitting anything after the first shot, then.

You realise that compared to the polymer miniguns and non-metalic sentinal circuitry those revolvers are a high scool science project.

Oh, the wonder plastics had me smiling the entire movie. They were easily within the realm of suspended disbelief, but I just couldn't stop shaking my head, given the level of technology those weapons supposedly came from.

We've got plastic guns right now, no magic materials necessary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ReYUgKrJs4

[AniThyng]

Incidentally, I had a major double-take when he somehow gains control of the Proto-Sentinels with railway tracks ? - His powers allow him to manipulate metal so... now he can hack Sentinels with railway tracks ?
Was he just FORCING the sentinels to do things like puppets by manipulating the metal ?
We see him literally order a Sentinel to go about it's business and it seems to cooperate then it decides to go hostile later.
The other Sentinels seem to cooperate and do what he wanted without going hostile so... not very clear on what was going on.

He was controlling them via the metal rods he put in them, and the time he "ordered" the sentinel he just pointed it at the mutants and let the programming take over. The verbal part was just him making a dismissive joke.

[Elheru Aran]

Watched movie today. Awesome. More observations later when I have the time.

Re guns: Trask at some point mentions the Sentinels firing "thermo-ceramic bullets" or some such. Presumably parts of these non-metal guns are made of the same or similar material.

[PREDATOR490]

Incidentally, I had a major double-take when he somehow gains control of the Proto-Sentinels with railway tracks ? - His powers allow him to manipulate metal so... now he can hack Sentinels with railway tracks ?
Was he just FORCING the sentinels to do things like puppets by manipulating the metal ?
We see him literally order a Sentinel to go about it's business and it seems to cooperate then it decides to go hostile later.
The other Sentinels seem to cooperate and do what he wanted without going hostile so... not very clear on what was going on.

He was controlling them via the metal rods he put in them, and the time he "ordered" the sentinel he just pointed it at the mutants and let the programming take over. The verbal part was just him making a dismissive joke.

That really should not work, the Sentinels open fire at humans which they expressly should not do. Magneto should not be able to force them to fire weapons which are not metal. Not to mention he somehow makes them use their own jet system to move into position to defend the Stadium. If he was forcing them to do it they should just float there under his Magneto power.

[AniThyng]

I don't think they actually opened fire on humans, just the objects near them e.g. police cars, which is a nice loophole in this kind of programming. You can handwave it as he manipulated the physical control links to the weapons and engines.

[Kojiro]

Saw this last night. Damn fine move.

A few thoughts...

We finally get to see Blink and holy fuck she's awesome. She's been one of my favourites since AoA.

I don't care if Kitty has new temporal powers. I do find it odd that it takes them so long to disappear each time. First time sure, Bishop has to convince them all to hightail it and they're not inclined to leave a safehouse for no reason but after it becomes routine you'd think the objective of getting them to leave would happen instantly. 'Hey Kitty sent me back again.. sentinels in 3 days' 'Right, I'll start packing.' and future X Men vanish.

I'm curious as to how people think Quicksilver's powers work, given that he seems to be able to take things in contact with him (such as his walkman and Magneto). His walkman speeds up to be in time with him but Magneto does not. It was a great scene but did feel a bit Flash like (and is one reason I am dubious about that show).

Magneto.. the man of bad choices. His best plan would have been to infiltrate the sentinels as he did and then just control from afar. Let the things go crazy and kill people. Project scrapped.

Overall the movie was excellent and the fact it undid X3 was just awesome. It'll be one for the Blu-ray shelf.

[AniThyng]

Magneto could have at least waiting till they were somewhere secure before trying to murder Raven...I mean how was he even planning to ensure there was no corpse left for someone to autopsy?

But yeah really guy's a total asshole except when he finally gets really really old.

[Kojiro]

Re guns: Trask at some point mentions the Sentinels firing "thermo-ceramic bullets" or some such. Presumably parts of these non-metal guns are made of the same or similar material.

This does irk me slightly.

Yes, Magneto exists but he's one mutant. Metal has advantages that plastics and ceramics don't. I mean it's great you have a force that can take Magneto down but all accounts indicate that a sniper with one of those ceramic bullets could probably achieve that end. And how durable are these plastics and ceramics? Have you created a force that is directly immune to Magneto only to be vulnerable to small arms?

[Simon_Jester]

Magneto is a very high profile mutant who's done things like stop the combined broadside firepower of entire US and Soviet battlefleets, pick up the Golden Gate Bridge and drop it on people, and so on. He is Public Enemy #1 as far as deadly evil mutants are concerned.

Honestly, I would not be comfortable designing war machines he could stop and destroy easily until I'd seen his dead body.

[Elheru Aran]

So--

~Noticed the Anna Paquin/Rogue thing. It's really weird how they have her as prominent in the credits as they do when she turns out to be barely a cameo in the finished version. Perhaps it was a contractual obligation, but still.

~Warpath's look is goofy as hell. The way he coordinates in fights with Blink is good-- but he kills (or tries to) Sentinels with a pair of big knives? Seems somewhat... absurd. One would think a few quarter-pound bricks of C4 would do the trick a little more reliably.

~Bishop was nicely portrayed, I thought, appearance-wise. Powers wise seemed... weird (how in the world would you make that gun he channels energy through). Apart from that though the new X-Men were well enough done, I thought. Pretty cool to see Iceman doing his signature ice-surfing moves.

~While I'm aware Quicksilver's power is super-speed, the scene in the kitchen at least appeared more like he was slowing time. Though obviously it would be difficult to quite tell the difference from outside, and he was running along the wall, so it's clearly super-speed, but still seemed just a hair 'off'. Perhaps it was the slightly slow-mo effect they had going on. Might have worked better if they blurred it a little bit.

~Oh, Magneto. Charles gives you a second chance to turn things around, and you fuck it up the ass sideways not only once but *twice*? Come the fuck on. You weren't that dumb in First Class, you weren't that dumb in the original X-Men movies... did they feed you a steady diet of stupid pills in prison or something? I get the impulse to do a big old demonstration, which in and of itself was pretty awesome-- the whole lifting a bloody stadium thing, that's got to be some serious tonnage-- but think things through, man. I will grant that it's a good portrayal of Arrogant Homo-Superior Magneto from the comics.

~Sentinels. I don't really dig the feathery-scaley look the future ones had. The 1973 ones are fine, but for some reason they don't really hit that 70s aesthetic to me. They could be mid 90s, but not 70s. Just too much plastic (and yes, I know that was the point). Though that does raise a good question-- is it possible with 1970s tech to do a non-metallic jet engine?

~Timeline. I see this film as confirmation that the X-Men First Class group basically rebooted the timeline from scratch once Logan went back from the future. X-Men and X2 still happen apparently, but things are more technologically advanced (holograms and so forth) when Logan wakes up and X3 either didn't happen or went extremely differently. However, how the hell did future-Xavier and future-Magneto run into Wolverine at the post-credit sequence of Wolverine 2?

~It is a very good question as to whether Logan has his adamantium or not within the new timeline. Given that Mystique picked him up rather than Stryker, either he finds his own way apart from them and goes his own way, runs into Stryker again and things go from there as in the first Wolverine movie, Logan gets adamantium and all. Or, he sticks with Raven and the X-Men, and never gets his adamantium unless Magneto sticks him with it. We'll not know until they make the Age of Apocalypse movies though.

[NeoGoomba]

~Sentinels. I don't really dig the feathery-scaley look the future ones had. The 1973 ones are fine, but for some reason they don't really hit that 70s aesthetic to me. They could be mid 90s, but not 70s. Just too much plastic (and yes, I know that was the point). Though that does raise a good question-- is it possible with 1970s tech to do a non-metallic jet engine?

I agree. When all we had were previews, I was hoping that the future Sentinels would look more the "iconic" Sentinels from the comic, and the scaley-one would be the one-off Nimrod.

~It is a very good question as to whether Logan has his adamantium or not within the new timeline. Given that Mystique picked him up rather than Stryker, either he finds his own way apart from them and goes his own way, runs into Stryker again and things go from there as in the first Wolverine movie, Logan gets adamantium and all. Or, he sticks with Raven and the X-Men, and never gets his adamantium unless Magneto sticks him with it. We'll not know until they make the Age of Apocalypse movies though.

My money is on him keeping his bone claws, with Apocalypse giving him adamantium again. In the comics, Apocalypse emerged from Egypt early during Acts of Vengence because he sensed all the time-traveling wonkiness going on in the world, and I'm guessing that is the route they will take in the new movie. Perhaps Apocalypse will "gift" Wolverine with adamantium to restore him to his "true" form (before dubbing him Death of course)?

[Kojiro]

Magneto is a very high profile mutant who's done things like stop the combined broadside firepower of entire US and Soviet battlefleets, pick up the Golden Gate Bridge and drop it on people, and so on. He is Public Enemy #1 as far as deadly evil mutants are concerned.

Do you really think one mutant justifies the entire arsenal being handicapped by that limitation? I mean great they're not directly affected by his power but it's not like metal is exactly rare these days. He can still throw railway spikes (or cars, light poles etc) through the plastic Sentinels.

I'll grant that in the movie the no metal restriction doesn't seem to impact them one bit but there have to be sacrifices- especially at 1970s tech levels- being made there.

[Kojiro]

~While I'm aware Quicksilver's power is super-speed, the scene in the kitchen at least appeared more like he was slowing time. Though obviously it would be difficult to quite tell the difference from outside, and he was running along the wall, so it's clearly super-speed, but still seemed just a hair 'off'. Perhaps it was the slightly slow-mo effect they had going on. Might have worked better if they blurred it a little bit.

I actually always thought his power was temporal rather than the Flash like super speed (plus he lacks a Speed Force to explain away the issues with such movement). He's often been portrayed as experiencing life at a much faster rate than everyone else rather than just being fast. He's also prone to say, punching someone a 30-40 times rather than one devastating blow. As I said the walkman seems to be the glaring error if it's just super speed and not temporal acceleration- there's no reason for him to put his headphones on and listen to music for the 0.001 seconds that scene actually goes for but they make a point of showing it to us. If he (and his proximity) are temporally accelerated the walkman speeds up and the actions done to the guards aren't so horrible. Wrenching someone's arm up at normal speed (or imparting that energy into it) will result in them bashing their buddy in the face- just as if you'd had a rope around their wrist you sudden, rapidly tugged. Wrenching someone's arm up (and into someone's face) at several times the speed of sound will cause catastrophic damage to limb (and face it impacts).

But it's a speed power and I'm by no means claiming to know for certain. Such powers are fraught with issues.

[General Zod]

~While I'm aware Quicksilver's power is super-speed, the scene in the kitchen at least appeared more like he was slowing time. Though obviously it would be difficult to quite tell the difference from outside, and he was running along the wall, so it's clearly super-speed, but still seemed just a hair 'off'. Perhaps it was the slightly slow-mo effect they had going on. Might have worked better if they blurred it a little bit.

I actually always thought his power was temporal rather than the Flash like super speed (plus he lacks a Speed Force to explain away the issues with such movement). He's often been portrayed as experiencing life at a much faster rate than everyone else rather than just being fast. He's also prone to say, punching someone a 30-40 times rather than one devastating blow. As I said the walkman seems to be the glaring error if it's just super speed and not temporal acceleration- there's no reason for him to put his headphones on and listen to music for the 0.001 seconds that scene actually goes for but they make a point of showing it to us. If he (and his proximity) are temporally accelerated the walkman speeds up and the actions done to the guards aren't so horrible. Wrenching someone's arm up at normal speed (or imparting that energy into it) will result in them bashing their buddy in the face- just as if you'd had a rope around their wrist you sudden, rapidly tugged. Wrenching someone's arm up (and into someone's face) at several times the speed of sound will cause catastrophic damage to limb (and face it impacts).

But it's a speed power and I'm by no means claiming to know for certain. Such powers are fraught with issues.

The whiplash/radio thing is . . . really not a big deal. Actually the movie gives us a hilariously easy way to figure out how fast he was moving. In the same scene you see that he's moving so fast everyone else is practically at a stand-still, but the bullets being fired at Magneto & Xavier are still moving. Using this frame of reference we can probably gauge that he's going a little slower than the bullets, or just a hair under the speed of sound. If he were moving faster than the speed of sound, then he wouldn't be able to hear it at all and the bullets would be at a complete stop.

If someone can confirm the math that would be great, but that's just my observation without the numbers. Look at it another way; how fast do you think a super-sonic jet flies, and do you think their pilots lose the ability to hear their radios when they're going at the same speed?

[une]

The whiplash/radio thing is . . . really not a big deal. Actually the movie gives us a hilariously easy way to figure out how fast he was moving. In the same scene you see that he's moving so fast everyone else is practically at a stand-still, but the bullets being fired at Magneto & Xavier are still moving. Using this frame of reference we can probably gauge that he's going a little slower than the bullets, or just a hair under the speed of sound. If he were moving faster than the speed of sound, then he wouldn't be able to hear it at all and the bullets would be at a complete stop.

If someone can confirm the math that would be great, but that's just my observation without the numbers. Look at it another way; how fast do you think a super-sonic jet flies, and do you think their pilots lose the ability to hear their radios when they're going at the same speed?

Wouldn't Quicksilver have been moving faster than the bullets? If I remember the movie correctly he went into action after bullets were fired, but was able to run around the room, fuck with guards and still get back to Xavier and Magneto before the bullets reached them. It just seemed to me like he travelled a much greater distance than the bullets which would mean that he was moving faster. If I am wrong or misremembering, please correct me.

When I saw the scene I thought it was the best speed feat for the Quicksilver character since Ultimates Vol. 2. Great scene. Good movie.

[Kojiro]

The whiplash/radio thing is . . . really not a big deal.

It didn't diminish my enjoyment of the movie, but it's a clearly shown thing.

Actually the movie gives us a hilariously easy way to figure out how fast he was moving. In the same scene you see that he's moving so fast everyone else is practically at a stand-still, but the bullets being fired at Magneto & Xavier are still moving. Using this frame of reference we can probably gauge that he's going a little slower than the bullets, or just a hair under the speed of sound. If he were moving faster than the speed of sound, then he wouldn't be able to hear it at all and the bullets would be at a complete stop.

Given he actually looks over at the end of fucking with security and see the bullets- which have crossed most of the distance to the heroes- *then* wanders over to rearrange them he is clearly much faster than the bullets.

If someone can confirm the math that would be great, but that's just my observation without the numbers. Look at it another way; how fast do you think a super-sonic jet flies, and do you think their pilots lose the ability to hear their radios when they're going at the same speed?

I said there'd be no point, not that he couldn't hear. In the time that scene took- less time than for a bullet to cross a room- his walkman may well be playing but the tape is going to advance such a minuscule distance that it'd be useless as music. Clearly given we get diegetic sound that's not the case.

Edit: What I mean to say is it seems like he's more temporal in this than anything. The pong machine also seems significantly sped up too.

[Replicant]

It is possible that he steals thing not just because he is a klepto but also because he is constantly tinkering with them to speed them up so he is not so bored. Since they were not built for this they probably break quickly which is why he has stacks of acquired hardware.

[Kojiro]

One of the things he had stacks of was food. I can totally see him needing to consume massive amounts to sustain his metabolism. But he also had TVs. Unless you can speed up the signal is picking up there's not much in the way of speeding them up.

[Simon_Jester]

Magneto is a very high profile mutant who's done things like stop the combined broadside firepower of entire US and Soviet battlefleets, pick up the Golden Gate Bridge and drop it on people, and so on. He is Public Enemy #1 as far as deadly evil mutants are concerned.

Do you really think one mutant justifies the entire arsenal being handicapped by that limitation? I mean great they're not directly affected by his power but it's not like metal is exactly rare these days. He can still throw railway spikes (or cars, light poles etc) through the plastic Sentinels.

I'll grant that in the movie the no metal restriction doesn't seem to impact them one bit but there have to be sacrifices- especially at 1970s tech levels- being made there.

That's a fair point. Honestly, what I'd do is send non-metallic Sentinels after Magneto personally, probably blowing up several of his (highly dangerous) compatriots at the same time. Then and only then would I unleash the metal Sentinels.

Sorry if I seem overly cautious, but Magneto is a huge threat, and as long as his personal abilities make him nigh-immune to Sentinel attack, other mutants will rally around him for protection. Taking him out with the first wave would make it a lot easier to follow up with (more capable) Sentinels of other kinds.

[Replicant]

Magneto is a very high profile mutant who's done things like stop the combined broadside firepower of entire US and Soviet battlefleets, pick up the Golden Gate Bridge and drop it on people, and so on. He is Public Enemy #1 as far as deadly evil mutants are concerned.

Do you really think one mutant justifies the entire arsenal being handicapped by that limitation? I mean great they're not directly affected by his power but it's not like metal is exactly rare these days. He can still throw railway spikes (or cars, light poles etc) through the plastic Sentinels.

I'll grant that in the movie the no metal restriction doesn't seem to impact them one bit but there have to be sacrifices- especially at 1970s tech levels- being made there.

That's a fair point. Honestly, what I'd do is send non-metallic Sentinels after Magneto personally, probably blowing up several of his (highly dangerous) compatriots at the same time. Then and only then would I unleash the metal Sentinels.

Sorry if I seem overly cautious, but Magneto is a huge threat, and as long as his personal abilities make him nigh-immune to Sentinel attack, other mutants will rally around him for protection. Taking him out with the first wave would make it a lot easier to follow up with (more capable) Sentinels of other kinds.

Remember, the current line is that "Magneto killed the President" so making the Sentinels immune to his powers is also a huge marketing move by Trask to play on the fears of the politicians he wants to fund his little attempt at genocide.

[Elheru Aran]

You know, something I'm not really sure that the movie explained very well was Trask's motivation. Sure, he wants to catch if not kill all the mutants and what not with the Sentinels, but why? Compensating for something?

Given that I was trying to adjust to a new captioning system (fancy glasses with rear projection), it's quite conceivable I may have missed a few lines... It did kind of come off though, as kind of "just because" and "regular humans good, mutants bad".

Or was it just that simple?