"I like Shia". Cue Gary's massive eye rolling. As for the initial Mirror scene, I always assumed that the reflective part was like the division/door between worlds, so smashing it directly would allow the daemon to pass, while crashing the whole thing through sheer force from the fall/back would just make the "door" link disappear. That's my interpretation and I'm sticking to it. Just watched this film for the 1st time a couple of months ago, and it really holds up. The Bathtub scene is genuinely surprisingly tense, for how long and drawn out it is. The Hell itself has a great design, and the movie's ending is good. I think they are planning to make a sequel? Either way, I enjoyed it.
That scene where Satan shows up: chefs kiss. So much menace and implied evil, then it gets subverted, and then the spite of the act of saving Constantine. Diabolical perfection
Probably Keanu's most underrated film, and like you guys said, it's always a nice surprise watching it again after a long time and realizing how good it actually is.
Just because of Iain's shirt. Did you guys know that the famous bubblegum line in They Live actually originated from Roddy Piper's own promo idea notebook? Carpenter read it, and insisted on having the line used in the movie. I suppose it was originally going to be used for a wrestling promo or interview. And who knows, maybe it was somewhere. Kinda glad it got showcased in a Hollywood movie where it reached a wider audience than it ever would have in wrestling - even though wrestling was at its peak in the 80s.
Simply Amazing channel. You two should be very proud for being able to consistently make entertaining videos about movies many viewers have never seen. It isn’t the movies, it’s your personalities that make the videos. Great job guys
Needed this today, thanks for the escape! I saw this film in theatre's the year I moved to America. The cinematography always stood out to me and I loved the performances, especially Peter Stormare.
Watched this on release and to this day I believe that if there is a hell with a devil and all that shite then Peter Stormare will be it’s visual representation, best take on Satan I’ve ever seen.
I’ve been dealing with so much depression and anxiety since being in quarantine. Thank you guys for Cheering me up and making me look forward to Thursdays. I’ve been binging all your videos. Thank you again ! cheers!
Random thoughts: I like this movie quite a bit, but, yeah, it's not _exactly_ the guy that I read about in the Jamie Delano comics I read in the late 90s...I think the filmmakers were going for a supernatural version of a Raymond Chandler noir story, with maybe with bit of Harry Dresden added for spice--I think that's a big reason that we have a US version of the character in Los Angeles. I think it works, and it works well, but you can't be too much a comic book purist about it... The Spear of Destiny was introduced in DC Comics, if I recall correctly, by Roy Thomas as the reason why Superman, etc. couldn't simply rush into Europe to defeat Hitler as ol' Adolf had control of the Spear, having commanded his minions to seek out supernatural artifacts before going to war. Keanu Reeve's version of John Constantine is why I'm a Dave Brubeck fan! Constantine spins an LP at the beginning of a scene in Constantine's suite over the bowling alley; the tune that plays is _Take Five_ by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. I thought the tune was cool and I found out it was from the album _Time Out._ I tracked down that album on iTunes, and Dave Brubeck has been in my personal rotation ever since...
I didn't care for this movie when it came out. For some reason it registered as, "Oh, another one of _those_ adaptations." It didn't help that at the time I held Keanu in little regard. Post John Wick and a little personal growth, I've learned to appreciate what he brings to the table. I even watched Dracula for the first time after years of my inner monologue screaming at the hill tops every time people spoke well of it and didn't mention his casting. It turns out, he's really not any more miscast in that movie than anyone else, save for the fact that both Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins steal the show. Since seeing this initially, I've read the first several volumes of Moore's Swamp Thing (and plenty more) and think that as far as casting an American in the lead, they really kinda nailed it. I look forward to going back to this film.
And Tilda’s “angel gone crazy straight jacket inspired” outfit at a the end of the movie is one of my most favorite costumes ever. I’d kill to have one.
I'm surprised you guys didn't mention that Constantine, in a deleted scene, has a halfbreed girlfriend, who he later destroys(?) in the holy water mass attack in the hospital. I don't remember the name of the actress, but she was in Source Code.
Also. When the detective said why she always find her suspects and knows when to shoot. Well, don’t be a detective that is a job about actively finding the suspect.
This movie's version of Constantine is one of the few real anti-heroes I've seen. Most characters that get that label are either heroes with a bad temper or actually villains who happen to be protagonists.
Agreed. Reeves performance works well on that basis, too. And he actually manages to sell this scenario as one of the few cases where ignorance really would be bliss.
I worked in the theatres when this came out, and have to admit I spent a couple hours of my shift watching it haha It's pretty great, but I never actually watched it again. I'll have to remedy that.
I think with the mirror scene it wasnt breaking the mirror, that was just a consequence of the fall, so much as getting the mirror with the trapped demon into full sunlight
This movie is flawed but I still loved it. It was actually my First Date movie with my highschool boyfriend. I'm glad they're looking at doing a sequel with Keanu again.
When Constantine 1st enters the room and opened the curtains she didn't like the light. So I'm guessing that it was throwing the mirror out into the sun light that killed it.
Fun fact: the so-called "spear of destiny" (in reality called "the holy lance") still exists. It was a part of the insignia of the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and is kept in Vienna, Austria today. Hitler did take it from Vienna to Nuremberg when Austria was anschlussed and they tried to hide it from the Allied forces in the late stages of WW2 but the insignia were found eventually.
Eh, I don't think fans of obscure comic-book heroes like Hellboy or Constantine can really hurt anything. We comic-book fans would like to think that our voice is the loudest, but it really isn't. Whenever a filmmaker would try to cater to us, it would only happen because he's a fan of the material himself. And as such you have people like Sam Raimi, Mark Steven Johnson and Del Toro going out of their way to intentionally have visual moments that are copy and paste images from the comics. But that's only a handful of directors who do that. Constantine was clearly made by someone who thought what would make him as a regular viewer interested in watching a movie. In the case of this movie, it wasn't a bad approach to take when making a movie, but if there was one thing I wish stayed close to the comics (minus the English accent, because we all know how that went for Keanu the first time) it was the blonde hair. It's not essential to the character, but it's part of his visual trademark. The same way Tony Stark's mustache and Thor's hair are.
I must admit I only have seen this film once when I bought it on dvd when it first come, I didn't dislike it, I just didn't feel like watching it again. Now that I have watched your awesome review of it, I will watch it again. Thank for your off the shelf reviews. 😎👍Stay safe.
The mirror scene 27:42 is inspired by a german-french movie "le vieux fusil"(1975), where a man behind a one-way mirror kills a nazi with a flamethrower with a similar effect.
28:49 I remembered that scene from the movie. I also remembered that during a Conan O'Brien show with Keanu Reeves. the whole audience laughed their asses off, and My elder brother told me and my sis, as well as my cousin about that part, it made me laugh my ass off. I hope that anyone sends me a link to that footage.
Re: Smashing the mirror. Some demon lore says a demon expelled from a body must reach another within a certain distance to possess or it is killed/dispelled. Presumably, pitching it out the window into an empty alley was intended to kill the demon by denying it another host.
I've seen this movie about 3 times on TV, and had never heard if it b4 that. I very much liked this movie, and at first had no idea it was based on a comic book (though collected Marvel comics in my teenage years so liked superhero movies)... BUT I think the introduction of all the supernatural characters was necessary even without having to appease fans of the genre BECAUSE it shows the audience that it's just a normal part of Constantine's life. This is nothing out-of-the-ordinary for him...
...and as far as a TV show spin-off focusing also on the bar... That pretty much wad already done with "Lost Girl" and pretty much also with "Angel" which was a spin-off of the "Buffy the Vampire Killer" TV series (spun off from the movie)
Fabulous review! I watched this movie constantly as a young person, many scenes and lots of imagery stuck with me all these years. Lucifer, and the depiction of Hell in particular were excellent
Was obsessed with Ghost Adventures at the time. Saw it on HBO as a teen. After that, I went on the internet and start searching the source material. Loved the tv series and was sad when it got cancelled.
You guys are great as usual. I love the rapport that you have and your knowledge of the films that you review. For more on the demons/angels and there not being too much of a difference between the two thing that this film seems to show, you need to read the "Salvation War" online book written by Stuart Slade. Lots of techy porn, demon and angel nastiness, and nuclear weapons usage.
I was overly critical of this film when it came out (being a fan of the comic), but I now enjoy it for what it is... and Stormare's Lucifer is da bomb!
I think there was supposed to be a Constantine 2 as well as Crow 2 but both were canned! I would have liked a more modern representation of this character, given how popular and successful the hero movies are these days! I think Aqua Man him self would have made a great Constantine.
14:30 reason why so many characters are introduced and die is because Constantine in the comics is always seeing those close to him die hence why hes so cold. Ps So smoking gives you an R rating? lol
It was not bad, I did see it at the theatre in 2005 (cannot believe this is 16 years old!)...but did leave no mark. I much preferred 1999's End of Days....
Cards on the table, I loved the comics and so always preferred the TV series which for all its faults was a much more accurate representation, but I still enjoy this movie immensely.
Wow, this film is fifteen years old. Fuck you Father Time! But aye, not a bad film. Just a little bit dull. Interesting to see it have this cult following now
