I´m pretty sure the gap between the second and the third one had something to do with Dylan getting badly hurt doing a stunt. Also the third one is out of this world, so I get why the production maybe could've taken longer. Looking forward to seeing the other ones
"... okay maybe i'm NOT built different" 🤣🤣🤣 i massively relate to how the maze just. absolutely triggers the shit out of anxiety that second-hand adrenaline is REAL. such a fun trilogy honestly, super hyped to watch your reaction to the next two :D
A few additional points on this great film and trilogy. As noted elsewhere, the "Maze Runner" is a close retelling of "Theseus and the Minotaur." Naturally, Thomas is Theseus, the hero. Turns out, Thomas, in his pre-Glade life, was also Daedalus, a creative genius. Daedalus created the Labyrinth for Minos, just like Thomas created the maze for WCKD. Daedalus also betrayed Minos, just like Thomas did WCKD. Daedalus was condemned by Minos to the Labyrinth, just like Thomas was sent by WCKD into the maze. The Glade and the Gladers are Athens and Athenian youth of the myth, respectively. The Grievers are the Minotaur, the monster that feeds on the Athenian youth who have been offered as sacrificial victims. The Minotaur is half-man, half-bull. The Grievers are half-organic, half-machine. The WCKD mechanism that's found in the crushed Griever is Ariadne's thread, the key out of the maze. WCKD, as noted above, is King Minos. In the myth, 7 youths and 7 maids are sacrificed to the Minotaur every year. This strongly implies the existence of an all-female maze. The number 7, which has significance in the film, is undoubtedly an allusion to the myth, too. The maze motif is repeated in the "Scorch Trials" and "Death Cure." The Glade's Athens is, however, more like "The Lord of the Flies (LOTF)" than classical Greece. The Glade is, after all, an island inhabited by boys in the midst of an ocean-like maze. Who can forget the pig that arrived with Thomas, either? Themes in that well-known classic include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality. Things which we do see play out in Thomas and the Gladers. Thomas seems to be a combination of LOTF's Ralph and Simon. His Simon attribute leads us to believe that at some point in the trilogy Thomas will die. Gally, in the first film, probably represents LOTF's Jack. The Gladers eventually split between Thomas (Ralph/Simon) and Gally (Jack) just as in LOTF. Late in the film, Gally proposes to make Thomas an offering to the Grievers/Maze. In LOTF's, Jack proposes to make Ralph's decapitated head an offering to the beast, which represents darkness/fear/the innate primordial savageness of the boys. Despite his sometimes impulsiveness, Thomas represents rationality, individuality and morality. Gally denotes groupthink and emotionalism. Consider Alby's interactions with Thomas. It's interesting that Alby sees Thomas as different from the other Gladers, a catalyst for change, perhaps? He warns Thomas not to be nonconformist. Alby makes Thomas sign a contract of sorts with the Glade by having Thomas etch his name on the wall. George's crossed-out name, indicating he's dead, and the discovery of his body is highlighted for us, so perhaps we should also remember it? Also, note the sound of flies at George's remains - LOTF, right? When Thomas and the others arrive in the Glade, they're essentially born into it, actually and symbolically. The water (oxygenated perfluorocarbon fluid?) is the amniotic fluid, the glass cylinder represents the placenta, and the person is the foetus. The lift is the birth canal. Like newborns, the Gladers arrive as brand-new persons. They have no identity except a name, which they were christened by WCKD. So, when Alby says that the creators only let them remember their name, he's not exactly correct. They don't remember their actual name, only their WCKD name. That's why no two Gladers have the same name. You want to be able to distinguish your test subjects for analytical purposes. Since we saw in this film that WCKD can monitor brain function of the Gladers remotely, we can conclude all the Gladers have brain implants of some sort. Clearly, they also would have an implant that would track/geolocate them. You'd want to be able to follow your subject. It's also safe to conclude that an implant is what affects their memory, and it can presumably be turned both on and off. The party the Gladers throw on the day Thomas arrives is his "birthday" party. As Newt tells him, the party is in his honour. Once a month, the Gladers have a celebration. Thomas and Ava Paige tell us the maze is an experiment to stress and test brain function in order to find a cure for the Flare. The "Maze Runner" trials mean to develop, isolate and produce a curative enzyme that only occurs in immune's brains so humanity can be saved, even if it means killing the immunes. The Flare is the trilogy's MacGuffin. In any experiment, you need a treatment group and a control group. The control group is the benchmark against which you compare the treatment group. The control group must be non-immunes, the treatment group immunes. Some of the Gladers are immune, others are not. The immunes are naturally immune to the Flare. The Griever sting cannot be Flare because all the Gladers have to be at risk of death for the sake of the experiment. Griever sting is similar in effect to the Flare, but it's 100% curable by WCKD. Also, it can't be communicable since WCKD would not want all the test subjects to die if one were stung. Thomas is clearly bothered by Ben being banished. He doesn't approve at all. In fact, it's a triggering event for Thomas. Our tragic hero, Thomas, is super intelligent, very curious and completely selfless. He is so selfless we might consider him impulsive. After Ben banishment, Thomas has decided there'll be no more maze deaths if he can help it. That's why he jumps into the maze after Minho and Alby. After Thomas and Minho first open the #7 gate using the Griever key, they trigger a reconfiguration of the maze which will funnel the Gladers to the #7 gate. This indicates the experiment is entering its final phase. Common sense tells us the sequence the runners noted previously, but starting at 7, will be the correct code. It seems only those subjects who successfully exit the maze are candidates for the second trial. Thomas is the archetypal tragic hero. Tragic heroes are characters of elevated stature, both in birth and morality. Like most heroes, he has above-average intelligence, which means he has situational awareness; he's determined, which means he is firmly set in opinion or purpose; and he has a loyal close friend who guides, advises and helps him as he faces his trials. In the films, Newt clearly fits the role as Thomas' helper, his Ariadne. The Theseus myth also emphasizes the power of love. Ariadne helps because she has fallen in love with Theseus. Likewise, Newt is in love with Thomas. As a tragic hero, Thomas is subject to a collective fate, the will of the gods, if you will, which had precipitated the solar flares that scorched the Earth and indirectly brought about the Flare virus. A common attribute of the tragic hero is that he once held a lofty position from which he has now been cast down. Thomas' hamartia has visited his own individual fate upon himself which prompts his present adventure-journey. His moral choices while part of WCKD led him to immoral behavior, the torture and deaths of his friends. In this way, Thomas assumed the role of a god over the Gladers. That's hubris. Humans, even if they're heroes, have to be taught they are not a god. Thomas' eventual betrayal of WCKD precipitated his downfall and the tragic course his subsequent life followed. Tragic heroes suffer, and so Thomas will suffer throughout the films. Another aspect of the tragic hero motif is that those nearest and dearest to the hero often wind up either in some sort of deadly peril or just plain dead. Most often, it's dead. As you watch the films you might ask yourself: Who's closest to Thomas? The trilogy manifests several themes. One that runs through all the films, and is the main theme, is the question of whether the end justifies the means, a principle often associated with totalitarianism. The principle is part and parcel of consequentialism, a teleological theory that says whether an action is morally good or bad depends on its outcomes. The more good outcomes outnumber the bad, the better/more moral the action. Under this rubric if WCKD finds a cure, then WCKD is very good, indeed. Another theme, which we see in this film in particular, is the question of how do different people deal with fear and the unknown? This is also very much a theme in LOTF.
The actor, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who plays Newt also appears in Game of Thrones as Jojen Reed. He first appears in season 3 episode 2. In the next Maze Runner movie you will also see a familiar face from Game of Thrones.
There’s a gap between the second and third because dylan o brien (Thomas) got into a bad accident on set while filming the third so they had to stop production for a while bc it was pretty bad
"His death wasn't sad enough to make me cry. I wasn't that invested in Chuck." Meanwhile, Chuck is carrying the plot on his little ten-year-old shoulders, being a relatable, curly-haired, red-faced king. T_T
Hunger Games and Maze Runner are probably the best dystopian film and book series out there (And they're listed as "young adult" fiction. Never mind the adult nature of the subject matter...). Avoid the "Divergent" film. Haven't seen "We're the Millers," but isn't the "Gally" character the one that pees on the tree in Midsommar?
Completely off topic but dude your hair is giving me Chuck vibes😅 also if you think it’s hard seeing Will be a tough guy after We’re the Millers try going from seeing him as a literal whiny kid in Narnia😂
This film is, of course, a surprisingly close reimagining of the Greek myth of "Theseus and the Minotaur" with a soupçon of "Lord of the Flies." My understanding is "The Hunger Games," which I haven't seen and probably never will see, is also based on the same myth, but it's a much looser retelling. It seems to be what I'd call a "fem" version or a reverse "chick flick." I'm not a fan of "chick flicks" of any stripe with their ubiquitous love-triangles etc., but whatever floats your boat. One interesting titbit I'd like to point out in "Maze Runner" is the names on the wall. In particular, all the names appearing immediately around Thomas's name: Alby, Winston, Newt, Ben and Chuck. Interesting, eh? I don't think Theresa's name ever appeared on the wall. Signifying, perhaps, she was never part of the Glade? A complete outlier?? Another curious thing is Thomas lying to Newt about not recognizing Theresa. He obviously did recognize her, so why did he lie? He seems to have wanted to keep his past association with her secret even if he didn't quite understand what that past was exactly. Was he afraid of what he or she might be? Thomas telling a lie is very, very out of character for him. Yes, Theresa. She always seems to convey an aura of mistrust or suspicion. Her arrival in the Glade is extremely inauspicious: It's untimely, she's a girl and she marks the end of the supply lifeline. She completely breaks the Glade's paradigm. What to make of that? No one ever answers Thomas's questions about the maze with the exception of Newt and Minho. This may be because most Gladers don't really know much about the maze except, probably, rumours. They avoid talking about it out of ignorance and fear. Newt informs Thomas because he's in love with him. Minho only tells what he knows after Thomas has been admitted to the sacred priesthood of Runner. The Glade has laws and punishments. The laws are 1) Do your part, no freeloading, 2) never harm another Glader, 3) don't enter the maze (unless authorized). There's no mention of any consequence for being stung per se. Banishment, which does come across as extremely cruel, must arise out of the three laws. For example, a severe violation of law #2 would presumably result in banishment. Ben tries to kill Thomas, so the court (Alby and the keepers?) determine a punishment, i.e., banishment. Minho brings Alby back to the Glade even though he's been stung because Alby hasn't been adjudicated to have earned banishment. Even though he tried to kill him, Thomas clearly wasn't onboard with Ben's banishment. One thing I wish Thomas had done in the first film was gather up Ben's disiecta membra and bury them back in the Glade. But I suppose the filmmakers felt a scene like that would disrupt the narrative flow. It would have been a nice touch, though. My goodness, the very good-looking actor who played Ben certainly did turn in a bravura performance! Finally, there are indications that Thomas and Newt are more than just good friends. How far you want to go with this depends on your personal predilection. When Thomas and Newt are first introduced, Thomas repeatedly looks after Newt after Newt leaves. Newt even seems to glance back toward Thomas himself. Throughout, Newt also seems to take special care of Thomas. He interacts with Thomas quite a bit and on a personal level. When Thomas rushes into the maze, Newt attempts to restrain him. By the way, it looks like Gally tries to do that, too. Theirs seems to be more a love-hate relationship at this point, though. It's worth remembering that in the original "Theseus and the Minotaur" myth, Ariadne helps Theseus because she's fallen in love with him. Clearly in the "Maze Runner" trilogy, Newt fulfills the role of Ariadne. It does appear that the actors were aware of this apparently unconsummated bond between the characters and played them accordingly.
Lol damn, you missed the perfect joke after you said "I'm built different". You should have smash cut to you in the backyard trying, yet failing, to break bamboo. That would have been so funny
I am Dylan O'Brian fangirling hear you should check out his other movies and teen wolf only season 3B the best season of the show and this year Dylan is going blond in his next movie.
